Everything posted by BirSaNN
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I have a problem with premature ejaculation, and numbing spray only spoils the mood I am a single male in my 20s who often goes on dates, so usually when I have sex it is with somebody new. I climax way too early and often ejaculate prematurely. Is there anything I can do about it? I love sex but I find myself stressing about it because of performance anxiety. I sometimes pretend during intercourse that I haven’t ejaculated yet just to avoid the shame. At times, I only last for 30 seconds. I have a numbing spray, but it is very awkward to use and it can spoil the mood when I stop to apply it. How do I approach this problem, especially when getting with new people? While many women and men say they want athletic lovemaking with prolonged intercourse or penetration, many others say the opposite. The latter group either prefer a short amount of penetration with less chance of discomfort or irritation – or no penetration at all. This is especially understandable for women, since female pleasure and the means to orgasm are best achieved via direct stimulation of the clitoris, which is located outside the vagina. Early ejaculation is a treatable issue, but try not to stress about it. Being anxious about your “performance” will only exacerbate the situation. Instead, work on improving your ability to please your partner with skills that do not involve your penis, such as oral and manual stimulation. There are many highly erotic, non-penetrative techniques and it’s time you stopped worrying about how your penis performs and think about what else would directly please your partner. Combine good communication skills with your personal seductive style to elicit information about his or her preferences, and practice sharing what you need with them. Even people who do not worry about early ejaculation would be wise to adopt this course of action. Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a US-based psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders. If you would like advice from Pamela on sexual matters, send us a brief description of your concerns to private.lives@theguardian.com (please don’t send attachments). Each week, Pamela chooses one problem to answer, which will be published online. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions. Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site. link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jan/03/i-climax-after-30-seconds-sex-what-should-i-do
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Ukraine's president says Russia is planning a protracted campaign of drone attacks in a bid to demoralise Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky said he had received intelligence reports suggesting that Moscow would launch the attacks using Iranian-made Shahed drones. It comes after Ukraine carried out a strike that it said killed hundreds of Russian soldiers in the Donbas region. In an extremely rare admission of battlefield losses, Russia said the attack killed 63 of its troops. Speaking from Kyiv in his nightly address, Mr Zelensky said Russia planned to "exhaust" Ukraine with a prolonged wave of drone attacks. "We must ensure - and we will do everything for this - that this goal of terrorists fails like all the others," he said. "Now is the time when everyone involved in the protection of the sky should be especially attentive." Russian drone strikes on Ukraine appear to have increased in recent days, with Moscow launching attacks on cities and power stations across the country over the past three nights. Correspondents say that as well as the strain on Ukraine's military - which has to track and intercept the drones - there is also an attritional impact on the civilian po[CENSORED]tion which lives with the uncertainty, fear and disruption the attacks cause across the country. Russia has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure for several months, destroying power stations and plunging millions into darkness during the country's freezing winter. Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian air defences had already shot down over 80 Iranian-made drones in the opening days of 2023. Elsewhere, Ukraine has confirmed it carried out a strike in the occupied region of Donetsk, which it earlier claimed killed 400 Russian troops. Russian officials contested the figure, saying only 63 troops were killed. Neither claim has been verified, and access to the site is restricted. However, some of those killed and wounded came from Russia's south-western Samara region, according to governor Dmitry Azarov, who urged families to contact a hotline or local military offices. Families laid wreaths in the region's main cities of Samara and Tolyatti on Tuesday to remember those killed. The Ukrainian attack, thought to have taken place as Russians celebrated the new year, hit a vocational school building in the city of Makiivka, where Russian soldiers were stationed. It is extremely rare for Moscow to confirm any battlefield casualties. But this was such a deadly attack, says the BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg, that staying silent probably wasn't an option. It is the highest number of deaths acknowledged by Moscow in a single incident since the war began 10 months ago. In a statement on Monday, Russia's defence ministry said Ukrainian forces fired six rockets using the US-made Himars rocket system at a building housing Russian troops. Two of them were shot down, it added. Igor Girkin, a Russian nationalist commentator, earlier said that hundreds had been killed and wounded, although the exact number was unknown because of the large number still missing. The building itself was "almost completely destroyed", he