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https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/extinct-panda-ancient-europe-highlights-debate-animals-origins-rcna40209 The discovery of an extinct panda that roamed the forests and swamps of Europe millions of years ago could reignite debate about whether the ancestors of China’s iconic national animal actually came from Europe. The only evidence of the newly-identified panda species — dubbed Agriarctos nikolovi — are two fossilized teeth found in a lump of coal in Bulgaria almost 50 years ago, according to a study published Sunday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. But scientists say they show pandas were living in Europe about 6 million years ago and reinforce earlier discoveries. A 2017 report by China Daily — a news outlet run by the Chinese Communist Party — noted debate over the geographical origin of pandas goes back to the 1940s, when their fossils were found in Hungary. But giant pandas are now a celebrated national symbol in China, and the idea that their ancestors came from Europe is unwelcome there. China Daily said the notion is “still premature,” and quoted an expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to explain that pandas might have lived throughout Asia and Europe at different stages of their evolution. The newest European panda lived too recently to resolve that debate, and it wasn’t a direct ancestor of the giant panda, but the discovery of yet another panda species in Europe reinforces the idea that they originated there. “The paleontological data show that the oldest members of this group of bears were found in Europe, and the European fossil [species] are more numerous,” said the study’s lead author, paleontologist Nikolai Spassov of Bulgaria’s National Museum of Natural History in Sofia. “This suggests that the group may have developed in Europe and then headed to Asia, where they evolved later into Ailuropoda — the modern giant panda.” Spassov found the fossilized teeth in an old collection at the museum, where they had been stored by a former curator, the geologist Ivan Nikolov. A barely legible note stored with them said they’d been found in the 1970s in northwestern Bulgaria, near a mountain village known for its coal-bearing sediments. But the teeth then lay undisturbed for almost 50 years until Spassov and his team started to research them. Pandas are a type of bear, but genetic analysis shows their lineage diverged from other bears about 19 million years ago. They are recognized in fossils mainly from the distinct shapes of their teeth. The new study suggests the newest European panda was a bit smaller than the giant panda.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/62380646 Captain Leah Williamson said her England side have "changed the game in this country" as she celebrated their historic Euro 2022 victory. The Lionesses won their first major trophy as they beat Germany 2-1 in extra time at Wembley on Sunday. They lifted the trophy and sang Sweet Caroline in front of thousands of fans at Trafalgar Square on Monday. "We said we wanted to make our legacy about winning and that's what we did," Williamson said. "The legacy of the tournament was already made before that final game - what we've done for women and young girls who can look up and aspire to be us. "I think England have hosted an incredible tournament and we've changed the game in this country - and hopefully across Europe and across the world." Recap: Celebrations after England's historic winWomen's football will never be the same againRecord TV audience watch England winMeet the Lionesses who won Euro 2022 The Football Association is now set to hold talks with manager Sarina Wiegman about extending her contract with England after Sunday's success. Dutchwoman Wiegman, whose deal with England currently runs until 2025, has now won back-to-back European Women's Championships, after guiding the Netherlands to the title in 2017. "She will have a couple of weeks off. When she gets back, we'll have a conversation," said Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA's head of women's football. 'It will be like rocket fuel' On the legacy of England's Euro 2022 triumph, FA chair Debbie Hewitt said: "We've got to get girls across the country playing football in schools. "Once they have that opportunity, all of them, to play in schools and associate them with the clubs, then you will see this just take off. It will be like rocket fuel, the impact of the win." Hewitt said the Premier League could play its part in supporting the legacy of Euro 2022 by continuing to invest in the women's game. She said: "We had over 17 million viewers last night watching this game in this country. If you are the Premier League. Why wouldn't you want to capitalise on that?" England midfielder Fran Kirby said she wanted the success of Euro 2022 to "become normal". "We want it to be that people come in to watch, and with sellout crowds in this country and all over the world, so hopefully we've played a big part in that and hopefully we can continue to grow it," Kirby said. Ella Toone, who scored England's first goal in the final, added: "That's what we set out to do in this tournament - make the nation proud, fight for women and get young girls involved as well and I think we've done that for every single woman in this world." There'll be expectation but we have an amazing squad' With less than a year until the women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, expectations will be high for the new European champions. "I think we should take time to reflect on this one first, enjoy this one before we start thinking about that [World Cup]," said Kirby. "Of course there's going to be a lot of expectation going into that, but we have an amazing squad, we have an amazing manager, so yeah, we're really excited." Defender Lucy Bronze said she was keen for the England team to get a star on their badge, which comes with a World Cup victory. She said: "The Euros is fantastic, especially in our home country, but there's a little star missing from our crest at the minute on the England shirt. That's definitely a mission of ours to get that star there." Germany receive warm welcome in Frankfurt Thousands of fans welcomed beaten finalists Germany at Frankfurt's Romer Square on Monday. Manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg and her squad addressed supporters from Frankfurt's city hall. Germany have an incredible record in the European Women's Championship, winning it eight times in total, most recently in 2013.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/01/politics/joe-biden-counter-terrorism/index.html The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Zawahiri, who just turned 71 years old, had remained a visible international symbol of the group, 11 years after the US killed Osama bin Laden. At one point, he acted as bin Laden's personal physician. The US government has not yet confirmed his death. President Joe Biden will speak at 7:30 p.m. ET on "a successful counterterrorism operation" against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, the White House said Monday. "Over the weekend, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation against a significant Al Qaeda target in Afghanistan. The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties," a senior administration official said. Biden, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday as he deals with a rebound case of the virus, will speak outdoors from the Blue Room Balcony at the White House. In a series of tweets, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, "An air strike was carried out on a residential house in Sherpur area of Kabul city on July 31." He said, "The nature of the incident was not apparent at first" but the security and intelligence services of the Islamic Emirate investigated the incident and "initial findings determined that the strike was carried out by an American drone." The tweets by Mujahid came out prior to CNN reporting Zawahiri's death. Mujahid said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan "strongly condemns this attack on any pretext and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement." Zawahiri's