onthedarkside

Hundreds of thousands of Australians who were sold defective Toyota vehicles will be able to apply for compensation from Monday. It comes after a Federal Court judgement handed down in April that found more than 260,000 Toyota vehicles were defective when sold. The court found Toyota HiLux, Prado and Fortuner vehicles sold between October 1, 2015 and April 23, 2020 were sold with faulty diesel particulate filters (DPF). ... With an expected average compensation payout of $10,500 per vehicle, Toyota could be facing a total compensation bill of more than $2.7 billion. (more) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-19/toyota-class-action-faulty-diesel-vehicle-compensation/101165578

OK... This thread is NOT about Donald Trump, so it's time to bring that debate to a close here.... The topic of the thread is: Biden’s age would be ‘major issue’ if he runs again, former Obama adviser says Stay on topic, or your posts will be removed and potentially more if you persist...

An exchange of bickering posts has been removed. If you have anything new or informative to add to the discussion here, that's fine. Otherwise, move on...

A post citing the Russian RT propaganda site and ensuing replies have been removed.

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An exchange of off-topic posts re-arguing over the vote counting in the 2020 presidential election have been removed.

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DETROIT (AP) — Automakers reported nearly 400 crashes over a 10-month period involving vehicles with partially automated driver-assist systems, including 273 with Teslas, according to statistics released Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cautioned against using the numbers to compare automakers, saying it didn’t weight them by the number of vehicles from each manufacturer that use the systems, or how many miles those vehicles traveled. Automakers reported crashes from July of last year through May 15 under an order from the agency, which is examining such crashes broadly for the first time. (more) https://apnews.com/article/self-driving-car-crash-data-ae87cadec79966a9ba56e99b4110b8d6

CDC advisers sign off on COVID-19 vaccines for youngest Americans, which will become available as soon as Tuesday A federal advisory panel Saturday strongly recommended that young children receive COVID-19 vaccines. The 12-member committee's unanimous recommendation was the second-to-last hurdle before vaccines become available to children as young as 6 months old as soon as Tuesday. The last step, approval by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is expected to happen as soon as Saturday afternoon. That will clear the way for 10 million vaccine doses, which have already been pre-ordered from the federal government, to begin delivery and distribution as soon as Tuesday (after the Monday Juneteenth federal holiday). (more) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/06/18/cdc-advisers-recommend-covid-19-vaccines-youngest-americans/7662713001/

Ukraine president praises troops in visit to southern front line Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy walks on a street during a visit to the southern city of Mykolaiv, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine June 18, 2022. KYIV, June 18 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has paid another visit to troops on the front lines of Ukraine's war against Russia, praising soldiers holding forward positions as brave and hard-working and vowing the country will prevail. A video posted to Zelenskiy's official Telegram account on Saturday showed the president in his trademark khaki t-shirt, handing out medals and posing for selfies with the troops in what appeared to be an underground shelter in the southern Mykolaiv region. The president's office did not say when he made his latest trip to see troops. "Our brave men and women. Each one of them is working flat out," Zelenskiy said in the video. "We will definitely hold out! We will definitely win!" (more) https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-president-visits-southern-city-mykolaiv-2022-06-18/

(CNN) Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the end of "the era of the unipolar world" in a combative speech that lambasted Western countries at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. "When they won the Cold War, the US declared themselves God's own representatives on earth, people who have no responsibilities -- only interests. They have declared those interests sacred. Now it's one-way traffic, which makes the world unstable," Putin told the audience. The much-hyped speech was delayed by more than 90 minutes because of a "massive" cyberattack. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists in an impromptu conference call that the speech was postponed due to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on the conference's systems. (more) https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/17/europe/russia-president-vladimir-putin-speech-spief-intl/index.html

Priti Patel has reportedly called the last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) that grounded the government’s first deportation flight to Rwanda “scandalous”. The flight was halted minutes before its scheduled take-off on Tuesday after the ECHR ruled two of the asylum seekers due to be on board should not be removed from the UK until their appeals had been heard. The home secretary said soon after that the new deportation scheme would continue despite the false start. ... But on Friday, in an interview with The Telegraph, Ms Patel said: “The opaque way this court has operated is scandalous.” (more) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/priti-patel-rwanda-flight-echr-b2103928.html

Rights campaigners say ‘appalling’ pilot scheme treats those fleeing conflict and persecution as criminals Refugee rights campaigners have described a new Home Office scheme to electronically tag asylum seekers as “appalling”, saying the move treats people fleeing conflict and persecution as criminals. Under a 12-month pilot, which began on Wednesday, some people arriving in the UK in small boats or in the back of lorries will be electronically tagged. Critics say the “draconian” move will do nothing to stop people from taking risky journeys to reach the UK in search of asylum. Boris Johnson defended the plans on Saturday morning, saying it was essential that people did not simply “vanish” into the rest of the country. (more) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/18/people-arriving-in-uk-on-small-boats-to-be-electronically-tagged

