Black guitarist who has played with Dave Matthews and John Mayer slams American Airlines after flight attendant suspected he had kidnapped his biracial children and called police who were waiting for him when he arrived in LA

• Guitarist David Ryan Harris says cops and an American Airlines flight attendant suggested that one of his kids didn’t belong to him following a recent flight

By Paul Farrell For Dailymail.Com

Published: 09:15 EDT, 27 September 2023 | Updated: 10:13 EDT, 27 September 2023

Holding hands, the beaming couple were unable to hold back their smiles on what should have been the happiest day of their lives. 

But unbeknownst to newlyweds Haneen and Revan, this was to be their final picture together before a raging inferno swept through their Christian wedding in Iraq today.

The young couple are feared to have been killed along with at least 110 of their wedding guests after the blaze, believed to have been started by fireworks, tore through the large hall in the northern town of Qaraqosh near Mosul.

Those who survived the inferno have described it as ‘hell’ with children as young as eight months old and entire families – including a couple and their three-year-old child – among the dead.

‘This was not a wedding. This was hell,’ said Mariam Khedr, crying and hitting herself as she waited for officials to return the bodies of her daughter Rana Yakoub, 27, and three young grandchildren – the youngest being eight months old. 

Video purportedly shows the newlyweds slow-dancing in the hall moments before the blaze tore through the large hall in the Christian town, which had survived ISIS occupation. 

Hanneen, wearing a large white wedding dress, turns around in horror to see flames rapidly climbing the walls before burning material falls from the roof. 

Chaos ensues, with the up to 900 panicked guests rushing towards the exits as the hall is engulfed in flames and filled with toxic smoke in seconds. Survivors said many were left trapped in the burning building as they couldn’t see through the black smoke. 

The bride and groom were among the more than 100 people killed in the deadly blaze according to health officials, while 150 more are injured – 50 critically. But there are conflicting reports about their wellbeing, with some others saying the couple were injured rather than killed in the blaze. 

Nineveh province Deputy Governor Hassan al-Allaf said 113 people had been confirmed dead whilst the head of the province’s Red Crescent branch said the death toll was not final but that it ‘exceeds hundreds injured and dozens killed’. 

‘I lost my daughter, her husband and their 3 year-old. They were all burned. My heart is burning,’ a woman said outside the morgue, where bodies lay outside in bags as vehicles came to collect those that had been identified. 

A man called Youssef stood nearby with burns covering his hands and face. He said he had not been able to see anything when the fire began and the power cut out. He had grabbed his 3 year-old grandson and managed to get out.

But his wife, Bashra Mansour, in her 50s, did not make it. She fell in the chaos and died.

Hundreds of wedding guests, many of them children, were rushed to hospital with severe burns across their bodies, with many fighting for their lives. 

Wedding guest Rania Waad, who sustained a burn to her hand, said that as Haneen and Revan ‘were slow dancing, the fireworks started to climb to the ceiling and the whole hall went up in flames’. 

‘We couldn’t see anything,’ the 17-year-old said, choking back sobs. ‘We were suffocating, we didn’t know how to get out.’ 

Other wedding guests also said that the blaze was caused by fireworks, which had been set off during the first dance.

A man injured in the fire, speaking from his hospital bed, said: ‘They lit up fireworks. It hit the ceiling, which caught fire. The entire hall was on fire in seconds.’ 

Witnesses said the wedding hall caught fire at around 10.45pm local time (8.45pm UK time) during the couple’s first dance. 

Video shows wedding guests dancing together before the newlyweds walked onto the dance floor. 

Harrowing footage shows Haneen resting her head against Revan while he holds her waist as they share their first dance. But within minutes, the wedding turned into a nightmare as the blaze broke out, sending shards of burning material to the ground around them. 

Panicked guests began running out of the burning building, but over 100 were trapped inside and died of burns and smoke inhalation. 

‘We saw the fire pulsating, coming out of the hall. Those who managed got out and those who didn’t got stuck,’ said Imad Yohana, a 34-year-old who escaped the inferno.

Chaotic scenes were seen outside the building, with screaming guests crying for help from medics who had quickly arrived on the scene. 

Injured wedding guests were later seen lying in hospital beds with bandages covering the burns they sustained in the horrific blaze. 

Ahmed Dubardani, a health official in the province, said: ‘The majority of them were completely burned and some others had 50 to 60 per cent of their bodies burned. 

‘This is not good at all. The majority of them were not in good condition.’

In the blaze’s aftermath, only charred metal and debris could be seen as emergency crews sifted through the scene of utter devastation. 

While there is no official word on the cause of the blaze, footage showed fireworks shooting up from the floor of the event and setting a chandelier aflame, which echoes the testimony of injured wedding guests. 

This was made worse by the wedding hall’s exterior being decorated with ‘highly flammable’ cladding that is illegal in Iraq, civil defence officials quoted by the Iraqi News Agency said.

The danger was compounded by the ‘release of toxic gases linked to the combustion of the panels’, which contained plastic, they said. 

‘The fire caused some parts of the ceiling to fall due to the use of highly flammable, low-cost construction materials,’ the civil defence authorities said, with ‘preliminary information’ suggesting fireworks were to blame for the blaze. 

The Interior Ministry said it had issued four arrest warrants for the owners of the wedding hall, state media reported, and President Abdul Latif Rashid called for an investigation. 

Three people who attended the wedding said the hall appeared poorly equipped for the disaster with no visible fire extinguishers, few exits, and draped in flammable material that one said lit ‘like petrol’. Fire fighters arrived 30 minutes after the blaze began, they said.

Most residents of Qaraqosh, which is mostly Christian but also home to some members of Iraq’s Yazidi minority, fled the town when Islamic State seized it in 2014. But they returned after the group was ousted in 2017.

At Mar Youhanna church, where the wedding service took place before the evening party, deacon Hani al-Kasmousa said prayers for the dead would take place at the cemetery because there was not enough room in the church for so many mourners.

‘Yesterday there was a wedding and happiness. Now we are preparing their burial,’ he said, new coffins stacked along an alleyway near his church.