targeted killing comes a year after the US' military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban's takeover of the country. Around the time of Kabul's fall, Biden indicated that there would be enduring US military capabilities -- namely, drones -- to target terrorists. Close ally of bin Laden Zawahiri comes from a distinguished Egyptian family, according to the New York Times. His grandfather, Rabia'a al-Zawahiri, was an imam at al-Azhar University in Cairo. His great-uncle, Abdel Rahman Azzam, was the first secretary of the Arab League. He eventually helped to mastermind the deadliest terror attack on American soil, when hijackers turned US airliners into missiles. "Those 19 brothers who went out and gave their souls to Allah almighty, God almighty has granted them this victory we are enjoying now," al-Zawahiri said in a videotaped message released in April 2002. It was the first of many taunting messages the terrorist -- who became al Qaeda's leader after US forces killed bin Laden in 2011 -- would send out over the years, urging militants to continue the fight against America and chiding US leaders. Zawahiri was constantly on the move once the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began after the September 11, 2001, attacks. At one point, he narrowly escaped a US onslaught in the rugged, mountainous Tora Bora region of Afghanistan, an attack that left his wife and children dead. He made his public debut as a Muslim militant when he was in prison for his involvement in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. "We want to speak to the whole world. Who are we? Who are we?" he said in a jailhouse interview. By that time, al-Zawahiri, a young doctor, was already a committed terrorist who conspired to overthrow the Egyptian government for years and sought to replace it with fundamentalist Islamic rule. He proudly endorsed Sadat's assassination after the Egyptian leader made peace with Israel. He spent three years in prison after Sadat's assassination and claimed he was tortured while in detention. After his release, he made his way to Pakistan, where he treated wounded mujahadeen fighters who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. That was when he met bin Laden and found a common cause. "We are working with brother bin Laden," he said in announcing the merger of his terror group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, with al Qaeda in May 1998. "We know him since more than 10 years now. We fought with him here in Afghanistan." Together, the two terror leaders signed a fatwa, or declaration: "The judgment to kill and fight Americans and their allies, whether civilians or military, is an obligation for every Muslim." Mastermind of 9/11 The attacks against the United States and its facilities began weeks later, with the suicide bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people and wounded more than 5,000 others. Zawahiri and bin Laden gloated after they escaped a US cruise missile attack in Afghanistan that had been launched in retaliation. Then, there was the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, when suicide bombers on a dinghy detonated their boat, killing 17 American sailors and wounding 39 others. The culmination of Zawahiri's terror plotting came on September 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A fourth hijacked airliner, headed for Washington, crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. Since then, al-Zawahiri raised his public profile, appearing on numerous video and audiotapes to urge Muslims to join the jihad against the United States and its allies. Some of his tapes were followed closely by terrorist attacks. In May 2003, for instance, almost simultaneous suicide bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 23 people, including nine Americans, days after a tape thought to contain Zawahiri's voice was released.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/25/politics/donald-trump-january-6-video-speeches/index.html Donald Trump repeatedly refused to offer harsh and widespread condemnation of those who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, going against guidance from his aides -- and, at times, scripted words -- as he sought to navigate his way through a morass of his own creation. Trump's unwillingness to place blame on the rioters was made clear, again, on Monday in a new video released by Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, who serves on the House select committee investigating January 6. A copy of the speech Trump gave on January 7 -- the day after the insurrection -- was shown on screen, with edits that Ivanka Trump identified as coming from her father. Among the lines Trump crossed out was this one: "I am directing the Department of Justice to ensure all lawbreakers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We must send a clear message not with mercy but with JUSTICE. Legal consequences must be swift and firm." He also got rid of these lines: "I want to be very clear you do not represent me. You do not represent our movement." And instead of saying, "if you broke the law, you belong in jail," Trump changed it to, "if you broke the law, you will pay." Obviously, Trump's edits take some significant sting away from his remarks on January 7. The elimination -- in its entirety -- of the line about using the DOJ to investigate and prosecute those who broke the law on January 6 suggests that Trump did not feel as though what was happening was a matter for the department. That impression is furthered by Trump's decision to take out a reference to jail time for those involved in the riot -- changing it to the less specific "you will pay." Trump's edits -- and what he either failed or refused to say -- has been a running theme of the January 6 investigation. Consider: * In those remarks he gave January 7, Trump made other edits. "I don't want to say the election's over, I just want to say 'Congress has certified the results' without saying the election's over, okay?" Trump said at one point. At another he said, "If you broke the law ... can't say that." * On January 6, Trump resisted adding a mention of peace to a 2:38 p.m. Eastern tweet in which he expressed support for law enforcement. Former deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews testified that it was only when Ivanka Trump suggested to add the words "stay peaceful" that the then-President acquiesced. * On January 6, a script of Trump's remarks -- delivered via a Twitter video posted shortly after 4 p.m. -- included these lines: "I urge all my supporters to do exactly as 99.9% of them have already been doing -- express their passions and opinions peacefully. My supporters have a right to have their voices heard but make no mistake -- NO ONE should be using violence or threats of violence to express themselves. Especially at the US Capitol. Let's respect our institutions. Let's all do better. I am asking you to leave the Capitol Hill region NOW and go home in a peaceful way." But Trump's actual remarks deviated wildly from that message. At no point did he directly condemn the violence happening at the Capitol. Instead, he told the rioters that "we love you" and "you're very special," while continuing to push the false idea that election had been stolen. The message from these omissions is obvious to anyone paying attention: Trump did not want to suggest that those who rioted at the Capitol would be subject to criminal penalties, including jail time. (What's remarkable is that throughout his presidency, Trump pushed the Justice Department to investigate his political enemies. But when it came those who supported him, Trump was unwilling to call on DOJ to get involved.) He was also resistant to separating out those who had stormed the Capitol that day from the broader group who attended the "Stop the Steal" rally. Seen through that lens, what Trump was told to say -- and his refusal to do so -- provides a very clear picture of a president who, even amid an insurrection at the US Capitol, didn't seem to, well, get it. Yes, Trump addressed the nation on January 6 and January 7. But the words he failed to use speak volumes about his intentions. And they are damning.

