Elon Musk says X will fund legal bills if users treated unfairly by bosses
Elon Musk has said X, formerly known as Twitter, will pay the legal bills of anyone who is treated unfairly by their employer for their activity on his social media platform.
On Sunday, Mr. Musk told users that financial assistance from his platform would have "no limits".
He asked users to "let us know" if they had experienced unfair treatment for posting or liking something.
Formerly known as Twitter, the social media platform was renamed last month.
Mr. Musk is a self-described "free speech absolutist" and has been vocal in his criticisms of the platform's policies on moderating content prior to his takeover.
When he announced that he was taking over Twitter in April last year, Mr. Musk said "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated".
Elon Musk sues anti-hate campaigners
More recently, the firm that owns Twitter announced that it was suing an anti-hate organization whose research criticized the platform.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) had done research that showed hate and disinformation were "spreading like wildfire on the platform under Musk's ownership".
X Corp accused CCDH of "unlawful acts" to "improperly gain access" to its data.
Source- BBC
Gusts of 78mph hit UK as Storm Antoni drenches country with heavy rain
Gusts of up to 78mph hit parts of the UK on Saturday as Storm Antoni brought heavy rain and strong winds to the country.
Amber warnings for wind in southwest Wales and southwest England, a wider yellow warning for wind across southern parts of the UK and a yellow thunderstorm warning have all now elapsed as things calm down into the night.
Earlier, the Met Office, said Storm Antoni would be "potentially disruptive" as it moved from west to east - and it was likely some roads and bridges would need to close.
Senior operational meteorologist at the Met Office, Rachel Ayers, said the conditions could be attributed to the jet stream - a fast-flowing current of air - bringing in a low-pressure system across the UK.
Ms. Ayers said: "We're currently on the northern, cooler side of the jet... keeping the more settled weather further south."
However, she was more optimistic about the coming week, saying it could be warmer and more settled than what the UK has experienced over the past month.
Few parts of the UK escaped downpours, clouds, and cold conditions - with low pressure persisting following the sixth-wettest July in history.
Some events planned for this weekend were canceled, with Dorset's jazz festival Stompin' on the Quomps postponed for the first time in its 30-year history.
About 10,000 people were expected to attend, but organizers were concerned for the safety of both traders and spectators alike.
However, one event that went ahead was Brighton Pride, despite a yellow weather warning being issued for the coastal city and downpours drenching attendees.
Revelers gathered on the wet streets cloaked in ponchos as performers waltzed through the streets despite the heavy rain and winds.
NHS nurse Leo Gonzales traveled from London to the festival, and despite getting "drenched", he said everyone was having "fun [in an] engaging and inclusive" environment.
Antoni is the second storm to cross the UK in five days.
Source- Sky News
Russia hits blood transfusion center, says Zelensky
A Russian "guided bomb" has hit a blood transfusion center in north-eastern Ukraine, killing and injuring people, Ukraine's president has said.
Volodymyr Zelensky did not give details on how many people had been killed or injured in Saturday's attack in Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.
"This war crime alone says everything about Russian aggression," he said.
Russia has not commented. It has previously denied all allegations of targeting civilians - or war crimes.
The BBC has not been able to verify the report.
Russian troops seized the city of Kupiansk and nearby settlements in the first few days of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.
The area was liberated during a Ukrainian counter-offensive last September.
In a post on social media, Mr. Zelensky described the perpetrators as "beasts".
"Defeating terrorists is a matter of honor for everyone who values life," he added.
President Zelensky also said that on Saturday Russia separately carried out a missile attack, targeting an aeronautical company run by group Motor Sich in the western Khmelnytskyi region.
The Russian strikes come after Moscow accused Ukraine of hitting a Russian tanker with 11 crew members in the Black Sea - the second such sea drone attack in as many days.
Russian maritime officials said the engine room of the Sig tanker was damaged in the attack in the Kerch Strait. No one was injured.
The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating Crimea - Ukraine's peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 - and Russia's Taman peninsula.
Ukraine has not publicly commented. But a Ukrainian security service source told the BBC a sea drone had been used.
Source- BBC
Machel Montano to receive keys to Kingston, Jamaica
Trinidadian soca star Machel Montano will be honoured with a Key to the City of Kingston on Sunday.
Montano will be honoured as Jamaica celebrates 61 years of independence on Sunday.
