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Many astronomers are no longer asking whether there is life elsewhere in the Universe. The question on their minds is instead: when will we find it? Many are optimistic of detecting life signs on a faraway world within our lifetimes - possibly in the next few years. And one scientist, leading a mission to Jupiter, goes as far as saying it would be "surprising" if there was no life on one of the planet's icy moons. Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently detected tantalising hints at life on a planet outside our Solar System - and it has many more worlds in its sights. Numerous missions that are either underway or about to begin mark a new space race for the biggest scientific discovery of all time. "We live in an infinite Universe, with infinite stars and planets. And it's been obvious to many of us that we can't be the only intelligent life out there," says Prof Catherine Heymans, Scotland's Astronomer Royal. "We now have the technology and the capability to answer the question of whether we are alone in the cosmos." The 'Goldilocks zone' Telescopes can now analyse the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars for signs of chemicals that, on Earth at least, can be produced only by living organisms. The first flicker of such a discovery occurred earlier this month with the possible sign of a gas that is produced by simple marine organisms on Earth in the atmosphere of a planet named K2-18b, which is 120 light years away. FULL STORY

The US inched closer to a government shutdown after hardline Republicans rejected a last-minute funding deal in the House of Representatives. Congress faces a deadline of midnight on Saturday to pass a new budget before thousands of federal employees are placed on unpaid leave. The Senate has forged ahead with plans for a temporary funding agreement - which House Republicans have opposed. The two chambers of Congress are controlled by different parties. The Republican-led House of Representatives failed to pass its own short-term spending bill on Friday, with 232 votes against the measure and 198 in favour. More than a dozen of the most hardline Republican representatives voted against its passage. After the vote on Friday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the chamber might still pass a funding extension, but he declined to say what would happen next. "It's only a failure if you quit," he told reporters. The House adjourned on Friday evening without reaching a deal. Members will return on Saturday 10:00 local time (15:00 GMT), when more votes are expected. Their plan would have extended funding through the end of October but included deep spending cuts that would have made it a non-starter for Democrats, who run the Senate, as well as border provisions that many Democrats have opposed. President Joe Biden on Friday warned that a shutdown could take a heavy toll on the armed forces. "We can't be playing politics while our troops stand in the breach. It's an absolute dereliction of duty," Mr Biden said at a retirement ceremony for Mark Milley, a senior general. The conflicting House and Senate funding plans have increased the likelihood of a shutdown and have exposed deep rifts in the Republican party, with some lawmakers expressing exasperation at the hardline conservatives who have so far stood in the way of a funding deal. California Republican Mike Garcia, for example, told Reuters that he felt "frustrated" as the shutdown loomed. FULL STORY

The camera bulbs flashed and Dianne Feinstein took the podium, beaming confidently in front of hundreds of cheering supporters. "Tonight, history is being made," she declared. "In California, two women will be elected to the Senate of the United States." Ms Feinstein was one of them. The 1992 election that saw an unprecedented number of women - four- elected to Congress' upper chamber. The phenomenon, dubbed "the year of the woman", heralded a new era in Washington, and Ms Feinstein was part of it. Ms Feinstein spent the next three decades in the Senate until her death at age 90, which her office announced on Friday. By this point, Ms Feinstein has become a symbol not of progress but of Congress' aging leadership. She spent the last two years in office facing calls to resign over health and cognitive issues that kept her away from Washington for several months. Yet her career was full of historic moments, of which her Senate election was only one. She was a ferocious political operator who witnessed an assassination, led a major American city, fought for gun safety regulations, battled with the US intelligence apparatus, and served as the unofficial dean of California politics. FULL STORY

Reported flame post and responses removed.

MOVED to more appropriate forum.

