US Open 2018: Simona Halep knocked out by Kaia Kanepi in first round
World number one Simona Halep became the first top-seeded woman to lose in the US Open first round, falling to a 6-2 6-4 defeat against Kaia Kanepi.
The 26-year-old Romanian's serve was broken five times in the first match on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium.
She fought back from a double break down to 4-4 in the second set but the Estonian broke again before Halep sent a forehand long on match point.
Halep also lost her opening match at Flushing Meadows last year.
The French Open champion was beaten by Maria Sharapova in New York in 2017.
Before Monday's defeat, no women's top seed had lost in the opening round at the US Open since the professional era began in 1968, the same year that the tournament was given its current name, having previously been known as the US National Championships.
World number 44 Kanepi, 33, reached the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows last year but has had a succession of injury problems in recent years.
Department of Disaster Management Emergencies (DDME), hosted a two day Shelter Management Training on South Caicos;
On 23rd – 25th August, 2018, the Department of Disaster Management Emergencies (DDME), hosted a two day Shelter Management Training on South Caicos; held at the District Commissioner’s Office.
The training will help to build disaster resilient communities throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Volunteers certified as Shelter Managers will be called upon to assist the department in the event of a disaster/emergency requiring the activation of shelters.
The training was conducted by DDME.
Google is irresponsible claims Fortnite's chief in bug row
The leader of the firm behind the hit game Fortnite has accused Google of being "irresponsible" in the way it revealed a flaw affecting the Android version of the title.
On Friday, Google made public that hackers could hijack the game's installation software to load malware.
The installer is needed because Epic Games has bypassed Google's app store to avoid giving it a cut of sales.
Epic's chief executive said Google should have delayed sharing the news.
"We asked Google to hold the disclosure until the update was more widely installed," tweeted Tim Sweeney.
"They refused, creating an unnecessary risk for Android users in order to score cheap PR points."
A spokesman for Google declined to comment.
Google has been criticised in the past by Microsoft for sharing details of vulnerabilities in the Windows-maker's products before they had been addressed.
The Android developer's security team has also caught out Apple and Samsung in a similar manner.
But in this case, one independent cyber-security expert said Epic was responsible for getting into this situation.
"People will argue until the cows come home the a period is either too long or not long enough depending on which side you're on," commented Troy Hunt.
"I'm still surprised Epic didn't put it in the Play Store to begin with - and yes, I get the financial incentive."
Google's terms dictate that Epic would have had to have handed over 30% of its in-game fees.
The developer has, however, agreed to such terms on Apple's equivalent app store since iPhones are restricted from adding software from elsewhere.
Uber 'to focus on bikes over cars'
Uber says it plans to focus more on its electric scooter and bike business, and less on cars, despite the fact it could hurt profits.
Boss Dara Khosrowshahi said that individual modes of transport were better suited to inner city travel.
He also forecast users would make more frequent shorter journeys in future.
"During rush hour, it is very inefficient for a one-tonne hulk of metal to take one person 10 blocks," he told the Financial Times.
"Short-term financially, maybe it's not a win for us, but strategically long term we think that is exactly where we want to head."
The ride-sharing firm has invested in a number of bike firms in the last year.
Its Jump electric bikes are now available in eight US cities, including New York and Washington, and are soon launching in Berlin.
It also teamed up with Lime, an electric scooter company, while forging deals in other areas such as public transit and freight.
Mr Khosrowshahi admitted that Uber makes less money from a bike ride than from the same trip in a car, but said this would be offset as customers used the app more frequently for shorter journeys.
"We are willing to trade off short-term per-unit economics for long-term higher engagement," he told the FT.
He also acknowledged that Uber drivers could lose out from the plan, but said over the longer term drivers would benefit from more lucrative longer journeys.
Elon Musk will no longer take Tesla private
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk says he will no longer be taking the electric car maker private, just two weeks after saying he was considering a deal.
The plan was cancelled after a board meeting on Thursday, he wrote in a post published on the company's site.
Since Mr Musk announced his plan to delist Tesla, its share price has dropped by 20%.
He said he had told the board "that I believe the better path is for Tesla to remain public," and that they agreed.
Mr Musk, who owns about a fifth of the company, said he had spoken with shareholders and major banks to consider the privatisation but found the sentiment was "please don't do this".
Earlier this month, Elon Musk shocked investors by announcing on Twitter that he had funding secured to take Tesla private at a value of $72bn (£57bn).
It later transpired that he had not closed a deal with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, with unhappy investors launching a lawsuit against him after the news.
The lawsuits are still continuing against Mr Musk despite his cancellation of the privatisation plan, as is an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to see if the tweet broke securities laws.
The billionaire entrepreneur has complained since floating the company on the stock market that quarterly scrutiny of Tesla's finances encourages short-term thinking.
But in a follow up tweet after his blog post, he said talks with shareholders had persuaded him otherwise.
Tesla shares rose sharply on 7 August following Mr Musk's suggestion he would take Tesla private, but have continued to fall since then.
The slide has been good news for short sellers, who bet that Tesla's share price would fall.
Mr Musk has a well-known dislike of short sellers, whom he has called "jerks who want us to die" and has argued that taking Tesla off the stock exchange would shield it from their attacks.
Trinidad and Tobago signs secret gas deal with Venezuela
With local reporters barred from entering the room to witness or ask questions about an agreement between the governments of Trinidad and Tobago’s and Venezuela to process and export natural gas from Venezuela’s Dragon gas field, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said the details of the deal are “confidential”.
