🔴 Live: Ukraine says its forces shot down 15 Russian drones during overnight attack

Ukrainian defences shot down 15 Russian drones during an overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said Saturday. It said 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones were used in the aerial assault, and did not specify what happened to the other two. Read our liveblog for all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

Japan’s Fukushima water release plan fuels fear despite IAEA backing

Japan plans to release more than 1 million metric tonnes of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean by the end of August. After years of debate, and despite a green light from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the plan continues to stoke fears among the local population and in nearby countries. 

Lawsuit Filed Against Offshore Wind Energy Vessel Surveys; Links Them to Recent Whale Deaths

Save LBI lays out evidence for cause of whale deaths

Background

On August 4th, 2023, Save Long Beach Island (LBI) filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the ongoing offshore wind energy vessel surveys using high intensity noise equipment until a thorough investigation could be done and new protocols developed for estimating noise impacts from wind energy development activities. On August 14th Save LBI responded to defendant and defendant-intervenor motions, laying out in detail the evidence linking the vessel surveys to the recent whale deaths.

Evidence of Causation of Whale Deaths by Vessel Surveys

The federal defendant concludes that the vessel surveys are not the cause of the recent whale and dolphin deaths, and that there is no evidence linking the two. In fact, there is ample evidence leading to a conclusion that the surveys were and are the only plausible cause, as summarized below:

There was an unprecedented spike in whale and dolphin deaths off the New Jersey shore beginning in December, 2022.
The number of survey vessels operating increased from two in November to six in December when the deaths began, and were the only new presence in the area.
Survey vessel locations and times are correlated with locations and times of the whale deaths.
The survey approvals grossly underestimate the number of incidents of whale exposure to elevated noise levels by using unsupported technical and scientific assumptions, including:

an arbitrary, low, noise source level for the noise-controlling unit, obtained from a smaller, less powerful surrogate device, as opposed to higher levels easily obtained from noise measurements of the device itself,
a scientifically unsupported, high noise dissipation rate versus a moderate, more common one used elsewhere for other authorizations, and
a single, unrealistic whale disturbance noise level criterion, as opposed to a gradual behavior response to various noise levels based on whale observations, and already used for other authorizations.

The noise from the controlling vessel device is in the frequency range of the whale’s hearing and vocalizations, and extends far from the vessels at levels that will disturb its behavior, which can then lead to serious harm and fatality.
Similar marine mammal stranding have been observed worldwide associated with vessel surveys using air guns and mid-frequency sonar devices, that have similar noise level propagation in horizontal directions where most of marine mammals are, and that
No other plausible cause or causes of the spike in whale deaths have been put forth by the agencies or the wind energy companies.

Read More: Lawsuit Filed Against Offshore Wind Energy Vessel Surveys; Links Them to Recent Whale Deaths

Moron Parents face furious backlash over new TikTok ‘egg challenge’ that sees them cracking eggs on their children’s heads – with toddlers left confused, in pain and bursting into tears

Parents were today facing a furious backlash over a new TikTok challenge that sees them cracking eggs on their children’s heads.

Footage shows toddlers left confused, in pain or bursting into tears after the ‘egg crack challenge’ – which some have compared to child abuse.

Other critics accused the parents of exploiting their children in order to gain social media followers.

In some cases, the children appear to be older and are seen laughing after the egg is cracked on their head.

Among those to criticise the trend was Sarah Adams, who campaigns against parental ‘oversharing’ online.

She said: I’ve been tagged in a few of these videos and I’ve seen it go two ways.

‘One, the kid gets the egg on the head and they’re kind of confused, thrown off, thinks it’s a little funny.

‘Then they move on. Or, they get the egg cracked on the head and they’re really upset about it and they freak out,’ Sarah explained.

‘But when I see those videos I think, are we that bored as parents and desperate for content?’

Ms Adams continued by questioning the motivations of the parents involved, asking: ‘[Are we] needing to post on the internet so bad because it is so consuming to be a part of our world?

‘And the dopamine hit, and the likes and views, that we now in 2023 are cracking eggs on our children’s heads in hopes that they have an entertaining reaction that we can post publicly online to entertain strangers?’

It comes a week after ‘TikTok yobs’ were seen rampaging around Oxford Street as part of an ‘appalling’ new craze encouraging youngsters to rob shops.

The Met Police were forced to divert officers on London’s biggest shopping street and put a dispersal order in place to combat the threat of law-breaking.

Large numbers of officers then had to flock to retail areas in Southend and Bexleyheath in the following days to prevent copycat attacks.