Tensions over the resource-rich region are intensifying as China attempts to cut access for nations with competing claims, such as the Philippines Shaky camera footage, a member of the Philippine coast guard can be seen dipping below the waters of South China Sea, ready to carry out the instructions of the country’s president. “Just cut it off,” says a voice in the background and the coast guard, posing as a fisher in a snorkel, proceeds to hack away at a piece of rope. The video, taken on Monday near the fiercely contested Scarborough Shoal, shows the Philippines’ mission to remove what it described as a hazardous floating barrier installed by China’s coast guard. It had been erected to cut off access to Philippine boats, the Philippine coast guard alleged, accusing their counterparts of violating international law. China has defended its actions as “professional and restrained”. The episode was the latest in an intensifying dispute over the South China Sea – a row that, were it to escalate, could bring the US, a Philippine ally, into confrontation with its rival, China. Manila has, over the past year, repeatedly accused Beijing of dangerous and aggressive tactics in the South China Sea, including allegations that China directed a military-grade laser at a Philippine vessel and that it aimed water cannon at Philippine boats as they travelled within their country’s exclusive economic zone. “The risk [of] miscalculation is getting higher because of China’s escalation,” says Jay L Batongbacal, a lawyer and professor at the University of the Philippines. Beijing has rejected the notion that it is an aggressor and has said it supports dialogue with the Philippines. Last month, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, accused the US of provoking conflict between Beijing and Manila, saying it had “disrupted the peace and tranquillity of the South China Sea, to serve the United States’ own geopolitical strategy”. FULL STORY

Evacuation plans being drafted after activity on Campi Flegrei field, which experts warned earlier in 2023 was in a dangerous state Concern is mounting over the risk of an eruption on a sprawling volcanic area close to Naples after the area was struck by the strongest earthquake in 40 years. Seismic activity on Campi Flegrei, a constellation of ancient volcanic craters, has intensified over the past year and especially in recent months, with more than 80 events occurring in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the biggest being a 4.2 magnitude quake. “Considering that seismic activity has only increased in recent months, at the moment we don’t see an end,” Carlo Doglioni, the president of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), told TGCom24. Doglioni said the best-case scenario would be that the activity ends, as it did after a long period of unrest in the early 1980s, while the worst would be an eruption akin to the last one in 1538, which created a series of small hills and craters. “We are monitoring the situation but we don’t know how it will evolve,” he said. “In the event of an eruption, we don’t know when or where it could happen. However small, it would cause social unrest.” FULL STORY

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) reiterated his threat Thursday to hold up a Senate government funding bill because it includes more than $6 billion in funding for Ukraine. Paul wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he would only allow a vote on the spending stopgap before the Sept. 30 deadline for funding government if Senate leaders pull out the money for Ukraine. “To avoid a government shutdown, I will consent to an expedited vote on a clean CR without Ukraine aid on it. If leadership insists on funding another country’s government at the expense of our own government, all blame rests with their intransigence,” he wrote. So far, neither Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) nor Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have signaled any willingness to pull the Ukraine money out of the bill. “I’m comfortable with the way we put together the Senate bill,” McConnell told reporters Wednesday. Anticipating Paul’s objections to speeding up the floor debate, leaders have told rank-and-file senators to expect to vote through Sunday to get the temporary funding measure through the Senate. It would fund the government until Nov. 17. FULL STORY

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said he thinks there is “overwhelming evidence” that President Biden is involved in his son Hunter Biden’s business schemes. Comer is the Chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which held its first hearing Thursday to weigh evidence into impeaching Biden. “There’s overwhelming evidence that Joe Biden was involved in all of these shady business schemes. That’s a problem. That’s a threat to our national security,” Comer said on Fox News Thursday. “We’re going to continue to move forward and follow the money.” Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden after Republicans alleged the president and his son profited from foreign business deals. Comer said the evidence the committee does have includes bank wires that show “Biden took $20 million from foreign nationals in at least five different countries.” “They can’t say one thing they did to earn that $20 million,” Comer said. “We also have evidence that they started 20 shell companies. They used these shell companies to receive the wires from the foreign nationals.” Comer said on Thursday that he signed the subpoena for Biden’s personal bank accounts because, unlike Hunter Biden, the president “has flown under the radar because, quite frankly, he didn’t leave a laptop laying around.” Each of the witnesses testifying during the hearing said that there was not enough evidence yet to impeach Biden. FULL STORY

It states in the article "buy advance tickets online" and provides a link to here https://12go.asia/en Never used this service myself but the website looks good, choose the route and it shows you your options etc. THIS IS NOT direct with the Bus company obviously an agency of some kind so prices may be slightly inflated. INFO ONLY not a recommendation.

