Social Media

Sir Richard Branson’s next mission: combating climate change. The billionaire British entrepreneur announced his latest initiative, Planetary Guardians, at a news conference Monday while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. The coalition includes 14 world leaders who will take what they’re calling a “whole planet” approach to “safeguard” Earth. The diverse group includes actor Robert Redford, activist Jane Goodall and Juan Manuel Santos, the former president of Colombia. “If you can’t measure something properly, you can’t fix it,” Branson told NBC News in a wide-ranging interview at his new flagship Virgin Hotel on Tuesday. “The idea is that we will measure the nine principal planetary boundaries every year … how many are the rainforests? Exactly where are we with climate change? Where are we with species disappearing in the world … and we can try to make sure we can push the world into trying to address them.” Branson also had a message for the climate change deniers. “It’s a fact of life,” he said. “The amount of carbon that’s going into Earth’s atmosphere is heating up the world and it’s going to do a lot of damage to the world if we don’t get it under control." While in New York, Branson met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a fundraiser for the war-torn country. Branson was appointed ambassador to United24 last spring to lead fundraising efforts to rebuild the country. “We can’t allow countries at this day and age to take over the territory of other people’s countries,” he said. “I mean, they’re dying for the freedom of all of us. And the least we can do is make sure that we help them and in every way we can.” FULL STORY

It came as little surprise that the darker corners of the internet were ablaze with conspiracy theories this week, after Russell Brand used his YouTube channel to call the allegations of sexual assault and rape against him a “coordinated attack” and a “serious and concerted agenda” to control his voice. But even among more mainstream voices, questions were raised about the timing. Toby Young, a former editor at the Spectator, asked if there was a “more innocent” reason why the Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches had “waited this long to produce their findings”, while the British business magnate Alan Sugar tweeted that it was “strange” that multiple people had come forward at the same time. Others wondered why it had taken so long for the story to be published despite rumours swirling about Brand’s behaviour for years. In the Dispatches documentary Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, the comedian Daniel Sloss said he had heard “allegations and rumours” about Brand, while Deadline reported that Brand was dropped from Comedy Central’s Roast Battle in 2018 after another comedian, Katherine Ryan, repeatedly accused him of being a “sexual predator”. The reason, according to multiple experts, is simple: publishing stories like this in England and Wales is extremely difficult, and fraught with risk. “People often think that we have a law that protects free speech here. We don’t. We have a law that protects reputation,” says Caroline Kean, a partner at Wiggin who represented the journalist Catherine Belton when she was sued by multiple Russian billionaires. “Getting stories out like this may sound easy to people who watch a lot of crime dramas, but it’s actually incredibly difficult.” FULL STORY Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

A Washington Post-ABC poll showed results that diverge from most other surveys, and even the pollers made a caveat A new Washington Post-ABC poll showing Joe Biden trailing his presidential predecessor Donald Trump by 10 percentage points was excoriated by leading political pollster Larry Sabato. Noting that the pollsters themselves cautioned that their survey was an outlier, Sabato – the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia – called the decision to release it “ridiculous”. “Ignore the Washington Post–ABC poll,” Sabato wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “How could you even publish a poll so absurd on its face? Will be a lingering embarrassment for you.” He added: “Just plain embarrassing – for them.” The New York Times’ chief political analyst Nate Cohn also criticized the poll that said Trump was ahead of Biden in the 2024 White House race. Referring to a Post-ABC poll in May that found Trump was up seven percentage points on Biden, which was similarly inconsistent with most polling, Cohn wrote on X: “It’s really really hard to release outlying poll results, so you’ve got to give credit to ABC/Post here, but I do have a fairly major quibble with ABC/Post here: if you release consecutive ‘outlying’ poll results … you don’t get to dismiss your results. “If it happens twice in a row in the same race, it’s clear that this is the result of some element of your approach, and you either need to decide you’re good with it and defend it or you need to go home.” FULL STORY Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