Father Rudi Saffar Khoury, a priest at the wedding, said it was unclear who was to blame for the fire.

‘It could be a mistake by the event organisers or venue hosts, or maybe a technical error,’ Khoury said. ‘It was a disaster in every sense of the word.’

Najim al-Jubouri, the provincial governor of Nineveh, said some of the injured had been transferred to regional hospitals. He cautioned there were no final casualty figures yet from the blaze, which suggests the death toll still may rise. 

Anger is simmering in the area after it emerged that the exterior of the wedding hall had been covered in the illegal cladding. 

It wasn’t immediately clear why authorities in Iraq allowed the cladding to be used on the hall, though corruption and mismanagement remains endemic two decades after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

While some types of cladding can be made with fire-resistant material, experts say those that have caught fire at the wedding hall and elsewhere weren’t designed to meet stricter safety standards and often were put onto buildings without any breaks to slow or halt a possible blaze. 

That includes the 2017 Grenfell Fire in London that killed 72 people in the greatest loss of life in a fire on British soil since World War II, as well as multiple high-rise fires in the United Arab Emirates.

Safety standards in Iraq’s construction sector are often disregarded, and the country, whose infrastructure is in disrepair after decades of conflict, is often the scene of fatal fires and accidents.

In July 2021, a fire in the Covid unit of a hospital in southern Iraq killed more than 60 people.

And in April of the same year, exploding oxygen tanks triggered a fire at a hospital in Baghdad – also dedicated to Covid patients – that killed more than 80 people.

Like many Christian towns in the Nineveh Plains, northeast of Mosul, Qaraqosh was ransacked by jihadists of the Islamic State group in 2014.

Qaraqosh and its churches were slowly rebuilt after the group was ousted in 2017, and Pope Francis visited the town in March 2021.

By Harry Slavin and Tamara Prenn For Mailonline

Published: 06:32 EDT, 27 September 2023 | Updated: 10:10 EDT, 27 September 2023

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To British firearms officers, it could be a tempting recruitment offer from police in Australia: ‘We’ve got your backs, mate.’

The authorities Down Under yesterday stepped up their pitch to hire UK officers – pledging they wouldn’t drag them through years of hell if they shot someone.

The message will not be lost amid the current furore over a Met policeman charged with the murder of Chris Kaba, who was shot in south London last year.

Western Australia is pursuing an audacious bid to ‘steal’ hundreds of police officers by luring them from Britain to work in the sunshine.

It can be revealed that more than 1,400 applied to make the move after the huge recruitment drive was launched in February promoting the area’s wine regions, coral reefs and culinary scene.

Are you a UK police officer who has moved to Australia? Please email your story, with photos, to rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk 

And as the first cohort of 23 Brits was sworn in this week – in a ceremony under ‘magnificent clear blue skies’ – the message from Aussie police chiefs was clear: ‘We protect our officers.’

Western Australia’s minister for police Paul Papalia told the Mail: ‘It’s very topical because yesterday we had a fatal shooting by police in Kalgoorlie. 

‘Without speaking in advance of the full investigation, I can tell you that our police officers behaved incredibly well. I’ve seen the body-worn camera footage. 

‘They acted entirely in accordance with their protocols, responsibly and properly. Sadly, they’ve had to shoot someone for their own protection. They did it absolutely correctly.’

Mr Papalia said that within an hour of the fatal shooting – of a 58-year-old man who had charged at officers with a gun – the commissioner of police and a local senator had publicly backed the officers.

Anna Miller, a 38-year-old recruited from West Yorkshire Police, said moving to Australia had made her feel ‘supported and appreciated’.

Speaking from Perth, Western Australia, where she moved with her family seven weeks ago, she told the Mail: ‘The biggest thing we like here is the appreciation for the police. I did not feel at all appreciated in the UK. In Australia, the community support their cops and they trust them.

‘The feeling among myself and colleagues [in the UK] was that officers weren’t backed… it feels a little bit, as police officers, they will happily throw you under a bus to present a [more positive] picture to the public. 

‘Don’t get me wrong, I had some fantastic supervisors, but I think policing as a whole, I don’t think they feel supported.’

Ms Miller worked at West Yorkshire Police for 15 years. She moved to Australia with her husband Andrew and their children Isabelle, seven, Tom, six, and Emma, three, for ‘an adventure’, saying: ‘It gives us the outdoor active lifestyle we wanted. 

‘It’s fantastic. There is so much to do on your doorstep – we went kayaking and saw seals, there is snorkelling, fantastic cycle paths and the Australian people are so chilled, friendly and have an enthusiasm for life.’

Ben Woods, a 33-year-old sergeant from Sussex Police, added: ‘My colleagues were naturally sad to see me go, but are now sick of my social media – “can you stop posting beautiful beaches, and posting views with koalas”.’

He said: ‘[Perth] is one of the cleanest, tidiest cities I’ve ever been to. The sunrises and sunsets are just phenomenal. The crime rates are clearly lower, there’s no graffiti, no gangs of kids – it feels like a nice safe place to be.’

The pair were sworn in as constables of the Western Australia Police Force on Monday, giving their allegiance to King Charles III, in a ceremony with an aboriginal theme. 

Mr Woods said: ‘An aboriginal lady came in and read scripture welcoming us, giving us strength and good spirits.’ 

Peppermint leaves were lit to create aromatic smoke, and Ms Miller said: ‘The smoke and the ceremony was around wishing us well, good luck and keeping us safe. It was lovely.’

All police officers in Western Australia are armed, meaning most UK recruits will need firearms training. 

Ms Miller said: ‘I don’t have a strong feeling. It’s just a piece of kit that officers have. I’ll learn how to use it.’

The police minster told the Mail: ‘We protect our officers. They’ve all got tasers, Glocks [pistols] and body armour.’

Mr Papalia said: ‘I’m intent on stealing your best people. Unashamedly. You guys have been taking our best for decades, it’s a rite of passage for Australians to go to the UK.