said. He added that the victims were mainly mobilised troops - that is, recent conscripts, rather than those who chose to fight. He also said ammunition was stored in the same building as the soldiers, making the damage worse. "Almost all of the military equipment was also destroyed, which stood right next to the building without any disguise whatsoever," he wrote on Telegram. Girkin is a well-known military blogger, who led Russian-backed separatists when they occupied of large parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. He was recently found guilty of murder for his part in the shooting down of flight MH17. Despite his hawkish stance, he regularly criticises the Russian military leadership and their tactics. Several Russian lawmakers have also strongly criticised military commanders over the attack, saying commanders must be held to account for allowing troops to concentrate in an unprotected building within range of Ukrainian rockets, where ammunition may also have been stored. Sergei Mironov - a former chairman of the Russian Senate - said it was obvious than neither intelligence nor air defence had worked properly. According to the Ukrainian military's earlier statement, 300 were wounded in addition to the estimated 400 killed. Ukraine's army claims, almost daily, to have killed dozens, sometimes hundreds, of soldiers in attacks. A later statement from the Ukrainian military's general staff said "up to 10 units of enemy military equipment" were "destroyed and damaged" in the strikes, and that "the losses of personnel of the occupiers are being specified". The US-based Institute for the Study of War said the defence ministry in Moscow was probably trying to deflect the blame for the security lapse on to Russia's proxy authorities in Donetsk. Local security officials told Tass news agency that the cause of the strike was that Ukrainian forces had been able to detect the use of Russian mobile phones by servicemen arriving in the building. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64146813
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Many commenters are taking issue with the minister’s dismissive and contemptible tone while addressing allegations of nepotism. Rabat - Morocco’s Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi is at the center of a growing controversy after roundly dismissing favoritism concerns over the results of the latest bar examination. As he confronted a group of journalists on Monday, Ouahbi faced several questions about the authenticity of the bar examination results after leaked lists showed similarities in the surnames of people who passed the exam. In response to journalists’ questions about suspicions of nepotism, Ouahbi said that those with similar names that passed the exam “are also citizens?” He went on to add derisively: “How many of them passed the exams? 60 or 70 out of 2,000 people who made it?” Ouhahbi’s comments came as many internet users had linked some of the last names in the results to famous lawyers' families, launching a hashtag that protested the fact famous lawyer's family members appear to be “inheriting” the lawyer profession. Some have called for an independent investigation to determine the veracity of the much-reported allegations of nepotism and favoritism in the computation of the exam results. ‘This Is Not A Crime’ For Ouahbi, however, the situation is not a crime that demands an investigation. “This is not a crime for me to open an investigation. I trust the committee. Should I open an investigation just because someone sitting in a cafe asked me to?” he said contemptibly. The exam was “corrected automatically and not by people,” he argued, adding: “Do they want to publish the list of those who failed, passed, and the grades with names and numbers? Do they want to see the machines that corrected the exams? When a journalist asked whether Ouahbi’s son also passed the bar examination, the minister answered angrily, saying: “My son has two bachelor degrees from Montreal… His father is rich and paid for his education abroad.” The statement and the tone of contempt in which it was made enraged many internet users. While some felt offended, others accused Ouahbi of suggesting that Morocco’s education system is not good enough for his children. “By expressing himself in this way, he [Ouahbi)] seems to have forgotten his status as a politician and minister, arousing more mistrust,” said one particularly outraged commenter, stressing that the minister’s remarks are also a “blow to public education in Morocco and to Moroccan universities.” Another commenter took aim at Ouahbi’s suggestion that his wealth guaranteed his son a good education, stressing that he himself has many respectable degrees although his father is not rich. “Mr. Ouahbi, my father is not rich. He is a retired gendarmerie official and not a minister,” he said. “I have a high technical degree in electrical technology, a state engineer diploma in industrial engineering, and a degree in public law, and I am a PhD candidate exploring artificial intelligence and human rights.” link: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353345/moroccan-justice-minister-faces-backlash-for-dismissing-nepotism-allegations
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Nick Movie: The Fabelmans Time: November 23, 2022 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: ? Duration of the movie: 2h 31m Trailer:
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• Name: @BirSaNN • Time & Date: 00:23 / 03/01/2023 • Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/BwapJyx
