Russian opposition activists held small one-man protests in Moscow Saturday to demand free elections, as the wave of the Russian capital's larger demonstrations took a breather this weekend. In a move to circumvent restrictions by the authorities, activists took turns to hold protest signs as such demonstrations do not technically need approval. The protests, held at several locations in central Moscow, were a far cry from the wave of rallies in which tens of thousands took to the streets after opposition figures were banned from local elections a month ago.

Jeffrey Epstein's planes recorded at least 730 flights to and from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey between 1995 and 2013, according to flight logs.

A woman cheated death when she fell nearly a mile to the ground after her parachute and emergency back-up apparently both failed to open.Witnesses who saw her plunge nearly 5000ft to the ground said it was a miracle she wasn’t killed.She hit a clump of trees, breaking her fall, and escaped with only fractured bones, including broken vertebrae.Police Quebec in Canada are investigating whether there was any criminal negligence.After jumping from the plane at a skydiving centre in Trois-Rivieres, the woman escaped with her life by hitting a wooded area.Denis Demers, who saw her fall, told Radio-Canada: "It’s a miracle. I don’t know how a person can survive a fall from an airplane like that."He said it appeared that neither the main parachute nor the emergency back-up had opened.Police told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the 30-year-old parachutist, who has not yet been identified, was an experienced skydiver.She was admitted to hospital but her life was not in danger, they said.Another witness, Oceane Duplessis, said she was getting ready to get on another plane when she saw the woman."We watched all the way to the end. We kept hoping something would happen," she said. "We were very worried. Very."According to Scienceabc.com, a person without a parachute will fall at a typical speed of 120mph – or 60 metres (196ft) a second.The skydive company, which is reported to be investigating, has been contacted for comment.

A gun-rights group sued Thursday to block California from enforcing its assault weapons ban, contending it violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The lawsuit was the latest among gun advocacy and lobbying groups to challenge California's firearms laws, which are among the strictest in the country, and comes after a recent series of deadly mass shootings nationwide involving military-style rifles. The lawsuit was filed in the same San Diego federal court district where a judge in April tossed out a nearly two-decade-old California ban on sales and purchases of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 bullets.

Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson surrenders but Proud Boys to fore in event expected to attract ‘antifa’ counter-protestIn a photograph from 4 August, a protester participates in a rally in Portland, Oregon. Photograph: Mark Graves/APAs Portland prepared for what may be one of the biggest political demonstrations of the US summer, longtime rightwing leader Joey Gibson turned himself in to city authorities.Outside the Multnomah County Justice Center, Gibson told reporters, and his supporters via Facebook, the arrest warrant against him was “without a doubt an assault on the first amendment”.“I have never been violent,” he said.The 35-year-old is one of six men associated with rightwing rallies in the Oregon city to be arrested or charged since 7 August, relating to a violent incident on 1 May at Cider Riot, a bar favored by the left.Video shows men who have attended Gibson’s Patriot Prayer rallies in the city, and who arrived at the bar in his company, exchanging pepper spray with bar patrons, striking people with batons and fighting.Gibson claimed the charges against him were “completely political. This is [Portland mayor] Ted Wheeler doing everything he can because he’s been caught.” He accused Wheeler of “coordinating with” and “protecting” anti-fascist demonstrators or “antifa”, a refrain in his speeches since 2017.Gibson’s attorney, Multnomah county Republican chair James Buchal, said in a statement the charges were “part and parcel of the dishonest campaign by Portland leaders to blame out-of-town demonstrators for violence that began and persists because antifa wants to shut down any rightwing demonstrations in Portland.”Asked via email if he thought the charges were timed in relation to the weekend rally, Buchal answered: “Yes.”A booking photo shows Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson. Photograph: Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office/APGibson has organized protests in the city throughout the Trump era, under the banner of the organization he founded, Patriot Prayer. Several have become violent.Gibson’s critics have pointed to the presence at times of members of white nationalist groups like Identity Evropa and the PDX Stormers. But above all the events have been characterized by the growing presence of the Proud Boys, a “western chauvinist” group.The Proud Boys have played a leading role in the organization of Saturday’s event. The main promoter, Joe Biggs, is a Proud Boy, a combat veteran and a sometime presenter on the Infowars conspiracy channel.Biggs has issued a series of threats to “antifa” in recent weeks, leading up to an event framed by the right as a response to the conservative writer Andy Ngo being milkshaked – having a drink poured over him – and punched at a rally in Portland on 29 June.The event’s Facebook page and a page started by Biggs following an initial ban were removed from the site on Friday. That afternoon, Biggs posted to the encrypted messaging app Telegram photographs of he and other men lifting weights in a back yard.City authorities spent the day fortifying the waterfront area where attendees at the un-permitted “Amend Domestic Terrorism” rally are expected to face counter-protesters. In the afternoon, the Portland Bureau of Transportation began ferrying in concrete barriers.In a press conference, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) spokeswoman Lt Tina Jones said it had been assessed that the event was likely to be “beyond the resources” of her department, even though all leave had been cancelled for the day.PPB issued a list of partner agencies helping with enforcement, crowd management and preparation. It included police departments statewide, Oregon state police, the FBI and various municipal authorities.Earlier in the week, Mayor Wheeler assembled members of 90 community organizations in Portland’s central square. He denounced violence and announced a no-tolerance policy for lawbreakers at the rally.