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2023-yamaha-tracer-9-gt/ Despite receiving a full update in 2020 to meet stringent Euro5, Yamaha’s po[CENSORED]r Tracer 9 GT looks set to undergo another refresh for 2023, with new spy shots showing a bike in the works fitted with radar cruise control and a more conventional TFT colour dash. Papped in early July in an undisclosed European location, the Japanese three-cylinder test mule looks almost identical to the bike already on sale – with a closer examination of the pictures revealing the subtle updates. Most noticeable is a new black box hanging above the front 17-in wheel, which is made more prominent by the exposed wiring positioned between the front riding lights and beneath the main headlights and air intake. Yamaha Tracer 9 GT from back Not seen on the current production model, it strongly suggests the adoption of the increasingly common radar-controlled cruise control – something already featuring on some BMWs, Ducatis, KTMs and Kawasakis, but no Yamaha models. What’s more, the rear-on shot gives a glimpse of the test bike’s instruments, which clearly now comprise a new, large, single-screen TFT display. This differs from the current bike’s gimmicky split TFT, which looks an awful lot like the old man from the film ‘Up’ and has been criticised for being hard to read. We can’t tell from the pictures if the switchgear has been updated, too.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/62270560 It says a lot about Alessia Russo's rise that the main selection dilemma before England's Euro 2022 semi-final with Sweden appears to be whether she should replace all-time top scorer Ellen White in the starting line-up. White is likely to start Tuesday's game against the tournament's top-ranked team at Bramall Lane but Russo's performances as a super sub this month have become increasingly hard to ignore. She is England's second-highest scorer at the Euros with three goals, despite not starting a game. She has come off the bench in all four of England's matches and had a major impact, most notably when she provided the assist for Manchester United team-mate Ella Toone's equaliser in the quarter-final against Spain. Having made her debut in 2020, the 23-year-old has scored seven goals in 11 England appearances in total - a particularly remarkable record given she has only started for the national team twice. Her impact in her first major tournament has been dramatic and, whether or not she starts against Sweden, she is sure to have a key role to play. Yet while she is only just emerging as a star at this level, those who have known her for years have not been surprised by her rise. Euro 2022: Behind the scenes in England's camp 'She won games for us single-handed' Perhaps Russo was always destined for a football career, given the sports-mad family she grew up in. She spent childhood family football games being thrust in goal by her two older brothers - one of whom now plays in non-league while the other pursued an athletics scholarship. Her father Mario is Met Police FC's all-time record goalscorer. Her former PE teacher Luke Anderson told BBC Radio 5 Live she was "played in every team that we had". "When Alessia joined us in year seven she was so good that we played her in the boys' team and the girls' team," he said. He recalls entering a side in an under-15s competition in which Russo "played a blinder" but the team were later disqualified for fielding her - because she was only in year seven at the time and too young to be in the team. "I can laugh at it now," Anderson said. "She would win games for us single-handed. She had such an influence in every game we played." Away from school, Russo began her career at Charlton Athletic's centre of excellence before joining Chelsea's development squad. She made just one senior appearance for the Blues - a first-round Continental Cup match in 2016 - before moving on to Brighton, where she scored three goals in seven games. She then headed to the United States to join college soccer side North Carolina Tar Heels, scoring 28 goals in 57 appearances during three years there. Russo represented England at every stage from under-15s level upwards but it was in 2020 that she really began to establish herself in England for club and country. She joined Manchester United and won her first senior international cap in the final game of the 2020 SheBelieves Cup. She was initially invited to join up just to be involved in training but came on as a late replacement after Lucy Bronze was injured. Her scoring record since then has cemented her place in the Lionesses squad, where she has become increasingly influential along with United team-mate Toone, another regular substitute. The partnership between Russo and Toone is obvious. They have both set each other up for goals in the Euros, evidence of the link they have developed through playing together at every level for England. At United, Russo has scored 12 times in 26 appearances as the club have established themselves as a force in the Women's Super League. Russo's challenge now is to dislodge White from the England starting line-up, a tough task given the 33-year-old is one goal away from matching Wayne Rooney's all-time England record of 53. If, as expected, manager Sarina Wiegman opts for the experience of White to start Tuesday's semi-final, one thing is for sure: she will know exactly where to turn if England need to find a goal.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/vision-centres-can-help-reduce-blindness-vision-impairment-8051365/lite/ NEW longitudinal eye health study of the urban low-income po[CENSORED]tion in Pune showed that the prevalence of blindness and vision impairment reduced over four years from 2015 to 2019, blindness from 0.26% to 0.1%, and vision impairment from 0.16% to 0.05%. Published recently in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, the study has indicated that vision centres can help in reducing blindness and vision impairment. In a novel initiative, researchers from the Community Eye Care Foundation led by consultant ophthalmologist Dr Parikshit Gogate attempted to estimate the prevalence of blindness and severe visual impairment (SVI) by using a door-to-door screening and vision centre (VC) examination strategy in Pune slums across a po[CENSORED]tion of nearly 50,000 in 2015 and then repeated the exercise after four years to study its impact. “We observed a reduction of blindness and visual impairment over the years, and the gender gap in eyes with vision <6/12 narrowed. Our teams screened close to 50,000 persons in their homes in 2015-16 and then again in 2019. Prevalence of blindness reduced by 40 per cent. More women were blind as compared to men. However, this reduced in five years though the difference still persisted between men and women. Now, nearly 60 per cent of people visiting the vision centres were women as access to care is not a barrier. What the study has shown is that services should be easily available," Dr Gogate said. A dedicated team led by Dr Supriya Phadke of four trained community health workers measured the visual acuity and performed an external ocular examination in patients’ homes. If vision is 20/60 (6/18), the person can read at 20ft (6 metres) what people with normal vision can read at 60 ft (18 metres). Hence, people with vision <6/18 were urged to visit the vision centre for a comprehensive eye examination by an optometrist. An ophthalmologist examined people whose vision did not improve to 6/12. A home examination was done for people who did not visit the vision centre despite two requests. The same po[CENSORED]tion of around 50,000 was examined twice in an interval of four years. “The principal cause of blindness was cataract, with a proportion of 44.9% and 41.6% in the first and second surveys, respectively. In 2015, cataract patients had more severe grades of visual disabilities compared to those in 2019. In four years, 2015–2019, the vision centre examined 8,211 patients (3,377 males, including 529 boys, and 4,834 females, including 520 girls).

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/25/china/china-us-pelosi-visit-concerns-intl-hnk-mic/index.html The United States is no stranger to China's angry responses over its support for Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own territory. But last week, China's warnings against a potential trip by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's to Taipei appeared to have caused concern in Washington. Following reports of Pelosi's plans, China's Foreign Ministry vowed last Tuesday to take "resolute and forceful measures" if the trip goes ahead. Since then, a flurry of remarks from US officials have only added to the sense of alarm. