The Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has released a statement apologising for Donald Trump’s politically charged speech at the National Jamboree. Michael Surbaugh wrote: “I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. "The invitation for the sitting US President to visit the National Jamboree is a long-standing tradition that has been extended to the leader of our nation that has had a Jamboree during his term since 1937.

Read More →

A 98-year-old US science journalist, who has finally decided to retire, has said a generation of Americans are suffering from a “major disability in what they can think about and understand”. David Perlman, who has not only won awards but had them named after him, said this was one reason why so many people refused to recognise climate change was real. Speaking to the website of the Poynter Institute, which trains the media, The San Francisco Chronicle journalist described cuts in science coverage by newspapers as “absolutely obscene”.

Read More →

Senate Republicans suffered a major blow overnight, when the latest health care bill to repeal parts of Obamacare was rejected.

Read More →

Chinese internet giant Baidu said Friday that its net income had soared 83 percent in the second quarter -- a strong recovery from tumbling profits in 2016 thanks to drastic spending cuts. The figure far exceeds analysts' estimates of 2.9 billion yuan, and is a sign of Baidu's recovery after authorities cracked down on its online advertising business, the company's primary revenue stream. Total revenues in the second quarter were 20.9 billion yuan ($3.08 billion), a 14.3 percent increase from the same period in 2016.

Read More →

US political analysts are calling the latest failure to repeal Obamacare in the Senate "the beginning of the unravelling" of Republican support for Donald Trump. Two other Republicans joined Senator McCain, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, on voting no on a bill that critics had warned would have led to the deaths of 20,000 additional people.

Read More →

After the U.S. Senate approved a new package of stiff financial sanctions

Read More →

Flowers, candles and bottles of water help create a makeshift memorial near the site where authorities discovered a tractor-trailer packed with people in San Antonio. Donald Trump’s immigration policies are likely to encourage migrants to risk more dangerous routes into the US, like the journey which this week ended with the death of ten people in a sweltering truck, border security experts have warned. Dozens of people from Mexico and Central America were found packed into a non-air-conditioned cargo container in a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio at about 12.30am last Sunday.

Read More →

American Airlines has launched a new baggage alert system that will inform customers about the status of their luggage and save them from waiting around at baggage carrousel. 

Read More →

Russia has ordered America to cut the number of diplomatic staff it has in the country and has seized a dacha compound and warehouse used by US officials in retaliation for new sanctions against Moscow. Embassy staff must leave the country by 1 September, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, in a move triggered by the US Senate’s near unanimous vote to slap new sanctions on Russia, further hurting its fragile economy. The move puts Donald Trump in a tough position by forcing him to take a hard line on Moscow or block the legislation and anger his own Republican Party.

Read More →

The Senate on Friday, rejected the new Republican plan to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act with Sen. John McCain casting the decisive vote to defeat the proposal, joining two other Republicans, Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski opposing it.

Read More →