By David Morgan WASHINGTON The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives is threatening an impeachment investigation

Since the wildfires started in Hawaii earlier this month, nonsense conspiracy theories about 'space lasers' have been rampant on social media but one of the weirdest phenomena related to the tragedy is currently happening on Amazon. A book called Fire and Fury: The Story of the 2023 Maui Fire and its Implications for Climate Change by Dr Miles Stones has attracted a lot of interest in recent days thanks to it largely being published just two days after the fires began on August 8th. The book, which comes in at a whopping 44 pages, is currently listed as a 'bestseller' in the Natural Disasters section of Amazon and is available on Kindle and in paperback editions. The book's description reads as follows: Fire and Fury: "The Story of the Maui Fire and its Implications for Climate Change is a gripping and eye-opening account of one of the most devastating wildfires in Hawaii's history, and how it reveals the urgent need to address the global climate crisis. "The book chronicles the events of August 8-11, 2023, when a massive fire swept across the island of Maui, fueled by drought, heat, and hurricane winds. The book describes the harrowing experiences of the people who lived through the fire, as well as the heroic efforts of the firefighters and rescuers who battled the flames. "The book also examines the causes and consequences of the fire, both locally and globally, and how it exposes the vulnerability of our society and our planet to the impacts of climate change. The book draws on scientific research, eyewitness accounts, official reports, and media coverage to provide a comprehensive and compelling narrative of the Maui fire and its implications for climate change. "The book also offers practical solutions and recommendations on how we can prevent and prepare for future wildfires, and how we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. Fire and Fury: The Story of the Maui Fire and its Implications for Climate Change is a must-read for anyone who cares about the environment, the future of humanity, and the fate of our beautiful planet." In addition to this seemingly vague and hurried analysis of this awful event which has claimed the lives of 106 people, there is next to no information about Dr. Miles Stones on the internet. The website GoodReads does have an author of the same name listed who has written biographies on individuals such as Hunter Biden and former US defense official Michael G. Vickers. Given that the book appears to have been turned around in lightning-fast fashion and that there isn't any info about Stones online it has naturally attracted the interest of a lot of people who are skeptical about the true agenda of the item. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

As per sources, Hawaiian Electric apparently failed to shut off power even after realizing it to be an effective approach for fire mitigation

A prominent Russian hard-line nationalist who accused President Vladimir Putin of weakness and indecision in Ukraine has been detained on charges of extremism, a signal the Kremlin has toughened its approach with hawkish critics after last month’s abortive rebellion by the Wagner mercenary company

Leaders of the European Union are seeking to reboot relations with Latin America in a competition for influence

Chimpanzees are our closest relatives, so it’s not surprising that they can do many of the things that we can. They’re able to create tools and can even use sign language, plus they share 98.8 per cent of their DNA with humans. It is, therefore, no wonder that the question has often been asked: could humans and chimps ever produce offspring? The answer, according to one evolutionary psychologist, is yes – and it’s already happened. Gordum Gallup made the eyebrow-raising claims in an interview with The Sun Online back in 2018. He told the news site that a human-chimpanzee hybrid – which he dubbed a “humanzee” – was born in a Florida lab 100 years ago. And if you’re wondering how the scientists behind the experiment managed to keep it hushed up for decades, it’s because – according to Gallup – they swiftly killed the infant when they realised the implications of what they’d done. Gallup, a professor at New York’s University at Albany, said his former university teacher told him that the secret birth took place at a research facility in Orange Park, where he used to work. “They inseminated a female chimpanzee with human semen from an undisclosed donor and claimed not only that pregnancy occurred but the pregnancy went full term and resulted in a live birth,” the psychologist told The Sun. “But in a matter of days, or a few weeks, they began to consider the moral and ethical considerations and the infant was euthanised.” Putting Gallup’s unsubstantiated story to one side, it’s unclear whether a human-chimpanzee hybrid is even possible. Some experts believe that our human ancestors and chimpanzees may have been capable of interbreeding as late as 4 million years ago according to IFL Science, which notes that our last common ancestor lived 6-7 million years ago. However, the website also notes that this theory is widely contested. It also points out that other animals with similar genetic differences to that of humans and chimps, such as horses and zebras, have been able to reproduce. And yet, the offspring are often infertile. Nevertheless, back in the 1970s, plenty of people believed that a chimp called Oliver was a human-monkey hybrid thanks to his humanistic walk, intelligence and physical features (he was said to have a smaller, flatter face than his ape peers, according to Historic Mysteries). It wasn't until tests were conducted on Oliver in 1996 that the matter was finally settled: he had 48 chromosomes so was categorically not a humanzee but a regular chimp. Oliver The Humanzee www.youtube.com Still, one certainty is that scientists continue to tread an ethical tightrope when it comes to investigating chimps and their potential to further biomedical research. In 2021, scientists created the first (publicly documented) part-monkey, part-human embryo by growing human stem cells in a macaque monkey. The aim of the work, which was carried out at California’s Salk Institute, was to help create organs for transplants and improve our understanding of human development and disease progression. In 2020, a team of German and Japanese scientists spliced human genes into the brains of marmosets, resulting in the monkey fetuses having larger, more human-like brains, according to the study, which was published in the journal Science. Once the experiment was complete, the team destroyed their creations “in light of potentially unforeseeable consequences with regard to postnatal brain function”. One thing’s for sure, no scientist wants to find themselves the architect of a real-life Planet of the Apes. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

LOS ANGELES Negotiators for Hollywood's major studios and striking film and television writers failed to reach an agreement

The director of the British Museum says he's stepping down immediately amid investigations into the theft or disappearance of hundreds of items from its massive collection, including gold jewelry, semi-precious gems and antiquities dating to the 15th century B.C. Hartwig Fischer says he's resigning now, rather than waiting until next year, as he had originally planned

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Country braces for retaliation after surprise air strikes kill three militants and 10 civilians.

(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday interrupted opening remarks by African leaders seeking to mediate in the Ukraine conflict