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden told reporters the US military thinks a Taiwan visit by Pelosi is "not a good idea right now." On Thursday, Pelosi said it's important to show support for Taiwan but declined to discuss any travel plans citing security. "I think what the President was saying is that maybe the military was afraid of my plane getting shot down or something like that. I don't know exactly," Pelosi said. On Sunday, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also weighed in, offering to join Pelosi on her reported trip. "Nancy, I'll go with you. I'm banned in China, but not freedom-loving Taiwan. See you there!" Pompeo wrote on Twitter. Pelosi&#39;s possible visit to Taiwan raises concerns China might interfere with airspace, US official says Pelosi's possible visit to Taiwan raises concerns China might interfere with airspace, US official says In private, Biden administration officials have expressed concern that China could seek to declare a no-fly zone over Taiwan to upend the possible trip, a US official told CNN. The Chinese government has not specified in public what "forceful measures" it is planning to take, but some Chinese experts say Beijing's reaction could involve a military component. "China will respond with unprecedented countermeasures -- the strongest it has ever taken since the Taiwan Strait crises," said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at China's Renmin University. Military conflicts flared across the Taiwan Strait in the 1950s -- the decade after the founding of Communist China, with Beijing shelling several outlying islands controlled by Taipei on two separate occasions. The last major crisis took place in 1995-1996, after Taiwan's president at the time, Lee Teng-hui, visited the US. Enraged by the visit, China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan, and the crisis ended only after the US sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to the area in a forceful show of support for Taipei. "If Pelosi goes ahead with her visit, the United States will certainly prepare to respond militarily to a possible Chinese military response," said Shi. "The situation between China and the US will be very tense." Pelosi's reported trip wouldn't be the first time a sitting US House speaker has visited Taiwan. In 1997, Newt Gingrich met Lee, the island's first democratically elected President, in Taipei only days after his trip to Beijing and Shanghai, where Gingrich said he warned Chinese leaders that the US would intervene militarily if Taiwan was attacked. According to Gingrich, the response he received at the time was "calm." Publicly, China's Foreign Ministry criticized Gingrich after his Taiwan visit, but the response was limited to rhetoric. Beijing has indicated things would be different this time around. Twenty-five years on, China is stronger, more powerful and confident, and its leader Xi Jinping has made it clear that Beijing will no longer tolerate any perceived slights or challenge to its interests. "It's a completely different regime in Beijing with Xi Jinping. China is in a position to be more assertive, to impose costs and consequences to countries that don't take China's interest into consideration in their policy making or actions," said Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. "So in that respect, it's a very different China from when Newt Gingrich visited in 1997." Under Xi, a rising wave of nationalism has swept China, and support for "reuniting" with Taiwan -- possibly by force -- is running high. Hu Xijin, former editor of state-run nationalist tabloid the Global Times and a prominent hawkish voice in Chinese online punditry, has suggested the Chinese Liberation Army's warplanes should "accompany" Pelosi's aircraft to Taiwan and fly over the island. That would be a significant infringement of Taiwan's autonomy. As cross-strait tensions soar to their highest level in recent decades, China has sent record numbers of warplanes into Taiwan's self-declared air defense identification zone, with Taiwan scrambling jets to warn them away -- but so far the PLA jets have not entered the island's territorial airspace. "If Taiwanese military dares to fire on the PLA fighter jets, we will respond resolutely by shooting down Taiwanese warplanes or striking Taiwanese military bases. If the US and Taiwan want an all-out war, then the moment to liberate Taiwan is coming," Hu wrote. While Hu's belligerent remarks toward Taiwan have long resonated with China's nationalist circles, they do not represent the official stance of Beijing (and some of Hu's previous threats made against Taiwan have turned out to be empty). But as Thompson points out, the fact that Hu's statements have gone uncensored in China's tightly controlled media shows "a certain degree of support among the Communist Party" -- even if it's only for propaganda value. Pelosi's reported trip would come at a sensitive time for China. The PLA is celebrating its founding anniversary on August 1, while Xi, the country's most powerful leader in decades, is preparing to break conventions and seek a third term at the ruling Communist Party's 20th congress this fall. While the politically sensitive timing could trigger a stronger response from Beijing, it could also mean that the Party would want to ensure stability and prevent things from getting out of control, experts say. "Honestly, this isn't a good time for Xi Jinping to provoke a military conflict right before the 20th party congress. It's in Xi Jinping's interest to manage this rationally and not instigate a crisis on top of all the other crises he has to deal with," Thompson said, citing China's slowing economy, deepening real estate crisis, rising unemployment, and constant struggle to curb sporadic outbreaks under its zero-Covid policy. "So I think whatever they do, it will be measured, it will be calculated. They'll certainly attempt to put more pressure on Taiwan, but I think they'll stop well short of anything that's particularly risky, or that could create conditions that they can't control," he said. Shi, the professor at Renmin University in Beijing, agreed that tension between the US and China is unlikely to escalate into a full blown military conflict. "Unless things got out of control by accident in a way that no one can predict, there is no chance of a military conflict between US and China," he said. But Shi said right now it is hard to predict what China will do. "It is a very difficult situation to deal with. Firstly, (Beijing) must resolutely take unprecedented countermeasures. Secondly, it must prevent military conflicts between the United States and China," he said. "We won't know how things will turn out until the last minute."

Nickname: Inmortal Age: 16 Link with your forum profile: @Inmortal How much time do you spend on our channel ts every day?: i no have ts3, i have a phone Where do you want to moderate? Check this topic: Devil club How much time you can be active on the Journalists Channel?: All days maybe Link with your last request to join in our Team: https://csblackdevil.com/forums/topic/420143-request-journalist-ïnmörtäl/ Last 5 topics that you made on our section:

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/21/politics/poll-biden-presidential-bid-2024/index.html Two polls out in recent days make a pretty clear point: many people do NOT want President Joe Biden to run for a second term in 2024. 1) Around 7 in 10 Americans (71%) said they did not want Biden to run for president again in a new Quinnipiac University national poll. While large majorities of Republicans (81%) and independents (77%) felt that way, so did a majority (54%) of Democrats. 2) A new Des Moines Register Iowa poll -- conducted by the highly esteemed pollster J. Ann Selzer -- showed that two-thirds of Iowans (67%) hoped that Biden would not run again in 2024. Again, that number included a majority -- 52% -- of Democrats. Those two polls come just a week after a national New York Times/Siena College poll, which showed that 64% of those who planned to participate in the 2024 Democratic primaries preferred someone other than Biden as the party's next presidential nominee. That series of numbers comes even as Biden is doing everything he can to signal that he is, at least right now, planning to run again. "The next election I would be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me," Biden said in March of the possibility of facing former President Donald Trump for a second time in 2024. "I'm not predicting," Biden said during his recent Middle East trip of a possible rematch with Trump. "But I would not be disappointed." And Biden's team is ramping up their own preparations for a formal announcement in the spring of next year. As The Washington Post noted of these activities in a story last month: "With Biden's approval ratings continuing to slide and the odds of a recession next year rising, the planning is in part an effort, though not entirely successful, to dampen broad concern in the party about his ability to mount a conventional campaign due to his age and energy level." (Sidebar: After Biden's positive Covid-19 diagnosis on Thursday, the White House was quick to share an image of him working despite the illness. Biden also posted a video on social media in which he said he was "doing well.") The question for Biden and his team is whether the large majorities of Americans who say they don't want him to run for reelection are really just expressing general displeasure with how his presidency has gone so far, or if there is a deeper reason (or reasons) for their expressed interest in moving on. There's no question that Biden's approval numbers in the two new polls are very, very low. Just 31% of Americans in the Quinnipiac poll approved of the job he is doing, while an even lower 27% of Iowans approve of Biden's job performance. (Biden lost Iowa by 8 points in the 2020 election.) The hope among the Biden team would be that if and when his approval numbers improve, the percentages of people who don't want to see him run again will begin to drop. Which, maybe! But the X-factor in all of this is Biden's age. He is 79 years old, the oldest person ever elected to a first term as president. And in the New York Times/Siena College poll, 1 in 3 Democratic voters who said they wanted someone other than Biden as the party's 2024 nominee cited his age as their main reason.