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2022 was tough and the UK's problems will not go away in 2023, Rishi Sunak has warned in his New Year's message. The prime minister said the government was taking "difficult but fair" decisions to "get borrowing and debt under control". He promised that his government would put "people's priorities first". He also said the coronation of King Charles III would give the country the chance to "come together with pride". Mr Sunak became prime minister towards the end of a turbulent political year which saw his two predecessors - Boris Johnson and Liz Truss - brought down by Conservative backbenchers. In the coming year, the new prime minister faces the challenge of keeping his own MPs happy, while dealing with the rising cost of living and strikes in several sectors, including nursing and the rail industry. Chris Mason: What to expect from politics in 2023 Anti-Growth to Zombie: the 2022 political year Images of an extraordinary political year Mr Sunak acknowledged the past year had not been easy: "Just as we recovered from an unprecedented global pandemic, Russia launched a barbaric and illegal invasion across Ukraine." He said the war had created a "profound economic impact" which had affected people in the UK, and he promised to help the "most vulnerable" with their energy costs. He also said he had taken decisive action to reduce the backlog in the NHS, and was tackling illegal migration. "I'm not going to pretend that all our problems will go away in the new year," said Mr Sunak, but added that "the very best of Britain" would be on display as it continues to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Labour leader Keir Starmer used his New Year's message to promise that his party would set out the "case for change" in 2023. Over the past year, Labour's poll ratings have risen, giving the party a consistent lead over the Conservatives. This means Sir Keir is likely to face greater scrutiny over what he would do if he were to become prime minister. The next general election has to be held by January 2025, but it could be sooner if Mr Sunak decides to go to the polls early. Reflecting on the past year, Sir Keir acknowledged that 2022 had been "very tough" for millions across the country. He also paid tribute to Ukraine for "showing so much bravery fighting for their liberty" and said the UK should "once again stand by" the Ukrainian people. Turning to the year ahead, the Labour leader said Britain needed to become a "fairer, greener, more dynamic country and that he wanted to "restore faith in politics as a force for good". "For that to happen," he said, "we need a completely new way of doing politics." He said his party would use the year ahead to "set out the case for change, the case for a new Britain, the case for hope". In her New Year's message, First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, promised to "keep doing everything we can for those who need it most". She also said her government would "work hard to reap the massive economic benefits of our efforts to tackle climate change". Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also used his New Year message to reflect on the past year, celebrating the "wonderful jubilee street parties", the Lionesses winning the Euros and "another fantastic by-election victory for the Liberal Democrats!". In June, his party won the previously safe Conservative seat of Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, which became vacant after Tory MP Neil Parish resigned for looking at pornography in Parliament. Sir Ed also attacked Vladimir Putin's "appalling war", and the Conservative government for "inflicting economic chaos on the rest of us". "The New Year is an opportunity to turn the page and look ahead, and although things are tough for millions, I sense change is possible - so I look to the New Year with hope and optimism. "So for 2023, I wish you and your family all the best. Let's hope it's a year of fresh starts - in more ways than one." link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64126709
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About 470 million years ago, 7-foot-long arthropods ruled the water in what is now Morocco. Exquisitely preserved fossils in Morocco suggest that some of the earliest arthropods were nearly 7 feet (2 meters) long — gigantic in comparison with the shrimps, insects and spiders that are descendants of these early invertebrates, according to a new study. Researchers made the discovery while exploring the site, known as Taichoute, which is part of the Fezouata Shale, a swath of fossil deposits dating to the Lower Ordovician period (485 million to 470 million years ago) that was discovered in 2017. Now part of the Moroccan desert, Taichoute was completely undersea millions of years ago. Prior to the exploration of Taichoute, the closest Moroccan fossil sites were near Zagora, a town 50 miles (80 kilometers) away, where giant arthropods make up roughly 1% to 2% of the total fossil material. At Taichoute, nearly half of the fossils are of these jumbo creatures, according to the study. "All of our previous knowledge on the Fezouata Shale was solely based on fossil sites near the Zagora region," Farid Saleh(opens in new tab), the study's lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, told Live Science in an email. "The dominance of large arthropods in Taichoute is unique. You can possibly find [many specimens] in one day." "These arthropods were active swimmers and dominated this area 470 million years ago," Saleh said. "Some of these arthropods were described before, but there's a good number of new species." Related: Likeness of Cambrian critter finally revealed, and it looks like a taco While researchers are currently identifying the roughly 70 specimens collected from the fossil beds during the dig, they unearthed multiple examples of Aegirocassis, an extinct genus of filter-feeding arthropods. They were also "free-swimmers and could move any way they wanted to in the water," Saleh said. Being entombed in the mud-caked fossil beds for millions of years has led to the "exquisite preservation of [the] fossils," Saleh said. In some cases, even soft parts of the animals, including their internal organs, were preserved. While the upper portions of their external shells were well preserved overall, "they've been fragmented to some extent, because they were transported by underwater landslides prior to their preservation." Researchers think they have barely scratched the surface of what could be lurking in the Fezouata Shale. "There's a lot to do in Taichoute," Saleh said, "and more fieldwork will bring a lot more in the future." link: https://www.livescience.com/giant-arthropods-taichoute-morocco
