A 60-year-old office worker was found dead at her desk in an Arizona corporate office, days after she had last scanned into the building, authorities said, according to ABC News.

The body of Denise Prudhomme, an employee at a Wells Fargo corporate office in Tempe, was discovered in a third-floor cubicle on Tuesday, according to Tempe police. Records show Prudhomme had last scanned into the building on August 16, at 7 AM, with no indication that she had left the premises.

Police said Prudhomme worked in an underpopulated area of the building, which may explain why her absence went unnoticed for so long. While the cause of death has not yet been determined, preliminary investigations found no obvious signs of foul play.

Wells Fargo expressed their condolences: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague, Denise Prudhomme. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones, and we are in contact to ensure they are well-supported during this difficult time. We are committed to the safety and wellness of our workforce." The company has made counselors available to support employees affected by the tragic discovery.

According to police reports, authorities responded after on-site security called about an employee they believed to be deceased. Prudhomme was officially pronounced dead at 4:55 pm on August 20.

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The state of Arizona could be laying the groundwork for executing death row inmates in gas chambers, The Guardian reported Friday. The state's  Corrections Department purchased the ingredients to make hydrogen cyanide, the same deadly gas that was used by Nazis for the mass murder of Jews and other groups during the Holocaust. 

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The British paper revealed that the department spent more than $2,000 in procuring the ingredients to make the gas and sodium hydroxide pellets and sulfuric acid to generate it.

The gas chamber, housed in the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, was built in 1949 but has not been used for 22 years. According to documents obtained by The Guardian, it has recently been "refurbished." 

The state, the report said, was looking for alternatives to restart its "deeply flawed" execution system, which was suspended in 2014 following the "botched" execution of convicted murderer Joseph Wood who had to be injected 15 times. A process that should have taken 10 minutes dragged on for two whole hours. 

Officials also reportedly conducted a series of tests last August to appraise its "operability," and in December, it was declared "operationally ready," the Guardian reported.

Arizona death row inmates would be given a choice to decide which way to die – by lethal injection or in a gas chamber. The former is a method widely used in death penalty states and was considered a more humane alternative to gas, electric chair, or firing squad. That is, until Wood's botched execution. 

Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said: "You have to wonder what Arizona was thinking in believing that in 2021 it is acceptable to execute people in a gas chamber with cyanide gas. Did they have anybody study the history of the Holocaust?"

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Trump defied local authorities by holding a Saturday night rally in tiny Minden after his initial plan to hold one in Reno was stopped out of concern it would have violated coronavirus health guidelines. Unleashing 90-plus minutes of grievances and attacks, Trump claimed the state's Democratic governor tried to block him and repeated his false claim that mail-in ballots would taint the election result.

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"This is the guy we are entrusting with millions of ballots, unsolicited ballots, and we're supposed to win these states. Who the hell is going to trust him?" Trump said of Gov. Steve Sisolak. "The only way the Democrats can win the election is if they rig it."

As part of his ongoing crusade against mail-in voting, lawyers for the president's reelection campaign are urging a federal judge in Las Vegas to block a state law and prevent mail-in ballots from going to all active Nevada voters less than eight weeks before the election.

Addressing a mostly mask-less crowd tightly packed together, Trump spoke in front of mountains draped in haze, the scent of smoke in the air from wildfires raging a state away in California. The president expressed his condolences to the victims but, declaring that "I don't have to be nice anymore," focused on tearing into his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

Trump claimed that the Democrat's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, would be president "in about a month" if Biden won, asserting that the former vice president would be but a figurehead and that Harris would hold power. He claimed that the media would treat Biden "like Winston Churchill" if he was able to merely stand on the debate stage in three weeks. And embarking on a swing that would also include stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix, Trump mocked Biden's slower travel schedule. "You know where he is now? He is in his damn basement again!"

And, for good measure, Trump invoked his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, leading the crowd to launch into its traditional "Lock Her Up!" chant. The president claimed he usually tried to stop the chant but on Saturday declared, "I don't care if you say it anymore" and, breaking yet another norm of the office, suggested that Clinton "should be in jail."