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/french-bulldog-meetup-new-york-became-center-viral-debate-rcna39127 across the U.S. But in recent years, thanks to apps like Instagram and Nextdoor, and forums like Facebook groups, issues within small communities have unfolded more publicly online. Most recently, the internet has been captivated by a viral Twitter thread about a French bulldog meetup on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Once a week, roughly two dozen French bulldogs meetup in Carl Schurz Park's small dog park. There, the bulldogs — including Nacho Rosenblatt-King, this reporter's pup — meet for roughly an hour, playing with one another as well as the other breeds who happen to be in the park that day. The Instagram account responsible for these weekly hour-long meetups, Frenchies of UES, started in August 2021. There are about 1,500 followers of the account, which in its description says it's made up of a "community of Frenchies snorting their way around the Upper East Side." But as the community of frenchies and their owners approaches the one year anniversary of the meet-ups, they're faced with recent resistance from one local resident who is pleading to "stop the meetups" via an Instagram account of the same name. The account creator, who declined an interview request, has a simple goal posted in their Instagram page's bio: "Stop overcrowded, weekly meetups in Carl Schurz Small Dog Run! FYI, this is not to bash frenchies. We love all dogs!" Their main complaint is this: The park is too small for such a gathering. Their suggestion is that the meetups move to somewhere with a larger dog run. On Tuesday, the stop_the_meetups account garnered backlash after this reporter’s Twitter thread revealed the existence of a bubbling conflict within the community. The Twitter thread's virality likely also stems from an overall interest in people obsessing over minor community issues. For example, there's a Twitter account called @BestofNextdoor that highlights content found on the platform. There's also a highly po[CENSORED]r podcast called "Normal Gossip," which as it says in its description, focuses on "juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet." Stop_the_meetups has said the overcrowding of the park has caused issues for other dog owners. "With that many people and hyperactive dogs in such a small space, there are many fights, which means the dogs are then put on leashes inside the run, which is against the rules, and puts the leashed dogs at a disadvantage if attacked," the account wrote in a post on June 30. "It also doesn’t allow for owners to properly keep track of their dogs!" They complained about the person who runs the “Frenchies of UES” Instagram account, calling her “holier than thou” and saying she’s “rude and looks down on other breeds of dogs.” The Frenchies of UES account creator declined to comment, and referred this reporter to its most recent post, which states: "I am always open to respectful feedback on how to improve our relationship with one another and believe a lot of this could've been avoided if this was done. However, harassment online does not result in productive conversation that allows all sides to be heard."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/23/health/monkeypox-who-intl/index.html The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The decision was announced Saturday morning after WHO convened its second emergency committee on the issue on Thursday. Monkeypox spreading in &#39;cluster events,&#39; but vaccines can help stop it, local health officials say Monkeypox spreading in 'cluster events,' but vaccines can help stop it, local health officials say "I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Saturday morning. Tedros said while the committee was unable to reach a consensus, he came to the decision after considering the five elements required on deciding whether an outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. He added that while he was declaring monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, "For the moment this is an outbreak that's concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those who have multiple partners, that means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right right groups." WHO initially stopped short of declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after its first emergency committee meeting on June 23. At the time, Tedros said the emergency committee advised that at the moment, "the event does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern" but acknowledged the "evolving health threat" that WHO would be following extremely closely. WHO says monkeypox is not an international public health emergency, but it should continue to be monitored WHO says monkeypox is not an international public health emergency, but it should continue to be monitored WHO defines a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, as "an extraordinary event" that constitutes a "public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease" and "to potentially require a coordinated international response." The organization's emergency committee on monkeypox first met in late June, when its members reported serious concerns about the scale and speed of the virus outbreak but said it didn't constitute a PHEIC. Tedros reconvened the committee in order to provide the latest information, he has said. The PHEIC designation comes from the International Health Regulations created in 2005, and it represents an international agreement to help the prevent and respond to public health risks that have the potential to spread around the globe. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the regulations as "a legally binding agreement of 196 countries to build the capability to detect and report potential public health emergencies worldwide. IHR require that all countries have the ability to detect, assess, report, and respond to public health events." There are two ongoing public health emergencies: polio, which began in 2014, and Covid-19, starting in 2020. Four other PHEICs have been declared since the regulations were put into place: H1N1 influenza from 2009 to 2010; Ebola from 2014 to 2016 and from 2019 to 2020; and the Zika virus in 2016. Currently, the US is reporting over 2,800 probable or confirmed monkeypox cases in 44 states, DC and Puerto Rico, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, there are over 16,500 cases reported in 74 countries.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/18/politics/jill-biden-rating/index.html First lady Jill Biden's favorability rating is narrowly positive, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. Thirty-four percent of Americans hold a favorable opinion of her, 29% an unfavorable opinion and 37% are unsure. Her husband, President Joe Biden, has a favorability rating of 36%, but his unfavorable rating is much higher at 54%. Those with a positive opinion of Jill Biden fall primarily down party lines -- 67% of Democrats hold her in favorable esteem, while just 5% held an unfavorable opinion. The first lady also did well with Black Americans (47% favorable) and women (39% favorable). Biden's unfavorable rating is largely unchanged since the last CNN poll that asked about the then-incoming first lady, in January 2021. At that time, she stood at 28% unfavorable. CNN Poll: Most Americans are discontented with Biden, the economy and the state of the country CNN Poll: Most Americans are discontented with Biden, the economy and the state of the country Traditionally, first ladies are uniformly admired, and Americans tend to have a higher opinion of them than they do of the president. The position is unelected and normally uncontroversial. Yet Biden's numbers are indicative of the trend America is reflecting in their views on the President. At a Saturday fundraiser in Massachusetts for the Democratic National Committee, the first lady lamented the hindered success of her husband's administration. In comparison to her most recent predecessors, Biden's numbers are far less positive, per past CNN polls. In 2002, around the same time in her tenure, then-first lady Laura Bush saw her favorable rating at 67%. And in 2010, Michelle Obama, also about this far into her time as first lady, stood at 62% favorable, and 25% unfavorable. Melania Trump's poll numbers swung during her four years in the White House. In June 2018, 51% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Trump, 29% unfavorable. Trump left the White House with the lowest likability numbers for any first lady at the end of her term in polling history: A January 2021 ranking found her at 42% favorable and 47% unfavorable. At least some of the difference between views of Jill Biden and those of her predecessors lies in the larger share saying they have no opinion about Biden. That is likely less about a large shift in views of Biden and more about the difference between surveys conducted online, such as the new CNN poll, where a no opinion response is offered to respondents, and those conducted on the phone, where a no opinion response would typically need to be volunteered.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/escaped-cat-back-home-3-weeks-avoiding-capture-boston-airport-rcna38144 A family’s beloved pet cat that’s been dodging airport personnel, airline employees, and animal experts since escaping from a pet carrier at Boston’s Logan International Airport about three weeks ago was finally caught Wednesday. “Whether out of fatigue or hunger we’ll never know, but this morning she finally let herself be caught,” an airport spokesperson said of the cat named Rowdy in a statement. Rowdy was given a health check and will be returned to her family. “I’m kind of in disbelief,” said her owner, Patty Sahli. “I thought, ‘What are the odds we’re actually going to get her back?’ But I got a call this morning and I am just so shocked.” Rowdy’s time on the lam began June 24, as Sahli and her husband, Rich, returned to the U.S. from 15 years in Germany with the Army. When their Lufthansa flight landed, the 4-year-old black cat with green eyes escaped her cage, in pursuit of some birds.

