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Ukraine to receive US Patriot air defence systems, says Trump

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US President Donald Trump has said he will send weapons, including Patriot air defence systems, for Ukraine via Nato.

Trump told NBC News that in a new deal, “we’re going to be sending Patriots to Nato, and then Nato will distribute that”, adding that Nato would pay for the weapons.

His announcement came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of having a “positive dialogue” with Trump on ensuring that arms arrived on time, particularly air defence systems.

Zelensky said he had asked for 10 Patriot systems, after a surge in Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in the past week.

Speaking in Rome on Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said Germany was ready to pay for two of the Patriots and Norway for one, while other European partners were also prepared to help.

After a phone-call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said he was “not happy” that progress had not been made towards ending the war, and he has since complained that Putin’s “very nice” attitude turned out to be meaningless.

During his interview with NBC News, Trump said he would make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday, but did not say what it would be about.

He said “Nato is going to reimburse the full cost” for the weapons sent on to Ukraine. Nato is funded through the contributions of its members, including the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that he had urged countries including Germany and Spain to hand over some of their existing Patriot batteries, as they could reach Ukraine faster.

“We have continued to encourage our Nato allies to provide those weapons… since they have them in their stocks, then we can enter into financial agreements… where they can purchase the replacements.”

The US defence department halted some shipments of critical weapons last week, raising concerns in Kyiv that its air defences could run low in a matter of months.

Among the armaments reported to have been placed on pause were Patriot interceptor missiles and precision artillery shells.

Then, as Ukraine was pounded by record numbers of drone attacks this week, Trump said more weapons would be sent: “We have to… They’re getting hit very hard now.”

Zelensky had appealed for the shipments to resume, describing the Patriot systems as “real protectors of life”.

On Tuesday night, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones, and the Ukrainian president warned that Russia wanted to increase that to 1,000.

June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured, according to the UN.

Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has pushed to scale back US support for Ukraine.

The US was the biggest source of military aid to Ukraine between the start of 2022 and the end of 2024, giving $69bn (£54.6bn) in that time period, according to German think tank the Kiel Institute.

Trump has also pressed Nato allies to pledge more of their GDP to the security alliance. Last year, all European Nato members pledged to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The US has been urging the two countries to reach an agreement to end the war.

Rubio told reporters that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a “frank” conversation on the sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia on Thursday.

Rubio echoed Trump’s “frustration at the lack of progress at peace talks”, including “disappointment that there has not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict”.

He said the two had shared some new ideas about how the conflict could conclude, which he would take back to Trump.

Rubio declined to elaborate on what Trump said would be a “major” announcement about Russia on Monday.



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Walmart recalls 850,000 water bottles after two consumers suffer vision loss from ejecting caps

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NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is recalling about 850,000 stainless steel water bottles because the lid can “forcefully eject” and unexpectedly strike consumers — resulting in permanent vision loss for two people to date.

The recall covers Walmart’s “Ozark Trail 64 oz Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles,” which have been sold at the chain’s stores across the country since 2017. According to a notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, these products pose “serious impact and laceration hazards.”

That’s because when a consumer attempts to open the bottles “after food, carbonated beverages or perishable beverages, such as juice or milk, are stored inside over time,” the lid can eject forcefully, the CPSC notes.

As of Thursday’s announcement, Walmart had received three reports of consumers who were injured after being struck in the face by these lids when opening their bottles. And two of those people “suffered permanent vision loss after being struck in the eye,” the CPSC added.

Consumers are urged to stop using the now-recalled Ozark Trail bottles — and contact Walmart for a full refund. Shoppers can also bring the products to their local Walmart store for that compensation.

The bottles being recalled can also be identified by their model number, 83-662 — which doesn’t appear on the product itself, but would show on packaging. The stainless-steel base is silver and the lid is a black, one-piece screw cap. There is also an Ozark Trail logo embedded on the side of the 64-ounce bottle.

The Associated Press reached out to Walmart for further comments on Friday.





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Justin Bieber’s surprise album gets lukewarm reviews

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Ian Youngs

Culture reporter

Getty Images Justin Bieber performs on day three of Sziget Festival 2022 on Óbudai-sziget Island on August 12, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary.Getty Images

Justin Bieber has surprised fans by releasing a new album titled Swag, his first in four years – but critics have not been bowled over by the comeback.

In a three-star review, the Guardian said it has “moments of brilliance”, but is “no long-awaited masterpiece”.

The Telegraph gave two stars, agreeing that it is “not the return of a pop titan”, and describing it as “an uncomfortable and unfiltered cry for help”.

The paper pointed to spoken-word interludes including the “self-pitying, super-short Therapy Session”, on which he addresses the toll of press speculation about his mental health; and another titled Standing On Business, which features a viral clip in which he confronted a photographer.

The video, filmed on Father’s Day, showed the exasperated singer saying: “I’m a dad. I’m a husband. You’re not getting it. It’s not clocking to you. I’m standing on business.”