‘We’re aiming for 150 police officers this month, and 150 every year thereafter for five years. They come from a variety of forces. I’ve met all of them. They’re a good crowd. 

‘They all love policing and had their expectations met when doing swearing in – the skies in Perth were magnificent clear blue skies. Everything they had hoped for.

‘Western Australia is a great place to live and work. Compared to the UK, we have higher wages, a lower cost of living and the perfect climate for year-round adventure.

‘The response has been extremely positive, meaning WA Police can handpick the best of the best.’

In a nod to the ‘Ten Pound Poms’ scheme introduced after the Second World War, Western Australia’s shameless ambition is to grab 31,000 British workers, with police joining doctors, nurses and construction workers. 

They can ‘have it all’, with energy bills almost half in Australia, allowing the savings to be spent on 183 pints of beer, 110 roast dinners or 500 jars of Marmite, boasted Mr Papalia.

The British Medical Association revealed before Christmas that a third of junior doctors are planning to leave the UK – with the majority choosing Australia or New Zealand.

The NHS is battling shortfalls of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.

An Australian delegation arrived in the UK on February 25 and held jobs fairs in London, Edinburgh and Bristol. 

The scheme also targeted those in other professions hit by labour shortages including miners, plumbers, mechanics and builders.

Almost 25,000 applications to get documents needed to secure a job overseas were made to UK healthcare regulators in 2022. The vast majority represent NHS workers. 

The toll, uncovered by a MailOnline investigation, dwarfs the 10,000 figure seen before Covid struck. 

Senior leaders in the health service warned ‘the exodus is only just beginning’ and said the stats should ‘stun ministers into action’. 

Disgruntled NHS medics say the pandemic has shone a light on how poorly they are valued in the UK, a factor that helped launched a wave of strike action across the UK to boost their pay. 

Australia has also launched a wave of ‘cheeky’ tactics touting the merits of a move Down Under, such as deploying mobile billboards to NHS strike picket lines to recruit disenfranchised medics. 

Yet some medics who’ve made the move Down Under have complained that it’s not exactly the dream some are selling.  

British health staff wanting to apply for a job overseas need to get documents from their UK regulator as part of the application.

These prove to their potential employers they don’t have any marks on their record, their training is up to date, and they can be trusted with patients. 

Figures obtained by MailOnline reveal nearly 7,000 doctors applied for documents to support an application to work abroad from the British medical regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC), in 2022.

This was up from 6,100 in 2019. 

Separate figures for 2023, which only go up until May, suggest this year will see an even bigger exodus, with almost 3,500 applying for their documents so far. 

For nurses and midwives, the figures are even starker. 

Nearly 16,000 similar applications were made in 2022/23 — compared to just under 5,500 in 2018, according to the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). 

Pristine beaches and sunny weather appear to have convinced many to seek a job in Australia.

Australia topped the charts for total applications in both professional groups. 

Nearly 9,000 doctors have applied to work Down Under in the last five years. A third of these were made in 2022/23.

And Australian efforts to lure medics Down Under appear to be paying off. 

Data from the Australian Medical Council, the Aussie equivalent of the GMC, show almost 1,000 British medics signed up in 2021/22, the latest data available, up 16 per cent on the year before, and the biggest number of any nation. 

This is equivalent to roughly half the UK medics who applied to work Down Under getting a job there. 

For nurses and midwives, 11,000 applications were made to Australia since 2017/18.

But the number has accelerated in recent years, with 4,000 making an application in the last financial year alone. 

Are you a UK police officer who has moved to Australia? Please email your story, with photos, to rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk 

The House voted to pass a rule vote to begin debate on four separate spending bills after two rules votes failed last week, prompting Republicans to burst into applaus on the floor.  

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was the only Republican to vote against the rule, opposing the ‘blood money’ it contained for Ukraine. 

The House now moves on to debating amendments for the agriculture-FDA, defense, homeland security and state appropriations bills.

McCarthy celebrated the win in a news conference with reporters after the vote where he vowed to bring a stopgap spending bill to the floor to extend the September 30 deadline for a government shutdown.

He said he would bring it to the floor whether or not it had the votes to pass as multiple GOP members remain opposed to any CR, arguing the House must pass 12 single-subject spending bills or nothing.  

‘We want to make sure government stays open as we do our work,’ he said. 

But the speaker scoffed at the Senate‘s new bipartisan CR plan that includes money for Ukraine and disaster relief. He said the Senate’s priorities are ‘backwards’ because their CR included money for Ukraine but did not include border security provisions.  

With only four days to shutdown, the rule vote gave a hint of optimism to the House GOP, which is not facing new pressure to agree on spending legislation after the Senate released a bill that would kick the deadline for a government shutdown down the road by six weeks.

The continuing resolution (CR), endorsed by both Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would extend government funding from September 30 to November 17. 

It includes over $6 billion in Ukraine aid, sure to trigger some House conservatives. It also includes $6 billion in disaster relief and no border provisions. 

It’s unlikely the deal could pass before Sunday if Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., holds up ‘quick passage’ – which requires unanimous consent. He claimed Tuesday he would continue to do so. 

‘I will object to any kind of easy passage or speeding up of the time. I think it’s bad policy to borrow money from China to send it to Ukraine.’

Meanwhile Speaker Kevin McCarthy remained non-committal on whether he’d ever give a Senate-authored CR a vote on the House floor. He’s also called for Ukraine aid to be dealt with separately from stopgap spending legislation. 

On Tuesday he did say he would put a stopgap funding bill on the floor before Saturday but said he would continue pushing for one that included border security. 

The Senate CR would likely pass both the upper chamber and the lower chamber with votes from Democrats and some Republicans if House GOP leadership put it up for a vote. But doing so could endanger McCarthy’s speakership. 

McConnell endorsed a ‘standard, short-term’ stopgap spending bill on the Senate floor Tuesday. 

‘Over the years, I’ve been pretty clear in my view that government shutdowns are bad news whichever way you look at them. They don’t work as political bargaining chips,’ the GOP leader said. 