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/vespa-primavera-picnic/ Vespa have announced a new version of their Primavera scooter called the Pic Nic, which comes fitted with everything you need for – you guessed it – a picnic. Building on the standard Primavera scooter, which is a name that’s been with us since the 1960s, the new model features a wooden picnic basket to the rear, which is intertwined with rattan weave. Vespa pic nic side on To help make your picnic that little more special, the basket also includes a removable cooler bag and waterproof blanket – perfect for those five days of sunshine we get in the UK every year. Available in two colours (grey or pastel green), the city scoot also features front and rear chrome-plated luggage racks, with a leather belt in place to stop your tea and cakes escaping from the rear wooden compartment. You also get a two-colour saddle, complete with small Italian flag detailing. vespa pic nic back side Available in in UK dealers with a Euro5-friendly 125 engine for £4500. A 50cc version is also being built for other markets.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/62198576 Belgium reached the quarter-finals of the European Women's Championship for the first time after overcoming Italy in a tense Group D finale at the Academy Stadium. Tine de Caigny's low finish from the edge of the box secured runners-up spot to set up a last-eight tie with Sweden on Friday Italy hit the bar through Cristiana Girelli soon after De Caigny's goal but they exit Euro 2022 after a second defeat in three games in England. Belgium, ranked 19 in the world, are appearing at only their second European Championship but can now prepare to face Sweden, who are ranked second in the world, at Leigh Sports Village.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/fashion/cannot-talk-busy-hot-fashion-8035776/lite/ Edwyna Estime was wearing a heavy, shapeless graduation gown. It was the color of charcoal, and it reached all the way down to her ankles. And yet she had never felt hotter. As she crossed the stage to accept her diploma, she heard the cheers from friends and family members. She was graduating from law school — and that, to her, was extremely hot.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/18/asia/sri-lanka-acting-president-exclusive-interview-intl-hnk/index.html Sri Lanka's acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said the country's previous administration was "covering up facts" about its crippling financial crisis. Former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government did not tell the truth, that Sri Lanka was "bankrupt" and "needed to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," Wickremesinghe told CNN from parliament in the nation's administrative capital Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Monday. I would like to tell the people I know what they are suffering," he added. "We have gone back. We have to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. We don't need five years or 10 years. By the end of next year let's start stabilizing, and certainly by 2024 let's have a functioning economy which will start growing." Wickremesinghe's exclusive interview with CNN was his first with an international news organization since he was appointed acting president by former leader Rajapaksa, who fled the crisis-hit country last week. Sri Lanka crisis: How do you fix a broken country? Sri Lanka crisis: How do you fix a broken country? Wickremesinghe added he that had spoken to Rajapaksa since he first fled Sri Lanka for Maldives, and then traveled to Singapore. However, Wickremesinghe said he does not know whether the former leader is still in Singapore, or elsewhere. Wickremesinghe is now vying to be Sri Lanka's next president, with parliament set to elect a new leader on Wednesday. The former six-time prime minister, who is being backed by the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna political party, will face off against at least three other candidates But Wickremesinghe's nomination has threatened to inflame an already volatile situation in the South Asian nation of 22 million Since March, Sri Lanka has been brought to its knees by a growing economic crisis that has left the country struggling to buy essential imports, including fuel, food and medicine Protesters have taken to the streets to demand the resignations of the country's leaders and last week appeared to have scored a victory when Rajapaksa vowed to resign, then fled the country after thousands of demonstrators stormed his residence, and some swam in his pool. Wickremesinghe's private residence was set on fire by angry protesters shortly after Wickremesinghe -- prime minister before Rajapaksa stepped down -- vowed to resign to make way for a unity government He told CNN that his torched home and much of its contents were not salvageabl He lost more than 4,000 books, including some that were centuries old, Wickremesinghe said. A 125-year-old piano was also destroyed in the fire, he added But despite this, on Monday, he reiterated his desire to compete for the top position, telling CNN that he was "not the same administration. "I'm not the same, people know that," he said. "I came here to handle the economy. When asked why he wanted to be president and make himself a further potential target, Wickremesinghe said: "I don't want this happening in the country. What happened to me I don't want others to suffer ... Certainly I don't want that to happen to anyone else. """.e......yone else." Meanwhile, life for Sri Lankans remains chaotic as they navigate the country's paralyzing crisis. People continue to line up outside gas stations for hours -- even days -- desperately hoping to purchase fuel. Many local businesses are shut and supermarket shelves are increasingly barren. As anger continues to build, Wickremesinghe said people could protest "peacefully." "Don't obstruct the parliamentarians and the parliament from carrying out their duty," he said. Wickremesinghe had declared a nationwide state of emergency from Monday, in a bid to quell any possible social unrest ahead of parliament's presidential vote on July 20. "We are trying to prevent (the police and military) from using weapons," Wickremesinghe said. "They have been attacked on some occasions but we still told them try your best not to use weapons." But Wickremesinghe said he can "understand what the (people of Sri Lanka) are going through." "I told them there have been three bad weeks ... And the whole system had broken down," he said. "We were not going to have gas, we were not going to have diesel. It was bad." Wickremesinghe said he will not let protesters to obstruct parliament from voting Wednesday, or allow more buildings to be stormed. "There has to be law and order in the country," he said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/21/politics/house-democrats-vote-unity/index.html It may be cold comfort as a stormy midterm election approaches, but House Democrats have achieved a modern milestone in this legislative session that crystallizes a fundamental transformation in how Congress operates. Working with a razor-thin majority, House Democrats have recorded the highest level of party unity in floor votes that either party has reached in at least 50 years, according to the authoritative statistics kept by Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call. House Democrats have passed legislation on virtually every element of their party's priority list -- from the sweeping Build Back Better investment and social welfare package to bills setting a national floor for voting and abortion rights to major gun control proposals, legalization for big groups of undocumented immigrants and ambitious police reform -- with dissenting votes from no more than two of their members and often opposition from only one or none. The immensity of that record has not received much attention because so many of the House bills have been blocked in the Senate by the Republican filibuster, opposition from Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, or both. But the consensus around this sweeping agenda stands in marked contrast to the Democratic experience under former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, when dozens of House Democrats routinely voted against the party on key measures, from Clinton's budget to Obama's Affordable Care Act. I think people feel that there's less tolerance for breaking with your party, that it could lead to a primary opponent and there's more [inclination] within each party to stick together "The ethos of the kind of norms and expectations within the caucus have shifted," says Democratic Rep. David Price of North Carolina, a former political science professor who is retiring this year after serving in Congress -- with one two-year break -- since 1986. "I think there's some really different behavior now and a different level of party discipline and loyalty." The increased unity, many observers agree, is a testament not only to the skill of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in wrangling her caucus; it also reflects a succession of tectonic shifts in the electoral and legislative landscape that have transformed the historically unruly House into something much closer to a parliamentary institution that demands exacting levels of loyalty within each party -- and produces far fewer possibilities