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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.

Reported abusive post and response to it removed.

Russell Brand allegations show ‘terrible behaviour towards women tolerated’, says Channel 4 boss Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon has said the Russell Brand allegations show that “terrible behaviour” towards women has been “historically tolerated” in the television industry. Ms Mahon addressed the claims against the former Channel 4 presenter as she opened the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention on Wednesday 20 September. “The allegations made against Russell Brand are horrendous and as a CEO of Channel 4 and as a woman in our industry, I found the behaviours described in Dispatches and The Sunday Times and The Times articles disgusting and saddening,” she said. Brand has strongly denied the rape and sexual assault allegations which span between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame while working for the broadcaster, BBC and starring in Hollywood films. https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/russell-brand-dispatches-allegations-documentary-b2415445.html

France and Germany are pushing plans to offer Britain and other European countries “associate membership” of the EU in a move that could rebuild the UK’s ties with the bloc. The two countries have tabled a blueprint that would create four new tiers, with the most aligned states forming an “inner circle”. In what will be seen as an olive branch, a new outer tier of “associate membership” would be open to the UK, laying the ground for a closer economic relationship. Senior Tories welcomed the proposal with the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine telling The Independent that Britain must urgently explore the idea as the “overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake”. “The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe,” he said. But the move prompted a furious reaction from Brexiteers who accused EU countries of “desperation” in their bid to enlarge the bloc. News of the plans came after Sir Keir Starmer held talks in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron, the final leg of an international tour designed to portray the Labour leader as a prime minister in waiting. But as both main parties walk a tightrope over Brexit in the run-up to next year’s general election, Labour and No 10 ruled out any form of associate membership of the EU. FULL STORY

The Myanmar military junta is deliberately targeting medical facilities and medical staff with airstrikes, raids by soldiers and the burning down of buildings, using a map of public hospitals and clinics they drew up in 2019, according to a new report shared exclusively with Sky News. Myanmar Witness, a project run by the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience that collects, analyses, verifies, and stores evidence related to human rights abuses in Myanmar, has identified 16 separate attacks on medical infrastructure and staff in just three months at the start of this year. Earlier this year, Sky News obtained exclusive access to the last remaining hospital in one area of Myanmar. This report confirms that the eyewitness testimony, interviews, and physical evidence gathered and recorded by Sky News in June of this year is indicative of a nationwide attack by the military on medical facilities. Analysing data from eyewitnesses, Myanmar Witness claims the junta's "strategic use of fire and airstrikes has been a mainstay of the conflict in Myanmar". FULL STORY

Elon Musk’s controversial biotechnology startup Neuralink opened up recruitment for its first human clinical trial Tuesday, according to a company blog. After receiving approval from an independent review board, Neuralink is set to begin offering brain implants to paralysis patients as part of the PRIME Study, the company said. PRIME, short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface, is being carried out to evaluate both the safety and functionality of the implant. Trial patients will have a chip surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls the intention to move. The chip, installed by a robot, will then record and send brain signals to an app, with the initial goal being “to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone,” the company wrote. Those with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may qualify for the six-year-long study – 18 months of at-home and clinic visits followed by follow-up visits over five years. Interested people can sign up in the patient registry on Neuralink’s website. FULL STORY

Assuming you send by Post (best) the parcel is held at your local Post Office for collection/payment. They should send you are card advising you of that, (often dont). But you can watch on the tracking (advisable). If it has made it through without charge etc it will just be delivered as normal.

Petty bickering exchange removed.

Hard-line Republican threats to force a vote on ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his post could soon thrust Democrats into a difficult decision: Do they save the Speaker who opened an impeachment inquiry into their president or join Republicans in booting him? Top Democrats say they have not formulated a strategy for handling such a vote, dismissing questions as hypothetical and insisting that they are focused on funding the government and averting a shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. But Democrats’ votes could save — or end — McCarthy’s Speakership, which he clinched after a marathon 15 rounds of voting in January. “It would be a big question,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the House Progressive Caucus, told The Hill on Tuesday. That question, however, is of high interest, and Democrats may have to answer it sooner rather than later. McCarthy hasn’t been able to unite his fractious conference around a plan to fund the government, threats to oust him are growing louder, and internal GOP sniping is spilling into public view. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of McCarthy’s top adversaries, put the Speaker on notice last week, announcing in a floor speech that he would force a vote on booting him if he does not meet a list of demands on spending and legislation. On Tuesday, a reporter found what appeared to be a House resolution drafted by Gaetz in a Capitol bathroom that said “the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.” The Hill could not independently confirm the authenticity of the document. FULL STORY