Wales became the first team to reach the 2023 World Cup quarter-finals as they celebrated a record win over Australia in Lyon. Gareth Anscombe kicked 23 points and tries from Gareth Davies, Nick Tompkins and Jac Morgan sealed a last-eight place with a game remaining in Pool C. Australia managed just two penalties from Ben Donaldson. Eddie Jones' side are on the brink of becoming the first Australia team to suffer pool stage elimination. The woeful Wallabies were humbled by Wales, who are celebrating a fourth consecutive World Cup quarter-final qualification under Warren Gatland as head coach. This display must rank as one of Wales' finest performances under the New Zealander and the result beats their previous record win against Australia, a 28-3 triumph in 1975. Captain Morgan was again outstanding, while number eight Taulupe Faletau and scrum-half Gareth Davies showed their class. The only negative for Wales was a worrying injury that forced talismanic fly-half Dan Biggar off in the first half, but his withdrawal allowed Anscombe to excel with six penalties, a conversion and a drop-goal. A victory over Georgia on 7 October in Nantes will officially ensure Wales finish as group winners but only two match points will be required. That would set up a probable quarter-final against Argentina, Japan or Samoa in Marseille the following weekend, with England clear favourites to win Pool D.

The Metropolitan police has called on the SAS to provide counter-terrorism support after firearms officers downed their weapons in protest at the charging of their colleague with murder. Suella Braverman ordered a review of armed policing to calm a growing rebellion of about 100 officers over the charging on Wednesday of an officer for the murder of 24-year-old Chris Kaba, an unarmed man killed last September by a single shot to the head. Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called for greater protections for armed officers, accusing the police watchdog of being too quick to criminally investigate those who use force. The scale and speed of the protest by Met armed officers prompted the home secretary to order an emergency review of armed policing, with several sources telling the Guardian there were fears the rebellion could spread further within the Met and around the country. The Met, which polices most of London, had to ask other smaller forces to lend it armed officers and then on Sunday to ask the military for help. The Guardian understands that the Met asked for soldiers from the SAS to be put on standby for deployment against terrorist suspects, as a significant number of police counter-terrorism firearms officers refused to be available for armed duties. FULL STORY Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

Dusty samples from the "most dangerous known rock in the Solar System" have been brought to Earth. The American space agency Nasa landed the materials in a capsule that came down in the West Desert of Utah state. The samples had been scooped up from the surface of asteroid Bennu in 2020 by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft. Nasa wants to learn more about the mountainous object, not least because it has an outside chance of hitting our planet in the next 300 years. But more than this, the samples are likely to provide fresh insights into the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago and possibly even how life got started on our world. Osiris-Rex: Asteroid Bennu 'is a journey back to our origins' There was jubilation when the Osiris-Rex team caught sight of their capsule on long-range cameras. Touchdown on desert land belonging to the Department of Defense was confirmed at 10:52 local time (14:52 GMT), three minutes ahead of schedule. The car-tyre-sized container had come screaming into the atmosphere over the western US at more than 12km/s (27,000mph). A heatshield and parachutes slowed its descent and dropped it gently, perfectly on to restricted ground. "This little capsule understood the assignment," said Tim Priser, the chief engineer at aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin. "It touched down like a feather." FULL STORY