The video was widely circulated and remixed online, and now features as part of the promotion of the new album as well as in the track listing.

“Standing on business” has gained currency as slang for standing up for yourself and taking care of your responsibilities and ambitions.

‘Saccharine cliche’

With a run time of just under an hour, the teen icon-turned-megastar collaborates with a host of rappers on Swag including Sexxy Red, Cash Cobain and Gunna.

Its title appears to hark back to the singer’s 2012 hit Boyfriend, featuring the line “swag, swag, swag, on you”.

Promotional pictures shared by the Canadian singer feature his wife, Hailey Bieber, and their son – at points being held over his head.

The Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti wrote that the album “opens extremely promisingly with All I Can Take, a hauntological twist on spotless, energetic 1980s R&B”.

Overall, it’s “very considered, cleverly nostalgic and subtly satisfying – there’s not a craven chart smash in earshot”, she wrote.

“Lyrically, however, Swag isn’t such a classy and thoughtful affair. Dadz Love is an inane celebration of Bieber’s nascent fatherhood that essentially just repeats the title into meaninglessness.

“The other love songs – which are addressed to his wife, Hailey, whose viral lip gloss-holding phone case gets a shout-out on Go Baby – rarely transcend superficial, saccharine cliche.

“But they are at least preferable to the eye-watering spoken-word segments.”

‘Wiping the slate clean’

The Independent’s Adam White awarded two stars, saying the album is “just further confirmation of the artistic lethargy that has plagued his most recent work, and an unfortunate insight into a man who seems awkwardly caught between sex, God, and self-pity”.

Billboard’s Andrew Unterberger said it was “Bieber as we’ve never really heard him before – stripped of most of his usual big pop trappings, with a much more organic-sounding, alt-R&B-focused sound”.

But fans hoping for an album full of songs like his 2015 smash hit Sorry may be disappointed, he added.

The album was awarded 7/10 by Clash magazine’s Robin Murray, who said its 21 tracks have lyrics “that move from an emotive depiction of fatherhood through to in-jokes”.

“Stylistically, it broadly sits on 90s-adjacent synth pop – sometimes fixed in its approach, sometimes vaporised. It’s always colourful, and – for all its breadth – it’s always entertaining.”

However, Murray added: “One of the core strengths of SWAG is also its weakness: there’s a lot of it. His first album in four years, this feels like an outpouring of ideas, a wiping clean of the slate.”

@lilbieber Justin Bieber stands with his back to the camera in a black and white image. Next to him is his wife Hailey Bieber holding a baby. The word "SWAG" is written on the right hand side of the image. Rolling hills are pictured in the distance.@lilbieber

The album drop also comes on the back of fans’ worries for Bieber’s state of mind. In recent months, the singer has shared multiple posts online about the intrusion of paparazzi in his personal life.

Bieber’s marriage has also been under the spotlight after another controversial social media post. The singer celebrated his wife featuring on the cover of Vogue with a social media post detailing an argument between them.

The lyrics of Daisies, the second song on Swag, appear to allude to the couple’s relationship with “falling petals do you love me or not” and “you said forever babe, did you mean it or not?”

Other song titles on the album seem to touch on religious themes including Devotion, Soulful and Forgiveness, in keeping with Bieber’s Christian faith.

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Trump lands in Texas after floods kill 120 and leave 160 missing – live updates

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Kerr County officials were told flooding began an hour before they sent first alertpublished at 15:31 British Summer Time

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

A Texas firefighter located upstream of the deadly floods in Kerr County asked if emergency flood alerts could be sent to residents about an hour before the first warnings were received, audio reveals.

In the recording, obtained by US outlets, the firefighter asks at 04:22 on 4 July if a CodeRED alert can be issued. The dispatcher replies that a supervisor needs to approve the request.

Residents didn’t begin receiving the alert until an hour later – for some it took up to six hours, according to reports.

In the recording of the firefighter’s dispatch call, the emergency responder can be heard saying: “The Guadalupe Schumacher sign is underwater on State Highway 39.

“Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents, asking them to find higher ground or stay home?”

“Stand by, we have to get that approved with our supervisor,” the dispatcher replied.

Local officials are now facing mounting questions over when Kerrville’s residents were notified about deadly flash floods that killed 96 in Kerr County alone, with over 160 others still missing.

Asked about a possible police radio failure at a press conference on Thursday – almost a week after 4 July flooding – Kerrville Police community services officer Jonathan Lamb said, “I don’t have any information to that point.”

The questioning followed a tense exchange the day before when reporters asked officials repeatedly about a possible lag in emergency communications.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha earlier this week declined to offer specifics about timing, saying that officials were instead focused on rescue and recovery efforts.

Leitha said he was first notified around the “four to five area”, and told local media, “we’re in the process of trying to put a timeline” about what exactly happened in the pre-dawn hours.

“That’s going to take a little bit of time,” he told them. “That is not my priority this time.”



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