'Gymnastics abuse report again shows darker side of sport' Anne Whyte's shocking report into the "systemic" physical and emotional abuse of young athletes is a devastating blow to the reputation of gymnastics. But as the QC makes clear early on in her 306-page report, while undoubtedly the most serious to date, it is far from the only athlete-welfare scandal to cast a shadow over publicly funded British sports in recent years. The governing bodies of cycling, swimming and canoeing are just some of the other sports that have had to apologise after inquiries into their cultures. UK Athletics remains under scrutiny over its past record on child safeguarding after an independent review of its policies found a "lack of precision" in lines of responsibility. (more) https://www.bbc.com/sport/gymnastics/61837245 Whyte Review: Gymnasts 'heard and vindicated' - Becky Downie Gymnasts have been "heard" and "vindicated" following the release of the report detailing the "systemic" abuse of gymnasts in Britain, says two-time Olympian Becky Downie. The Whyte Review, released on Thursday, heard from athletes who were made to train on broken bones, punished for needing the toilet, sat on by coaches, and subjected to excessive weight management. In 2020, Downie and younger sister Ellie said abusive behaviour in gymnastics training became "ingrained" and "completely normalised". But on Friday, Becky Downie said she had already seen a "drastic change" in the sport in this country. (more) https://www.bbc.com/sport/gymnastics/61834703

Issues of physical and emotional abuse within gymnastics in Britain were "systemic", an independent investigation has found. The Whyte Review, co-commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England, was released on Thursday and found gymnast wellbeing and welfare "has not been at the centre of British Gymnastics' culture". Athletes were made to train on injuries, punished for needing the toilet, sat on by coaches, shouted and sworn at and had their bags searched for food. (more) https://www.bbc.com/sport/gymnastics/61796129

The Pentagon is leaning toward sending four more rocket launchers to Ukraine in the next tranche of military aid, according to two Defense Department officials. If approved by the White House, the move would double the number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems sent to the country, as Ukrainian and Russian forces continue their long-range artillery battle in Ukraine’s east. The U.S. is already sending four of the HIMARS, a mobile rocket launcher, along with precision munitions that can strike targets 48 miles away. The U.K., meanwhile, is sending three units of a similar weapon, the American-made M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, with a range of 50 miles. Germany also announced this week that it will transfer three M270s to Kyiv. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u-s-officials-weigh-doubling-the-number-of-rocket-launchers-sent-to-ukraine/ar-AAYBd40

Mary Trump, the niece of former President Donald Trump, said Friday that her uncle "handed down a death sentence to Mike Pence" on January 6, 2021, and that the death of the vice president could have been an "excuse" he needed to do something "absolutely radical" to stay in power. ... Mary Trump said that her uncle "wasn't just stirring up his insurrectionists to create chaos, he handed down a death sentence to Mike Pence." "So I believe that nothing short of criminal indictments will be satisfactory enough. We need to make sure that everybody involved in this is held accountable and that people like Donald certainly at least are never allowed to run for office again in this country," she said. https://www.newsweek.com/mary-trump-says-pence-death-couldve-been-excuse-her-uncle-needed-1717135 Also: https://www.msnbc.com/katie-phang/watch/mary-trump-donald-trump-handed-down-a-death-sentence-to-mike-pence-142361669783

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in a protest over the soaring cost of living in Britain. Huge crowds flooded into the British capital for the rally to demand that the government do more to help people faced with bills and other expenses that are rising more quickly than their wages. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticized for being slow to respond to the cost-of-living crisis. Inflation in Britain and across Europe has been surging, as Russia's war in Ukraine crimped supplies of energy and food staples like wheat. Prices were already rising before the war, as the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in strong consumer demand. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/big-crowds-take-to-london-streets-to-protest-soaring-costs/ar-AAYCeaH

President Biden took a tumble getting off his bike on Saturday, but said he was all right. The president had just completed a ride at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware when he fell. Secret Service agents quickly helped the 79-year-old commander-in-chief up. “I’m good,” Biden told reporters. “I got my foot caught” in the toe cages. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-falls-off-bike-in-delaware-but-is-fine/ar-AAYCgNM

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BORETTO, Italy (AP) — Water is so low in large stretches of Italy’s largest river that local residents are walking through the middle of the expanse of sand and shipwrecks are resurfacing. Authorities fear that if it doesn’t rain soon, there’ll be a serious shortage of water for drinking and irrigation for farmers and local populations across the whole of northern Italy. ... Northern Italy hasn’t seen rainfall for more than 110 days and this year’s snowfall is down by 70%. Aquifers, which hold groundwater, are depleted. Temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above season average are melting the tiny snowfields and glaciers that were left on the top of the surrounding Alps, leaving the Po basin without its summer water reservoirs. (more) https://apnews.com/article/climate-italy-and-environment-e0274e5f2b4dd6bb2854cc7a970f75f6

The select panel probing the Capitol riot detailed the intense pressure then-President Donald Trump and his allies heaped on then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject key electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021. ... Pence came within about 40 feet of some of the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building, said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., who led much of Thursday’s hearing. “Make no mistake about the fact that the vice president’s life was in danger,” Aguilar said. He noted that a confidential informant from the Proud Boys told the FBI that members of the far-right group “would have killed Mike Pence if given a chance,” according to a recent court filing by the Department of Justice. (more) https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/17/jan-6-hearing-takeaways-trump-pushed-pence-to-reject-key-votes.html

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen European Commission has recommended it to be granted candidate status to join the bloc, which is expected to be approved next week Ukraine has taken a step closer towards joining the EU after the European Commission recommended it to be granted candidate status to join the bloc on Friday. The boost to Ukraine’s hopes of membership is laden with meaning in a country that turned defiantly westwards during the 2013 Euromaidan protests that toppled its pro-Russian president. It will be a blow for Vladimir Putin, whose illegal invasion was an attempt to force Ukraine back into Moscow’s sphere of influence. "It's the first step on the EU membership path that'll certainly bring our victory closer. Grateful to @vonderleyen & each (EU) member for a historic decision," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday. (more) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/06/17/ukraine-recommended-eu-candidate/