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We recently discovered a list of subscription-based features in a 2023 BMW X1 we had in for testing. And we had some thoughts about it. Technology continues to play an increased role in the daily operation of our cars. For some, the shift has been welcome: stuffing modern technology into our cars has drastically increased available creature comforts during our daily commutes. For others, the addition of all this newfangled tech does nothing but add cost and complication. Not only has technology increased the price of new cars, but every new gadget bolted to your vehicle becomes one more thing to break, further increasing your costs. Then there's the issue of getting the tech you actually want in your car. Want leather seats? You're going to have to step up a trim level. Oh, you wanted a manual gearbox? That's only available in the base trim. Want a reverse automated emergency braking warning to keep your teenager out of trouble? That's fine, so long as you don't mind also buying four completely unrelated features. Perhaps automakers signed up for "Stuffing Riders into Congressional Bills 101" during college and decided they should make car buying just as painful. Some automakers have been toying with the idea of shifting the buying process. Rather than buying the features and packages you want when buying your new car, the automaker would grant access to the features on a subscription program. Instead of spending thousands on a cold weather package, you could pay for things like heated seats only during the cold months you need them. Cue alarm bells. Indulging for a moment in the slippery-slope logical fallacy, what next? Could companies lock horsepower behind a subscription paywall? What about safety features? Could a company turn off some features the way some tech companies stop supporting old software? We were recently playing in the menus of a 2023 BMW X1 when we came across a group of screens offering exactly that sort of subscription. BMW TeleService and Remote Software Upgrade showed a message that read Activated, while BMW Drive Recorder had options to subscribe for one month, one year, three years, or “Unlimited.” Reactions from the Car and Driver staff were swift and emotional. One staff member responded to the menus with a vomiting emoji, while another likened the concept to a video-game battle pass. We reached out to BMW to ask about the menus we found and to learn more about its plan for future subscriptions. The company replied that it doesn't post a comprehensive list of prices online because of variability in what each car can receive. "Upgrade availability depends on factors such as model year, equipment level, and software version, so this keeps things more digestible for consumers," explained one BMW representative. Our X1 for example, has an optional $25-per-year charge for traffic camera alerts, but that option isn't available to cars without BMW Live Cockpit. Instead of listing all the available options online, owners can see which subscriptions are available for their car either in the menus of the vehicle itself or from a companion app. BMW USA may not want to confuse its customers by listing all its options in one place, but BMW Australia has no such reservations. In the land down under, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel are available in a month-to-month format, as is BMW's parking assistant technology. In contrast, BMW USA released a statement in July saying that if a U.S.-market vehicle is ordered with heated seats from the factory, that option will remain functional throughout the life of the vehicle. The jury is still out on the merits of technology-based-subscriptions in cars. Certainly, allowing customers the freedom to purchase the things they want and need, instead of forcing them to buy entire packages, is not a bad thing. But are endless subscriptions really the best solution for consumers? In 2019, BMW announced it would charge customers $80 per year for wireless Apple CarPlay. After considerable public backlash, BMW walked back the decision and instead offered the technology for free. BMW is wading into mostly uncharted waters here. The court of public opinion forced BMW to reverse a subscription in the past. If people decide these newer subscriptions are as egregious as the old ones, will they force BMW back again? Or will they instead stick to automakers who sell features outright? link: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42296660/bmw-subscription-menus-cars/
