Reports from the field in Pennsylvania as shooting breaks out

The networks scrambled into live mode when shots were fired at the rally for former president Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania July 13, which saw Trump sustain a bullet wound to the ear moments after he took the stage.

NBC News said it went for a special report at 6:20 p.m. ET, anchored by Jose Diaz-Balart, who anchors the Saturday NBC Nightly News. Anchor Lester Holt came on at 6:54. Additional coverage came from correspondents Dasha Burns and Tom Winter, and Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker, among others.

ABC News went live with World News Tonight Saturday anchor Whit Johnson in New York at 6:23 p.m., and senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott leading coverage at the rally. She reported, Within minutes of former President Donald Trump taking the stage, we heard a series of popping sounds. Within seconds, it appeared that Secret Service then rushed up onto the stage as members of the crowd started screaming. Then the former president was taken down to the ground for several moments, and then all of a sudden, he did emerge back up as Secret Service was escorting him off of the stage. He did raise his fist at acknowledgment that he appeared to be okay.

On CBS, Adriana Diaz, CBS Weekend News Saturday anchor, anchored the live coverage. Correspondent Scott MacFarlane and reporters Olivia Rinaldi and Jake Rosen were on the ground at the rally. MacFarlane said, That there was some type of explosive noise. The former president had to be tackled and taken offstage by a Secret Service with blood appearing to come from his head. That a crowd of thousands at a presidential rally had to hit the ground. Some of them colliding with each other. Equipment falling on their heads and our heads at one point. No matter what this ends up being, this is a security failure at an event that is secured by the U.S. Secret Service and any number of other law enforcement agencies, where everybody in the space had to be screened and wanted by metal detectors and officers. It’s just calamitous as a failure.

Margaret Brennan, CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of Face the Nation, and correspondent Robert Costa reported from Washington alongside Diaz.

A bloodied Trump was escorted from the stage in Butler by his security detail, pumping his fist in defiance and mouthing the word fight.

On cable, Fox News coverage featured Shannon Bream, Fox News Sunday anchor, with America’s Newsroom co-anchor Bill Hemmer and chief political anchor Bret Baier and chief political analyst Brit Hume contributing.

CNN reported that at least one audience member at the rally was killed in the shooting, and two more are critically injured. The shooter was killed too.

On the local side, KDKA Pittsburgh, identified the shooter. The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania. This remains an active and ongoing investigation, it reported.

The coverage continues Sunday. On NBC, Savannah Guthrie and Willie Geist anchor a special edition of Today Sunday morning starting at 7 a.m. On CBS, CBS News Sunday Morning has been preempted, with John Dickerson anchoring a live CBS News special report 9-10:30.

The Life Makers Foundation and the Egyptian Food Bank on Sunday announced the winners of the UniGreen National Competition. This event, which concluded with a grand ceremony, highlighted groundbreaking startups dedicated to combating climate change.

The competition, funded by the European Union and supported by prominent partners such as Samsung, Nile University, and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, aimed to foster sustainable solutions. The Egyptian Food Bank played a pivotal role, with CEO Mohsen Sarhan serving on the judging panel.

Among the winners, ECOPACK stood out for its innovative approach to manufacturing alternative packaging materials from agricultural waste. The Egyptian Food Bank has committed to purchasing one million food containers from ECOPACK, providing upfront payment to boost the startup’s operational capacity. This initiative is part of the Food Bank’s broader strategy to support small-scale farmers and startups, enhancing product quality and environmental sustainability.

The competition witnessed over 400 applications, with 20 promising projects shortlisted and 10 advancing to the final stages. The five winning teams – Soilsolir, Agrican, Greenflames, Neo Petra, and Food Sorting AI – were celebrated for their innovative solutions and potential to drive significant developmental impacts.

This collaboration underscores the commitment of the Egyptian Food Bank and Life Makers Foundation to fostering sustainable development and environmental conservation in Egypt.

Australia is in the grips of an opioid crisis. Opioid related-deaths — some from illicit drugs including heroin, but many more from prescription opioids commonly used to treat pain — have dramatically increased over the past two decades.

In 2022, more than 1,022 people died from opioid drugs in Australia.

What you may not know is that there’s a free, over-the-counter medicine that can prevent opioid overdose deaths — and it’s available in pharmacies across Australia under a Federal Government scheme called Take Home Naloxone.

This is one of the first examples in the world of a free, national program, with access through such a broad range of settings. But the scheme’s uptake has been slow.

Naloxone is a safe and effective medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. It can be given by injection or through a nasal spray; just one dose sprayed in one nostril is enough to reverse most overdoses.

Naloxone has been an over-the-counter medicine in Australia since 2016. Uptake of the medicine in the community has been slow, originally due to its cost.

But in 2022, naloxone was made available for free — and without a prescription — at community pharmacies around Australia, through the national Take Home Naloxone program.

As part of this program, which research shows is a key strategy to prevent opioid deaths, naloxone is given to laypeople such as family members, peers or carers to administer if they witness an overdose. They’re also given information about the symptoms of overdose and how to use naloxone.

Unfortunately, despite the drug being freely available for two years under the national scheme, naloxone has not been universally adopted by those who could benefit from it.

