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What are you mostly like to play during a road trip ? In a recent article these were the tops songs Top driving songs 1972: Alice Cooper - School’s Out 1973: The Jackson 5 - Dancing Machine 1974: Queen - Killer Queen 1975: Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces 1976: Chicago - If You Leave Me Now 1977: Earth, Wind & Fire - Fantasy 1978: Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick 1979: The Specials - A Message To You Rudy 1980: Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall 1981: Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime 1982: Imagination - Just an Illusion 1983: Herbie Hancock - Rockit 1984: Wham! Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go 1985: Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The World 1986: Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is 1987: Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full - Seven Minutes Of Madness - The Coldcut Remix 1988: Inner City - Big Fun 1989: Soul II Soul - Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) 1990: Oleta Adams - Get Here 1991: Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy 1992: Arrested Development - People Everyday 1993: Jamiroquai - Blow Your Mind 1994: Youssou N’Dour Feat Nen eh Cherry - 7 Seconds 1995: Oasis - Wonderwall 1996: Faithless - Insomnia 1997: Ultra Naté - Free 1998: Brandy & Monica - The Boy Is Mine 1999: Moloko - Sing It back 2000: Coldplay - Trouble 2001: David Gray - Sail Away 2002: Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You 2003: Beyonce – Crazy In Love 2004: Keane - Somewhere Only We Know 2005: Jennifer Lopez - Get Right 2006: Gnarls Barkley - Crazy 2007: Timbaland Feat Keri Hilson & D.O.E - The Way I Are 2008: Madonna Feat Justin Timberlake & Timbaland - 4 Minutes 2009: Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow 2010: Lady A – Need You Now 2011: Bruno Mars - Grenade 2012: Emeli Sandé - Next To Me 2013: Daft Punk – Get Lucky 2014: James Bay - Hold Back The River 2015: Hozier - Take Me To Church 2016: Drake Feat Wizkid & Kyla - One Dance 2017: Sam Smith - Too Good At Goodbyes 2018: Rag’n’Bone Man - Human 2019: Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man - Giant 2020: The Weeknd - Blinding Lights 2021: Silk Sonic Feat Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak - Leave The Door Open 2022: Dave - Starlight What Music are you listening to as you pass away the miles ? "One-quarter of people surveyed had built their own motoring playlist, and almost half said they experienced a lift in mood when they listened to music in the car (48 per cent), with four in 10 saying they felt more relaxed at the wheel."

The Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35 is the sort of car that you’ve very probably got no need for but you just want for the hell of it. It’s just so much fun and has the potential to convert indoor types like your correspondent into a backwoods person. Based on the fairly cheap, useful and innocuous Isuzu D-Max range of pick-ups, it’s rendered massively more imposing, and a bit more able through a collaboration with Artic Trucks of Iceland, specialists in hardcore off-roading – icebergs, volcanos, that sort of thing. So naturally, I took it to… Birmingham. Specifically, off-roading on a small but demanding course at the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre nearby. I learnt a few things. First, that making progress in any 4x4 requires patience and a steely nerve, and it reminded me how enjoyable it is; just a recreation, a hobby like golf or windsurfing, though sadly not that easily accessible. Second, I learnt that the Isuzu has a rather traditional way of getting around hills and mud, which is the optional differential lock, still engaged by the driver rather than by onboard electronics. FULL ARTICLE

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will not consider the war to be over until Crimea is back in Ukrainian hands. And the Russian security service claims parts of an "explosive device" used in an assassination attempt on the Moscow-backed head of Crimea have been found. Video Report

Facebook owner Meta is launching its new app to rival Twitter and says it will go live on Thursday. The app, which is called Threads and is available for pre-order on the Apple App Store, will be linked to Instagram. Screengrabs show a dashboard that looks similar to Twitter. Meta describes Threads as a "text based conversation app". The move is the latest in a rivalry between Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter owner Elon Musk. Last month, the pair agreed to a physical fight, though it is unclear how serious the two men were about actually holding a bout. "Thank goodness they're so sanely run", Mr Musk responded to a tweet about Threads, in an apparent fresh swipe at Mr Zuckerberg. Meanwhile, Twitter has said that the popular user dashboard, TweetDeck will go behind a paywall in 30 days time. The move is the latest push by Mr Musk as he tries to get users to sign up to Twitter's subscription service, Twitter Blue. On Saturday, the multi-billionaire restricted the number of tweets users could see, citing extreme "data scraping". It appears from Meta's Threads app that it will be a free service - and there will be no restrictions on how many posts a user can see. "Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what'll be trending tomorrow" the description on the App Store says. STORY