The Senate is set to advance the House’s FAA reauthorization bill on Tuesday, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will use to advance a CR through the Senate. 

Meanwhile the knives are out between Congress and the White House four days before a government shutdown, as McCarthy lays blame on Joe Biden‘s border policies and tears into right-wing Republicans who ‘side’ with the president.

The GOP leader said he would put a short-term continuing resolution (CR), or a stopgap spending bill to fund the government past September 30, on the floor before Saturday and it would likely include provisions to bolster border security. 

‘What’s concerning to me is that there are people in the Republican Party who will take the position of President Biden against what the rest of Americans want,’ McCarthy said Tuesday. 

The speaker can only afford to lose four Republican votes and still pass a party-line CR loaded up with spending cuts.

More than four in his conference have expressed opposition to a CR – most vocally McCarthy opposer Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. They insist the House most move forward on 12 single-subject spending bills. 

McCarthy, who cut a debt limit deal with President Biden that set top line spending numbers for fiscal year 2024, is now requesting a meeting him to cut another deal to keep the government funded.  

‘Why don’t we just cut a deal with the president?’ McCarthy told reporters who pressed him on when he would cut a CR deal with congressional Democrats. 

The House is set to vote on a rule to advance four of 12 appropriations bills Tuesday night in what could be an bellwether for the week to come.  It’s not clear yet clear whether a handful of obstinate Republicans will allow the rule to pass. 

He then suggested that if Biden fixed his border policy they could work together on funding – a seemingly infeasible tradeoff. 

‘Listen, the president, all he has to do … it’s only actions that he has to take. He can do it like that. He changed all the policies on the border. He can change those,’ McCarthy said. ‘We can keep government open and finish out the work that we have done.’

Border crossings in fiscal year 2023, which ends at the end of September, are on track to surpass that of 2022 after figures released Friday show an uptick of 50,000 in apprehensions in the month of August.

In recent days the Biden team has piled on to the GOP for causing the shutdown: Biden warned voters to ‘stop electing Republicans’ if they could not pass spending deals that keep the government open. 

Brazen thieves have been caught on video running from Footlocker, Apple and Lululemon with arms full of merchandise as Philadelphia police struggle to grab the looters. 

Videos shared on social media shows police officers attempting to grab lotters, some of who are wearing Halloween masks, as they run from a Lululemon store carrying goods.

Numerous bikes and piles of merchandise can be seen piled up on the sidewalk outside the clothing store on Walnut Street in the heart of the city. 

ABC reported that police had detained individuals ranged from teenagers to young adults, and recovered one weapon from the scene. 

It has also been reported that there have been numerous shots fired during the looting in the downtown area.

Thieves also descended on a nearby Foot Locker store and Apple Store, with CBS News reporting that the security guard at the footwear store was assaulted. 

In another video of the store being ransacked, a large number of thieves can be seen rifling through the store.

Footage from the Apple store shows the aftermath of the looting, with iPhones and other electronic goods seemingly ripped from their display stands. 

What appears to be staff members can be seen standing around looking bemused.

Fox News reporter Steve Keeley also shared footage showing the fallout of the looting. 

Officers can be seen placing handcuffs on one man, as they guard the exterior of the store. 

Numerous people can be heard shouting in the background as he is led to the rear of a police van. 

Another shot of looters outside the Lululemon store shows a large number of thieves making their escape. 

Numerous officers quickly arrive on the scene and can be seen pinning several men down. 

A police officer also told NBC Philadelphia that over 100 juveniles had looted the Lululemon store.  

CBS3 said that multiple police commanders confirmed to them that the looting had no connection to earlier BLM demonstrations.

Protests had started round the city earlier in the day over the dismissal of charges against police officer Eddie Irizarry who was involved in a fatal shooting.  

Hugh E. Dillon also shared a video showing the police response to his social media page. 

Dillon wrote: ‘Stay out of center city: Kids looted Apple Store , Lululemon and Chestnut street I hear footlocker has been broken into.

‘The police are doing an incredible effort on bikes and in cars corralling the kids blocked by Block. They are pulling cars over a lot of kids are in cars. 

‘They stop and a whole bunch of them get out and then they start trying to break in the stores. But the police are on top of it.’ 

Security guard at a nearby Wendy’s, Hakeem Russel told NBC that the store next to the fast food restaurant had been broken into, with a guard assaulted. 

Russel told the outlet: ‘A couple a kids decided they wanted to take full advantage of the unjust shooting that’s happened. 

‘It’s definitely been unrest around here since the verdict.’

Another video shows what appears to be a liquor store in the city, with one woman filming the scene shouting: ‘Everybody must eat, everybody must eat.’

Officers have now blocked off several streets in the area with crime scene tape due to the robberies. 

ABC reported that police had detained individuals ranged from teenagers to young adults, and recovered one weapon.  

DailyMail.com has approached the Philadelphia Police Department for comment on the situation. 

Just three weeks ago, the Philadelphia Police Commissioner resigned from her post as the Democratic run city dealt with a wave of homicides and lawlessness. 

Danielle Outlaw, 48, who has been Philly’s top cop since February 2020, officially left the department on September 22. 

Outlaw’s new role will be the Deputy Chief Security Officer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where she will oversee the airports, bridges, tunnels and other transportation infrastructure in the New York City area.

Before she took office, Philadelphia saw less than 400 homicides each year since 2007. Both 2021 and 2022 have seen more than 500 homicides across the city.

Latest figures, which are up until last Sunday, show how there has been 302 homicides in the city so far this year. 

There has also been 402 reported rapes, 58,759 cases of property crime, 3,701 cases of aggravated assaults and 1,314 shooting victims. 

 

President Joe Biden once again ripped House Republicans Tuesday and warned against a government shutdown, with funding set to run out September 30th if lawmakers can’t reach a resolution.

‘In just about a week, we could be facing a government shutdown if Republicans in the House Representatives don’t do their job. There’s no reason for us to be in this position,’ he inveighed in a new video Biden released on his official account on the former Twitter site.

