HP settles fake discount lawsuit for just $4M. Don’t expect much of a payout
When it comes to sales and rebates, PC giant takes 'Keep Reinventing' seriously
HP Inc has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in the US that alleged it used deceptive pricing tactics on its website, including fake discounts and misleading limited-time offers.…
The teeny Essex riverside village with no supermarket where 'nothing has changed'
Residents love the way that hardly anything has changed
Fort Kinahan: How cartel boss Christy Kinahan built villa like a fortress on Marbella's millionaires' row before fleeing for Dubai
EXCLUSIVE: Tucked away in a 'low-key' millionaire's row in Marbella, the terracotta mansion stands out for its state-of-the-art security.
Eurovision legend Clodagh Rodgers dies aged 78: Iconic singer who represented UK in 1971 tragically passes away as fans pay tribute to the 'inspirational' star
The Northern Irish singer, who finished in fourth place with Jack In The Box, died 'peacefully' on Friday following a three-year illness surrounded by her family.
Strictly's Wynne Evans 'jets off to Dubai with girlfriend Liz Brookes' amid shock sex toy scandal and submitting dossier of evidence to clear him of vile sexual slur and 'gropegate'
The opera singer, 53, has also reportedly submitted a dossier of evidence to clear him over a vile sexual slur he made about about host Janette Manrara.
Animal lover who went viral for punching a man who was beating a donkey says she is now getting DEATH THREATS but insists: 'I would do it again - I will not let an innocent animal be harmed'
Dutch expat Joke Van der Post was filmed attacking the animal's handler after she saw him repeatedly lashing it while it stood tethered to a wall on the outskirts of Cairo.
Trump-Branded 'Lab Leak' Page Replaces US Covid Information Sites
"There has never been a consensus or a 'smoking gun' to explain what started the pandemic," writes ABC News.
Yet the Associated Press reports that "A federal website that used to feature information on vaccines, testing and treatment for COVID-19 has been transformed into a page supporting the theory that the pandemic originated with a lab leak." (This despite the fact that "about 325 Americans have died from COVID per week on average over the past four weeks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.")
The covid.gov website shows a photo of President Donald Trump walking between the words "lab" and "leak" under a White House heading... The web page also accuses Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of pushing a "preferred narrative" that COVID-19 originated in nature. The origins of COVID have never been proven. Scientists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there is insufficient evidence to prove either theory.
"Many scientists think it's more likely the virus originated naturally in a wild animal and then spilled over into people in a wildlife market located in Wuhan," reports NPR.
And even Jamie Metzl, a critic of the wildlife spillover theory, told NPR that while they appreciated "efforts to dig deeper... it would be a terrible shame if such efforts distracted from essential work to help prevent further infections and treat people suffering from COVID-19 and long COVID." (The federal website covidtests.gov now also redirects instead to the new page...)
Some scientists were critical of the new site, which they say appears political in intent. "Every one of the five pieces of evidence supporting the lab leak hypothesis ... is factually incorrect, embellished, or presented in a misleading way," [wrote Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada]. "But making evidence-based arguments in good faith about the pandemic's origin is not the purpose of this document. This is pure propaganda, intended to justify the systematic devastation of the federal government, particularly programs devoted to public health and biomedical research," Rasmussen added.
Other scientists said the web site doesn't follow the existing body of scientific evidence on the issue. That evidence does not support "any of the many, often contradictory, lab leak scenarios that have been proposed," Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona, in an email to NPR. He argued that the evidence is consistent with "the less flashy hypothesis that bringing live animals infected with pathogens with pandemic potential into the heart of one of the biggest cities in the world was how this pandemic started.... the next pathogen with pandemic potential will find us easy pickings if we don't appreciate how risky this sort of 'biosafety level zero' activity is."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Body of woman is found five miles off the English coast sparking international investigation to find her identity
The body of a woman, found five miles off the Brighton coast, has sparked an international investigation to find her identity.