80 UK bank branches are set to close in July 2023, with leading banks such as Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and HSBC all shutting branches. The closures will serve as another blow to British high streets, which have seen a number of retail stores shut so far this year. So, is your local bank closing? Which banks are worst affected? How many more are scheduled to shut in 2023? Read on below for a full list of bank closures in July 2023. STORY

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) presidential campaign is facing pushback after his team shared a video attacking former President Trump over his past comments in support of the LGBTQ community. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (D), the first openly gay man to be confirmed as Cabinet secretary, responded to the video on CNN Sunday by asking who DeSantis was trying to “make better off” with the video. Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic decathlete who came out as transgender in 2015, said the video marked “a new low” for the campaign. Even 2024 Republican presidential contenders Chris Christie and Will Hurd said the video was divisive. The video shared Friday — the last day of LGBTQ Pride month — includes resurfaced clips of the former president saying he would “do everything in my power” to protect LGBTQ citizens and expressing support for transgender individuals to use the restroom of their choice. FULL STORY

Small businesses and manufacturers are warning that federal environmental regulations targeting certain chemicals will have a widespread negative impact on the economy. The regulations — proposed in April by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — would ban most uses of methylene chloride (MCL), a chemical that has various uses in adhesives, paint and coating products, pharmaceuticals, metal cleaning, chemical processing and aerosols. The EPA explained the chemical poses serious risks to health, though it carved out exemptions for military and processing uses. "The science on methylene chloride is clear, exposure can lead to severe health impacts and even death, a reality for far too many families who have lost loved ones due to acute poisoning," said EPA Administrator Michael Regan after proposing the rule. FULL STORY

Vladimir Putin’s response to the armed Wagner rebellion was “weak” and the Russian President is losing control of his own people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN in an exclusive interview. Putin faced the greatest threat to his authority in two decades last month when the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched a short-lived uprising, claiming control of military facilities in two Russian cities and marching toward Moscow before he agreed to stand down. “We see Putin’s reaction. It’s weak,” Zelensky told CNN’s Erin Burnett in Odesa, in an interview taped on Sunday. “Firstly, we see he doesn’t control everything. Wagner’s moving deep into Russia and taking certain regions shows how easy it is to do. Putin doesn’t control the situation in the regions.” “All that vertical of power he used to have is just crumbling down.” STORY

Electric car company Tesla has delivered a record number of cars in the second quarter - as its strategy to lower prices paid off and US consumers took advantage of tax credits. The carmaker beat market expectations and delivered 466,140 cars in the three months to the end of June, up 83.5% on a year ago and an increase of 10.4% on the first three months of the year. It produced an even greater number of vehicles - 479,700 - exceeding its own ambitious targets of turning out an extra 50% of cars a year. Analysts had expected the company headed by entrepreneur and Twitter owner Elon Musk, to deliver just 445,000 vehicles. FULL STORY

Dowries have been illegal in India since 1961, but the bride's family is still expected to gift cash, clothes and jewellery to the groom's family. Now, a 27-year-old teacher in the central city of Bhopal has started a petition asking the police to deploy officers at marriage venues and conduct raids to put an end to this "social evil". Gunjan Tiwari (not her real name) tells the BBC her petition is rooted in her own experiences of being rejected by dozens of men over dowry. The most recent incident took place in February when her father had invited a young man and his family to their home in the hope of finding a match for her. After her parents had exchanged pleasantries with the guests, Gunjan walked into the living room, carrying a tray with cups of steaming hot tea and snacks for the guests. She describes the moment as "unnerving". "Everyone is staring at you, they are all sizing you up," she told me on the phone from her home. A lot of meticulous planning had gone into when and how Gunjan will appear before the guests. Her mother had chosen a green outfit for her because she thought her daughter looked especially fetching in it. She also advised Gunjan not to laugh as it would draw attention to her uneven teeth. FULL STORY

Harvard's practice of granting preference to undergraduate applicants with family ties to the elite college is facing a legal challenge. Advocacy groups have petitioned the government to stop the Ivy League university's legacy admissions. The policy has long been seen as a perk for the white and wealthy. The federal complaint comes days after the Supreme Court ruled Harvard and other US colleges could no longer weigh race as a key factor in admissions. In a landmark decision on Thursday, the nation's highest court voted 6-3 to repeal affirmative action, a decades-old measure. Affirmative action has long been defended as a policy useful for increasing diversity on university campuses, but Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion that the process used by Harvard and others "picks winners and losers based on the color of their skin". FULL STORY

