Bristol's Dr Meaker heads Maasai water well fundraiser album
Money raised from the album will go towards creating a running water supply for a Maasai village.
2023-08-20 18:16
James Blunt claims he changed his age on his Wikipedia page
James Blunt has claimed that he edited his Wikipedia page so it says he is younger than his real age. The pop singer, who is known for his tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, apparently tinkered with the online encyclopedia so it states he is two years younger than he actually is. “If you look at my Wikipedia page, it will say that I’m 47 – I’m actually 49,” Blunt told the Guardian. “That’s because I changed the entry.” At the time of writing, Blunt’s Wikipedia page stated that he is 49. In the same interview, Blunt looked back on the difficulties of balancing work and raising two children. He married Sofia Wellesley, the daughter of Lord and Lady John Henry Wellesley, in 2014. While speaking at the Oxford Union in 2016, Blunt confirmed that they’d welcomed a son, and have since had a second. In the interview with The Guardian, he spoke about how becoming a father had effected his priorities. “Being hands-on with my kids when I can is important,” he said, before going on to note times in his life when he wasn’t able to be as present. “I am away for long periods. With my second child, I left the day after the birth for nine months. Fatherhood changed my priorities. I was selfish. Now these little people are far more important than me.” Elsewhere in the interview, published on Saturday (19 August), the singer-songwriter spoke about his own experiences of having distance from his parents at a young age. Prior to attending Harrow School, a private school founded in the 16th century, Blunt attended Elstree School in Woolhampton, Berkshire. “I boarded at school from the age of seven,” he noted. “My parents dropped me off and walked away. On day three, I asked the matron, ‘When will I see Mum and Dad again?’ I was told Christmas. This was September. “I never really saw them again until I got famous.” Blunt was also close friends with the actor Carrie Fisher, whom he called his “American mother”. Fisher died in December 2016 of sleep apnoea but also had cocaine, morphine and ecstasy in her system at the time of her death. The singer called the Star Wars actor’s passing his “greatest sadness”, adding: “I was with her the day before she died. Knowing how it happened, I wish I’d been able to do something. Have an impact. “It’s taken me a long time to write a song about her. It’s on this album. It’s about what I wish I could’ve said to her when she was alive. What I wish I could say to her now.” James Blunt’s seventh studio album, Who We Used To Be, will be released on 27 October. Read More Stylist comes to bride-to-be’s rescue after hair is ‘destroyed’ just before wedding Britney Spears shares first statement after ‘shock’ Sam Asghari divorce: ‘I couldn’t take the pain anymore’ Man wins lottery after using same numbers every day for seven years Shirlie Kemp says male doctor told her to ‘get over’ endometriosis Chrissy Teigen posts topless photo to remind fans to get mammograms Influencer Caleb Coffee hospitalised after falling off cliff in Hawaii
2023-08-20 17:27
James Blunt says he left family for nine months after second son’s birth: ‘I was selfish’
James Blunt has looked back on the difficulties of balancing work and raising two children. The “Goodbye My Lover” singer married Sofia Wellesley, the daughter of Lord and Lady John Henry Wellesley, in 2014. While speaking at the Oxford Union in 2016, Blunt confirmed that they’d welcomed a son, and have since had a second. In a new interview, Blunt, 49, spoke about how becoming a father had effected his priorities. “Being hands-on with my kids when I can is important,” he told The Guardian, before going on to note times in his life when he wasn’t able to be as present. “I am away for long periods. With my second child, I left the day after the birth for nine months. Fatherhood changed my priorities. I was selfish. Now these little people are far more important than me.” Elsewhere in the interview, published on Saturday (19 August), the singer-songwriter spoke about his own experiences of having distance from his parents at a young age. Prior to attending Harrow School, a private school founded in the 16th century, Blunt attended Elstree School in Woolhampton, Berkshire. “I boarded at school from the age of seven,” he noted. “My parents dropped me off and walked away. On day three, I asked the matron, ‘When will I see Mum and Dad again?’ I was told Christmas. This was September. “I never really saw them again until I got famous.” Blunt was also close friends with the actor Carrie Fisher, whom he called his “American mother”. Fisher died in December 2016 of sleep apnoea but also had cocaine, morphine and ecstasy in her system at the time of her death. The singer called the Star Wars actor’s passing his “greatest sadness”, adding: “I was with her the day before she died. Knowing how it happened, I wish I’d been able to do something. Have an impact. “It’s taken me a long time to write a song about her. It’s on this album. It’s about what I wish I could’ve said to her when she was alive. What I wish I could say to her now.” James Blunt’s seventh studio album, Who We Used To Be, will be released on 27 October. Read More Stylist comes to bride-to-be’s rescue after hair is ‘destroyed’ just before wedding Britney Spears shares first statement after ‘shock’ Sam Asghari divorce: ‘I couldn’t take the pain anymore’ Man wins lottery after using same numbers every day for seven years Shirlie Kemp says male doctor told her to ‘get over’ endometriosis Chrissy Teigen posts topless photo to remind fans to get mammograms Influencer Caleb Coffee hospitalised after falling off cliff in Hawaii
2023-08-20 16:59
Canada wildfires: At least 30,000 households told to evacuate as fires approach
Officials have restricted travel to Kelowna, a waterside city of 132,000 people.