Sweden's prime minister has summoned the head of the armed forces to help curb a surge in gang killings. The two men and the country's police chief will meet on Friday to discuss what role the military could play. It comes after a bloody 12 hours that saw two men shot dead in Stockholm and a 25-year-old woman killed in a blast at home in a town north of the capital. "We will hunt the gangs down and we will defeat them," PM Ulf Kristersson promised in a rare televised address. Armed forces chief Micael Byden told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter he was prepared to assist police efforts. It is not clear exactly how the military might get involved but previous talks suggest soldiers may take over certain policing duties to allow officers to free up resources for crime-fighting. Some critics have described the proposed measures as superficial, arguing they treat the symptoms rather than root causes of the violence. So far this month, 12 people have been killed in gang violence - the highest number since December 2019, according to Dagens Nyheter. Swedish media have connected the recent surge to a conflict involving a gang known as the Foxtrot network, which has been rocked by infighting and split into two rival factions. Mr Kristersson said Sweden had not seen anything like it before and that "no other country in Europe" was experiencing this kind of situation. HARDtalk with Foreign Minister Tobias Billström: Controversy in Sweden Man dies in shooting at Sweden shopping centre He stressed that children and innocent bystanders were increasingly being caught up in violence across the country. The overnight explosion in Fullero, some 80km (50 miles) north of Stockholm, killed a woman thought to be a neighbour of a person with connections to organised crime. She went to sleep "on a completely ordinary evening but never got to wake up", the prime minister said. FULL STORY

Dutch police have arrested a gunman who killed at least three people in twin shootings in the city of Rotterdam. They say the male attacker, 32, opened fire in a home before setting it alight, then stormed the city's Erasmus Medical Center on Thursday. He was a student at Erasmus University, which is affiliated with the hospital. A woman, 39, and her 14-year old daughter were killed in the first shooting. A male lecturer, 43, was shot dead at the hospital. Footage has emerged showing a man in camouflaged clothing being taken from the hospital building in handcuffs. The motives for the attack were not immediately known. A security guard who says he was first on the scene told the BBC it was a "shocking" day. "It was terrible, terrible," he said, visibly shaken and not wanting to give his name. He said that the gunman had not entered the medical centre through the main entrance. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote in a post on social media: "My thoughts go out to the victims of the violence, their loved ones and to all the people who have been in great fear." FULL STORY

A New York appeals court has rejected former President Donald Trump's bid to delay a civil fraud trial against him in a case that leaves his business empire in jeopardy. The decision paves the way for a trial to begin next Monday. Mr Trump and three of his adult children are expected to be called as witnesses in the case. The decision comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron this week ruled Mr Trump was liable for business fraud. New York Attorney General Letitia James has accused Trump, his two adult sons and the Trump Organization of inflating the value of their properties by more than $2bn (£1.65bn) to suit the needs of their business. In his ruling issued on Tuesday, Judge Engoron agreed, finding Mr Trump had misrepresented his wealth by hundreds of millions of dollars. Mr Trump's legal team had sought to delay the case while his attorneys challenged earlier rulings. The New York buildings that Trump could lose Are Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties over-valued? Mr Trump and the other defendants in the case have argued that they never committed fraud. But Thursday's appeals court ruling means a trial in the case will go ahead as scheduled on Monday 2 October. The case is a bench trial, meaning it will be decided not by a jury but by Judge Engoron, who is presiding over the trial. He has said it could take as long as three months to hear the case. Judge Engoron's Tuesday ruling resolved the key claim of fraud in Ms James' lawsuit, leaving the trial to focus on a more narrow set of six remaining fraud claims and on determining penalties against Mr Trump. Ms James is seeking a fine of $250m (£204m) and a ban on Mr Trump doing business in his home state. FULL STORY

