Former chancellor also tells Hay festival ‘good riddance’ to Tory MPs defecting to Reform

Sajid Javid said that supporting Liz Truss in the Conservative leadership contest that ultimately made her prime minister was his “biggest mistake in politics”.

Speaking at the Hay festival in Wales while promoting his memoir, the former chancellor, who is no longer an MP, said there were friends in the Conservative party he remained in contact with.

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Plane landed in Wisconsin and ‘unruly passenger’ was taken into custody before flight continued to Minnesota

A United Airlines flight bound for Minneapolis from Chicago was reportedly diverted after an “unruly passenger” tried to breach the cockpit late on Friday.

The FBI and police responded to reports of a security concern with the passenger, who was detained by police at the Dane county regional airport in Madison, Wisconsin.

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President in ‘excellent’ health, despite ‘lower leg swelling’ and hand bruising after fourth hospital visit in second term

Donald Trump has been grappling with “lower leg swelling” as well as “benign” hand bruising but remains in excellent health, the US president’s physician said in a memo released by the White House.

Citing the results of a recent examination, the memo from Dr Sean Barbabella said Trump “remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function”.

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Campaigners had hoped to buy property from Nottingham Trent University to maintain public access

Bramley apples are a staple in supermarkets across the UK and it all started in a house in Nottinghamshire. But now the future of the original fruit-bearing tree is in question after the garden where it stands has been sold by Nottingham Trent University (NTU).

The news has left campaigners aiming to turn it into a heritage site “gobsmacked”.

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​Er is zoveel namaak in omloop, dat het zeer moeilijk blijkt om echte schilderijen van nep te onderscheiden. Zelfs experts hebben tegenwoordig grote moeite om de authenticiteit van een schilderij te bepalen. Wij namen de proef op de som en aten dit schilderij om erachter te komen of het echt is.

Al bij eerste hap uit het doek overheerste een indringende verfsmaak, waardoor we eigenlijk al direct konden concluderen dat dit geen namaak kan zijn. Dit is hoe verf smaakt. Omdat we gedegen onderzoek willen doen, hebben we toch de rest van het doek ook verorberd. Het kan natuurlijk zomaar zijn dat slechts delen van het schilderij vervalst zijn. Dat bleek niet zo te zijn. Het hele schilderij smaakt naar doek en verf.

Toen we onze tanden vervolgens in de lijst zetten, konden we ook bevestigen dat deze van hout is. Derhalve is de conclusie van ons onderzoek onomstotelijk: dit is onmiskenbaar een schilderij.

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The Trump administration is planning to provide Cold War-era plutonium from dismantled nuclear warheads to nuclear startups that want to convert it into reactor fuel, arguing it could help address a looming fuel shortage for advanced reactors. Critics warn the idea raises serious nonproliferation, security, cost, and technical concerns. The New York Times reports: The plan has generated debate and some unease among nonproliferation experts. If finalized, it would mark the first time the U.S. government has made weapons-grade plutonium available to private companies. The Energy Department has more than 50 tons of surplus plutonium left over from nuclear weapons programs, and the agency had previously been planning to dilute much of that material and bury it. Some of the nuclear start-ups trying to obtain that plutonium say that transforming the waste into fuel is a better way to dispose of it.

On Tuesday, the Energy Department said that it had selected five companies to enter into "advanced negotiations" to potentially receive some surplus plutonium. That includes Oklo, a California-based nuclear power company, which plans to partner with Newcleo, a European developer of advanced nuclear reactors. Using plutonium for fuel, Oklo and Newcleo said, could solve a looming problem: Energy firms want to build a new wave of nuclear reactors, but the United States can't yet make enough conventional fuel from uranium to supply the plants. Harvesting old plutonium stockpiles could provide a short-term fix. "A lack of fuel is one of the biggest choke points in expanding nuclear power right now," said Jacob DeWitte, the chief executive of Oklo, which is developing a novel type of small reactor intended to run on plutonium. "This will help us get more nuclear power online faster."

[...] The plan is not yet final, and companies will still have to negotiate with the federal government over how to secure and transfer the plutonium. In addition to Oklo, the Energy Department said it had also selected four other companies -- Standard Nuclear, Exodys Energy, SHINE Technologies and Flibe Energy -- to enter into advanced negotiations to receive the material under its Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program, which was established last year. The program "is anticipated to help companies unlock the next level of private funding to broaden domestic nuclear fuel supplies, spur innovation on American recycling technologies, and unlock private sector funding to fuel the nation's nuclear renaissance," said Michael Goff, the principal deputy assistant secretary of nuclear energy, in a statement.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

EBBA (ANP) - Bij een "gerichte" Israëlische droneaanval zijn twee Libanese militairen ernstig gewond geraakt, meldt het Libanese leger. De drone zou een auto hebben geraakt op een openbare weg bij de plaats Ebba in het zuiden van Libanon. De militairen zijn overgebracht naar een ziekenhuis.

Het Libanese leger is geen strijdende partij in de oorlog tussen Israël en de Libanese gewapende beweging Hezbollah. Wel kwamen al meerdere Libanese militairen om bij Israëlische aanvallen.

Israël intensiveerde de aanvallen op Libanon de afgelopen tijd. Volgens de Libanese autoriteiten en media vallen daarbij regelmatig burgerdoden. Ook Hezbollah voerde recent meer aanvallen uit op Israël vanuit Libanon.

Officieel geldt sinds april een staakt-het-vuren tussen Israël en Libanon, maar Libanese media trekken de uitvoering van dat bestand steeds vaker in twijfel. Israël zegt nog wel te mogen reageren op dreigingen vanuit Libanon. Vrijdag spraken militaire delegaties van de twee landen elkaar nog in Washington.

Kyu John has added a photo to the pool:

r+r photography has added a photo to the pool:

All images are copyright Ross Holmes, All Rights Reserved. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.