Man killed and six people rushed to hospital after police chase ends in three-car pile-up
One man has been killed and another person is fighting for their life after three cars smashed in a horror crash following a police chase.
Can you find the bee in the garden full of flowers in beautiful optical illusion in under 10 seconds?
Love flowers? Then you're in for a treat-well, sort of. We're not handing out bouquets today, but we are challenging your eyes with a vibrant visual puzzle.
Murder investigation after elderly couple, 91 and 88, killed in house fire in idyllic town - as boy, 16, arrested in connection
Stan Rickman, 91, and Roma Rickman, 88, were pronounced dead at the scene in their home on Heron Close in Alton in the early hours of Monday, April 14.
The local delicacy being blamed for a TENTH of this village's population getting motor neurone disease
The inhabitants of Montchavin in the French Alps knew something was killing them. They just didn't know what.
I had a wonderful relationship for 10 years, until I made a shocking discovery about my 'perfect man' and realised the horrific truth about him
Serial sex offender John Xydias who filmed himself raping unconscious woman was turned into police after his girlfriend Josie Francoli uncovered the disturbing footage and exposed him.
China Pits Humanoid Robots Against Humans In Half-Marathon
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday, the first time these machines have raced alongside humans over a 21-km (13-mile) course. The robots from Chinese manufacturers such as DroidVP and Noetix Robotics came in all shapes and sizes, some shorter than 120 cm (3.9 ft), others as tall as 1.8 m (5.9 ft). One company boasted that its robot looked almost human, with feminine features and the ability to wink and smile.
Some firms tested their robots for weeks before the race. Beijing officials have described the event as more akin to a race car competition, given the need for engineering and navigation teams. "The robots are running very well, very stable ... I feel I'm witnessing the evolution of robots and AI," said spectator He Sishu, who works in artificial intelligence. The robots were accompanied by human trainers, some of whom had to physically support the machines during the race.
A few of the robots wore running shoes, with one donning boxing gloves and another wearing a red headband with the words "Bound to Win" in Chinese. The winning robot was Tiangong Ultra, from the Beijing Innovation Center of Human Robotics, with a time of 2 hours and 40 minutes. The men's winner of the race had a time of 1 hour and 2 minutes. [...] Some robots, like Tiangong Ultra, completed the race, while others struggled from the beginning. One robot fell at the starting line and lay flat for a few minutes before getting up and taking off. One crashed into a railing after running a few metres, causing its human operator to fall over. You can watch a recording of the race in its entirety on YouTube.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Essex farm shop that's an 'absolute delight' named among the best in Britain
Locals and visitors love it - and for good reason!
The truth about the unhinged £5million reality TV show where ordinary men and women were 'trained to go into space' - and the shocking impact it had on its contestants
Space Cadets pretended to send a group of participants into orbit from a 'Russian bootcamp', which was actually an airbase in Suffolk, in 2005, in the largest TV hoax in history.
I was on Dragons' Den and one of the judges was VERY rude to me off-camera - what you see on screen is just a persona
Rachel Watkyn OBE, from East Sussex, went on the show in a bid to secure a £53,000 investment for a 20 per cent stake in Tiny Box Company, which she jointly owns with Robin Banks.
Irene White was stabbed 34 times in her kitchen in broad daylight 20 years ago - but one piece of the puzzle is still missing to solve in Ireland's 'most violent murder'
Irene White, 43, was murdered 20 years ago on April 6, 2005, at her home, known as Ice House in Dundalk, Co Louth, which is regarded as one of the most violent killings in Irish history.
Italian teen who stabbed jogger 23 times and left her for dead when he was just 13 is living in UK with mum thanks to legal loophole
The boy was just 13 when he repeatedly knifed Marta Novello, now 28, while she was out for a run in a local park in March 2021 near Venice.
I'm a retiree who lives in a nudist resort - I've never felt more at home in my skin
Charlotte, a 64-year-old living in Florida , likes to start the day by walking out on to her veranda with a cup of coffee. There's nothing unusual about that. Except that Charlotte is completely naked.