The event – the Independence Grand Gala, will be one of the pivotal moments of the independence celebrations.
Members of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) gave full approval to the request from Education Minister, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, that Montano be honoured.
“Be it resolved that the Key to the City of Kingston be conferred on Mr Machel Jesus Montano, in recognition of his sterling, awesome and iconic career in music, which has positively influenced many adoring fans across the Caribbean and the world, including many Jamaicans who continue to enjoy his enduring legacy,” stated a resolution passed by the council.
It was tabled by Government councillor Susan Senior and seconded by councillor Kari Douglas, both of whom were convinced of its approval, especially those who have experienced Montano’s local performances.
“When you hear soca music, you just want to jump. Soca is sweet… together we join together in a special way for a special moment,” she said, as she hailed Montano’s courtesy and encouragement and love for music.
Meanwhile, the head of the main Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) caucus in the council, Andrew Swaby and fellow PNP councillor Audrey Smith-Facey, both admitted that they saw nothing wrong with Montano being honoured for his achievements as a soca star, but were concerned about how approvals were untimely.
“I was a soca queen, and Montana was my favourite soca person, but it is saddening to know that while we try to operate in a professional manner, which I think that they should honour, they just chuck this on us at the last minute,” she said.
Source- Loop Caribbean News
Early Morning Interception
One Hundred and Forty-Eight Illegal Migrants were intercepted at sea.
Marine Branch Officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force were dispatched.
today (August 04th) following reports that a suspicious vessel was seen making its way towards
Providenciales.
Acting on the information received, at around 3:14 a.m., the officers, via the Sea Protector
vessel, intercepted an illegal sloop, six point seven miles southeast of Providenciales.
The illegal migrant vessel was found carrying a total of ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-
EIGHT (148) illegal migrants- THIRTY FEMALES (30); and ONE HUNDRED AND
EIGHTEEN (118) MALES.
The illegal migrants were handed over to the Immigration Task Force for processing.
The RTCIPF can confirm, the following statistical data for the year (August 04th):
Number of Interceptions: Twenty-Three (23)
Number of Males: Two Thousand Four Hundred and Eight (2408)
Number of Females: Six Hundred and Twenty-Two (622)
Total number of Illegal Migrants: Three Thousand and Thirty (3030)
Included in the 3030 figure are TWENTY-ONE CHILDREN.
Lizzo's future is hanging in the balance
No stranger to the subject of fat shaming, the singer - whose real name is real name, Melissa Viviane Jefferson - has been credited with changing the narrative around plus-size women, calling out sizeist behaviour and refusing to conform to industry stereotypes as she cranks out the hits in a rainbow array of skin-tight leotards and bodysuits.
She's won four Grammys, and in 2019 was named Time's Entertainer of the Year. Her 2023 Glastonbury set on the festival's main stage was met with critical acclaim. And she's been credited with single-handedly raising the profile of woodwind, making it officially cool to play the flute.
But now, with claims she is guilty of weight shaming and sexual harassment - accusations the 35-year-old singer, songwriter, rapper and flautist strongly denies - her future is hanging in the balance.
Three of Lizzo's former dancers have filed a civil lawsuit against her and her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc (BGBT) - including accusations she pressured one to touch a nude performer at an Amsterdam strip club and made comments about one performer putting on weight before firing her.
Two of the dancers had won their roles on Lizzo's Emmy-winning reality show Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, which offers plus-sized dancers the chance to compete to be part of her team.
Two days after the lawsuit was publicly announced, Lizzo posted a statement on Instagram, calling the allegations against her false - and labelling them "unbelievable," "outrageous," and "sensationalised".
She said she was passionate about her art, and that "with passion comes hard work and high standards," adding "Sometimes I have to make hard decisions".
In turn, Lizzo accused "people and the media" of portraying her as a "villain".
She then touched on the very reason there's been such a showbiz stir over the claims, telling her fans: "I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticise or terminate an employee because of their weight."
For a long time in the shiny and glamourous world of showbiz, thinness and fame have been so firmly intertwined as to be virtually inseparable. Lizzo exploded that myth - bursting onto the scene and refusing to be told she needed to be a size zero in order to make it.
The accusations against her must sting particularly hard due to the fact she's previously spoken so openly about her struggles with body issues from an early age and experienced body shaming herself due to her weight.
