▪️A sheriff's deputy has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting two women in custody at a Southern California jail, authorities said.

The 30-year-old deputy with the Orange County Sheriff's Department could face charges including assault under the color of authority and sexual activity between a peace officer and inmate, according to a department statement.

An investigation began Aug. 8 when staff at Theo Lacy jail intercepted unspecified communication that described the alleged misconduct, the statement said. The deputy is suspected of establishing an inappropriate relationship with two female inmates starting in May.

“He is alleged to have sexually assaulted the female inmates separately on multiple occasions by sexually touching them over their clothes and showing them pornographic videos while in their housing locations,” the department statement said. The case will be forwarded to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

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⛽️The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline plummeted 45 cents over the past three weeks to $4.10 per gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the continued decline comes as crude oil costs remain low.

"The drop of a dollar per gallon has not been enough to restore motorist demand, which is in retreat due to sustained high price levels," Lundberg said. The average price at the pump has been down a dollar over the past nine weeks, but it's 85 cents higher than it was one year ago.

Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas was in the San Francisco Bay Area, at $5.36 per gallon. The lowest average was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at $3.38 per gallon.

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🇪🇨Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso says he has been diagnosed with melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, and will travel to the United States to undergo additional testing.

Lasso underwent surgery on July 29, 2022, in Ecuador for a lesion on his right eyelid that was thought to be basal cell carcinoma, another type of skin cancer. Still, test results indicate that it is melanoma, according to the president’s Sunday statement to the media, quoted by the Ecuadorian Ecuavisa TV channel.
The president told Ecuadorian media that he would make a personal trip to The United States to undergo medical screening there.

Lasso informed the National Assembly on Friday that he would be absent from the country from August 16-21 to undergo medical treatment in Houston, Texas.

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⚡️#BreakingNews Parkgoers evacuated due to a shooting at Six Flags Great America amusement park in Gurnee, Illinois.

◾️A powerful explosion hit a large market in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Sunday, starting a fire and killing at least three people. Up to 60 people were reported injured. Some 25 people are still missing, according to local authorities.

Firefighters labored hours after the early afternoon blast at the Surmalu market to put out the blaze. Later on Sunday, Armenia saw bomb threats targeting metro stations and unspecified significant military and civilian facilities.

At least three people were reportedly rescued from beneath the debris. It was not immediately clear what caused the fireworks to detonate. The open-air market, some two kilometers (over a mile) south of Yerevan's center, is famous for its low prices and a wide variety of merchandise.

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‘A Year With Taliban’: Kabul Residents Tell Sputnik About Their Struggles (Part 1)

On 15 August 2021, the Taliban* gained control of Afghanistan, raising their flag over the presidential palace in Kabul. Speaking with Sputnik Afghanistan, residents of the capital said that the security situation in the country has generally improved over the past year. However, the number of problems they face every day is only increasing: unemployment and the prices of goods and services are on the rise.

Note: $1 is worth roughly 90 afghanis.

*The Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities

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🗣 Senator Rand Paul is calling for the Espionage Law to be repealed after the FBI conducted a high-profile search of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate of former president Donald Trump

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📹 Residents of Lisichansk told how Ukrainian forces destroyed every part of the settlement, going round in a loop starting at the very center

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LIVE UPDATES | Four dead, 14 injured in Ukrainian forces' shelling of DPR in 24 hours, authorities say

📹 Russia’s MoD has published footage of an Iskander missile's combat operations during the special operation

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⚡️⚡️ US Congressmen's visit to Taiwan violates PRC's sovereignty, territorial integrity, Chinese MoD says

Chinese armed forces conducts military exercises, patrols around Taiwan in response to collusion between Taipei and Washington, Defense Ministry says

LIVE | Live from Kabul on the first anniversary of Taliban takeover

LIVE | Chinese Foreign Ministry holds press briefing after US lawmakers' visit to Taiwan

🗣 The Iranian government's spokesman Nasser Kanaani denies that Tehran was involved in the attempted murder of writer Sir Salman Rushdie in New York, stating that "no one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran"

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⚡️US basketball player Brittney Griner appealed the verdict for drug smuggling, her lawyer told Sputnik

⚡️ ⚡️Explosion occurs at defense facility in Serbia, two employees injured, reports say