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☆ CIA's Burns: armed mutiny shows damage Putin has done to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said on Saturday that the armed mutiny by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had shown the corrosive effect on Russia of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. "It is striking that Prigozhin preceded his actions with a scathing indictment of the Kremlin's mendacious rationale for the invasion of Ukraine and of the Russian military leadership's conduct of the war," Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, said in a lecture to Britain's Ditchley Foundation in Oxfordshire, England. "The impact of those words and those actions will play out for some time - a vivid reminder of the corrosive effect of Putin's war on his own society and his own regime." Burns cast the mutiny as an "armed challenge to the Russian state" but said it was an "internal Russian affair in which the United States has had and will have no part." Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; Editing by Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: William Burns, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin's, Prigozhin, Burns, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: . Central Intelligence Agency, Ditchley, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, U.S, Moscow, Oxfordshire, England, United States

☆ Fortescue expands battery and electric powertrain output in UK with new plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 19 (Reuters) - Australian miner Fortescue Metals (FMG.AX) is expanding its battery and electric powertrain production operations in the UK with a new plant in Oxfordshire, its green power arm Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) said on Monday. The Banbury facility will open in 2024 and operate alongside Fortescue’s other Oxfordshire facilities including the Kidlington factory which will open later this year, FFI said in a press release. The new plant will focus primarily on manufacturing of heavy industry, electric and zero-emission powertrain systems and will offer automated assembly for battery modules and packs. The world's fourth largest iron ore maker, Fortescue is expanding into production of hydrogen from renewable resources, known as green hydrogen, under its Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) unit, and aims to become a global powerhouse in renewable energy. read moreReporting by Jaskiran Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Fortescue, FFI, Kemi Badenoch, Jaskiran Singh, Kim Coghill Organizations: Fortescue Future Industries, Trade, Thomson Locations: Oxfordshire, Banbury, Bengaluru

☆ Size of Jurassic sea giant found, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The findings from the Late Jurassic period, though fragmentary, suggest the pliosaur was about twice the size of a killer whale — and move lead study author David Martill closer to redemption. However, he cautioned that an increase in length corresponds with an “exponential increase in volume … placing a biological limit on the upper size pliosaurs could reach.” Smith wasn’t involved in the study. Pliosaurs were “a group of large carnivorous marine reptiles characterized by massive heads, short necks and streamlined tear-shaped bodies,” according to Britannica. Benton wasn’t involved in the study. “Here is a marine reptile as large as a sperm whale, and there’s nothing like it around today.”

☆ Where the royal family goes in London, from Indian restaurants to theme parks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Well, they’re not, obviously – but sometimes they do put down their tiaras, leave their palaces and join the hoi polloi at restaurants, bars and even theme parks. He once called Brilliant Restaurant in Southall, west London his favorite Indian restaurant – and Gordon Ramsay is also a fan. Stuart C. Wilson/Getty ImagesBack in the noughties, party Prince Harry was a regular at Mahiki, a Tiki-themed bar-club-restaurant in Mayfair. Simon Dack/AlamyIn his memoir “Spare,” Prince Harry wrote about popping out to shop for clothes at T.K. Toby Melville/Getty ImagesThe-then Meghan Markle was apparently spied In the heart of Chelsea while she was engaged to Prince Harry, getting a facial from Sarah Chapman.

☆ Mick Jagger's security guy reportedly helped Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife disable security cameras suspected of beaming footage back to Fox HQ after divorce
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mick Jagger sent his security consultant to help his disable cameras in Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife's house, Vanity Fair reported. The footage from the home in Oxfordshire — which she got in the divorce settlement — was being sent to Murdoch's Fox headquarters, Vanity Fair reported. Hall, who married Murdoch in 2016, had previously been married to Jagger. Representatives for Murdoch, Hall, and Jagger did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. Read the Vanity Fair's full report on Rupert Murdoch here.

☆ Rupert Murdoch's divorce settlement with Jerry Hall banned her from sharing story ideas with 'Succession' writers, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch abruptly divorced his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, last summer. As part of the settlement, he banned Hall from giving story ideas to the "Succession" writing team, according to Vanity Fair. The HBO show was largely inspired by the Murdoch family and turmoil around electing a successor. The report comes amid ongoing turmoil within the Murdoch family in selecting a successor to News Corporation, the multi-billion dollar media company created and led by Murdoch, now 91. The Murdoch family largely served as inspiration for the HBO hit show "Succession."

☆ Fighter jets escorted a plane into a London airport after it lost communications and may have caused a 'sonic boom'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Fighter jets escorted an aircraft to an airport in London after it lost communications, per BBC News. This came shortly after people heard a "loud bang," which some thought was a sonic boom. Some plane spotters believe it might have been a sonic boom caused by the fast movement of the RAF jets. Essex Police tweeted that a plane heading from Iceland to Nairobi, Kenya was escorted into Stansted at about 12.50pm UK time. Departures from another London airport were reportedly suspended for around 15 minutes, per BBC News.