2023-08-20 16:48
European diplomats ‘terrified’ at prospect of Trump winning in 2024, report says
European diplomats are not overlooking the possibility that Donald Trump might secure a second term in the Oval Office if he is re-elected in 2024, and are actively formulating back-up strategies in case this scenario materialises, according to a report. The prospect of Mr Trump returning to the White House has become an important topic of discussion in private conversations, with some calling it “terrifying”, The New York Times reported. Steven Everts, a European Union diplomat who is set to become the director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, told the outlet that his colleagues were relieved at US president Joe Biden’s response to the Ukraine war. But they are now being “forced to confront the Trump question again”. “It’s slightly terrifying, it’s fair to say,” he said. He noted that the US plays an important role in European security, and said that diplomats will now “have to think again about what this means for our own politics, for European defence and for Ukraine itself”. The discussions around the potential fallout if Mr Trump returns to power are intensifying as the former president is emerging as a strong challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, tying up with his popularity in opinion polls despite a slew of indictments against him. Fresh polling conducted by the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that almost two-thirds of Republicans, specifically 63 per cent, are now expressing their desire that the former president run for office again. This marks a marginal increase from April’s figure of 55 per cent, which was recorded when Mr Trump was beginning to confront a string of criminal allegations. Additionally, Mr Trump’s favourability rating among Republicans has climbed, with seven in 10 respondents holding a positive opinion of him, up from the 60 per cent reported two months earlier. The possibility that the former president could secure a second term has not escaped the attention of Western Europeans – especially in Germany, given the notable animosity Mr Trump appears to harbour towards the country. A second term as president “would be different from the first, and much worse”, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, a former official in the German government, told the Times. “Trump has experience now and knows what levers to pull, and he’s angry,” he said. He added that the former chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, had known how to deal with Mr Trump and had talked about “managing the man”. One of the primary concerns of US allies pertains to the potential impact of a Trump comeback on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a situation in which many European countries have significant involvement. During his presidency, Mr Trump threatened to withdraw Washington from Nato, and withheld assistance from Ukraine as it grappled with a Russian-supported rebellion – a matter that contributed to his first impeachment. He also gave the order to withdraw thousands of US troops from Germany, in a decision that was subsequently reversed by Mr Biden. If Mr Trump returned to power following the 2024 election, it is possible that Ukraine will still be in deep conflict with Russia, a country that has continued to make subtle and even direct threats to use nuclear weapons in the region. Mr Trump has said he would end the war in a day, which analysts have said suggests that he would force Ukraine to cede territory to Russia. Read More Trump sparks derision for saying he was ‘apple of Putin’s eye’ as EU diplomats ‘terrified’ of 2024 win – live Biden hails ‘a new era in partnership’ as US, Japan and Korea announce ‘Camp David Principles’ Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft suffers technical glitch in pre-landing maneuver Indictment shows White House lawyers struggling for control as Trump fought to overturn election Ecuadorians choosing a new president amid increasing violence that may scare away voters Guatemalans head to the polls, hoping their new leader will bring real change
2023-08-20 16:15
Georgia’s Kemp Becomes GOP Kingmaker Despite Rift With Trump
Republican presidential candidates are coming to Atlanta to seek his endorsement. He’s picking fights with former President Donald
2023-08-20 08:49
Mexico Ruling Party Morena Names Polling Firms for Surveys
Mexico’s ruling party Morena approved four external polling companies that will conduct surveys to determine who will be
2023-08-20 07:26
Vietnam War: The pastor who survived 17 years in forgotten jungle army
In 1975, Y Hin Nie fled the Vietnamese army into the jungle. He didn't emerge until 1992.
2023-08-20 07:17
Jared Bridegan’s ex-wife makes surprising legal move after being charged with his murder – latest
The ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan is fighting extradition to Florida, where she stands accused of orchestrating a plot to murder Bridegan. Mr Bridegan, 33, was shot dead after dropping off his two children at his ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandez’s home near Jacksonville, Florida. A third child — Mr Bridegan’s with his second wife — was in the car at the time of the shooting and was uninjured. Mario Fernandez, Ms Gardner-Fernandez’s second husband, was arrested in March and was charged with orchestrating the murder by hiring Henry Tenon, a tenant residing in one of his properties, to kill Mr Bridegan. Mr Tenon has admitted to shooting the executive. On Thursday, police announced that Ms Gardner-Fernandez had been indicted on a first-degree murder charge and is accused of conspiring to have her husband killed. Ms Gardner-Fernandez is currently in the custody of the Benton County Corrections Department in Washington. During a court appearance on Friday, Ms Gardner-Fernandez refused to waive extradition to Florida, where she faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and child endangerment, Fox News reports. She is being held without bond and is expected to reappear in court on 14 September. Read More Ex-wife charged with murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan Microsoft exec Jared Bridegan was shot dead in a chilling ambush. Did his ex wife arrange it?