Apple has withdrawn an app created by Andrew Tate after accusations that it encouraged misogyny and could be an illegal pyramid scheme. Tate created the app, Real World Portal, after the closure of his “Hustler’s University”, which was an online academy for his fans, promising to assist them in making thousands of pounds while helping Tate’s videos on social media, which have been described as misogynistic, to go viral. McCue Jury & Partners, the firm representing four British women who have accused Tate of sexual and physical assault, claimed that the app deliberately targets young men and encourages misogyny, including members of the app sharing techniques on how to control and exploit women. The firm has also claimed that there is evidence to suggest that the app is an illegal pyramid scheme, with members being charged $49.99 a month to join. Last week, the Real World Portal app was removed from Google’s Play store after claims that it was an illegal pyramid scheme and encouraged misogyny. On Friday night Apple also said it had removed it from its app store. It followed a letter from the legal firm asking Apple to consider whether the app was in line with its policies and whether the company was exposing itself to any corporate liability in hosting it on its platform. Part of the letter, dated 15 September, said: “We are writing because our clients are extremely concerned that you are hosting Tate’s Real World Portal (RWP) mobile application on your Apple Store … In continuing to host RWP, not only is Apple potentially indirectly financing Tate’s alleged criminal activities but is aiding the spread of his misogynistic teachings.” FULL STORY

The Philippines accuses China’s shadowy maritime militia of destroying coral reefs in South China Sea https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/asia/south-china-sea-philippines-coral-reef-damage-intl-hnk

Penny wise, pound foolish.” It’s an apt description of the current the current debate on the proposed $24 billion supplemental appropriation to support Ukraine — a country fighting Russia for its very existence. After one of the authors spent a few days in Ukraine with a delegation of congressional staffers — the first such delegation since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — it became easier to appreciate the necessity of winning in Ukraine not only for the people of that country but also for U.S. and global security. Yet not all Americans are convinced of this fact. Those arguing that Ukraine is not and should not be a U.S. priority any longer usually make several points. Some express concern that the American taxpayer might once again be underwriting a failing state, much like Afghanistan. Others point to concern about pre-war and possibly endemic Ukrainian corruption — the unsurprising byproduct of decades of economic mismanagement by the government and oligarchs. And still others worry that every dime spent on Ukraine is one that is not spent on defending Taiwan — and the broader Indo-Pacific region — from Chinese neoimperial expansion, let alone being spent on struggling American citizens back home.

It is an eagerly anticipated event that sees thousands of Apple fans queue outside stores across the world to be the first to get their hands on a new iPhone. But the official launch of the iPhone 15 descended into chaos in Dubai when a 'massive fight' broke out and security guards were forced to intervene. Shocking footage shows customers shoving each other outside Apple's flagship store in the UAE's Dubai Mall, before several people appear to fall to the ground. Other videos capture customers running through the mall – one of the world's largest shopping centres – and piling on to escalators amidst a backdrop of yelling. 'A massive fight over the new iPhone 15 took place in a queue outside the Dubai Apple Store,' one person wrote on X.

They have a catchy name. They’re called "attack'ems". It's a play on an acronym, ATACMS, which itself stands for Army Tactical Missile System. To you and me it's a long-range missile. It has a range of about 180 miles, it's guided, it can be fired from Ukraine's existing fleet of missile launch systems and President Zelenskyy's battlefield commanders have been asking for it for some time.

US President Joe Biden plans to give Ukraine advanced long-range missiles to help Kyiv with its ongoing counter-offensive, US media report. They quote US officials familiar with the issue as saying Ukraine will get some ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 190 miles (300km). This would enable Kyiv to hit Russian targets deep behind the front line. At least one Ukrainian missile hit the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea on Friday. A Ukrainian military source told the BBC the attack in the port of Sevastopol was carried out using Storm Shadow missiles, which are supplied by Britain and France, highlighting the importance of Western weaponry to Kyiv. Such missiles have a range of just over 150 miles. NBC News and The Wall Street Journal quote unnamed US officials as saying President Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that Kyiv would get "a small number" of ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles. The two leaders met at the White House on Thursday. The WSJ adds that the weapons will be sent in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Washington Post cites several people familiar with the discussions as saying Ukraine will get ATACMS armed with cluster bomblets rather than a single warhead. FULL STORY