Research by the Monash Addiction Research Centre explored how common it is for community pharmacies to stock naloxone.

It surveyed 530 community pharmacies across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia about their stocking and provision of naloxone, and found just 60 percent of community pharmacies stocked the drug.

Other barriers stand in the way of increasing naloxone supply. A big one is knowledge about naloxone for pharmacists and pharmacy staff. There’s also not enough awareness of the drug among the different populations which may benefit from receiving it.

There are several key populations for whom naloxone is relevant, each with different potential barriers to consider.

For people who inject opioids such as heroin, knowledge about opioid overdose is generally high, and naloxone is familiar and acceptable. But unfortunately, stigma often prevents naloxone supply to that group.

Research found Australian pharmacists were less comfortable discussing overdose with people who use illicit opioids compared to people who are prescribed opioids for pain.

Access to naloxone could also be increased across a range of other harm reduction and health settings. For example, naloxone will soon be made available in vending machines across Victoria, which may further increase access while removing barriers including stigma and opening hours.

People who are prescribed opioid pain medicines are another key population for overdose information and naloxone supply. For this group, there is often limited knowledge about signs of opioid overdose, and a limited recognition of opioid-related risk factors.

People who use other drugs, such as stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine, MDMA or ketamine, haven’t typically been a focus of naloxone programs. But this is changing following recent concern around the threat of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and more recently nitazenes contaminating the illicit drug market.

If these synthetic opioids turn up in other street drugs, people who use them may unknowingly ingest opioids and be at risk of opioid overdose. The lack of drug checking services across most of Australia means most people who use illicit drugs don’t know exactly what’s in the drugs they are taking.

This now makes overdose education and naloxone supply for anyone who may use illicit drugs important.

An Opioid Safety Toolkit — a partnership between Monash University, Painaustralia, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia — will be distributed later this year. Funded by the Commonwealth Government, this toolkit will help raise awareness of naloxone and overdose risk for this population.

Professor Suzanne Nielsen (BPharmSc[Hons] PhD MPS) is the Deputy Director, and an NHHRC Investigator Grant Fellow at the Monash Addiction Research Centre in Melbourne.

Dr Louisa Picco (MPH, PhD) is a NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow at the Monash Addiction Research Centre in Melbourne.

Saint Lucia is poised to launch its Semi-Professional Cricket League (SPCL), marking a significant milestone in the island’s cricketing journey. The government’s unwavering commitment to the sport is evident through this initiative, which aims to provide substantial support for cricket development.

The upcoming Saint Lucia T20 Cricket competition, coupled with the potential to host matches in this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL), solidifies the island’s position as a premier cricket venue. Notably, ongoing improvements to the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (DSCG) and the proposed National Entertainment Centre underscore Saint Lucia’s dedication to fostering a vibrant sports and entertainment ecosystem.

Sports Minister Kenson Casimir recently revealed plans for the SPCL, tentatively scheduled for launch in October. Inspired by the success of hosting matches during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the government is investing in the ‘Legacy Project,’ which includes staging the Saint Lucia T20 Cricket competition.

Over the next two years, significant investments will be made in player compensation and sponsorship to maintain enthusiasm for cricket and talent identification. The authorities are working diligently to ensure the success of the T20 local cricket competition, with venues like Gros Islet, Mindoo Phillip Park (MPP), DSCG, and the Phillip Marcellin Grounds (PMG) identified for matches.

Saint Lucia’s hosting of the recent ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the DSCG exceeded expectations, positioning the country as a premiere cricket venue worldwide. Kent Crafton and his crew’s meticulous pitch preparation have contributed to this legacy.

He said, the authorities have contacted the organisers of the original Saint Lucia Premier League (SPL) cricket competition, and planning has been in effect for October, this year …and those timelines can be shifted, as we are in very tumultuous times as it pertains to weather patterns.

Added Casimir: We are working feverishly to ensure that we have the biggest T20 local cricket competition…and we as a government are going to make the necessary investment to ensure that exciting cricket continues in our island.

The sports minister stated that, the ‘October Timeline’ is set as a feasible date to get the SPCL competition going across the island.

Casimir notes that work was also completed to such amenities, as the locker rooms, media centre, installation of a modern lighting system and upgrades to other playing facilities.

The sports minister said that Saint Lucia is also looking forward to host matches in this year’s CPL- popularly dubbed ‘The Greatest Party in Sports’, globally.

On the upkeep of the DSCG, as the facility will be utilised to stage several entertainment activities for the carnival season and beyond, the sports minister disclosed, We’ve put together a comprehensive… usage policy or guideline for our facilities. My concern will continue to be the discipline of our people …because we have a country, where a lot of the times we put everything in place and the individuals that are supposed to follow these guidelines, do not.

In Saint Lucia, the controversial issue pertaining to the use of sporting facilities as entertainment venues has ‘crossed over lines’ with mixed responses.

To address this issue, the minister hinted at the establishment of a National Entertainment Centre, that will allow for those big mass crowd events.

Legendary Australian radio presenter Ron E Sparks has passed away at the age of 73. His former colleagues at WSFM101.7 shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram. Ron began his illustrious career in Sydney in the 1970s and went on to become a prominent voice on radio and television. He leaves behind a lasting legacy in the industry and will be deeply missed. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.