LOVELL SUMMER SCHOOL???? ???? 3 - 14 July 2023 for children aged 18 months - 6 years. This will be a great opportunity for your child to come and experience through our play-based style of learning which will be coming in 4 programs for you to select what is best for your child. Register Line : @lovellschool

An American lawyer who has spent the past two-and-a-half years in Cambodian prison for the alleged rape of several children is now facing five federal counts in the US - after being deported back to the states earlier this month. Currently being kept under house arrest in Tampa, 42-year-old Rugh James Cline is facing 170 years in prison for his alleged crimes, which include alleged payments to rape four minors in the Southeast Asian nation back in 2019. According to the lawman's indictment, he arrived in Cambodia in May of that year with a photo or video showing two Cambodian children engaged in sex acts - before and after raping two minors under the age of 15 on multiple different occasions. The trip was the second in a matter of months for the Florida lawyer, with the first made in February - during which time prosecutors believe he either recorded the aforementioned media, which featured one child as young as '12 years old.' FULL STORY

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, the president falsely claimed that Russia is at war with Iraq. Russia is at war with Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin is “clearly losing the war in Iraq,” Biden told the press pool, “losing the war at home. And he has become a bit of a pariah around the world.” On Tuesday, during an unrelated fundraising event in Chevy Chase, Md., Biden had made the exact same slip-up, mistaking Ukraine for Iraq. “If anybody told you … that we’d be able to bring all of Europe together in the onslaught on Iraq and get NATO to be completely united,” the president said, “I think they would have told you it’s not likely.” Although many journalists did a fine job this week highlighting the president’s apparent confusion regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one can’t help but feel as if the news industry as a whole is avoiding the obvious follow-up question. Namely, “Is Biden okay?” FULL STORY

The decision of the Supreme Court to end the use of race in college admissions was not unexpected. Yet, President Joe Biden expressed outrage and actually claimed that the Court gutted the constitutional guarantee that "all men and women are created equal." In declaring that this Court was not "normal," Biden further insisted that these admissions decisions and the Dobbs abortion decision reversed the gains that "we fought a war over in 1860" to secure. In an interview on MSNBC’s "Deadline: White House," President Biden accused the court of ignoring what "the Constitution says: We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men and women are created equal, endowed by their creator." That is actually a reference to the Declaration of Independence, but it was the substance of the point that was so baffling. LIBERALS LAMENT STRING OF SUPREME COURT VERDICTS: ‘THIS TRULY SUCKS’ In barring the use of race in admissions, the court believed that it was protecting that very "self-evident" guarantee. It erased what the court viewed as a glaring anomaly in its cases in the treatment of racial discrimination in education as opposed to employment. FULL STORY

Outdated?thread Posted a few days ago and the video shot in May !

Please continue here CLOSED

The Chinese tagline on the movie poster says it all: "I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes." It tells the true story of Hachiko, the faithful dog that continued to wait for its master at a train station in Japan long after his death. The cream white Akita Inu, born 100 years ago, has been memorialised in everything from books to movies to the cult science fiction sitcom Futurama. And the Chinese iteration - the third after a Japanese version in 1987, and the Richard Gere-starrer in 2009 - is a hit at the box office. There have been tales of other devoted hounds such as Greyfriars Bobby, but none with the global impact of Hachiko. A bronze statue of him has stood outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo, where he waited in vain for a decade, since 1948. The statue was first erected in 1934 before being recycled for the war effort during World War Two. Japanese schoolchildren are taught the story of Chuken Hachiko - or loyal dog Hachiko - as an example of devotion and fidelity.

Water cremation is set to be available in the UK for the first time. The flameless process sees hot water and lye used to dissolve the body’s fat and tissues over the course of about four hours, leaving behind only the bones. This is essentially a sped-up version of what happens naturally when a body is buried underground, as the body’s cells are slowly broken down. Crematorium staff instead powder the deceased’s bones into a fine white ‘ash’, which the bereaved can scatter or place into an urn. STORY METRO

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia is now the first country to allow psychiatrists to prescribe certain psychedelic substances to patients with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Beginning Saturday, Australian physicians can prescribe doses of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for PTSD. Psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, can be given to people who have hard-to-treat depression. The country put the two drugs on the list of approved medicines by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Scientists in Australia were surprised by the move, which was announced in February but took effect July 1. One scientist said it puts Australia “at the forefront of research in this field.” Chris Langmead, deputy director of the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said there have been very few advancements on treatment of persistent mental health issues in the last 50 years. The growing cultural acceptance has led two U.S. states to approve measures for their use: Oregon was the first to legalize the adult use of psilocybin, and Colorado’s voters decriminalized psilocybin in 2022. Days ago, President Joe Biden’s youngest brother said in a radio interview that the president has been “very open-minded” in conversations the two have had about the benefits of psychedelics as a form of medical treatment. FULL STORY