House Republicans have branded the first day of their impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden a success, saying they justified their case. But expert witnesses called by Republicans cautioned there was not yet enough proof for impeachment. Thursday's hearing was dominated by the business dealings of the president's son, Hunter, who Republicans allege was selling access to his father. The White House has called the inquiry a "political stunt". House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a formal impeachment inquiry in early September to look into allegations that Hunter Biden engaged in improper business dealings that benefited the president. The formal inquiry granted lawmakers greater legal authority to investigate possible misconduct, after months of Republican probes failed to unearth any concrete evidence. At the first hearing in the inquiry, it was Hunter Biden - not the president - who took up most of the Republican's oxygen. Republican James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the powerful Oversight Committee, said the panel would examine more than "two dozen pieces of evidence", including emails and bank records, which he said would reveal Joe Biden's "corruption and abuse of public office". "At least 10 times, Joe Biden lied to the American people that he never spoke to his family about their business dealings," he said. "The American people demand accountability for this culture of corruption." Following the hearing, he announced subpoenas that will force Hunter Biden and President Biden's brother, James, to release their personal and business bank records to the committee. Failure to comply with the order, which Mr Comer called "the next step in the investigation", could result in criminal charges. Mr Biden has previously said he "never" discussed business with his son. FULL STORY

The last sentence.... "You leave your Instructions with them and they will handle it accordingly. Very simple and easy solution." So if your instruction is just "forward" they dont open it, if your insruction is "open it and tell me what it is" then of course they have to open it but its on your instruction not otherwise.

And once again you missed out "if required" in that sentence, just using the first part "There are many mai services that you can redirect your mail to.They will scan and email the contents if required.You leave your Instructions with them and they will handle it accordingly" The underline bit expalins they will do it "if required" does not mean its done automatically.

You nmade no reference to "opening mail" you said "Not sure i'd trust a total stranger with my mail " ! and as for the second part you conveniently missed "if required"

So the Post man and all the Post office staff are your family then ?...lol...you do it everyday with the mail service, its no diffeent.

Mo Chit is 24hrs, the desks however are not, they close after the last bus leaves and open a short while before the first Bus departs. Those times vary each day. You can also buy Bus Tickets online This website appears to be up-to-date https://touristbangkok.com/getting-around-thailand/bangkok-bus-terminal/

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At least 94 people have died and 100 others are injured after a fire broke out during a wedding in Iraq's biggest Christian town on Tuesday night. Hundreds were celebrating at a banqueting hall in Qaraqosh, in Nineveh province, when the tragedy happened. Witnesses and civil defence officials said the fire was sparked by fireworks set off as the bride and groom danced. Highly flammable metal and plastic composite panels that covered the hall fuelled the blaze, they added. Security forces arrested 10 of the venue's staff, its owner and three people involved with the fireworks on Wednesday. In the afternoon, hundreds of mourners attended a funeral for more than 40 of the victims at a cemetery in Qaraqosh, which is also known as al-Hamdaniya and Bakhdida. Some carried portraits of their deceased loved ones. 'It was like Hell's doors opened' What we know about wedding blaze in Iraq's Qaraqosh In an address, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako described the fire as a "complete and total catastrophe", according to Iraqi Kurdish news agency Rudaw. Alsumaria TV, meanwhile, showed footage of a man at the funeral who it identified as the groom. BBC Verify ran an image of his face through facial recognition software, comparing it to a picture of the groom before the wedding, and is confident that the report is correct. Civil defence officials told BBC News Arabic that both the groom and his bride survived, though initial reports said they had perished. FULL STORY