☆ Fact Check-"15-minute city" slogan on Ottawa construction site not evidence of any government policy where citizens will be "locked in"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Furthermore, the 15-minute cities concept does not suggest locking residents within certain areas or using checkpoints and fines, as social media posts suggest. The 15-minute city concept is widely credited to Carlos Moreno, a city planning researcher who coined the term in 2016 (here). He said “15-minute neighbourhoods” are a part of the city’s Official Plan (here) but Brigil’s adoption of it “is a market choice and not a policy requirement”. Wise added: “The idea of 15-minute cities is not new and does not aim to limit movement across the city. The urban planning concept known as ‘15-minute cities’ does not include plans to limit freedom of movement or fine people for leaving their neighbourhood.

☆ Fact Check-Scotland’s ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’ policy addresses climate change and infrastructure; there are no plans to imprison people or limit freedom of movement
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Social media users claim a Scottish climate policy will imprison people in their homes and prevent them from leaving their respective ‘districts’. The government plans to overhaul the infrastructure of towns and cities by creating ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’, which aim to provide people with all their needs within a 20-minute journey from their home. One Facebook user, whose post has been shared more than 500 times (here), published a screenshot of a news headline which reads: “Scotland aims to cut car use by creating ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’ in net zero push” (here). “It promotes an integrated approach to planning housing, local infrastructure including schools, community centres, local shops and health and social care. Scotland’s ‘20-minute neighbourhood’ policy does not include plans to imprison people in districts or use cameras and fines to deter people from moving around.

☆ Fact Check-Photo of ‘District 5’ road sign is digitally altered
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A photo of a British road sign that appears to indicate motorists are leaving a so-called “District 5” has been digitally altered. The doctored image, seen here and here, was captured on an unidentified road and shows a blue vehicle passing two signs: one says “police enforcement cameras” are in operation, while another underneath says road users are “now Leaving District 5”. Moreover, the original photo can be traced back to a 2016 article in The Telegraph (here) and shows that only the “police enforcement cameras” sign is real. Professional photographer Eleanor Bentall (www.eleanorbentall.com/), who has worked for The Telegraph (here and twitter.com/EleanorBentall), is credited in the caption. The “now leaving District 5” comment was digitally added to the photograph.

☆ Fact Check-Survey about Oxford traffic filters has been misinterpreted
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An Oxfordshire County Council survey of opinions from residents over proposed traffic filters has been misinterpreted online, a council spokesperson has told Reuters. Thousands of people have interacted with social media posts that claim the council is going ahead with trialling six traffic filters across Oxford city despite 93% of the survey’s 5,600 respondents rejecting the proposals. The council spokesperson said an independent surveying company was then hired to better understand the answers (see the analysis, published in November, bit.ly/3FTvNws, page 42). “Some have claimed that the table [page 42] shows ‘only 7% of the public support the traffic filters’, and therefore 93% must disagree with them. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .

☆ An astronomer was locked out of her Twitter account for months after posting a video of a meteor that was flagged as 'intimate content', report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An astronomer was locked out of Twitter for months after posting a video of a meteor, per BBC News. Mary McIntyre said Twitter deemed her August video to have broken its content rules. She regained access to her account on Thursday after BBC News published its story. —Mary McIntyre FRAS (she/her) (@Spicey_Spiney) August 13, 2022The astronomer's Twitter account remained online, but she told the BBC she had not been able to log in to use it. McIntyre told the BBC that she had refused to delete the tweet because doing so would amount to an admittance of guilt.

☆ UK police arrest 17-year-old on suspicion of hacking
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. Top U.S. fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline has shut its entire network after a cyber attack, the company said on Friday. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe police could not confirm if the arrest was related to that investigation. In April, City of London Police charged two teenagers aged 16 and 17 in connection with an investigation into hacking. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Farouq Suleiman and Paul Sandle; editing by William James and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Flights briefly disrupted at UK's Luton airport as heat damages runway
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Flights to and from Britain's London Luton airport were temporarily disrupted on Monday after soaring temperatures caused a defect in its runway, prompting airlines to delay or divert their planes. read moreThe airport said its runway had reopened at 1705 GMT, after earlier suspending flights at 1522 GMT. Some 14 flights due to land at Luton were diverted to other airports including Gatwick and Stansted on Monday afternoon, according to FlightRadar24 data. That total included 14 Wizz flights heading to European holiday destinations including Tenerife and Dubrovnik, and 16 EasyJet arrivals. A spokesperson for Ryanair said it had not cancelled any flights to or from Luton, but had diverted a small number to London Stansted Airport due to the runway defect.

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