Russell Brand has posted a new video online describing the allegations of rape and sexual assault against him in the past week as “extraordinary and distressing” while accusing the government of seeking to censor him. The 48-year-old comedian and actor thanked his supporters for “questioning the information you are being presented with”, in his first public comments since the allegations were published. He has denied accusations made by four women in an investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches last weekend. Brand said he would return to his regular show on Rumble, an online video platform that refused to follow YouTube in demonetising his content on its site. In a three-minute video posted on Rumble and X, formerly Twitter, he claimed that moves to block him from receiving advertising revenue for his videos on social media platforms after sexual assault allegations have occurred “in the context of the online safety bill”. He said: “By now you’re probably aware that the British government have asked big tech platforms to censor our online content and that some online platforms have complied with that request. “What you may not know is that this happens in the context of the online safety bill, which is a piece of UK legislation that grants sweeping surveillance and censorship powers, and it’s a law that has already been passed.” On Tuesday, the bill passed all its parliamentary stages but it has not received royal assent so is not yet UK law. He also spoke of the trusted news initiative, which is a partnership between media groups designed to address disinformation. Brand said: “The trusted news initiative is a collaboration between big tech and legacy media organisations to target, control, choke and shut down independent media organisations like this one.” FULL STORY

' Both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have garnered their share of staunch supporters and vocal critics. But economically, which president has done better for America? Podcaster Joe Rogan believes the answer is clear: Trump. "It looked like [Trump's] policies were actually effective, and it looked like unemployment was down, business was building, regulations were being relaxed, more things were getting done," Rogan said during a recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. Rogan also commented on the ongoing Trump investigations. "Now you have the intelligence agencies colluding to keep a guy from being president that was president during a time where the country was thriving economically," he said. When the episode's guest Patrick Bet-David asked Rogan whether Trump would get his vote, Rogan replied, "He'd get my vote before Biden." "I never thought that Biden was going to make it — I never thought that he was going to be functional," he added. Take a closer look at the performance of both leaders in the realms of unemployment and regulations. Unemployment When Trump took office in January 2017, the unemployment rate was 4.7%, continuing a downward trend that started after the 2007-2009 recession. By September 2019, the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.5%, the lowest rate since December 1969. But the landscape dramatically shifted in early 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of lockdowns and reduced economic activity, the unemployment rate in the U.S. surged to 14.7% in April 2020. Following this peak, the latter part of 2020 saw a gradual decrease in unemployment as the economy started to reopen. By the time Biden began his term in January 2021, America's economic recovery was well underway, and the unemployment rate had come down to 6.3%. FULL STORY

This spring, as the Republican presidential primary race was just beginning, the Democratic National Committee commissioned polling on how the leading Republicans — Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis — fared against President Joe Biden in battleground states. But now, as Trump’s lead in the primary has grown and hardened, the party has dropped DeSantis from such hypothetical matchups. And the Biden campaign’s polling on Republican candidates is now directed squarely at Trump, according to officials familiar with the surveys. The sharpened focus on Trump isn’t happening only behind the scenes. Facing waves of polls showing soft support for his reelection among Democrats, Biden and his advisers signaled this week that they were beginning to turn their full attention to his old rival, seeking to reenergize the party’s base and activate donors before what is expected to be a long and grueling sequel. On Sunday, after Trump sought to muddy the waters on his position on abortion, the Biden operation and its surrogates pushed back with uncommon intensity. On Monday, Biden told donors at a New York fundraiser that Trump was out to “destroy” American democracy, in some of his most forceful language so far about the implications of a second Trump term. And on Wednesday, as the president spoke to donors at a Manhattan hotel, he acknowledged in the most explicit way yet that he now expected to be running against “the same fella.” And on Friday, Biden announced plans to join striking autoworkers on the picket line in Michigan next week — one day before Trump visits the state. FULL STORY