Biden cited his earlier talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which resulted in agreement on spending levels. He warned against the potential toll on the military and on government services, as the White House prepares to try to capitalize on the prospect of chaos in the Capitol.

‘Now, there’s a small group of extreme House Republicans who don’t want to live up to that deal. So they’re determined to shut down the government – shut it down now. And it makes no sense,’ he said, speaking from the Oval Office in a video with multiple camera cuts.

Biden said he was prepared to do his part by House Republicans ‘refuse to stand up to the extremists in their party.’ In a shutdown scenario, military members would be on duty ‘but not get paid,’ Biden said, in just one of the federal impacts the White House has been rollign out this week. ‘And frankly, that’s adding insult to injury.’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday came to the Senate floor to warn against a shutdown, after earlier observing shutdowns haven’t worked out well for Republicans in the past.

‘Over the years, I’ve been pretty clear in my view that government shutdowns are bad news whichever way you look at them,’ McConnell said.

‘They don’t work as political bargaining chips. They create unnecessary hardships for millions of Americans. For example, nearly 46,000 servicemembers and 22,000 civilian workers in my home state of Kentucky who earn federal government paychecks. And they hardly ever produce meaningful policy outcomes at the end of the day,’ he continued.

‘A government shutdown would be an unnecessary disruption of the important work on the Senate’s agenda. So I would urge each of my colleagues to work this week to avoid one.’

He spoke while on the other side of the Capitol, House Republicans struggled to find a way forward.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would put a short-term continuing resolution (CR) on the floor to fund the government beyond September 30. But McCarthy, facing pressure from his conference, would likely include provisions to bolster border security.

‘What’s concerning to me is that there are people in the Republican Party who will take the position of President Biden against what the rest of Americans want,’ McCarthy said Tuesday. 

The speaker can only afford to lose four Republican votes and still pass a party-line CR loaded up with spending cuts.

But more than a quarter of Republicans have blasted a temporary funding bill, including Donald Trump loyalist Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

Biden’s video came a day after he dared Americans to stop electing Republicans if the government careens into shutdown next weekend.

‘Funding the government is one of the most basic, fundamental responsibilities of the Congress and if Republicans in the House don’t start doing their job, we should stop electing them,’ Biden said in remarks at the White House. 

The government will run out of money on September 30 if the House and Senate do not agree on spending legislation to send to the president’s desk.  

The president pointed to the debt ceiling deal he made with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which set funding caps for fiscal year 2024.

But the deal roiled some House conservatives who demanded McCarthy write up 12 separate spending bills at caps lower than those agreed to in the debt ceiling legislation. 

‘Now, a small group of extreme House Republicans, they don’t want to live up to that deal and everyone in America could be faced with paying a price for that,’ he said. ‘We made a deal. We shook hands. We said this is what we’re going to do and now they’re reneging on the deal, which is not much of a surprise these days.’ 

Democrats have launched an all-out campaign to lay blame on Republicans for a government shutdown. 

Earlier the Biden campaign accused House Republicans of ‘gleefully letting Donald Trump function as their chief political strategist at the expense of American families.’

Five days before a government shutdown, it’s not clear the House is any closer to passing a spending deal than it was last week. 

Last week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned shutdowns ‘have always been a loser for Republicans politically’ and that they’ve ‘never produced a policy change.’

Speaker Kevin McCarthy is expected to take yet another gamble with a rule vote that would advance four separate spending bills on Tuesday, though it’s far from clear the rule would pass. 

The speaker would need to flip five Republican holdouts who voted ‘no’ on a rule vote for the defense spending bill last week, a rule vote that failed twice in 48 hours. 

The rule vote that tees up debate on spending bills typically passes with support from almost everyone in the majority party. But the House GOP has struggled to push through a rule vote three times this year. 

The rule vote for the military, the Department of Homeland Security, State and agriculture on Tuesday night will take the temperature for how the rest of the week could play out for House Republicans.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has already said she is a ‘hard no’ on the rule because it includes ‘blood money’ for Ukraine.

McCarthy had said he would strip $300 million to train Ukrainian soldiers from the defense spending bill and hold a separate vote on it on Friday. But he did an about-face and decided to leave the money in their as he realized it would be too difficult to strip that and the Ukraine funding in the bill for State Department funding.  

The other GOP ‘no’ votes include Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.) and Dan Bishop (N.C.) and it’s not clear if any of them have changed their mind this week. 

Even if they are able to begin debate on the bills, it’s far from clear they could actually pass them.  

And if all 12 appropriations bills were passed by the House, a daunting feat in itself, the government would still shut down because the Senate would never take up and pass those bills by Saturday night. 

Meanwhile, McCarthy is pushing forward with a Republican-only continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government open and give his conference more time to push through spending bills. 

The Senate, meanwhile, is prepping a bill that could advance a Democrat-led CR  and put pressure on McCarthy to put it on the floor. 

And House moderates have begun to prep their own bipartisan CR plans and look at ways to advance them without the blessing of leadership. Some moderate Republicans have said they would join with Democrats on a discharge petition, meaning they could force a CR vote on the floor if five Republicans and all Democrats agree to it. 

McCarthy has urged his colleagues to fight against a shutdown, even as some seem open to closing the government to get what they want. Trump urged Republicans on Truth Social Sunday: ‘UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN!’ 

‘You have to keep the government open. I mean, if people want to close the government — only makes them weaker,’ McCarthy said. 

‘Why would they want to stop paying the troops or stop paying the border agents or the Coast Guard? I don’t understand how that makes you stronger. I don’t understand what point you’re trying to make.’ 

A sparsely populated area of Alaska home to hundreds UFO and ‘bigfoot’ style sightings has also seen 20,000 people disappear since 1970.

While many have a heard of the Bermuda Triangle, a patch of ocean in the Caribbean known for mysterious airplane and boating disasters, the so-called Alaskan Triangle has managed to slip largely under the public radar, despite having a missing persons rate more than double the national average. 

Located between Juneau, Anchorage and the small town of Barrow, the area is reportedly a hotbed of paranormal activity.

