Hope Solo: USA goalkeeper suspended for six months for 'cowards' comment
Goalkeeper Hope Solo will not play for the United States for six months after being banned for calling Olympic rivals Sweden "a bunch of cowards".
The 35-year-old World Cup winner made the remarks after her side lost 5-4 on penalties to the Swedes in the quarter-finals of Rio 2016.
US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said Solo's comments were "unacceptable". Solo, who will not be eligible for the national side until February, said she was "saddened" by the decision.
Writing on her Facebook page, the Seattle Reign star said: "I could not be the player I am without being the person I am, even when I haven't made the best choices or said the right things."
Kabul attack: Gunfire and blast rock American University
A militant attack is believed to be taking place at the American University in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
A large explosion has been heard and students barricaded inside rooms in the building say they can hear gunfire close by. The emergency hospital says it has received five injured people from the scene so far. Police have described it as a "complex attack" and have deployed special forces. The university president, Mark English, told AP news agency that a militant attack was underway and "we are trying to assess the situation".
Peace remains a distant dream in Afghanistan. US to keep most troops in Afghanistan, Obama says. Student Ahmad Mukhtar told the BBC that he was 100m (320ft) away from the university's main entrance when he heard "six or 10" shots and a "huge" blast. The explosion created so much light that it momentarily lit up the surrounding area, he said. Then there were was more firing inside the campus. He added that he had also heard students shouting. "I climbed a six-metre wall to escape," Ahmad said.
GASTON A LITTLE STRONGER
NEWS ITEM ON TROPICAL STORM GASTON ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY FORECAST OFFICE SECTION, AT 6AM WEDNESDAY 24TH AUGUST 2016.
FORECAST TO BECOME A HURRICANE LATER TODAY
AT 5 AM EDT, THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM GASTON WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 14.9° NORTH AND LONGITUDE 38.6° WEST OR ABOUT 975 MILES WEST OF CABO VERDE ISLANDS.
GASTON IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 17 MPH. A TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 70 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO AND GASTON IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A HURRICANE LATER TODAY.
THE NEXT NEWS ITEM WILL BE ISSUED AT NOON.
PREPARED BY DUTY FORECASTER: IAN V. MCKENZIE
24TH AUGUST 2016 @ 5:40AM
Tesla adds more powerful battery option
Model S range topper promises 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds, longer range
LOS ANGELES -- Tesla is giving its fans another thing to get charged up about with the introduction of a 100-kilowatt-hour battery pack for both the Model S sedan and Model X crossover.
Available for order immediately and due for deliveries starting in September, the models equipped with the new higher-capacity battery will sit at the top of the S and X model lines and promise greater range than the 90 kWh packs, which will stay in production.
The Model S P100D will now have an EPA-estimated 315 miles of range, an increase of 45 miles over the P90D and a critical leap over the 300-mile range threshold.
"Range anxiety has long been one of the biggest obstacles for the adoption of electric cars,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director for industry insights at Edmunds. “By developing vehicles with longer range batteries, Tesla is moving the ball forward not just for itself but the entire EV industry.“
Tesla claims the Model S P100D -- when equipped with the optional Ludicrous model -- will be able to do a 0-60 mph run in 2.5 seconds and 0-100 mph in 2.7 seconds.
The Model X P100D will gain an extra 39 miles of EPA-estimated range for a total of 289 miles. This crossover will do 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds with Ludicrous mode and 0-100 mph in 3.1 seconds, according to Tesla.
Manufacturing challenges
Due to the challenges of manufacturing the new, denser battery packs, Tesla will limit production of the P100D models initially.
“Actually going from a roughly 90 to 100 [kWh] even though it seems like it might be an 11 or 12 percent increase in energy, it’s more like a 50 percent increase in difficulty,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a conference call with journalists. “So it’s been really quite a challenging development.”
Currently, Tesla hopes to make around 200 of the 100 kWh packs a week or around 10 to 12 percent of its overall battery pack production. The availability of lower-cost Tesla models with the new packs (but without the P performance element or the Ludicrous mode upgrade) will depend on consumer demand for these initial P100D models.
“I think it will probably be several months before we can offer the 100 kWh pack to non-Performance customers,” Musk said, citing the need to ramp up production gradually as Tesla irons out issues in the automation process.
Technologies on the new 100 kWh battery pack will also wind up in the forthcoming -- and cheaper -- Model 3 sedan.
“Some of the key improvements that enable this are directly on the roadmap toward the technologies that make the model 3 possible,” JB Straubel, Tesla’s chief technical officer, said during the call.
Ludicrous mode cost
Fans who have ordered but not yet taken delivery of a Model S or X P90D with Ludicrous mode can upgrade to the 100 kWh pack for an additional $10,000.
That puts the price of the new Model S P100D with Ludicrous mode at $134,000 and the Model X P100D with Ludicrous at $141,000 including delivery but before any options are added or tax incentives are deducted.
Existing owners of a P90D with Ludicrous mode will be able to upgrade to the higher-capacity battery pack for $20,000, a conversion that requires a new physical battery pack rather than merely a software upgrade.