Advocating body confidence, and being a role model to many, she gave a long-overdue boost to the visibility of plus-sized women in entertainment.
But when Beyonce skipped a reference to Lizzo in a live performance of Break My Soul (The Queens Remix) on Tuesday night, many saw it as an early snub, signalling the star's potential cancellation.
And Lizzo's product is more than just herself or her music - there's also the bandwagon of merchandise that comes with any bona fide US star. You can buy Lizzo T-shirts, trackies and hoodies - and even a Lizzo thong with Juice (the title of her 2019 hit) plastered across the front.
It seems likely that sales of the merch may now slow - at least until the lawsuit is concluded - as fans try to work out if hers is a label they want to be associated with.
Further accusations against Lizzo have followed news of the lawsuit, with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison posting statements on social media, supporting the claims of the three backing dancers, and calling Lizzo "arrogant, self-centred, and unkind".
Nahli Allison had been due to direct a documentary about the star, travelling with her in 2019, but said she dropped out of the project after two weeks after being treated with "such disrespect by her".
She accused Lizzo of creating "an extremely toxic and hostile working environment" - calling her "a narcissistic bully," claiming the singer has "built her brand off lies", and saying "her image and 'message' was a curated facade".
Following Lizzo's response to the accusations, the law firm representing the three former dancers says the singer has "failed her own brand and let down her fans" - adding that her words were an attempt to "minimise the trauma" she's alleged to have caused. They also say more people have been in touch with them since the women came forward.
It's not the first time Lizzo - who as a songwriter makes her living from words - has been in the firing line over perceived insensitivity to others.
Last year, a lyric from her song Grrrls generated controversy after using a derogatory term for the condition spastic cerebral palsy.
The lyric was eventually changed, with Lizzo saying at the time: "As a fat black woman in America, I've had many hurtful words used against me so I understand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally)."
The singer now finds herself on the defensive again - with many who previously felt empowered and emboldened by her body-positive messages now likely to be questioning the value of words and actions some claim are counterfeit and empty.
With her reality show commissioned for a second season, there will now also be eyes on the reaction of Amazon Studios (who produce the show along with the singer's production company Lizzo Bangers). They have previously hailed the singer as "one of the most exciting, creative, joyful artists in the industry".
When launching auditions in April, Lizzo herself said: "I've witnessed lives change through this show and I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue making space for even more Big Grrrls around the world to shine and break down barriers across this industry."
Source- Sky News
Best July in three years for car registration, SMMT says
UK car sales have grown all year, despite borrowing becoming more expensive and a cost of living crisis creating difficult financial conditions for consumers.
The number of new cars registered grew 28% in July, compared to a year earlier, in the seventh month of growth this year, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
But despite the increase last month, new registrations are still below historical trends and the outlook for next year has been downgraded.
The July 2023 growth was sizeable because of the extent of contraction last year - new registrations in July 2022 were at the lowest level across the 16 years from 2006.
Latest SMMT data showed more orders were able to be fulfilled and production increased as supply chain woes that plagued the pandemic years have unwound, the SMMT said.
It led to 143,921 new vehicles being registered, the highest number since July 2020 when pent-up demand from the first few months of lockdown was unleashed.
Economic research firm, Pantheon Macro, noted the figure was below the 168,000 average July sales from 2015 to 2019.
New car sales to individuals "remain in the doldrums", Pantheon's senior UK economist said.
Company registrations, rather than individual purchases, drove the July growth.
Uptake by large fleets increased 62% to 80,961 units and business registrations rose 28.7% to 2,915 new vehicles.
Tough economic conditions, such as the rate of inflation and high-interest rates, have led to a 0.7% downgrade in the number of expected vehicle registrations for 2024.
For the remainder of the year, however, Pantheon said car sales will recover "only gradually", and will be around 10% to 15% below pre-COVID norms.
At the same time, the proportion of electric car sales grew. The SMMT said one battery electric car was registered every 60 seconds as deliveries rose 87.9% and electrified vehicles accounted for more than a third (35.4%) of the market.
Electric growth needs to accelerate, the SMMT said, if environmental targets are to be met.
The government had set a target of 2030 by which new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from sale.
"While the growth in electric vehicles hitting UK roads is significant, it must move even faster if it is to outpace the rest of the market and enable the UK to meet ambitious but necessary environmental targets," the SMMT said.
It did note that a record high of 3,056 new public chargers were installed for electric vehicles.