Explanations for the strange phenomenon have ranged from everything from alien activity to powerful electromagnetic fields in the area, similar to those found in the Bermuda Triangle. 

Local legends refer to a ‘sasquatch’ creature terrorizing towns. This includes one settlement called Portlock on the southern edge of the Kenai Peninsula which was abandoned in the 1950s after villagers were ‘attacked and killed’ by an unknown creature they called the Nantinaq.

In recent years however, the area has been the backdrop to thousands of unexplained vanishings.

Despite being just one per cent inhabited, Alaska has far and away the most missing people compared to any other state with  an average of 42.16 per 100,000, according to World Population Review.

The next highest state for missing persons is Arizona with 12.28, double the national average of 6.5 people per 100,000. 

One of the first disappearances to pique interest in the Alaska Triangle took place in 1972, when U.S. Reps. Hale Boggs and Nick Begich along with an aide and their pilot disappeared following a suspected plane crash.

The group was traveling from Anchorage to Juneau when they are thought to have gone down, though no wreckage or any bodies were ever found despite almost 40 days of searches. 

More recently Shanna Oman, 43, disappeared while visiting a friend in Fairbanks on June 3, 2019. Oman had made arrangements to get a ride home with a friend, but never materialized or returned home.

She left without any belongings or her dog and her disappearance has perplexed authorities who searched for days using helicopters and canine units. 

Even experienced outdoorsmen are not safe. In 2011, mountain rescuer Gerald DeBerry, 43, went out with a group in the White Mountains about 70 miles north of Fairbanks to search for a missing woman but never returned from the expedition.

A year later his ATV was discovered with the engine switched off, but no sign of its owner.

Various conspiracy theories have been posited as an explanation to the mass disappearances in the area. 

Field researcher Ken Gerhard told the History Channel that the triangle could be a ‘vile vortice’, a lozenge-shaped area with increased electromagnetic force.

He said: ‘The theory is that these particular areas are supercharged with geo electromagnetic energy and that abundance of electromagnetic energy results in some strange things’.’

A new Discovery documentary has interviewed people with some of the most compelling paranormal experiences. They include Wes Smith who saw ‘very strange’ triangular objects flying without emitting any sound.

He said: ‘It’s like everything you’ve ever been taught has gone out of the window, because how is that possible?’

UFO expert Debbie Ziegelmeyer told the Daily Star that Alaska’s sparse population makes it ‘attractive’ to extraterrestrials. 

‘They can pretty much go where they want,’ said Debbie, who is the Star Team Investigator for MUFON . ‘That’s the attraction of Alaska.’

MUFON believes that aliens could be trying to spy on the military technology on display across the Alaskan Triangle and points to a rise in UFO sightings since World War Two. 

One of the biggest disappearances was the loss of 44 military personnel aboard a a Douglas C-54 Skymaster en route from Alaska to Montana. Despite one of the biggest joint search and rescue missions by Canadian and American authorities, no trace has ever been found.

Meanwhile, cryptozoologist Cliff Barackman told the outlet that ‘anything, of any size,’ could be hiding in the Alaskan wilderness. 

He said: ‘With so much fantastic habitat and so few people to compete with, Sasquatches basically have the run of Alaska’.

A suspect who is at the centre of a murder investigation after a man was allegedly stabbed to death in Portugal is a British drainage engineer, MailOnline can reveal.

Josh James Menkens is alleged to have been one of the organisers of a mini-festival known as the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party last weekend near a remote commune known as Libelinha Venture in central Portugal.

The festival, which was hosted at an off-grid property, descended into chaos after the body of a 35-year-old British man was found in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The victim is alleged to have been stabbed to death after getting into a row with his attacker while playing the Blue Whale suicide game – an online challenge linked to a series of deaths worldwide. 

Menkens, who is 27, was pictured today being taken from a courthouse in the city of Leiria, an hour’s drive away from the commune after being quizzed by a judge investigating the case.

His head covered by a coat, Menkens was hustled into an unmarked police car as a man believed to be his father shouted, ‘Your mother loves you son, we all love you.’

Police sources confirmed that Menkens has been named as an ‘arguido’ (suspect) in the case and will reappear before the judge tomorrow for further questioning.

It comes after a suspected murder case which shattered the tranquility of the forest valleys in Pedrogao Grande in the centre of the country.

The rambling Libelinha Venture, which includes 24-acres of wide open woodland, hills and shrubbery, is run by new-age privately educated British businessman Xavier Hancock and his Spanish partner Arantxa Atauri.

It is believed to have been hosting a festival for British and Dutch visitors called the ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’, when the body of a 35-year-old British man was found less then a mile away on Sunday, September 24.

Police sources said the suspect and victim had been at a party at the couple’s ‘off-grid living community’ before moving onto woodland outside the commune. 

In 2017, it was bought by eccentric British businessman Xavier Hancock, who attended the £15,000-a-year St Edward’s school, and transformed into a peaceful oasis of communal calm outfitted by the sites distinctive white teepees.

For potential visitors, Hancock, who set up the commune with his Spanish partner Arantxa Atauri, promises the chance to ‘reconnect’ with nature ‘during a journey towards self sustainability’.

Hancock, who is believed to have hosted the 27-year-old suspect and the victim at the commune prior to the incident, has said he is fully co-operating with police investigations while they probe the circumstances around the death. 

There is no suggestion whatsoever that Hancock or Arantxa are in any way involved in the crime.

Police confirmed yesterday they were initially told the British man’s death was linked to an argument that started while he and his friends were playing the Blue Whale suicide challenge.

The online game has been linked to numerous deaths around the world and consists of initially innocuous tasks before introducing elements of self-harm.

But sources close to the investigation subsequently insisted they had found no evidence there was a Blue Whale link to the death.

Correio da Manha claimed today the suspect had only mentioned the game ‘after having confessed to the crime’ as a way of ‘explaining the situation that led to the macabre death.’

The alarm was raised around 6.30am on Sunday and the suspect reportedly admitted stabbing his alleged victim before taking police to the remote woodland spot where his body was.