The Philippine Tourism Authority said it had launched an investigation after images from other countries appeared in a video promoting the resort. The archipelago's national tourism department removed the promotional video shortly after it was uploaded to Facebook after a Filipino blogger pointed out its inappropriateness. The travel video is part of the Department of Tourism's $900,000 (£7.08,298) "Love the Philippines" campaign launched on June 27. “As one of the many other forthcoming components of the launch of the enhanced tourism campaign, the DOT’s contracted agency, DDB Philippines, prepared and published an audiovisual presentation which has recently been the subject of scrutiny on the alleged use of non-original shots in certain parts of the AVP,” the DOT said in a statement. In a statement, advertising agency DDB "deeply apologized" to the Ministry of Tourism and admitted it was a "regrettable oversight" on their part. "While the use of archival footage in emotional videos is an industry standard, the use of foreign archival footage is an unfortunate oversight by our agency," DDB Philippines said, adding that the agency should have followed proper review and approval procedures "The use of foreign footage in an advertising campaign in the Philippines is highly inappropriate and contrary to the goals of the Department of Transportation," the statement said. The ad agency explained that no public funds were used for the video as it was an initiative of the DDB. The tourism ministry said it was investigating the "alleged use of unoriginal footage", adding that the agency had vouched for the originality of the video. FULL STORY

President Biden is facing backlash from conservatives following a report that his aides have been told to say publicly that he only has six grandchildren, omitting Hunter Biden’s 4-year-old estranged daughter. The president’s son, Hunter Biden, settled his child support case in Arkansas last week, ending a years-long paternity dispute over his 4-year-old daughter, whom both the president and the first lady refuse to acknowledge as their seventh grandchild. Announced in a court filing on Thursday, Hunter agreed to give his daughter some of his paintings, and the mother of the child, Lunden Alexis Roberts, agreed to withdraw her counterclaim to change their child's last name to "Biden." The New York Times released a damning report Saturday saying the family dispute is rooted in "money, corrosive politics and what it means to have the Biden birthright." FULL STORY

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said former President Trump will show up to the GOP primary debates because of his ego. The New York Times’s Maureen Dowd interviewed Christie, former governor of New Jersey, for an opinion piece published Saturday. When asked whether he believed Trump would attend the GOP debates after previously saying he may not, Christie affirmed that the former president most likely will. “I think that he’ll show up at the debates because his ego won’t permit him not to,” Christie said. “He can’t have a big TV show that he’s not on.” “He’s on Truth Social going bonkers, and no one’s paying attention? He won’t deal well with that,” the former governor added. Christie has repeatedly reiterated that he has the skills to beat Trump at a debate because he helped him prep for his debates in 2016 and 2020. He has also called on the former president to commit to attending the debate, saying on Friday that he will “shame” Trump into showing up to the debates. FULL STORY

US President Joe Biden will meet King Charles in a visit to the UK later this month, Buckingham Palace has announced.In a statement, the palace confirmed the US president will meet the monarch at Windsor Castle on 10 July. Mr Biden will also meet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his five-day overseas trip, starting with a stop in the UK on 9 July to the UK, before going to Lithuania and Finland. A visit had long been anticipated and comes after Mr Sunak visited Washington last month for talks with the US president. Mr Biden attended the funeral of the King's mother, Queen Elizabeth II, last September and joined him and other leaders for an evening reception before the ceremony. The White House said: "President Biden will first travel to London, United Kingdom for engagements with King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to further strengthen the close relationship between our nations." FULL STORY

A week on from the dramatic mutiny by Wagner forces, residents in Rostov-on-Don - the city the mercenary troops seized - have been reflecting on the events that rocked Russia. In just 24 hours, leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, staged an insurrection, sending troops into the city of a million people and further on towards Moscow. Due to the current laws against criticising the so-called "special military operation" in Russia, the BBC has chosen to protect the identities of the citizens who spoke to us. One Rostov-on-Don local - who the BBC is calling Vadim - described the moment he spotted Wagner forces in the city. "I had to leave my home that day just to pop out and get something from the shop. About ten or eleven, I saw these armed people that had closed off the road. They were checking cars, asking people for documents but passers-by were simply allowed to carry on walking," he told the BBC World Service's Weekend programme. FULL STORY