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Diana Lyon remembers her dad was a key worker who could not stay home to look after her and her siblings, but was always a nurturing father I am glad that fathers are doing so well (Number of stay-at-home dads in UK up by a third since before pandemic, 25 December). But it’s worth remembering that key workers cannot work from home and look after children at the same time. They can be great fathers, though. My dad, born in 1912, was one. He walked us to the school bus (us being my sister, born in 1945; me, born in 1947; and my brother, born in 1948), then cycled to work behind the bus, pulling silly faces at us. He was always a nurturing parent. On Saturdays, he would tell our mum to have a day off window shopping in Brighton – there wasn’t enough money to buy anything other than a cup of tea and a cake – and he would look after us. Love, and showing it as he did, is the most important thing. Diana Lyon Chesterfield, Derbyshire link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jan/01/our-nurturing-dad-gave-us-all-the-time-he-could-and-a-lot-of-love
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Ukraine says around 400 Russian soldiers have died in a missile attack on the occupied Donetsk region. Russian officials have contested the figure, admitting to only 63 of their troops being killed in the blast. Neither claim has been verified. The attack hit a building in the city of Makiivka, where Russian forces were thought to be stationed. Meanwhile in Kyiv, air raids sounded on Sunday night, as the latest wave of strikes from Russia continued. In a statement on Monday, Russia's defence ministry said Ukrainian forces fired six rockets using the US-made Himars rocket system at a building housing Russian troops. Two of them were shot down, it added. Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Russian-backed official in the occupied parts of Donetsk, earlier said the missile struck Makiivka two minutes after midnight on New Year's Day. "A massive blow was dealt to the vocational school," he said. "There were dead and wounded." Although access to Russian-controlled areas is restricted, a number of Russian commentators and bloggers acknowledged the attack - but suggested the numbers were lower than claimed. Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian presenter, shared a Telegram saying "losses were significant... but not even close" to 400. But Igor Girkin, a pro-Russian commentator, said hundreds had been killed and wounded, although the exact number was still unknown because of the large number still missing. The building itself was "almost completely destroyed", he said. He added that the victims were mainly mobilised troops - that is, recent conscripts, rather than those who chose to fight. He also said ammunition was stored in the same building as the soldiers, making the damage worse. "Almost all of the military equipment was also destroyed, which stood right next to the building without any disguise whatsoever," he wrote on Telegram. Girkin is a well-known military blogger, who led Russian-backed separatists when they occupied of large parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. He was recently found guilty of murder for his part in the shooting down of flight MH17. Despite his pro-Russian stance, he regularly criticises the Russian military leadership and their tactics. According to the Ukrainian military, 300 were wounded in addition to the estimated 400 killed. Ukraine's army claims, almost daily, to have killed dozens, sometimes hundreds, of soldiers in attacks, so caution is needed. But if the claims are confirmed, this could be one of the deadliest attacks by Ukraine on Russian targets in the war. Ukraine has not confirmed the strikes were carried out with Himars missiles, maintaining a long-held strategy of not releasing details about its attacks. It merely said, sarcastically, that the deaths were the result of "careless handling of heating devices, neglect of safety measures, smoking in an unidentified place". The Russian-installed administration said at least 25 rockets were fired at the region overnight on New Year's Eve. Hours after the strike in Makiivka, Kyiv came under fire. A drone and missile attack targeted critical infrastructure, the Ukrainian capital's regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said. One man in Kyiv was injured by debris from a destroyed Russian drone, the capital's mayor added. Mr Kuleba said the weapons were Iranian-made Shahed drones, adding that they were "targeting critical infrastructure facilities". "The main thing now is to stay calm and stay in shelters until the alarm is off," he said. All 39 Iranian made drones were eventually shot down by Ukraine, the military said. But Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said energy facilities were damaged, disrupting power and heating supplies. Russia has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure for several months, destroying power stations and plunging millions into darkness during the country's freezing winter. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64142650
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Ounahi displayed brilliant performances during the 2022 World Cup with Morocco’s national football team. Rabat - Italian football club Napoli has reportedly made the most progress to sign Moroccan football star Azzedine Ounahi. French news outlet L’Equipe said on Sunday that many football clubs are interested in signing Ounahi following his spectacular performances during the 2022 World Cup. The French sports news outlet, however, believes that Napoli seems the “most” advanced club in the process of securing a deal with France’s Angers for the midfielder. “At the opening of the transfer market, it is Napoli that seems the most advanced club to sign the Moroccan revelation of the World Cup in Qatar,” the news outlet added. L'Equipe stressed that the Italian club has made “concrete progress” in recent days in terms of dialogue with Angers. “Some sources even suggest the idea of a firm offer,” the news outlet added. Ounahi’s uplifting performances during the 2022 World Cup triggered attention from many