As Australia edged into spring in 2019, former fire brigade chief Greg Mullins warned the country was disastrously primed to burn. Over and over, he begged to be heard. In letters, phone calls, press conferences and countless interviews, he painted an apocalyptic picture of the summer ahead. But his pleas fell on deaf ears, and his premonitions would come true. Over the coming months, Mr Mullins watched on as 24 million hectares was torched - an area the size of the UK. Almost 2,500 homes burned down, and 480 people died in the flames and smoke. Now a worrying combination of conditions has Mr Mullins sounding the alarm again. Authorities have stressed this summer will not reach the same scale. But years of rain have caused an explosion in plant growth, which is drying out after Australia's warmest winter on record, and an El Nino-affected summer promises more oppressively hot and dry conditions. Just days into spring, parts of the country are experiencing catastrophic-level weather warnings. "Bushfires will be back in the headlines," Mr Mullins tells the BBC. "I'm nervous." A firefighter's 'nightmare' Out in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales (NSW), it's not hard to see why. Walking through the thick scrub of Nattai National Park, the occasional blackened tree trunk peeks out from behind a wall of leaves. Only by craning your neck can you see that the canopy is still threadbare. The area was incinerated four years ago. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, there's no way I would believe that had burned as hard as it did," local firefighter Andrew Hain says. FULL STORY

Rishi Sunak is considering weakening some of the government's key green commitments in a major policy shift. It could include delaying a ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars and phasing out gas boilers, multiple sources have told the BBC. The PM is preparing to set out the changes in a speech in the coming days. Responding to the reported plans, he said the government was committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but in a "more proportionate way". The aim of net zero is for the UK to take out of the atmosphere as many greenhouse gas emissions - such as carbon dioxide - as it puts in. The prime minister said: "For too many years politicians in governments of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade-offs. Instead they have taken the easy way out, saying we can have it all. "This realism doesn't mean losing our ambition or abandoning our commitments. Far from it. "I am proud that Britain is leading the world on climate change." He said the UK was committed to international climate agreements it had already made. "No leak will stop me beginning the process of telling the country how and why we need to change," he said. FULL STORY

US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, will plead not guilty to three criminal charges relating to a gun purchase he made in 2018, his lawyer has said. In a letter to the judge, attorney Abbe Lowell confirmed the intended plea while asking that the initial court appearance be held remotely. Mr Biden was indicted last week for possessing a gun while he was an illegal drug user and lying to buy it. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison. The 53-year-old "will waive reading of the indictment, which is merely a few pages and could easily be read at a video conference", Mr Lowell wrote in the two-page court filing on Tuesday. "Mr Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference," he said. The attorney added that seeking a video hearing was not a case of the president's son "seeking any special treatment". Instead, he said, it would "minimize an unnecessary burden on government resources and the disruption to the courthouse and downtown areas" from the Secret Service detail accompanying Mr Biden. Mr Biden's legal team initially asked last week for their client to be allowed to appear remotely. Prosecutors opposed the request. FULL STORY

The four men kneeling in the makeshift bunker face out over a lush green paddy field, their guns resting on a wall of cement sacks. Bamboo poles prop up the corrugated tin roof. Wearing homemade bullet-proof vests, they train their weapons - mostly old single and double-barrelled shotguns - on a rival bunker less than a mile away. A belt of cartridges hangs from one of the poles. The men are all civilian members of a "village defence force" - among them a driver, a labourer, a farmer, and Tomba (whose name we have changed to protect his identity). Tomba ran a mobile phone repair shop before deadly ethnic conflict erupted in May in India's north-east Manipur state. Warning: This article contains details of violence that readers may find upsetting The segregation of communities in this corner of the world's fastest-growing major economy feels like a heavily-militarised border separating countries at war. "We have to protect ourselves because we don't think anyone else will. I feel scared but I have to hide it," Tomba said. He and the other three in the bunker belong to the majority Meitei community, who largely follow Hinduism. A sense of fear is all pervasive in Manipur since shocking violence between their community and minority Kuki groups broke out, marked by brutal killings and sexual crimes against women. More than 200 people have been killed, roughly two-thirds of them Kukis, a collective name for the Kuki, Zomi, Chin, Hmar and Mizo tribes who are mostly Christians. FULL STORY

Generally the limit is 1500baht declared value and then the tax is applied. Cost + Insurance+ Freight , hence the CIF stated above. Becareful what value the sender puts on the parcel.

Love the stuff eat it atleast once a week. I tell them "mai si prik^ (no chilli). And always "kai dow". I have it so regularly they dont even ask what I want or how I want it anymore. ????Gotta love village life.

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