of cooperation between them. These trends are virtually certain to survive if Republicans, whose own unity has been steadily growing over the past few decades, retake the House in November. No matter which party holds the majority, the House now seems locked into an irreversible path toward more polarization. "I think people feel that there's less tolerance for breaking with your party, that it could lead to a primary opponent and there's more [inclination] within each party to stick together," says former Rep. Henry Waxman of California, who engaged in epic internal struggles with fellow Democrats to pass landmark legislation on the environment, health care and other issues from the 1970s through his retirement in 2014. Unprecedented unity Centrist and liberal House Democrats certainly have had their disagreements in this Congress. For months, they feuded over the size and composition of the party's grab-bag Build Back Better bill. Even more pointedly, centrists fumed as progressives for months delayed passage of a separate bipartisan infrastructure package for fear that Manchin and Sinema would block the broader BBB legislation if the two bills were decoupled -- a concern that events have largely validated. But once the backroom negotiations have concluded and legislation reached the floor for final votes, House Democrats have achieved a level of unity unprecedented in modern times. In this Congress, Democrats have held, at most, a five-seat majority, leaving them achingly little margin for error. (Only twice since World War II has the governing party operated with a smaller majority.) Yet almost all of their major bills have passed with few or no dissenting votes. Just two House Democrats voted against the police reform legislation passed in March 2021 and the sweeping gun control package approved this month. Only a single House Democrat each time voted against a succession of high-profile bills the chamber approved in March 2021: HR 1, the party's sweeping election and voting bill; a bill establishing universal background checks for gun sales; a measure providing a pathway to legal status for undocumented farmworkers; and legislation long sought by organized labor to reduce legal barriers to union organizing. In September 2021, just one House Democrat voted against the bill to codify a nationwide right to abortion, and ultimately just a single Democrat voted against the Build Back Better bill when the House passed it two months later. Only a single House Democrat opposed the party's massive Covid-19 relief plan early in Biden's presidency. Earlier this month, only a single Democrat opposed the national red flag law the House passed, which would remove access to firearms for someone who is deemed a danger to themselves or others by a court. House Democrats voted unanimously in 2021 to remove the deadline for states to approve the Equal Rights Amendment; to establish a floor of nationwide LGBTQ rights; to provide a pathway to citizenship for young people brought to the US illegally by their parents; to restructure the Voting Rights Act to overwrite decisions weakening it by the Supreme Court's Republican-appointed majority; and for a sweeping executive branch package meant to combat some of former President Donald Trump's ethical abuses. The biggest exception to this pattern came when six liberal House Democrats voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill to protest its separation from the broader Build Back Better package. Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., speaks to GOP members of Congress at the Capitol in 1995. Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., speaks to GOP members of Congress at the Capitol in 1995. On most of these measures, the sole dissenting vote came from Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who represents a rural Maine district that voted for Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020; Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, who is currently locked in a recount against a progressive primary challenger, was the sole dissenter on the bills to ease union organizing and to codify a right to abortion. In turn, either no House Republicans, or virtually none, voted for most of these bills, with only a handful of the measures (including the legislation providing a legal pathway for young immigrants and farmworkers and imposing universal background checks on gun sales) drawing support from even six or more GOP representatives. The consensus among House Democrats during President Joe Biden's term stands in striking contrast with the experience under the party's last two presidents. Defections were endemic during Clinton's presidency in the 1990s. In 1993, 41 House Democrats voted against final passage of his economic plan, 69 voted against the Brady Bill establishing the national background check system for gun purchases and 156 -- a clear majority of the caucus -- opposed his North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wisconsin-couple-kills-bear-attacked-home-rcna30049 MEDFORD, Wis. — A Wisconsin couple say they killed a bear that attacked them inside their home after they spotted it eating from their bird feeder. The Taylor County Sheriff’s office said the attack happened around 11 p.m. Friday at a home near Medford in north-central Wisconsin. The couple told authorities that the bear charged through a window after they yelled at it to go away. Both the husband and wife were injured before they were able to stab the bear with a kitchen knife. Eventually, the man was able to grab a firearm and kill the animal.

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/ccm-classic-tracker/ Bolton-based CCM have released a new Classic Tracker – a new flattrack inspired addition to their po[CENSORED]r single-cylinder Spitfire range that builds on the existing Street Tracker model. Previously reported by MCN in spyshots, the now finished machine will begin at £10,695 and climb to £11,495 for a chrome finish. Expect OTR charges of £117, too. But what does that money buy you? Well, starting at the back, there’s a slim new twin exit exhaust system running to the right of the rear wheel, complete with carbon end caps. CCM Classic Tracker exhaust These wheels are available in either petrol blue with black, or as a gold finish on the chrome version. Both colour schemes come on spoked 19in rims, which are wrapped in a set of road-legal Mitas flattracking tyres. To test its sideways ability, CCM took the bike to the Ride and Skid It school, where tutor and five-time British Flat Track champion Aiden Collins said: “This bike feels right – like it was built to race!” Outside of that, braking power is provided by J Juan, with a four-piston radial caliper up front. You also get scrambler-style mid position bars and a stitched saddle design for one person, said to be semi perforated. There’s a hydraulic clutch from Magura, too. Elsewhere, CCM have altered the suspension set up and installed a black rear coil spring for good measure. For those wanting to venture onto the flattrack oval, you also get a radiator guard as standard, finished in grey. It’s all topped off with LED lighting to the front and rear. Fresh spyshots captured by an eagle-eyed snapper have revealed CCM are making the finishing touches to a new flattrack-inspired Spitfire. The new bike, thought to be called the Classic Tracker looks to blend the current Street Tracker with more classic styling touches including a Monza fuel cap. It was spotted on two separate occasions – taking part in a photoshoot with CCM ambassador and former world trails champion Dougie Lampkin on the Cat & Fiddle in Cheshire, and on track at Aiden Collins’ Ride & Skid flattrack school in Buxton. CCM Classic Tracker undergoing testing In the latter it appears the bike is being ridden by former French supermoto champion and CCM works rider, Stephane Mezard, who took the French flattrack title in 2021 and is contesting it again this year on a CCM FT6 flattracker. The bike Lampkin is pictured on looks to be production-ready, finished in a classy retro silver livery. Like all Spitfires it’s powered by a BMW-designed, ex-Husqvarna liquid-cooled 600cc single producing around 55bhp and 43lb.ft giving a top speed of around 110mph. This lump is housed in a hand-crafted tubular steel frame. The new model appears to have 19in spoked rims wearing semi-knobbly tyres, adjustable Marzocchi inverted forks, J-Juan four-piston radial brakes and a racy, flattrack-style solo seat. Dougie Lampkin spotted on a new CCM model However, going by these pictures, this version does without the Street Tracker’s side-mounted number boards, has a lower front wheel-hugging mudguard, and retro badging. Lampkin’s silver bike also has gold not black anodised rims and silver instead of the black forks of the Street Tracker, although the green version spied continues with black wheels and forks. The closeness to the Street Tracker means we’d expect a similar, if not slightly higher price than that of the £10,995 Street, and its production readiness suggests it will be officially unveiled at this November’s Motorcycle Live show at the NEC – if not before.