coaches and international clubs that seek to take him from Angers. In December, Spanish media reported that FC Barcelona is interested in signing the Atlas Lion. Following the Morocco-Spain round of 16 match, former Spanish head coach Luis Enrique applauded Ounahi’s performance. “I was pleasantly surprised by the number 8. I'm sorry I don’t remember his name… How did this guy get here, my God? He excelled at this game. He surprised me,” he said. Recently, President of Angers Said Chabane acknowledged that Ounahi’s performances at the World Cup is opening rooms for all possible scenarios. “We are preparing for everything… We had a meeting this afternoon with the coach and the sports coordinator to try to consider all the possible scenarios and not end up in problems if it happened,” Chabane said. “You know very well that you can never stop a player who wants to leave.” Several top clubs also expressed interest in other Atlas Lion players, including Sofyan Amrabat and Yassine Bounou. link: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353335/napoli-made-concrete-progress-to-sign-deal-with-moroccos-ounahi
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Nick Movie: Magic Mike's Last Dance Time: February 10, 2023 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: ? Duration of the movie: 30-Minute Trailer:
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• Name: @BirSaNN • Time & Date: 01:32 / 02/01/2023 • Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/euFnJPu
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A criminology graduate has been arrested in the mysterious killings of four university students in the state of Idaho last month, police say. Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was detained in Pennsylvania, over 2,500 miles (4,020km) from the crime scene. The University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in their beds in a rental home near the campus on 13 November. Police say the suspect lived in a town near where the murders occurred. Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were discovered dead from multiple stab wounds in the home in the small college city of Moscow, northern Idaho. Some of the students, who were all 20 or 21 years old, had defensive injuries. A post-mortem examination found the four were probably asleep when they were attacked. There was no evidence of sexual assault, police say. Mr Kohberger was arrested near the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Friday by state police and FBI agents. He was traced to his parents' home in Albrightsville, officials told CBS, the BBC's US partner. Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson told a news conference the accused faces four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary. The suspect, who is expected to be extradited to Idaho, has already appeared before a judge, and was remanded in custody without bail. Officials confirmed at the same news conference that the suspect was a PhD student in criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University. Its campus in the town of Pullman, Washington - where the suspect was living - is a 10-mile drive across the border to Moscow. "This was a complex and extensive case," said an emotional Moscow police chief James Fry. "These murders have shaken this community and no arrest will ever bring back these young students," he told reporters. Police did not disclose any motive, saying it was necessary to keep certain details private in order to secure a conviction at trial. They said they were investigating whether the suspect knew the victims. Sleepless nights haunt mother of dead Idaho student Idaho murders: Rumours, 'clues' and web detectives Idaho student murders: Everything we still don't know Chief Fry said they had so far reviewed more than 19,000 tips from the public. Earlier this month, investigators' big break may have come after they asked the public for help finding a white Hyundai Elantra car seen near the victims' home on the day of the murders. Police said on Friday an Elantra had been recovered, but the murder weapon has yet to be found. The police chief refused to comment about reports that the suspect asked officers if anyone else had been arrested. "What I can tell you is we have an individual in custody who committed these horrible crimes and I do believe our community is safe," he said. "But we still need to be vigilant, right?" Unnamed law enforcement officials told US media that DNA evidence links Mr Kohberger to the crimes. He is listed as an assistant instructor for three undergraduate criminal courses at Washington State University, according to the Idaho Statesman. Until now he had no known arrest record in Idaho, Washington or Pennsylvania, the newspaper reports, adding that he had been cited by police for not wearing a seatbelt last August in the Idaho county that includes Moscow. A fellow graduate student in his programme told the Associated Press news agency that the suspect had appeared confident and outgoing, but also "super awkward". Ben Roberts added that Mr Kohberger had wanted to appear clever. "One thing he would always do, almost without fail, was find the most complicated way to explain something," he said. "He had to make sure you knew that he knew it." Family members of the victims had voiced frustration with the investigation's progress. The arrest came on the same day a memorial service was held for Ms Goncalves and Ms Mogen at a church in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. "Today we are commemorating our Maddie's and her friend Kaylee with relief knowing that she can now be properly laid to rest," said a statement from Ms Mogen's family. A statement from the family of Ethan Chapin to US media said they were "relieved this chapter is over because it provides a form of closure". "However, it doesn't alter the outcome or alleviate the pain. We miss Ethan, and our family is forever changed." link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64130503
