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Government-backed Warm Home Loans scheme to help households cut energy bills by hundreds of pounds

Households across the UK can now cut their energy bills by hundreds of pounds a year at no upfront cost by applying for interest-free or “low-interest” loans to fund upgrades such as heat pumps, batteries and solar panels.

The government-backed Warm Home Loans scheme, which launched on Tuesday, could mean thousands more households are able to access low-carbon energy alternative technologies, thanks to loans ranging from £7,500 to up £35,000.

We are apparently to believe Raheem Kassam calling Kemi a ‘Nigerian scammer’ was racist and not racist at the same time

Back to the future. Some of us can remember the days when the key to surviving a nuclear war was to kneel down under the kitchen table and keep your eyes closed till you were incinerated or died of radiation poisoning. Now the government wants you to hoard some baked beans and a few litres of water in the hope of getting through the next three days.

But when the apocalypse does come, you can bank on there being one survivor. The politician with seemingly limitless powers of regeneration. As one party of his dies, so another rises from the ashes. Fuelled not by water and tinned food, but by alcohol and grievance. Somehow, Nigel Farage is always the victim in his own story. The man who is forever misunderstood.

The death on Saturday marks the 61st person to die in ICE custody so far under the Trump administration.

Как известно, язык — одна из главных основ национального самоопределения.

Языковая карта мира медленно, но меняется. Наречия дробятся на диалекты, а диалекты со временем становятся самостоятельными. Вступая в контакт, языки сближаются — или, наоборот, вытесняют друг друга. А иные исчезают полностью, когда говорить на них становится некому.

Сейчас сложные операции с данными доступны даже ребёнку. Возникает вопрос: можно ли, используя знания о языках, в разное время наполнявших Землю, об их родстве между собой, дать волю фантазии и наглядно визуализировать заглавный тезис статьи? Суть упражнения заключается в том, чтобы представить, какими могли бы быть границы современных государств в вымышленном сценарии, в котором время замерло, все определяется языком, а прочие факторы государственности отошли на второй план.

В этой статье я попробую решить поставленную задачу с помощью умной карты.

Extreme heat accelerated disappearance of Triglav glacier from mountain revered as a symbol of Slovenian identity

The final ice patch has vanished from Slovenia’s Triglav glacier, the latest Alpine casualty of Europe’s scorching summer.

The once mighty ice mass lost 93% of its surface area between 1983 and 2003, shrinking to cover less than a hectare of overheated rock, but went on to surprise researchers who feared its imminent demise, clinging on to the mountain for two more decades.

Individual seeks permanent injunction against Guardian and ITN to block claims, citing high risk of suicide

A “well-known individual” attempting to block two media outlets from publishing allegations about him has been accused of inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities with girls and young women, the high court has heard.

The individual, referred to in court as PPT, is seeking a permanent injunction against the Guardian and ITN to stop them publishing the allegations, which he denies. His legal team argued that publishing them would “highly likely lead him to commit suicide”.

• Decision to bowl first looked like backfiring

• But hosts all out for 329 after being 140-0 at lunch

For a time, it was heading up there with the worst. David Gower at Leeds in 1989, when Australia topped 600 and declared. Nasser Hussain in Brisbane, 2002, when Australia were 364 for two by the end of the day. Edgbaston 2005, where England lamped 407 from 80 overs. Those were the looming comparisons for captains deciding to bowl at the toss, after Pat Cummins did the same in the third Test at Cape Town, only for South Africa’s openers to smash 140 by lunch. Yet, by day’s end, Australia had taken 10 for a further 189, Mitchell Starc destroying the tail with four wickets in six balls, 329 all out constituting a serious Australian comeback.

What a rollercoaster. The Australian setup has looked frazzled on this tour: confused player selections for the squad, then for the XIs, confused shot selection in the middle, players bouncing around the order with nightwatch duties and injury absences. Here they chose to leave out their best player from the second Test, Scott Boland, for Nathan Lyon, and were forced to leave out their best player of the last decade, Steve Smith, for Josh Inglis, as well as dropping Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster for Cameron Green and Cooper Connolly. The last time a touring Australian side made four non-disciplinary changes was in the West Indies in 1984.

Home of wealthy developer Stephen Cloobeck searched in connection to sexual misconduct inquiry into Swalwell

Federal law enforcement agents searched a home in suburban Los Angeles early on Tuesday as part of an investigation into Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations, a law enforcement official and two people familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press.

