Social Media

We were not prepared; we are not prepared - that is what expert witnesses and core participants of the UK's COVID-19 Inquiry have claimed in its first week. As the hearings started, bereaved families of some of the 227,000 people who have died with COVID gathered outside the same Victorian-era Dorland House building in north London that heard from the families of Grenfell fire victims, grieving families once again calling for answers and accountability. They came from across the UK, dressed in red and holding photos of their loved ones, united in their grief but each with their own heartbreaking story of loss. Together, they reflected an unequal and at times unorganised response to an unprecedented threat.

Kylie Minogue has scored her biggest solo hit in more than a decade with the infectious dance anthem Padam Padam. It's the stars first song to break into the UK top 10 since All The Lovers peaked at number three in 2010. That means Kylie is one of only four women to reach the UK's top 10 in five separate decades, alongside Cher, Lulu and Diana Ross. The singer said the success of the song, which has gone viral on TikTok, had "really taken us all by surprise". "I can't even, I can't even, full stop!" she told Zoe Ball on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show earlier this week. "We loved it as a team, but the way that it's taken off is way beyond me."

Tens of thousands of people marched in Warsaw's Pride parade on Saturday to demand equality for LGBT people ahead of Polish elections. The country's right-wing government, which is seeking re-election, has focused on opposing what it calls "LGBT ideology" in previous campaigns. But Warsaw's mayor vowed that the LGBTQ community would "always be safe". "And I hope that you all will be safe in Poland," Rafal Trzaskowski, from the liberal opposition party, told crowds. "We want to show that today diversity, minority rights means Europe that is open, Europe that is tolerant," he said at a press conference before the march.

Off topic and misinformation removed. The topic is "how to get" NOT the merits of having one or not.

BOSTON (AP) — In early June, sporadic but serious service disruptions plagued Microsoft’s flagship office suite — including the Outlook email and OneDrive file-sharing apps — and cloud computing platform. A shadowy hacktivist group claimed responsibility, saying it flooded the sites with junk traffic in distributed denial-of-service attacks. Initially reticent to name the cause, Microsoft has now disclosed that DDoS attacks by the murky upstart were indeed to blame. But the software giant has offered few details — and did not immediately comment on how many customers were affected and whether the impact was global. A spokeswoman confirmed that the group that calls itself Anonymous Sudan was behind the attacks. It claimed responsibility on its Telegram social media channel at the time. Some security researchers believe the group to be Russian.

According to Ugandan police, the raid was carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who have been launching attacks from their bases in the DRC for years, targeting civilians. At least 41 people, most of them students, have been killed in a suspected rebel attack on a school in Uganda, officials have said. Other students have been abducted and a dormitory in the school has been set on fire in the attack, believed to have been carried out by Ugandan militants with ties to the Islamic State group. The mayor of Mpondwe, the town where the attack took place, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, said 41 bodies have so far been recovered, including 38 students. Selevest Mapoze said that while some of the students had suffered fatal burns in the dormitory fire, others had been shot or hacked with machetes. One guard and two members of the local community were also shot and killed outside the school, he said. Joe Walusimbi, a representative of Uganda's president, said some of the victims "were burnt beyond recognition". Full Story

House Republicans coming to former President Trump’s defense in the Mar-a-Lago documents care are turning their attention to the possibility of using congressional funding and oversight authority against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Monday called to defund special counsel Jack Smith and his office — which is handling the Trump documents case — through the appropriations process. “This is a weaponized government attempt to take down the top political enemy and leading presidential candidate of the United States, Donald J. Trump. We cannot allow the government to be weaponized for political purposes,” Greene said on the House floor.

For those who find electric cars a bit boring, Toyota engineers are working on a realistic-feeling fake manual transmission as a possible feature. To be clear, a manual transmission on an electric car would serve absolutely no purpose. It would be just for fun, an add-on for people who like shifting gears in their gasoline-powered cars.

John Wayne is a name synonymous with the Western genre, partly due to his fruitful cinematic partnership with John Ford and partly simply due to his own personal charisma and the way that he so naturally embodied the iconic image of grit, determination, and endurance that became the hallmarks of the protagonists of the Western genre. His acting persona was in many ways a testament to the actions of his personal life, as well. After a swimming accident derailed a promising college football career at USC, he shifted gears, turned to acting, and ended up becoming one of the most influential and recognizable actors of the 20th century. He ultimately became so emblematic of the American way of life, in fact, that none other than Joseph Stalin himself tried to get Wayne assassinated. Full John Wayne Article and movies list

President Biden and former President Trump are tied in a new poll of voters in swing state Michigan, with 44 percent saying they would vote for Biden and the same percentage opting for Trump. Twelve percent of voters in Michigan said they were still undecided between the two options, according to the EPIC-MRA poll released Friday. Trump won Michigan in 2016 and Biden took the state in 2020. The poll on Friday also found that 52 percent of Michigan voters have an unfavorable view of Biden and 57 percent have an unfavorable view of Trump. Meanwhile, only 29 percent gave Biden a positive job approval rating.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second-largest teacher’s union in the country, endorsed President Biden and Vice President Harris for reelection Friday in another show of organized labor strength for the president. The AFT offered its endorsement of Biden on the same day the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest federation of unions in the country, did the same, reflecting a broader strategy to show support for Biden among organized labor.