The knife investigators believe was used to kill him was found alongside the body, left in a small clearing in woodland close to the village of Figueiro dos Vinhos about a 15-minute drive from the town of Pedrogao Grande in central Portugal.

Footage published by Portuguese daily Correio da Manha showed police lifting the dead man’s body on a stretcher after it was covered with a sheet and putting it into the back of a nearby van.

A waiting Red Cross ambulance took it to Coimbra after officers reached the nearest tarmacked road.

A post-mortem is thought to have taken place yesterday in the university city of Coimbra, although the results have not been made public.

Well-placed sources said both the 35-year-old victim and suspected murderer had been part of a larger group of around six British people who had been living in the ‘off-grid living community’ and were due to fly back to the UK in about a week’s time. 

One well-placed source said the suspect and other Brits questioned by police on Sunday as witnesses had been at a party at a campsite inside the community grounds before leaving to go to nearby woodland outside it where the stabbing occurred.

Another police source said: ‘A group of about half a dozen people the suspect and dead man were part of were staying at a campsite near to the place where the victim’s body was found.

‘It appears they had attended a party there earlier that night before leaving to head for the woodland where the stabbing happened.’

The group are understood to have been planning to fly back to the UK in about a week’s time.

Respected Portuguese broadcaster SIC said the group often held parties and played the Blue Whale game – but there were contradictory reports in local media about whether the group of Britons had been playing at the time of the murder.

The lethal Blue Whale ‘game’ involves 50 tasks in as many days, aimed at ‘creating psychologically traumatising situations’, ending with suicide.

Participants join a ‘group’ where the tasks are set by a group ‘administrator’ and can range from watching horror movies to waking at strange hours, and eventually progresses to self harming.

On the 50th day, the controlling manipulators behind the game, which originated in Russia in 2015, reportedly instruct the participants, who are usually teenagers, to kill themselves.

The game, which reportedly started in Russia, has caused numerous deaths around the world, including Ukraine, India and the United States.

First reports about its victims appeared in Russia in 2016, and in 2020 police in Britain issued a warning to parents to be mindful of their children’s online activities, urging them to talk about the dangers they can face.

At the time, Northants Police said: ‘We are aware of a disturbing social media challenge circulating called the ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ which encourages teenagers to take part in a series of 50 challenges that culminate in committing suicide.

‘This challenge first appeared in 2016 and tasks are given online or through text messages, instant messages or posts on Instagram and Twitter.

‘Please talk to your children about the dangers and tell them not to open any messages or challenges of this kind.’

Reno, Nevada, has been named the happiest place to live in America, chosen as an reformative and affordable ‘modern boomtown’ with fair weather and creative outlets year round.

The city was chosen by Outside, based on factors including overall well-being, public land and affordability, and climate change and inclusivity. 

Millions of surveys were scoured to assess the best urban areas in the US for well-being, before the researchers looked at house and rental prices and general walkability.

Reno was ultimately judged the best in class, undertaking massive transformations to become more inclusive and accessible, attracting major companies like Amazon and Tesla without losing sight of its local arts and crafts culture.

Reno placed above Wilmington, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Charlottesville, Hood River, Minneapolis, Glenwood Springs, Harrisburg and Plano to clinch the top spot among regions with a population between 5,000 and 500,000.

Reno, Nevada

Population: 273,448

Median house price: $550,000

Percentage parkland: 5%

Outside described Reno as a ‘modern boomtown’, bustling with green, open spaces, climbing gyms and a summer arts festival as part of a local revival. 

The outlet noted ‘ample public land and mountain vibe’ in its decision to award the city the top spot in the rankings.

With a new bike trail attracting cyclists, and nearby Lake Tahoe welcoming in skiers, the city has enough adventure for locals and tourists year-round, making it a go-to destination inclusive of all.

Wilmington, Delaware

Population: 71,569

Median house price: $255,000

Percentage parkland: 6.8%

Well-connected Wilmington neighbors Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore and Washington D.C., offering walkability and community to residents.

Delaware’s largest city is built at the meeting point of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, and has had its riverfront revitalized in recent years.

Wilmington boasts nearly 70 parks, including the 178-acre Brandywine Park and the Alapocas Run, a 415-acre space filled with hiking and biking trails.

Outside reports that the city has an inclusive local culture, with LGBTQ+ community leader Dinea Elliott Collins saying: ‘When I travel to other parts of the country, I realize how safe and comfortable I feel in Wilmington.’ 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

Population: 369,749

Median house price: $360,000

Percentage parkland: 23%

Some 80 per cent of residents in New Orleans live within a ten-minute walk of a park, making the city one of the most attractive for residents who enjoy outdoor spaces.

Culturally, the city has many attractions bringing visitors each year – from the colonial-era French Quarter to St Charles Avenue and Magazine Street’s rows of antique shops.

New Orleans remains one of the country’s most-visited cities for its deep and complex history, preserving its past in a number of significant museums.

In 2016, the city was also ranked the best in the US for live music, cocktail hour and cheap eats – but last for safety.

Outside references the city’s culture and cuisine, friendliness towards LQBTQ+ people and ‘underrated’ green spaces in awarding it third place. 

Cincinnati, Ohio   

Population: 309,513

Median house price: $272,750

Percentage parkland: 17 per cent

In the late 1800s, Cincy was dubbed the ‘Paris of America’, due to ambitious architectural projects that still line the streets of its urban center.

Developed as a river town for shipping, the city remains an industralized hub with a large economy attractive to large employers and a quaint market pavilion for merchants to sell local produce.

It also remains one of the greenest, with 88 per cent of residents living ten-minutes from a park – and a temperate climate ensuring beautiful year-round vistas to be found in the city’s 365 parks and recreation areas.

Benefitting from large-scale immigration from Germany in the 1840s, the city also benefits from a rich brewing tradition and has more than 80 organizations still making local beer – surely pushing it up the rankings for happiest places to live.

Charlottesville, Virginia

Population: 45,373

Median house price: $456,000

Percentage parkland: 10 per cent

The independent city of Charlottesville is much smaller than most of its competitors but boasts the same balance of work opportunities and scenic getaways shared by the country’s happiest.