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61889086 Italian club Inter Milan have agreed a deal to sign striker Romelu Lukaku on a season-long loan from Chelsea. The Blues signed the 29-year-old from Inter for £97.5m in August 2021, but he will return to the Serie A side having struggled last season. The loan fee for Lukaku is about 8m euros (£6.9m). The Belgium international scored 15 goals in all competitions for Chelsea last season, with eight in 26 Premier League appearances. It is understood Lukaku was willing to take a pay cut to rejoin Inter, who won the Serie A title in 2020-21 with him leading their attack. The Italian club's financial situation meant it was impossible for them to match Lukaku's wages or buy the frontman outright. However, president Steven Zhang got involved personally in the negotiations on Monday, which was viewed as significant. Lukaku, who left Chelsea to join Everton for £28m in 2014, returned to the Stamford Bridge side last summer on a five-year deal for a club-record fee. However, he apologised for an interview during the season where he said he was not happy with his role under Blues manager Thomas Tuchel and wanted to return to the Italian club in the near future. Lukaku scored only three times in his final 15 top-flight outings of the season as Chelsea's season fizzled out. Tuchel's side finished third in the Premier League, while they were beaten by Liverpool on penalties in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals. Inter finished second in Serie A last season, two points behind city rivals AC Milan. They are also in talks with Juventus forward Paulo Dybala. The Argentina international, 28, is set to be a free agent when his contract expires at the end of the month.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/home-decor-tips-living-room-appear-bigger-7956898/lite/ Start choosing the right kind of pieces for the room, so that they are useful instead of just taking up space. The habit of decluttering frequently will make the area appear more spacious. To add more items to your living room, you must get rid of old ones. You may also go for modern furniture pieces which take up less space and offer more compartments — like a sofa-cum-bed, a chest of drawers that comes with a TV unit or a foldable table. You will finally make extra room for useful items. Either buy small pieces of furniture like an ottoman, an armchair, or a low table or go for more elongated and tall units and place them against the wall surfaces. This will ensure they are not taking up much space, yet will create a balance in the room. These statement pieces should not be placed in and around the circulation paths. The overview that way would remain clear and the room would appear bigger. Well crafted furniture when paired with subtly coloured walls creates the perfect combination for quaint places. Choosing colours like beige, light grey, mint green, baby pink or baby blue – make the carpet area look bigger than usual. Pastel colours reflect light and make the room appear brighter. You can also choose pastel wallpapers to give some funk to your home

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/21/europe/kaliningrad-explainer-russia-lithuania-sanctions-intl/index.html Tensions are mounting around the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, an isolated but strategically significant territory on the Baltic coast that could soon be dragged into the Kremlin's war. Russia has reacted furiously after Lithuania banned the passage of sanctioned goods across its territory and into Kaliningrad. But Lithuania says it is merely upholding European Union sanctions, and the European bloc has backed it. The row now threatens to escalate strains between Moscow and the EU, which has unveiled several packages of sanctions on Russian goods. Here's what you need to know about Kaliningrad, its history and its importance to Russia. What sparked this row? Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, experts have feared that Kaliningrad could become a flashpoint in tensions between Moscow and Europe. It is Russia's westernmost territory, and the only part of the country surrounded by EU states; Lithuania stands between it and Belarus, a Russian ally nation, while Poland borders it to the south. On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move was unprecedented and that Russia considered it illegal. "It is part of a blockade, of course," he said. Other Russian officials have threatened a response. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, said, "Russia will certainly respond to such hostile actions. Measures are being worked out in an interdepartmental format and will be taken in the near future. Their consequences will have a serious negative impact on the Lithuanian po[CENSORED]tion," according to Russia's RIA Novosti state-owned news agency. The sanctioned products barred from being exported to Russian territory by the European Union include construction machinery, machine tools and other industrial equipment, according to Russian state news agency TASS, citing the Ministry for Economic Development. Some luxury goods are also included. Lithuania has not imposed "unilateral, individual or additional" restrictions, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. The Charge d'Affaires of Lithuania in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday and told that if freight transit to the Kaliningrad region was not fully restored, Russia reserved the right to take actions to protect its national interests. But the EU, whose sanctions Lithuania is enforcing by blocking transit, has backed its member state. Speaking to Reuters, Dmitry Lyskov, a representative of the regional government, was forced to urge residents not to panic buy in response to the spat. The sanctioned products will now have to travel by sea. A Lithuanian official, Rolandas Kacinskas, said Tuesday that "the transit of passengers and EU non-sanctioned goods to the Kaliningrad region through the territory of Lithuania continues uninterrupted. [Lithuania] hasn't imposed any unilateral, individual, or additional restrictions on the transit & is acting fully in accordance with EU law." What is Kaliningrad? Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. It was captured by Soviet troops from Nazi Germany in April 1945 and then became part of Soviet territory as a result of the Potsdam Agreement. It was renamed from the German Königsberg in 1946. For decades, it was a heavily militarized region, closed off to foreigners. But in recent years Kaliningrad has become an emerging tourist destination, and it hosted matches during Russia's 2018 World Cup. It has a po[CENSORED]tion of around one million, the majority of whom live within or near the capital city of the same name. The exclave is one of the more prosperous regions of Russia, with extensive industry. Its port, Baltiysk, is the westernmost harbor in Russian territory and, significantly, is ice-free throughout the year. The streets of the main city are lined with grand examples of old German architecture alongside grim, concrete Soviet apartment blocks. Kaliningrad in the build-up to the 2018 World Cup, which put the region on its biggest international cultural platform to date. Kaliningrad in the build-up to the 2018 World Cup, which put the region on its biggest international cultural platform to date. But Kaliningrad's significance comes mostly from where it lies on the map. A thin strip of land south of Kaliningrad separates it from Belarus and connects Polish and Lithuanian territory. Known as the Suwalki corridor or gap, it is the only overland link between the Baltic states and the rest of the European Union. Kaliningrad is also the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet. RIA Novosti reported Monday that the fleet had begun previously planned rocket and artillery drills, saying that "about 1,000 military personnel and more than 100 units of military and special equipment of artillery and missile units are involved in the maneuvers." In 2002, the EU and Moscow reached an agreement on travel between Russia and Kaliningrad, ahead of Poland and Lithuania joining the European Union in 2004. When those countries joined, the exclave became surrounded on three sides by EU territory. Russia says the 2002 agreement has now been violated. Nuclear presence? Kaliningrad's importance has become even greater to Russia with the planned accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian National Security Council said in May that the accession plans meant it "will no longer be possible to talk about any non-nuclear status of the Baltics -- the balance must be restored." Russia has long balked at the presence of NATO countries around Kaliningrad. "They moved NATO infrastructure next to our borders," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told CNN in 2015, after reports that Russia had moved nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to the region. "And this is not United States territory." Russia has not acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons based in Kaliningrad, but in 2018 the Federation of American Scientists concluded that Russia had significantly modernized a nuclear weapons storage bunker in the region, based on analysis of satellite imagery. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania has urged NATO to increase the deployment of troops on its territory. In April, President Gitanas Nauseda said that NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence Battalion should be transformed into "at least" the size of a brigade, and called for reinforcement of the Suwalki corridor.