Trump also offered a fierce defense of his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 190,000 Americans and still claims nearly 1,000 lives a day. And he blamed Democratic governors across the nation, including Sisolak, for deliberately slowing the pace of reopening their states to hurt his election chances.

State Republicans claimed Sisolak tried to stop the rally, but the decision to cancel the Reno event was made by airport officials. Sisolak has limited in-person gatherings indoors and outdoors to 50 people since May, a recommendation based on White House reopening guidelines.

Privately, the Trump campaign welcomed the fight, believing it highlighted a reelection theme: Trump's insistence that the nation has turned the corner on the pandemic, while Democrats, including Biden and governors, are hurting the nation's economy and psyche with stringent restrictions. It's the kind of political fight that Trump's team relishes and underscores the growing importance of Nevada in Trump's quest for 270 electoral votes as the race looks tight in a number of pivotal states.

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Arizona has approved the establishment of a new trade office in Israel, which is currently listed as the state's ninth largest trading partner, totaling some $400 million in 2017.

Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey approved a $275,000 budget for the new office, with $100,000 of it for initial setup funding, to be allocated in the fiscal year of 2019-2020, which begins on July 1, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry said in a statement.

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The move comes after the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the US-Israel Business Initiative signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 to work together to strengthen economic and commercial ties between Arizona and Israel, focusing on water, fintech, technology and startups, and defense and aerospace.

Arizona's trade with Israel more than doubled since 2010 and a number of Israeli companies have operations in the Grand Canyon state.

"This new trade office makes perfect sense," Hamer said. "During Gov. Ducey's first term in office, he has made clear Arizona's support for a strong Arizona-Israeli relationship. From technological innovation to water stewardship, to defense and aerospace, to GDP's that are almost of equal size, we have so much in common. Israel is known worldwide as the Startup Nation. Arizona is the Startup State. Arizona and Israel are a great match."

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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The two NATO allies have sparred publicly for months over Turkey's purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense system, which Washington says poses a threat to the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, which Turkey also plans to buy.

The two U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters this week on condition of anonymity, left open the possibility the decision could be reversed, perhaps if Turkey altered its plans. They said the decision so far only applied to upcoming rounds of Turkish pilots and maintenance crews who would have normally come to the U.S.

There has not yet been a formal decision to halt the training of the Turkish pilots and maintenance crews now at Luke Air Force Base near Glendale, Arizona, the sources said. Still, Reuters reported last week that that step was being seriously considered.

According to the U.S. military, four Turkish pilots are currently training at Luke. Two additional Turkish pilots are at the U.S. base working as instructors. Beyond those six Turkish officers, there are an additional 20 Turkish aircraft maintainers at the base undergoing training as well.

Turkey has expressed an interest in buying 100 F-35 fighter jets, which at current prices, would have a total value of $9 billion.

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He also noted the PLO and its practice of "paying cash stipends to the families of terrorists."

According to a lawyer familiar with the case, it possibly marked the first time a U.S. government body has formally taken the stance acknowledging that the BDS campaign aids actors that engage in or reward terrorism.

Brnovich told the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that a state law enacted in 2016 "prohibits all state contractors, who receive taxpayer money, from discriminating on the basis of national origin" and that the BDS was not protected under freedom of expression.

The law was blocked by a federal court in September following a lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations, with the judge ruling in favor of plaintiff Mikkel Jordahl, a state contractor who said his ability to boycott Israel in a professional capacity was being unconstitutionally limited.

Brnovich, however, argued in his appeal that BDS specifically aims to inflict "economic pain" on those with an Israeli background, disproportionately impacts Jews, and often has "anti-Semitic motivations." Legislation banning similar discrimination has been repeatedly upheld by the Supreme Court in the face of First Amendment challenges, he added.

While noting that contractors may freely boycott Israel in their personal capacity, Brnovich asserted that public funds should not support "economic warfare" against Israelis and their country.

"The First Amendment does not leave the state powerless to prevent its commerce from furthering such unsavory – and frequently murderous – ends," Brnovich concluded.

Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan called Brnovich's stance "a significant achievement in the fight against the boycott organizations. … This step strips the mask off the boycott organizations, most of which maintain deep ties with terrorist groups while seeking to enjoy immunity as human rights groups."

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