The possibility of the more powerful battery pack was first floated in March by a hacker who discovered a reference to the P100D model in the code of his personal Model S.
Several weeks ago, reports in the Dutch press said the government regulator in the Netherlands that Tesla uses to approve its vehicles for European roads had approved a 100 kWh battery pack.
Qantas airline soars to record profit after restructuring
Australia's national carrier Qantas has posted record annual profits of A$1.42bn ($1.1bn, £820m)nearly doubling last year's result.
The airline will also pay a final dividend to shareholders for the first time since 2009. Qantas has been though major restructuring after posting record losses in 2014. To achieve the turnaround, the carrier has cut capacity, reduced staff and benefited from a slump in oil prices.
"Transformation has made us a more agile business, created value for our shareholders and given us a platform to invest for the future," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement. The record results come despite much of aviation business seeing a downturn in business in the wake of a global economic slowdown.
Staff bonus
The profit before tax of A$1.42bn for the year ending 30 June was nearly double the previous year's A$789m, but still came short of analysts' forecasts.
Is Wikileaks putting people at risk?
Whistle-blowing site Wikileaks has been criticised for not doing enough to screen sensitive information found in documents released via the site.
An investigation by the Associated Press has found the names and addresses of teenage rape victims, people who have suffered sexual abuse, and information about individuals suffering mental illness in documents on Wikileaks. Now some are questioning whether the site should be more careful with the information it publishes.
What is Wikileaks?
The website was set up in 2006 by Julian Assange to help whistle-blowers publish secret information, classified documents as well as stolen and leaked data. In early interviews, Mr Assange said it was intended to be a "giant library of the world's most persecuted documents". It has now published more than 10 million documents including:
US military logs and field reports from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
US State Department diplomatic cables
Official messages sent between the Saudi government and its embassies
Millions of emails from intelligence firm Stratfor
Files and messages from the Democratic National Committee
Melissa McCarthy overtakes Scarlett Johansson on Forbes rich list
Melissa McCarthy has overtaken Scarlett Johansson in Forbes' annual rich list.
McCarthy earned $33m (£25m) before tax between June 2015 and June 2016, making her the world's second highest paid actress, behind Jennifer Lawrence. Johansson, who was placed second last year, dropped to third, earning $25m (£19m) across the year. It tops off a busy year for McCarthy, which saw her appear in the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, as well as The Boss, which topped the US box office.
Johansson has appeared in Captain America: Civil War, the remake of The Jungle Book and the Coen brothers' film Hail Ceasar! over the last year. Forbes reported Lawrence earned $46m (£34.9m) before tax over 12 months to make her the world's highest-paid actress for the second year running. She appeared in the last film in The Hunger Games franchise and the Oscar-nominated Joy during that time.
Earthquake strikes central Italy
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck central Italy, south of the city of Perugia, the US Geological Survey says, with the shock also felt in Rome.
The quake hit at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 76 km (47 miles) southeast of the city, at the very shallow depth of 10km (six miles), the USGS said. In Rome, some buildings shook for 20 seconds, according to La Repubblica newspaper.
So far, there are no reports of damage or casualties. The prime minister's office said the government was in touch with regional heads of the civil protection agency. The quake was initially reported as being magnitude 6.4.
Louisiana floods: Obama 'heartbroken' after tour
President Barack Obama has toured the flood-ravaged areas of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he vowed to help residents rebuild in the coming months.
"We are heartbroken by the loss of life," he said after his tour. Mr Obama dismissed criticism that he arrived too late and praised state officials for their initial response. The president also met the family of Alton Sterling and the families of the Baton Rouge police officers killed last month. Mr Sterling, a black man, was killed at the hands of a white police officer in Baton Rouge.
His death, along with the police killing of Philando Castile in St Paul, Minnesota, stoked racial tensions and led to protests across the country. Nearly two weeks later, three officers were shot and killed and three more were injured in a shooting near the Baton Rouge police headquarters. The gunman, Gavin Long, was shot dead at the scene.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who travelled to Louisiana four days ago, and others have criticised Mr Obama for not cutting short his vacation on Martha's Vineyard to visit the devastated areas. But Mr Obama hit back after meeting with flood survivors, urging Americans to stay focused on helping the state.
TROPICAL STORM FIONA
NEWS ITEM ON TROPICAL STORM FIONA ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY FORECAST OFFICE SECTION, AT 6PM THURSDAY 18TH AUGUST 2016.
FIONA MOVING NORTHWESTWARD OVER THE CENTRAL TROPICAL ATLANTIC
AT 5PM EDT, THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM FIONA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.0°NORTH AND LONGITUDE 41.3° WEST OR ABOUT 1145 MILES WEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS.
FIONA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST (NW) AT 10 MPH. A MOTION BETWEEN THE NORTHWEST AND WEST-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 45 MILES PER HOUR (MPH) WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME SLIGHT STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO, FOLLOWED BY GRADUAL WEAKENING OVER THE WEEKEND.
THE NEXT NEWS ITEM WILL BE ISSUED AT 6:00 AM
PREPARED BY FORECASTER: SHEZELLE MATHER
THURSDAY 18TH AUGUST 2016 5:30PM