r/TheBoredDen

A big lion named Tobias lowers himself to the ground so he can meet his tiny son. It is the first time the two have met, and the moment from the Denver Zoo has won over the internet.

The cub was born on July 25. He spent his first months bonding behind the scenes with his mom Neliah, his dad Tobias and his half-sister Kamara. The 2-year-old father was praised for how gentle he was when he crouched down to say hello.

In the same video, the cub plays with Kamara, who is 4. The zoo describes her as "just the most attentive and affectionate older sister."

The zoo shares a "cubdate" every other day, and is asking the public to help pick a name for the cub: Meru, Moremi or Tatu, the Swahili word for three, since he is Neliah's third offspring.

The zoo also pointed out that half of African lions have disappeared in the last 25 years. It hopes this small cub will inspire people to help protect lions in the wild.

A leaked private message indicates that Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, has been raising money in ways that benefit Republican operatives. The Atlantic and The Intercept reported that right-wing groups have worked with him behind the scenes to win the attention of donors who sympathize with Donald Trump.

The message came from inside Blitz Digital Group, a firm aligned with the Republican Party. Account associate Leah Mergener wrote: "I thought you would be interested in this high performing Fetterman copy." She added: "It has been doing crazy numbers for us."

According to The Atlantic, the fundraising appeal carried Fetterman's signature and linked to donation pages for his own campaign. Yet the wording was crafted to appeal to donors who back President Trump. It included Fetterman's declaration: "I'm always going to reject Socialism and the anti-American way of life." The money passed through Anedot, a payment-processing company that Republicans use.

The message then reached Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a Republican. He sent it to his own fundraising list. "I just got an email from John. He's basically a Republican now," Lee wrote in a solicitation that The Atlantic obtained. He followed with: "I need your help to draft him."

The reporting also notes that Fetterman's relationship with MissionWired, a digital fundraising firm aligned with Democrats, ended in June. Soon after, he set up a joint fundraising committee with Pennsylvania's other senator, Republican Dave McCormick.

A former Fetterman staffer told The Intercept that millions of small-dollar donors had given because they wanted a Democratic Senate.

For 50 years, Raju the elephant was chained day and night, forced to beg on India's streets while his owner pocketed the money tourists gave him, sometimes with nothing to eat but plastic and paper. When Wildlife SOS finally arrived for a midnight rescue, his owner tried to stop them by tightening Raju's chains and shouting to scare them off, but the rescuers held their ground.

It took 45 minutes to cut through the shackles wrapped so tightly around his legs. As they worked, tears rolled down Raju's face. "We knew in our hearts he realised he was being freed," said rescuer Pooja Binepal. "He felt hope for the first time," added fellow rescuer Kartick.

After the 350-mile journey to Wildlife SOS's Elephant Conservation and Care Centre, an exhausted Raju took his first free steps just after midnight. Five decades of suffering ended in a single night, and the elephant who once wept in chains is now free to simply be an elephant.