Agents searched the Beverly Hills home of the wealthy developer and Swalwell donor Stephen Cloobeck, where the Democratic ex-congressman spent time before resigning from office in April, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.

Extreme heat accelerated disappearance of Triglav glacier from mountain revered as a symbol of Slovenian identity

The final ice patch has vanished from Slovenia’s Triglav glacier, the latest Alpine casualty of Europe’s scorching summer.

The once mighty ice mass lost 93% of its surface area between 1983 and 2003, shrinking to cover less than a hectare of overheated rock, but went on to surprise researchers who feared its imminent demise, clinging on to the mountain for two more decades.

Отдельная линия этой истории: я делал всё это в паре с Claude Code. И где-то к середине проекта поймал себя на забавной мысли — Claude Code, по сути, собирал своего же младшего брата: маленького Claude, который теперь живёт внутри колонки и откликается на «Клод». Старший пишет код, отлаживает, диагностирует — чтобы младший поселился в железке и заговорил. Дальше эта мысль меня уже не отпускала.

A federal judge has barred the government from clearing more trees or making other alterations to D.C.'s East Potomac Park without proper notice. Trump says his administration will appeal.

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura)

The patient was at a facility in Minneola, Florida, while the surgeon operated remotely from another facility

A Florida surgeon has performed the first telerobotic operation between two US hospitals, removing the prostate of a man with cancer from 35 miles away, according to officials.

Dr Vipul Patel, founder and medical director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration in suburban Orlando, on Sunday performed an investigational robotic prostatectomy on a 66-year-old prostate cancer patient who volunteered for a clinical study evaluating a robotic telesurgery system.

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Perusing the records we could find of Leyton Orient’s 4-0 shellacking of Sheffield Wednesday on a cold January afternoon in 2011 at Brisbane Road, Football Daily could find little or no indication that the young tyro who scored the O’s second goal might one day be presented with the most prestigious individual gong in world football. On loan from Spurs, a whey-faced 17-year-old Harry Kane marked his first senior start with what the BBC described as “a neat finish”, stealing in at the far post to convert a Dean Cox free-kick. Even after a breakthrough 2014-15 season for Spurs that yielded 31 goals and earned him an England call-up, assorted experts predicted Harry would prove to be little more than a one-season wonder – a kind of footballing Chumbawamba but with better manners and neater hair. Eleven seasons later the immensely likable Bayern Munich striker continues to bang them in for club and country with such monotonous regularity that few were surprised to see him presented with the Ballon d’Or! Ballon d’Or!! Ballon d’Or!!! Ballon d’Or!!!! by the original and best Ronaldo live at the London Palladium. Not since the late Bruce Forsyth has any Englishman in an over-sized crushed velvet bow tie looked more at home on the famous old venue’s stage.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. OK, so it may not be that contemporary, but Omar Berrada’s name fits into a jaunty song I came up with when bored, to the tune of Escape (the Piña Colada song) by Rupert Holmes: ‘If your name’s Omar Berrada / Head should be hangin’ in shame / If you’re supportin’ the Glazers / You’ve only got half a brain / If Jason Wilcox hasn’t done one / When he is mostly to blame / Then we’re the fans that you’ve stuffed / How do we stop the pain?’ I’m not even a United fan, but they’re all welcome – Simon Mazie.

I would happily take the Manchester United job, as it’s a surefire way to earn three years’ pay in six months – Alex Lester.

Now the shambles at United is even clearer, might Bryan Mbeumo be wishing he had chosen Spurs instead? – Richard Fernandez.

About Jonathan Chester-le-Street’s excellent idea to nominate Noble Francis for the Fifa presidency (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). I back that nomination and look forward to his first act in office: the creation of a Noble prize, awarded to himself obviously – Peter Oh.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. 

Fifteen establishments join trial scheme to encourage parents and children to talk while dining out

A group of restaurants in Sardinia are banning families from using smartphones and other devices at the table in a quest to encourage conversation.

The initiative, called A tavola senza schermi or At the table without screens, is being spearheaded by Anna Cau, the children’s ombudsman for the Italian island. It is part of a campaign to curtail excessive screen use among children and inspire interaction during meals.

Far-right senator and his family boarded private plane to Ecuador after crossing border to Argentina, Argentina’s government confirms

The far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly fled Brazil and is on his way to the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election to the leftwing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who called the act “shameful”.

A report by the news website Metrópoles, citing people close to the politician’s family, said he was en route to the US. “The plane is in flight,” Metrópoles reported, without making clear where it had departed from.