Source- Sky News
Simone Biles makes winning return in US Classic after two-year break
Four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles has made a triumphant return to gymnastics after a two-year break.
The 26-year-old American thrilled the Chicago crowd with a stunning display to win the US Classic in her first event since the Tokyo Olympics.
Biles announced in 2021 she was taking a break to work on her mental health.
"Everyone that was cheering - made posters, all of that in the crowd - it just made my heart melt that they still believe in me," Biles said.
"It means the world because, after everything that transpired in Tokyo, I worked on myself a lot.
"I still do therapy weekly and it has just been so exciting to come out here and have the confidence I had before.
Biles was given a rapturous reception at the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and won with an all-around score of 59.100 points.
"Everything has fallen into place. I feel really good about where I am now mentally and physically," she said.
"I still think there are some things to work on in my routine but, for the first meet back, I would say it went pretty well. I'm very shocked and surprised. I'm very happy now that it is out of the way."
She began on the uneven bars, where her score of 14.000 points was the third-best overall before claiming the meet's top score on the balance beam with 14.800.
Biles drew cheers during and after every tumbling run on the floor exercise, her flips and landings bringing roars that were rewarded with a top score of 14.900 points.
She finished on the vault, soaring high to notch another leading mark of 15.400.
Leanne Wong, 19, finished second, five points off the pace on 54.100, with 17-year-old Joscelyn Roberson third on 54.050.
It was Biles' first competition since pulling out of five of her six finals at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
She later explained she had been suffering from the 'twisties' - a mental block where gymnasts can lose their sense of space in the air.
Biles has yet to indicate whether she will aim to make next year's Olympics in Paris.
She has qualified for the US national championships, which start on 24 August and is hoping to compete for a world title in Antwerp in October.
"I always kind of knew [I'd return] as soon as everything happened in Tokyo," she said. "This time I'm doing it for me.
"I worked a lot on myself and I believe in myself a little bit more. It's just coming back out here and starting those first steps again."
Source- BBC
Razzlekhan and husband guilty of $4.5bn Bitcoin launder
A husband and wife cyber-crime team have pleaded guilty to trying to launder $4.5bn (£3.5bn) of Bitcoin that he had stolen in a hack in 2016.
Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein were arrested last year in New York after police traced their riches back to the crypto heist.
While evading police, Morgan masqueraded as a rapper and tech entrepreneur.
As part of a plea deal, Lichtenstein admitted he was behind the hack.
The couple both pleaded guilty to money laundering, but Morgan pleaded guilty to an additional count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
In spite of attempting to cover up her crimes, Morgan published dozens of expletive-filled music videos and rap songs filmed in locations around New York, under the name Razzlekhan.
In her lyrics, she called herself a "bad-ass money maker" and "the crocodile of Wall Street".
In articles published in Forbes, Morgan also claimed to be a successful tech businesswoman, calling herself an "economist, serial entrepreneur, software investor, and rapper".
But while developing her rapping and tech persona, she and her computer programmer husband were attempting to cash out their fortune stolen from the crypto firm Bitfinex.
The couple now face prison sentences with Lichtenstein in line for a possible maximum of 20 years in prison and Morgan a possible 10.
At the time of their arrest in February 2022, the stash of 119,000 Bitcoins was worth about $4.5bn - making it the US Department of Justice's largest single financial seizure in its history.
When the hack was carried out, the Bitcoins were worth about $71m.
Court documents showed in detail how the couple cashed out millions of dollars of Bitfinex Bitcoins into traditional money using sophisticated techniques to try to stay under the radar.
Records show the couple:
- Split up the Bitcoin into tiny amounts and transferred it to thousands of different crypto wallets with fake identities
- Mixed their stolen funds with other criminal cryptocurrencies on the darknet marketplace Alphabay
- Purchased gold coins
- Set up shell companies to make the Bitcoin funds look legitimate
The successful police operation is the latest case to utilize tools able to analyze transactions on Bitcoin's public blockchain ledger.
One of the couple's key mistakes was shopping with Walmart supermarket vouchers paid for with the stolen funds.
"Police were able to link the Walmart gift cards back to some of the proceeds of the Bitfinex hack, which then opened up further investigation," said Jonathan Levin, founder of cryptocurrency investigators Chainalysis which was involved in the investigation.