Read More: Parents face furious backlash over new TikTok ‘egg challenge’ that sees them cracking eggs on their children’s heads – with toddlers left confused, in pain and bursting into tears


More Than 300 Ulez Cameras Damaged or Stolen in Four Months

Over 300 cameras monitoring London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone were vandalised or stolen between April and August. The BBC has the story.

Over four months, the Metropolitan Police (Met) received 339 reports of camera cables being damaged, or cameras being stolen or obscured.

The actual number of cameras affected is likely to be even higher as one report can represent multiple cameras.

Unofficial data mapping the location of disabled cameras suggests that almost 500 cameras could have been affected.

It also suggests that the vast majority have been in outer London where the zone is being expanded.

Some 1,900 cameras have been installed in outer London so far.

Despite so much damage being caused, one man has so far been charged by police. …

Commander Owain Richards said the Met had “a team of officers investigating and identifying those responsible” and was working with Transport for London (TfL) to “identify new ways to prevent further cameras from being damaged or stolen”.

The force has not revealed the locations of any of the disabled cameras but a group of people calling themselves Julie’s Ulez map, who are opposed to the Ulez expansion, worked to track the locations and damage caused to cameras.

The map shows there are 1,619 cameras outside the North and South circular roads, with 461 of those reported as vandalised or stolen – equating to 28% of TfL’s network cameras.

Kingsley Hamilton, who runs one of most popular anti-Ulez social media groups, told the BBC he could see why “if someone is in a desperate situation and has no way out” they may turn to vandalism.

“I don’t condone it but I won’t explicitly say you can’t do that. It would be wrong for me to say you’re a bad person for doing that (vandalising cameras),” he added.

Read More: More Than 300 Ulez Cameras Damaged or Stolen in Four Months


Playboy bunny creates world’s first AI model based on younger self to relive glory days, reveals ‘men love’ her digital persona that has been featured on magazine covers across the globe

She has long blonde hair, blue eyes and curves, but the stunning model on the magazine cover was generated by artificial intelligence.

DailyMail.com spoke to the creator of Gina Stewart, who became the world’s first AImodel after landing a contract with a German-based modeling agency in May.

While men have designed many AI influencers, Gina was created by a woman who is a Playboy model – and she made the persona based on her own proportions and style. However, her AI model is 28, and she is 52.

‘The funny thing is the men love it,’ the creator, also named Gina, told DailyMail.com. ‘The AI models are glamorous, beautiful and desirable, like Playboy models of the 90s.

‘I guess it’s a similar concept to superheroes; everyone loves and has a favorite superhero, they go to the movies to watch, admire and obsess over them.

‘They want to be them, but they are not real. It’s a fantasy and an escape from reality.’

‘I look after myself with a mixture of yoga, light weights, meditation, and I believe testing for nutrition deficiency and supplementation,’ she said.

‘At 52, I don’t have one gray hair on my head.’

Gina, known as the ‘world’s hottest grandma,’ shot to stardom on OnlyFans, but took her talents to Playboy in March after the UK-based subscription service had become too ‘smutty’ for her taste.

And shortly after, AI Gina was created.

‘While traveling this summer in the US, I took a break from taking photos on social media,’ said Gina.

‘I was getting tired of setting up shots, hair, nails, makeup, clothing etc and all the time it takes from my day and the stress involved. I thought there must be a better way to work this if I needed a break.’

And this was the moment 28-year-old Gina from California was born.

Read More: Playboy bunny creates world’s first AI model based on younger self to relive glory days,


China rehearses invasion of Taiwan with troops storming ‘sea defences’ in wargames – while Beijing and Russia stage joint naval exercises in the Pacific

A division of China‘s People’s Liberation Army that oversees the Taiwan Strait has released a video which appears to show its troops practising a coastal invasion of the self-governing island.

The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command published the clip, which features a montage of soldiers storming beaches and driving tanks on dirt roads to a country-style Chinese ballad, on WeChat yesterday.

Though the post did not directly mention Taiwan, the Eastern Theatre Command regularly conducts military drills in the Taiwan Strait.

Meanwhile, the song featured in the video and the accompanying WeChat post were littered with evocative lyrics and phrases like ‘go over the city gate and the high wall’ and ‘no matter how dark it is, don’t be afraid… chase and win the warmest years’.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees Taiwan as a renegade province to be brought back under Beijing’s control – something the authoritarian president Xi Jinping has said he’s willing to do by force.

But Taiwan’s elected Democratic Progressive Party steadfastly argues it presides over a self-governing, democratic, capitalist society with overwhelming support from its people.

It comes as Russia and China launched warships to conduct patrols in the Pacific Ocean and perform rescue training and drills for countering air strikes, Moscow’s defence ministry said Friday.

Read More: China rehearses invasion of Taiwan with troops storming ‘sea defences’ in chilling wargames