How are you liking your days without enough immigrant labor, Florida? The demagoguery of political leaders has consequences — and as draconian state immigration laws take effect and are enforced in the state, employers are learning just how good they had it before Gov. Ron DeSantis anointed himself border czar. A South Florida no-party-affiliation voter tells me a story that perfectly illustrates business owners’ predicament in a state once a sanctuary for the undocumented, and now imposing one of the strictest anti-immigrant laws in the nation. He needs to remodel his home’s entire irrigation system, a big job, but the owner of the company he has contracted — a die-hard supporter of brothers-in-prejudice former President Trump and DeSantis — can’t get the job done. Two reasons for the drama: He has lost almost all of his long-time employers to E-verify, which forces him to send for governmental review the immigration status of his employees — or face punishment that can escalate from a $500 civil fine to jail time for repeat offenders. Before the Florida Legislature, at DeSantis’ behest, passed the laws that severely punish people who hire, drive or assist undocumented immigrants, the irrigation contractor was simply doing what a lot of agricultural, service and construction businesses do: ignoring the immigration status of his laborers. Looking the other way. Getting jobs done. FULL STORY

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Friday that he will strip funding for Ukraine out of a Pentagon spending bill after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) joined conservatives in blocking the legislation from advancing earlier this week. McCarthy said he would remove the $300 million for Ukraine currently in the Pentagon appropriations bill and hold a separate vote on the funding.“It would be out and voted on by itself,” McCarthy said when asked about the Ukraine aid in the Pentagon appropriations bill. The Speaker’s announcement comes one day after a band of five conservatives opposed a procedural vote for the Pentagon appropriations bill, sinking the effort and preventing the legislation from moving forward. It was the second time this week that hard-liners blocked the funding bill from advancing. Votes on rules — which govern debate for legislation — are normally partisan and predictable matters, with the majority supporting voting “yes” and the minority party voting “no.” It is very rare for rules to fail on the floor. Greene, who has emerged as a close ally of McCarthy, was one of the Republicans who voted against the rule Thursday “because it funds the war in Ukraine.” It was a shift from her vote Tuesday, when the congresswoman supported the procedural vote to advance the Defense measure. FULL STORY

A veteran US senator has temporarily stepped down as head of the chamber's powerful foreign relations committee as he battles bribery charges. Justice department prosecutors allege Robert Menendez and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for aid to Egypt's government. The couple have denied the charges. The embattled senator has rejected calls from fellow Democrats back in his home state of New Jersey to resign his seat. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday that Mr Menendez had decided to step down as chairman of the influential committee "until the matter has been resolved". The New York Democrat said his colleague was "a dedicated public servant and is always fighting hard for the people of New Jersey". US Senator allegedly bribed with 'a lot of gold' It is not the first time that Mr Menendez, 69, who has served in Congress since 2006, has had to step down from the coveted post on the foreign relations panel. He also stepped down in 2015 after being indicted in New Jersey on charges that he had accepted bribes from a Florida eye doctor. That case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, who took over as the committee's leading Democrat at the time, is expected again to temporarily ascend to fill the vacancy. Mr Menendez and his spouse, Nadine Arslanian, are accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold, payments towards a home mortgage and a luxury vehicle from three New Jersey businessmen. FULL STORY

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has said he will step down as chairman of Fox and News Corp, with his son Lachlan heading both companies. In a note to employees, Murdoch said "the time is right" to take on "different roles". Murdoch, 92, launched Fox News in 1996. Today it is the most-watched television news channel in the United States. Murdoch said he will take over as chairman emeritus of both companies in mid-November. "Our companies are in good health, like me. Our opportunities far outweigh our business challenges," he wrote. "We have every reason to be optimistic about the years ahead; I certainly am, and I intend to be here to participate." Profile: The world's most influential media mogul The drama of the Murdoch succession comes to an end Five things you should know about Lachlan Murdoch Lachlan Murdoch, 52, is the son of Rupert Murdoch and his second wife, Anna Maria dePeyster. The billionaire patriarch has been married four times and has six children, many of whom have followed their father into the family business. /2023The question of succession had largely come down to the second, third and fourth: Elisabeth, Lachlan and James. Lachlan, 52, emerged as heir apparent during his time as an executive in the late 1990s. However, he left the business in 2005 after a dispute with then-Fox News chief Roger Ailes. Lachlan returned to his father's empire in 2014 and has held senior positions ever since. James Murdoch, the more liberal-minded son, resigned from News Corp's board in 2020 over "disagreements over some editorial content" and other complaints with the company's management. Elisabeth, 55, has held several senior positions in the industry but founded her own television company, Shine, which has produced programs including MasterChef and The Biggest Loser. Based on an article by the BBC. -- © Copyright ASEAN NOW 22/09/2023 /