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A bunch of weird animals washed up dead across the globe in 2022. Here are our favorites. Every year the remains of bizarre ocean creatures wash ashore on beaches across the globe, revealing clues about the lives of some of the most elusive and mysterious creatures on Earth. And 2022 was no different. From white whales and giant squids to tiny penguins and swarms of jellyfish, here are some of our favorites. White humpback whale A local man in Australia stumbled across a 33-foot-long (10 meters) humpback whale corpse while kayaking past a hidden beach in Victoria state. Surprisingly, the creature's body was "pure white" and looked more like a marble statue than a dead whale. Despite the juvenile female’s extremely rare color, experts don't think the dead humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) had albinism — a genetic condition that stops animals from producing skin pigment — because it had patches of dark skin. Instead, the young whale may have had leucism, a genetic condition similar to albinism that affects some individual cells' ability to produce pigments and can cause patchy discoloration. It is also possible that most of the whale's outer skin fell off as it decomposed on the ocean's surface, which revealed lighter skin underneath. Earlier this year, another possibly leucistic white humpback was spotted swimming with dolphins in New South Wales, Australia. Read more: Extremely rare white humpback whale washes up dead on Australian beach Half-eaten giant squid One of the deep sea's most elusive and spectacular creatures, the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), astonished a group of tourists after it washed up with half-eaten tentacles on a beach in New Zealand. The colossal cephalopod, with a mantle measuring around 13 feet (4 m) long, was discovered on the beach at Farewell Spit, a nature reserve in the north of South Island. Experts think the squid's half-eaten tentacles had been munched on by scavengers at the ocean's surface rather than being sustained during a deep-sea attack. Washed-up giant squids are extremely rare, but Farewell Spit seems to be a hotspot for the beached behemoths: At least six giant squids have washed ashore there in the last 30 years. Read more: Giant squid corpse with half-eaten tentacles stuns tourists on New Zealand beach A whale's stomach A strange, alien-like blob that washed up on a U.K. beach was probably a pile of whale guts, according to experts. The massive stomach sacks were discovered by Cornwall resident Helen Marlow while she was walking her dog on Marazion Beach. The seaweed-covered lump appeared to be one singular object with no noticeable tears and did not give off any pungent rotting smells. "I couldn't bring myself to touch it, but I did try to move it with my boot and, as I did, it wobbled a bit like a big, fat jelly," Marlow told Live Science. After uploading images of the mysterious object to Facebook, experts from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust's Marine Strandings Network identified the blob as a potential whale's stomach. The remains likely came from a large whale, such as a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) or bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) that had been ripped apart by scavengers on the ocean's surface. Read more: Weird 'alien' sacks wash up on UK beach, most likely a whale's stomach link: https://www.livescience.com/animals-that-washed-ashore-2022
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If you want to get a big tax credit for an electric-car purchase right now, before new federal rules are fully implemented, you might want to look at Teslas under $55,000, plus Chevrolet's Bolt EV and EUV. The Inflation Reduction Act made big changes to how the federal government incentivizes electric-vehicle purchases when it was enacted last fall, removing overall sales from consideration in favor of monetary limits and domestic production and sourcing. But the IRS hasn't yet said how it will calculate the sourcing requirements, which means we're about to enter a strange period for EV buying in which some of the old rules are gone, but not all of the new rules have kicked in. We expect the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV to have a good few months of sales, as GM already reduced prices by around $6000 for 2023, and the electric hatchbacks will now, somewhat surprisingly, qualify for the full $7500 tax credit on top of that until at least March. It's been more than a little frustrating for those of us covering electric vehicles these past few months. Automaker representatives would not say clearly whether or not their EVs would qualify for the tax credits under the changes introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Turns out it wasn't their fault. The federal government didn't make the rules 100 percent clear, and now EV shoppers might be able to take advantage of that confusion for the next few months. We've published explainers about how the IRA changed EV tax incentives, but they were necessarily vague about some details. That's because the U.S. Department of Treasury won't actually issue some of the proposed rules until March, and that's the delay that will open up a loophole on January 1. To set the stage, remember that the IRA changed the EV rules from the straightforward overall limit of 200,000 qualifying vehicles per manufacturer. Now, for an EV buyer to get the tax credit, there are MSRP and income level limits, and the vehicle