"Buying gift cards and moving between different exchanges and different cryptocurrencies never actually created this sort of break in provenance that the couple intended," he said.
When police raided the couple's Manhattan apartment, they found hollowed-out books created to conceal mobile phones.
They also discovered dozens of burner handsets, several USB sticks, and $40,000 in cash.
Police successfully decrypted a spreadsheet meticulously detailing the couple's intricate methods for laundering the stash, allowing them to recover nearly the full amount.
In court documents, prosecutors say they uncovered communication records that indicate Morgan and Lichtenstein were planning to flee the US for Russia - his country of birth.
If successful, they would have probably lived a billionaire lifestyle, safe from arrest by the US.
When the hack happened, Bitfinex customers took an enforced "haircut", losing 36% of their assets held by the crypto exchange. By 2019, the company had reimbursed the victims, so now the Hong Kong-based firm and some customers who exchanged their losses for shares are in line for a windfall once the recovered Bitcoins are returned.
Source- BBC
Ocean heat record broken, with grim implications for the planet
The oceans have hit their hottest-ever recorded temperature as they soak up warmth from climate change, with dire implications for our planet's health.
The average daily global sea surface temperature beat a 2016 record this week, according to the EU's climate change service Copernicus.
It reached 20.96C (69.73F) - far above the average for this time of year.
Oceans are a vital climate regulator. They soak up heat, produce half of Earth's oxygen and drive weather patterns.
Warmer waters have less ability to absorb carbon dioxide, meaning more of that planet-warming gas will stay in the atmosphere. And it can also accelerate the melting of glaciers that flow into the ocean, leading to more sea level rise.
Hotter oceans and heatwaves disturb marine species like fish and whales as they move in search of cooler waters, upsetting the food chain. Experts warn that fish stocks could be affected.
Some predatory animals including sharks can become aggressive as they get confused in hotter temperatures.
"The water feels like a bath when you jump in," says Dr. Kathryn Lesneski, who is monitoring a marine heatwave in the Gulf of Mexico for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "There is widespread coral bleaching at shallow reefs in Florida and many corals have already died."
"We are putting oceans under more stress than we have done at any point in history," says Dr Matt Frost, from the Plymouth Marine Lab in the UK, referring to the fact pollution and overfishing also change the oceans.
Scientists are worried about the timing of this broken record.
Dr. Samantha Burgess, from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, says March should be when the oceans globally are warmest, not August.
"The fact that we've seen the record now makes me nervous about how much warmer the ocean may get between now and next March," she says.
"It is sobering to see this change happening so quickly," says Prof Mike Burrows, who is monitoring impacts on Scottish sea shores with the Scottish Association for Marine Science.
Scientists are investigating why the oceans are so hot right now but say that climate change is making the seas warmer as they absorb most of the heating from greenhouse gas emissions.
"The more we burn fossil fuels, the more excess heat will be taken out by the oceans, which means the longer it will take to stabilize them and get them back to where they were," explains Dr Burgess.
The new average temperature record beats one set in 2016 when the naturally occurring climate fluctuation El Niño was in full swing and at its most powerful.
El Niño happens when warm water rises to the surface off the west coast of South America, pushing up global temperatures.
Another El Niño has now started but scientists say it is still weak - meaning ocean temperatures are expected to rise further above average in the coming months.
The broken temperature record follows a series of marine heatwaves this year including in the UK, the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
"The marine heatwaves that we're seeing are happening in unusual locations where we haven't expected them," says Prof Burgess.
In June, temperatures in UK waters were 3C to 5C higher than average, according to the Met Office and the European Space Agency.
In Florida, sea surface temperatures hit 38.44C (101F) last week - comparable to a hot tub.
Normally temperatures should be between 23C and 31C, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Marine heatwaves doubled in frequency between 1982 and 2016, and have become more intense and longer since the 1980s, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
While air temperatures have seen some dramatic increases in recent years, the oceans take longer to heat up, even though they have absorbed 90% of the Earth's warming from greenhouse gas emissions.
But there are signs now that ocean temperatures may be catching up. One theory is a lot of the heat has been stored in ocean depths, which is now coming to the surface, possibly linked to El Niño, says Dr Karina von Schuckmann at Mercator Ocean International.
While scientists have known that the sea surface would continue to warm up because of greenhouse gas emissions, they are still investigating exactly why temperatures have surged so far above previous years.
Source- BBC