The House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was dealt his second humiliating defeat of the week on Thursday, when his conference again failed to approve a procedural motion as members continued to clash over government spending levels with just days left to avert a federal shutdown. With no clear path forward in Republicans’ negotiations, the House concluded its work on Thursday without any stated plan to reconvene on Friday. “Discussions related to [fiscal year 2024] appropriations are ongoing,” Congressman Tom Emmer, the House Republican whip, said in a statement. “Members are advised that ample notice will be given ahead of any potential votes tomorrow or this weekend.” A proposal to take up House Republicans’ defense spending bill failed in a vote of 216 to 212, with five hard-right members joining Democrats in opposing the motion. The vote marked the second time this week that the motion had failed, after members of the House Freedom caucus first blocked the bill on Tuesday. The defeat was interpreted as a dismal sign for House Republicans’ prospects of approving a separate stopgap spending bill before government funding runs out at the end of the month. McCarthy had projected optimism heading into the Thursday vote, saying he and his allies had made substantial progress in their talks with the holdout Republicans on Wednesday. But five members of the House Freedom caucus – Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eli Crane of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Rosendale of Montana – still opposed the procedural motion on Thursday. FULL STORY

White House hopes to secure nuclear cooperation deal with Riyadh as Chinese influence grows in Middle East The Saudi crown prince has confirmed his country would seek to acquire a nuclear arsenal if Iran developed one, throwing fresh doubt on a possible US-Saudi nuclear cooperation deal currently under negotiation. Joe Biden’s Democratic allies in the US Senate have warned his administration will face a tough battle for approval of a deal normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia if it includes substantial nuclear cooperation with Riyadh, because of distrust of Saudi intentions. In an interview on Wednesday, Mohammed bin Salman added weight to suspicions that an ostensibly civilian nuclear programme could be diverted to military purposes if Saudi Arabia felt under threat. The Saudi crown prince has confirmed his country would seek to acquire a nuclear arsenal if Iran developed one, throwing fresh doubt on a possible US-Saudi nuclear cooperation deal currently under negotiation. Joe Biden’s Democratic allies in the US Senate have warned his administration will face a tough battle for approval of a deal normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia if it includes substantial nuclear cooperation with Riyadh, because of distrust of Saudi intentions. Questioned by Fox News about the prospect of an Iranian bomb, the crown prince said “we are concerned of any country getting a nuclear weapon”, adding that if Iran did successfully develop a weapon “we will have to get one”. Prince Mohammed made a similar warning in 2018, and its repetition suggests military options are still a factor in the kingdom’s nuclear planning. The Biden administration has focused a great deal of diplomatic effort into securing a Saudi-Israeli normalisation deal, which Prince Mohammed said was getting closer “every day”. Any such agreement would involve US incentives for Saudi participation. FULL STORY