Outside notes the city’s local University of Virginia has given Charlottesville a ‘vibrant startup culture’, with high rates of graduates and low unemployment. 

The city’s commercial district, The Corner, also provides Charlottesville with a number of college bars and restaurants, as well as a considerable nightlife scene.

Around the city, a 20-mile trail offers hikers and bikers a picturesque loop lined with places beautiful riverside spaces, and a number of breweries are ‘scattered throughout the surrounding countryside’, according to Outside.

Hood River, Oregon

Population: 8,352

Median house price: $656,750

Percentage parkland: 4

The small town of Hood River is noted for its rich outdoors activities, leading with a ‘vast network’ of trails and spaces to surf the Columbia River.

The town is only an hour east of Portland and remains connected to local hubs, but retains an independent presence and rich local food scene helped by its rural farms. 

While rents are a little higher than in other happy cities, Hood River has taken steps to build new developments for residents on lower incomes.

The city is also taking strides towards reflecting ambitions of racial and social equity in policymaking.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Population: 425,096

Median house price: $340,000

Percentage parkland: 15 per cent

Minneapolis scored 97 on Outside’s ranking for cyclists, and was this year voted number one in People for Bikes’ annual large-city ratings. 

With 180 parks, the city offers residents lush scenery joined together by an expansive network of cycle paths and trails.

The city is also noted for its investment into low-income neighborhoods and its ‘excellent’ hospitals.

Outside notes that the murder of George Floyd in 2020 ‘revealed serious problems with law enforcement’ in the city.

The police department has reportedly undergone a number of reforms in the years since.

Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Population: 10,264

Median house price: $726,720

Percentage parkland: 2

The resort city of Glenwood Springs placed eighth on Outside’s list of the top 15 happiest places to live in the US, credited for its hot springs and easy access to outdoor sports activities.

The town is situated in the Rocky Mountains at the meeting point of the Roaring Fork River and the Colorado River, creating stunning vistas. 

Since the 1980s, coordinated investment has transformed the town’s geography to better accommodate hikers and cyclists, building modern trails and reducing congestion in the center.

The region’s newfound popularity has, however, pushed up housing costs – which officials are looking to tackle with new affordable housing projects. 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Population: 50,183

Median house price: $176,000

Percentage parkland: 8

The Pennsylvania capital has long been a desirable destination for young families with affordable housing and vibrant cultural outlets.

In 2010, the city was ranked the second best place in the country to raise a family, after Des Moines, Iowa.

Since then, Harrisburg has attracted steady growth in the number of bars, concerts and events – in turn building a significant music and entertainment scene in recent years.

Again, the city benefits from local mountains, cycling trails and spaces to kayak for those keen on soaking up the local environment. 

Plano, Texas

Population: 289,547

Median house price: $540,000

Percentage parkland: 3

Plano, Texas, ranked tenth in Outside’s list of the happiest places to live in the US.

The city is one of the larger nominations, the 72nd most populous city in the country, and remains one of the fastest growing.

Steadily, Plano has attracted grown into a significant business hub and the headquarters of many major corporations.

Still, the city itself enjoys 85 parks and public pools – and preserves access to two nature preserves around the town, spanning some 1,000+ acres in total.

Plano now boasts a lively music and entertainment scene, a host of restaurants – and a farmers’ market. 

Anchorage, Alaska 

Population: 287,145

Median house price: $400,000

Percentage parkland: 80

Alaska’s largest city is 80 per cent parkland, despite hosting nearly 300,000 people, and spans 1,706 square miles – making it the fourth-largest by area in the United States.

Surprisingly, though, the city remains highly walkable and accessible to cyclists – relying on a trail network covering more than 500 miles. 

According to the Anchorage Park Foundation, 95 per cent of residents say the trails make the city a great place.

Others cite the wildlife and fantastic views, as well as the city’s investment in preserving and celebrating local history and languages.

Madison, Wisconsin

Population: 272,903

Median house price: $395,000

Percentage parkland: 14

Between two lakes, Madison enjoys vast landscapes and more than 280 parks, increasingly accessible as the city invests in new tracks and trails.

In winter, residents can also enjoy the city’s sports scene – including ice skating, hockey, ice fishing and cross-country skiing.

One of the most accessible cities by bike, residents can quickly zip between the city’s 18 conservation parks and a bustling city, known for its museums and galleries.

Madison is the fastest-growing city in the state, featuring a lively technology sector and exciting opportunities in health start ups.

Frederick, Maryland 

Population: 82,175

Median house price: $435,000

Percentage parkland: 7.8

Frederick is just an hour from Baltimore and Washington D.C., and is one of the more walkable cities on the list.

Nearly 90 per cent of residents live within ten minutes of a park – and sprawling public lands make the city ideal for hikers.

Frederick is home to a number of antique shops and themed events, preserving its unique culture – while continuing to invest in new arts and entertainment outlets.

Saint Petersburg, Florida

Population: 261,256

Median house price: $430,000

Percentage parkland: 14

With 244 miles of shoreline, St Petersburg is ideal for beachgoers and fishers.

As well as celebrating a number of professional sports teams, the city is also home to quieter activities, like the Salvador Dali Museum, a number of libraries and the Chihuly Collection.

Residents can enjoy the city’s breadth of historical districts, all with unique draws and cultural artefacts.

St Petersburg may not be the most walkable city on the list, but remains attractive to cyclists and rollerbladers. 

Tacoma, Washington

Population: 221,776

Median house price: $472,500

Percentage parkland: 7

Tacoma is a little smaller than St Petersburg but still enjoys 46 miles of coastline and beaches.

The city is home to 120 parks and remains fairly accessible by foot and by bike, connecting large forests and outdoor spaces with the cultural hubs in the city.

Nearby, Tacoma also has access to Mount Rainier – and is only 90 minutes from the slopes at Crystal Mountain.

Cleaning up Commencement Bay and the Dune Peninsula in recent years have opened up the city’s natural spaces for visitors to enjoy.