The secret deal will allow Trinidad and Tobago to access gas through a direct line from Venezuela through a joint venture between energy giant Shell, the Venezuela state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) and local company National Gas Company (NGC), which will create the infrastructure.
Current US Treasury Department sanctions imposed on Venezuela, among other matters, prohibit transactions by a US person or within the US related to the sale, transfer, assignment, or pledging as collateral by the government of Venezuela of any equity interest in any entity in which it has a 50 percent or greater ownership interest.
In the absence of any detail, it is not known if the new agreement is an attempt to bypass US sanctions and designed to avoid the US banking system entirely, not an easy task in the energy industry.
Shell’s pipelines, including those in the North Coast Marine Acreage, will be used to transport Dragon’s gas to the Hibiscus platform off the northwest coast of Trinidad, some 11 miles (18 kilometers) away from the gas field. The Hibiscus platform is jointly owned by the Trinidad and Tobago government and Shell.
The signing of the agreement took place at the Placio de Miraflores in Caracas, with Trinidad and Tobago’s Cabinet ministers there as witnesses, including minister of energy, Franklin Khan; minister of foreign and CARICOM affairs, Denis Moses; minister of finance, Alyson West; minister of national security Stuart Young; and minister of sport Shamfa Cudjoe, as well as executives from Shell and NGC and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his officials.
Germany migrants: Merkel condemns 'vigilantes' after Chemnitz murder
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said "vigilante justice" will not be tolerated after far-right unrest over a murder in the eastern city of Chemnitz.
Scuffles have broken out during two days of protests by hundreds of people in the city centre since a German was stabbed to death early on Sunday.
A Syrian man and an Iraqi man have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Police were still out in strength on Monday evening, braced for new demonstrations by both right and left.
They are also investigating alleged assaults on an Afghan, a Syrian and a Bulgarian during the unrest.
Reports have spoken of aggressive protesters chasing foreigners, though there are few details, and police have appealed for witnesses to the assaults to hand over any video they may have recorded.
A far-right football fan group called Kaotic Chemnitz had earlier called out supporters to show "who is in charge", while protesters on Sunday could be seen chanting "We are the people!" and "This is our city!".
Bottles were thrown on Sunday by protesters at police, who were reinforced by officers from other cities.
3-DAY BAHAMAS AND TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS PUBLIC FORECAST
FORECAST FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT FRIDAY 24TH AUGUST 2018
GENERAL SITUATION: A BROAD MID TO UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IN THE VICINITY OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO TRIGGER SOME UNSETTLED WEATHER WHILE A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS MAINTAIN LIGHT TO MODERATE WINDS OVER THE COUNTRY TODAY.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BOATERS SHOULD REMAIN VIGILANT FOR POSSIBLE WATERSPOUT ACTIVITY AND BEACHGOERS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION DUE TO THE HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT EAST COAST BEACHES MAINLY IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
WEATHER: VARIABLE CLOUDINESS, BREEZY AND HOT WITH A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT CAUTION IS IN EFFECT
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS
SEAS: 4 TO 7 FEET OVER THE OCEAN
NORTHWEST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY, HOT AND HUMID WITH WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. MOSTLY FAIR AND WARM TONIGHT WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN OR NEAR HEAVY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: SOUTHEASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 92F 33C HEAT INDEX: 105F 41C
OVERNITE LOW TEMPERATURE: 79F 26C
SUNRISE: 6:48AM SUNSET: 7:34PM
MOONSET: 6:40PM MOONRISE: 5:56AM SAT.
HIGH TIDE: 6:12AM LOW TIDE: 12:18PM
HIGH TIDE: 6:36PM LOW TIDE: 1:00AM SAT.
EXTENDED FORECAST: RIDGE WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WHILE A TROUF WILL ENTER THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS BY LATE SATURDAY AND MIGRATE WESTWARDS WHILE CONTINUING TO SUPPORT POCKETS OF UNSETTLED WEATHER ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MONDAY.
FORECAST FOR SATURDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY AND HOT WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND 4 TO 7 FEET IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.
FORECAST FOR SUNDAY
WEATHER: MOSTLY CLOUDY, HOT AND BREEZY WITH WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS ACROSS ALL AREAS
SEAS: 4 TO 7 FEET OVER THE OCEAN
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: A TROPICAL WAVE IS FORECAST TO MOVE OFF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA TODAY AND THEN MOVE QUICKLY WESTWARD AT ABOUT 20 MPH. NO DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS BUT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR SOME DEVELOPMENT EARLY NEXT WEEK AS IT CROSSES THE WEST-CENTRAL ATLANTIC OCEAN. HOWEVER, TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS ONLY 10 PERCENT THROUGH THE NEXT 5 DAYS.
Pink stops performance to console grieving fan
The US singer spotted 14-year-old Leah Murphy holding a sign saying she "would love a hug", after having "lost my beautiful mum last month."
"You're going to be okay," she told the youngster.
"Thank you. My mum loved you," replied Leah, before grabbing a quick selfie.
Watch the moving moment above, courtesy of ABC Brisbane.
Pink was forced to cancel part of her Australian tour a few weeks back due to sickness.
Amazon warehouse staff defend retailer on Twitter
A small group of American Amazon employees is being paid to defend and promote the company on Twitter.
A total of 16 accounts have been found on Twitter, written by staff who have worked at the retailer's warehouses.
Called "FC ambassadors", the workers have most often responded to tweets critical of Amazon's working practices.
Amazon said the accounts were run by real people, not software bots created to automatically respond to unfavourable views.