The Biden administration rolled out a major strategic shift in border policy Wednesday, granting more than 400,000 Venezuelans work permits while bolstering overstretched border enforcement agencies with military assistance. The moves respond to pressure from Democrats and immigrant advocates, but also to quickly changing dynamics on the migrant trail toward the U.S.-Mexico border, with hundreds of thousands of migrants already traveling north. By making all Venezuelans who arrived before July 31 eligible to work and live in the country temporarily, the Biden administration seeks to ease pressure on Democratic-controlled states and cities, whose shelter systems were overwhelmed with new arrivals unable to sustain themselves. And deploying 800 troops to the border to assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Border Patrol will free up manpower for those agencies to process migrants at and between ports of entry. In recent weeks, CBP has at times closed major international bridges and railway crossings and redirected their personnel to help Border Patrol take migrants into custody. On Wednesday, CBP pulled its staff from an Eagle Pass, Texas, bridge and at the railway crossing there. “In response to this influx in encounters, we will continue to surge all available resources to expeditiously and safely process migrants. We will maximize consequences against those without a legal basis to remain in the United States,” read a CBP statement on the Eagle Pass closures. But many Democrats have been pleading with the administration to turn its focus to work permits. FULL STORY

The Biden administration on Thursday announced an aid package for Ukraine with a value of “up to $325 million” for “critical security and defense needs.” The announcement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. leaders including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The package includes weapons like missiles and machine guns to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia. “Today I’m in Washington to strengthen our coalition to defend Ukrainian children, our families, our homes, freedom and democracy in the world,” Zelensky said in an Oval Office meeting with Biden. “And I started my day in the U.S. Congress to thank its members and the people in America for rolling big, huge support. I felt trust between us,” Zelensky continued. “It allowed us to have frank and constructive dialogue.” Zelensky’s D.C. trip and the aid announcement also coincided with chaos in the House over funding bills and disagreement over Ukraine aid. McCarthy also said he denied a request by the Ukrainian leader to address a joint session of Congress on Thursday. “Zelensky asked us for a joint session; we just didn’t have time,” McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill, according to videos of the exchange. McCarthy himself has seemed hesitant to give aid to Ukraine. At a press conference Tuesday, he said he had “questions” to ask Zelensky when they met. FULL STORY

Elon Musk's brain-computer interface (BCI) start-up Neuralink has begun recruiting people for its first human trial. The company's goal is to connect human brains to computers and it wants to test its technology on people with paralysis. A robot will help implant a BCI that will let them control a computer cursor, or type, using thoughts alone. But rival companies have already implanted BCI devices in humans. Neuralink won US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its first human clinical trial, in May, a critical milestone after earlier struggles to gain approval. The FDA approval represented "an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people", Neuralink said at the time The company had sought approval to implant its devices in 10 people, former and current employees told news agency Reuters. The number finally agreed upon is not known. Brain signals At the start of the six-year study, a robot would be used to surgically place 64 flexible threads, thinner than a human hair, on to a part of the brain that controlled "movement intention", the company said. These allow Neuralink's experimental N1 implant - powered by a battery that can be charged wirelessly - to record and transmit brain signals wirelessly to an app that decodes how the person intends to move. FULL STORY

The family of a US man who drowned after driving off a collapsed bridge are claiming that he died because Google failed to update its maps. Philip Paxson's family are suing the company over his death, alleging that Google negligently failed to show the bridge had fallen nine years earlier. Mr Paxson died in September 2022 after attempting to drive over the damaged bridge in Hickory, North Carolina. A spokesperson for Google said the company was reviewing the allegations. The case was filed in civil court in Wake County on Tuesday. Mr Paxson, a father of two, was driving home from his daughter's ninth birthday party at a friend's house and was in an unfamiliar neighbourhood at the time of his death, according to the family's lawsuit. His wife had driven his two daughters home earlier, and he stayed behind to help clean up. "Unfamiliar with local roads, he relied on Google Maps, expecting it would safely direct him home to his wife and daughters," lawyers for the family said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. "Tragically, as he drove cautiously in the darkness and rain, he unsuspectingly followed Google's outdated directions to what his family later learned for nearly a decade was called the 'Bridge to Nowhere,' crashing into Snow Creek, where he drowned." FULL STORY Have yyou got any stories where GPS has led you into problems ? please add your comment below.