2023-08-20 06:25
British Columbia Orders More Evacuations as Wildfires Continue
British Columbia introduced travel restrictions and ordered more residents to leave their homes as record-breaking wildfires in Canada
2023-08-20 05:56
Bond Investors Brace for Supply Freight Train Before Fed Confab
The highest long-term Treasury yields in years are headed for a major hearing next week as investors place
2023-08-20 04:58
Traffic, wet concrete, and a collision with a fire truck: Robotaxis cause chaos in San Francisco after expansion
On 10 August, California regulators voted to expand the footprint of paid taxi services by autonomous, driverless cars from Cruise and Waymo in San Francisco. Since then, it’s been utter chaos, with the AVs involved in traffic jams, slapstick malfunctions, and a car accident with a fire truck. A day after the vote, video went viral on social media showing about 10 frozen Cruise taxis snarling traffic in the North Beach neighbourhood, which company officials later said was caused by a connectivity issue due to a spike in cell traffic because of a nearby music festival. The following Tuesday, a Cruise taxi was stuck in wet concrete at a construction site. “I can see five different scenarios where bad things happen and this is one of them,” resident Paul Harvey told SFGATE. “It thinks it’s a road and it ain’t because it ain’t got a brain and it can’t tell that it’s freshly poured concrete.” Two days after that, a Cruise taxi had what might be its most serious accident yet, colliding with a fire truck in the Tenderloin neighbourhood, giving the taxi’s passengers non-severe injuries. A firefighter in the truck said the AV “lurched” as it passed through an intersection ABC 7 reports, while Cruise said its vehicle detected the emergency sirens but was unable to get out of the way in time from the truck, which drove into the oncoming traffic lane. “The AV’s ability to successfully chart the emergency vehicle’s path was complicated by the fact that the emergency vehicle was in the oncoming lane of traffic, which it had moved into to bypass the red light,” the company wrote in a statement. “Cruise AVs have the ability to detect emergency sirens, which increase their ability to operate safely around emergency vehicles and accompanying scenes. In this instance, the AV identified the siren as soon as it was distinguishable from the background noise. “The Cruise AV did identify the risk of a collision and initiated a braking maneuver, reducing its speed, but was ultimately unable to avoid the collision,” the company added. Following the repeated mishaps, the California Department of Motor Vehicles asked Cruise to cut its 400-strong deployment of AVs in San Francisco in half, with the agency saying it was “investigating recent concerning incidents.” As The Independent reported, critics of AVs warned ahead of their expansion in San Francisco that the driverless cars weren’t ready for primetime, particularly when it comes to interfacing with emergency vehicles. According to data Cruise shared with the state earlier this month, between January and mid-July of 2023, Cruise AVs temporarily malfunctioned or shut down 177 times and required recovery, 26 of which such incidents occurred with a passenger inside, while Waymo recorded 58 such events in a similar time frame. Meanwhile, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA), between April 2022 and April 2023, Cruise and Waymo vehicles have been involved in over 300 incidents of irregular driving including unexpected stops and collisions, while the San Francisco Fire Department says AVs have interfered 55 times in their work in 2023. Last year, Cruise lost contact with its entire fleet for 20 minutes according to internal documentation viewed by WIRED, and an anonymous employee warned California regulators that year the company loses touch with its vehicles “with regularity.” Since being rolled out in San Francisco, robotaxis have killed a dog, caused a mile-long traffic jam during rush hour, blocked a traffic lane as officials responded to a shooting, and driven over fire hoses. Jeffrey Tumlin, San Francisco’s director of transportation, has called the rollout of robotaxis a “race to the bottom,” arguing Cruise and Waymo weren’t yet definitive transit solutions, and instead had only “met the requirements for a learner’s permit.” Read More How a vote to empower autonomous ‘robotaxis’ from Cruise and Waymo has divided San Francisco GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit agrees to cut fleet in half after 2 crashes in San Francisco San Francisco launches driverless bus service following robotaxi expansion GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit agrees to cut fleet in half after 2 crashes in San Francisco Chinese military launches drills around Taiwan as 'warning' after top island official stopped in US San Francisco launches driverless bus service following robotaxi expansion
2023-08-20 04:28