needs to be, without getting into the details, made in America with battery components sourced from a country with which the U.S. has a free-trade agreement. The maximum credit is worth $7500, although if the battery minerals aren't sourced correctly, the maximum value of the credit should be half of that, or $3750. But some of the language in the law wasn't specific—especially with regard to sourcing—and that means the appropriate federal agencies have to explain what it means. Oh, Good, a Government Explanation The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released three minor clarifications this week. The first was an updated list of which vehicles qualify for which level of credit. Second, the IRS clarified the incremental cost for commercial clean vehicles in the coming year. This will allow tax credits to be claimed on EVs under "commercial" use, which includes leasing or ride sharing, without consideration of where the vehicles are made. Third, the new MSRP limits were explained, and the IRS said that the "placed in service" date mentioned in the tax credit is when you take possession of your new EV, not when you bought it. Check out the Treasury Department's new FAQ page; somewhere in there, you may find the answers to your questions. So Here's the Loophole This brings us to the loophole. There was no clarification issued for the sourcing provisions in the IRA, and the IRS said it won't release this proposed guidance until March. The delay creates a window for a subset of vehicles like the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV and any Teslas with a price tag under $55,000. These EVs are not eligible for any federal tax credits at the end of 2022 because GM and Tesla each sold more than 200,000 EVs, but they're about to qualify again. The rule about 200,000 sales goes away January 1, and new rules about MSRP and income limits and sourcing take effect. Since the IRS isn't saying what the sourcing rules are, electric vehicles that meet the other requirements can qualify for the full $7500 credit starting January 1. For Tesla, that means a maximum price of $55,000 for the Model 3 and five-seat Model Y, and $80,000 for the seven-seat Model Y EVs. All the Bolt variants will qualify for the full $7500, and since GM lowered the price of the 2023 Bolts by around $6000 compared to the 2022s, the new-model-year Bolts will be a particularly hot deal as long as you can take delivery of your new EV before the new sourcing rules come into effect. "The information released today is an important step to clarify the new requirements for consumers, businesses, and state and local governments planning to buy electric vehicles soon," said Ben Prochazka, executive director of the Electrification Coalition, a nonprofit organization that promotes the widespread adoption of plug-in vehicles. "While the proposed guidance for sourcing provisions was not released today, a whitepaper on the direction the Treasury Department may take was released. The whitepaper helps clarify as manufacturers identify which vehicles may be eligible for the tax credits and when the new requirements go into effect." Even now, the IRS isn't able to provide the full EV tax credit picture. While the agency now offers an updated list of which vehicles qualify, it is not complete and "will be updated over the coming days and weeks so consumers looking to purchase a new clean vehicle in the new year should be sure to check it regularly." No kidding. link: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42373295/buy-electric-car-government-rules-tax-credit/
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The actor on enjoying a lie-in and then a strong coffee, making apple crumble and listening to Desert Island Discs Sun 1 Jan 2023 06.45 GMT Up early? I normally get up at 5.30 for filming. On Sundays it’s a treat to stay in bed. But we’ve got three dogs now, and my daughter, Rose, who’s 12, so it’s not as if we can have a mega lie-in. We’re up at 7.30am. First thing? I fantasise about coffee before I go to sleep. On weekdays, I tiptoe downstairs and make strong coffee in our Bialetti stove-top pot before work. Sundays growing up? It was always Dad [actor Edward Fox] eating Mum’s [actor Joanna David] homemade marmalade on big, buttered chunks of toast. Dad would take us to Regent’s Park to feed the ducks, while Mum got a roast on the table. They’d invite friends over who were happy to play games and cards with me. Sunday evenings I’d play the piano with Dad. I can still picture my little hands on top of his as he played. Sunday mornings now? A walk in our local park, or Jonathan [Stadlen, Fox’s husband] takes the dogs out while I do a workout at home. Sunday afternoons? Jonathan has a boat, so we might go rowing on the Thames with Rose and all the dogs. If my parents are in town it’s a good time to see them. Sunday afternoons are often about Rose’s homework, but I do feel like a nag. What’s for dinner? We do a roast chicken and an apple crumble. We listen to podcasts or Desert Island Discs while we cook together. It’s a relief to be at home after a busy week. Sunday dread? I used to hate going back to boarding school on a Sunday night, until I changed schools. But now I love Mondays: the school run if I’m at home or going to work. I’ve managed to eradicate Sunday night blues. Lights out? We’ll take the dogs out. I’ll learn lines. I used to listen to the news when I was on my own, but it just kept me awake. Jonathan likes listening to The World Tonight on Radio 4. It sends me to sleep – very often I don’t get past the headlines. Silent Witness returns early in the new year to BBC One link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jan/01/sunday-with-emilia-fox-rowing-on-the-thames-with-my-daughter-and-the-dogs