Tyler Rake was clinically dead when we last saw him at the end of “Extraction,” tumbling over a bridge in Bangladesh with a fatal, burbling bullet wound to his neck. But death is no match for Netflix. Chris Hemsworth returns as the sad-sack, gun-for-hire Rake in “Extraction 2” and you’ll thank the giant streamer for such a nifty bit of resurrection because this franchise is pure cinematic adrenalin. The new movie comes two years after a surprisingly good first installment, which saw Rake intervene in a feud between two rival drug dealers, survive numerous double-crosses, ask things like “How many hostiles onsite?” and lob an inexhaustible number of grenades. Full article

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance is being investigated by French authorities, according to media reports in France. The investigation is focused on its anti-money laundering procedures. It follows the announcement of the company's departure from the Netherlands after it failed to obtain a licence from the Dutch central bank. In a statement Binance confirmed French authorities visited its offices last week and will comply accordingly. "We had an on-site visit last week by the relevant authorities. Binance, as always, was fully collaborative and we met our obligations accordingly. We continue to work closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies on all ongoing compliance requirements to uphold high standards," a company spokesperson said. Cryptocurrencies have become a popular trading asset-class in recent years for both retail and institutional investors. However questions have been raised about the risks associated with crypto because of their prices can experience huge swings in value. Regulators around the world have looked to ramp up pressure on crypto exchanges in a bid to make them more transparent. Full source article

Can Ukraine's counteroffensive prevail without combat air cover, and will the West come to regret not providing Ukraine with such battle-winning capability? Although the West has provided a wealth of financial and military support to Ukraine to help combat the illegal invasion of Russian forces, it has been reluctant to provide the modern Western air power that President Zelenskyy clearly needs. For much of the war in Ukraine, the Russian Air Force has been conspicuous by its absence. Ukraine war latest: Hypersonic missiles 'downed' over Kyiv Primarily used to launch long-range missiles at targets all over Ukraine, the Russian fighter jets have found the airspace over Ukraine particularly dangerous, and reports suggest they have lost 10% of their assets in the war to date. FULL ARTICLE AND VIDEOS

When Spotify signed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with an exclusive deal reportedly worth about $20m (£15.6m) in 2020, the royal couple were taking their first steps into the commercial world and podcasts were positively booming. How times have changed. These days, Prince Harry and Meghan's brand has waned in the eyes of some and Spotify is reducing its reliance on the big celebrity signings and expensive original content that have weighed on its bottom line. Meghan's podcast became one of the most high-profile casualties this week when Spotify and the duke and duchess's Archewell Audio announced they would be parting ways in a mutual decision. It came after Spotify's deal with Barack and Michelle Obama's production company ended last year. Spotify has let go hundreds of staff since that time, hitting the expansive podcasting division, a hotchpotch of podcasting companies it spent more than $400m acquiring just a few years ago. FULL STORY

Reported post removed.

German archaeologists are thrilled to have dug up a Bronze Age sword more than 3,000 years old which is extraordinarily well preserved. The bronze sword with an octagonal hilt was found in a grave in the southern town of Nördlingen. It is thought to be from the late 14th Century BC. Its condition is so good "it almost still shines", Bavaria's State Office for Monument Protection (BLfD) says. The grave contains the bones of a man, woman and boy, and other bronze items. The archaeologists are not sure whether the three were related, and the rarity of the find raises questions about the sword's origin. The BLfD says manufacturing such a sword was complicated, as the hilt was cast on to the blade. The Nördlingen sword does not appear to have been used in anger, but it is believed to have been a real weapon, not just ornamental. Full Article and more images !

Footage released by US Coast Guard shows a crew member swimming through rough seas to rescue a dog trapped on a beach The German Shepherd was injured after falling about 300ft (90m) down a cliff, and ended up trapped on an inaccessible beach in Oregon’s Ecola State Park. The dog was airlifted from the beach and returned to her owner, who after a visit to the emergency vet told the Coast Guard that she is “doing just fine." Full Story

Albums from John Mellencamp and Killer Mike, as well as the return of Chris Hemsworth’s gun-for-hire anti-hero in Netflix’s “Extraction 2” are among the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you. Among the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are season two of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” and the season seven premiere of “Outlander” that continues the story of its time-crossed lovers Jamie and Claire Fraser.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A federal appeals court has sided with commercial fishermen who say proposed restrictions aimed at saving a vanishing species of whale could put them out of business. The fishermen harvest lobsters and crabs off New England and oppose tough new restrictions on the way they fish that are intended to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The whale numbers only about 340 in the world and it’s vulnerable to lethal entanglement in fishing gear. The fishermen and the state of Maine appealed their case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after losing in a lower court. The appeals court said Friday it disagreed with the lower court’s ruling.