Cornwall flash flood: Forces families to flee, destroys 50 homes as 4ft torrent tears up roads

A CORNISH village was hit by a four-foot deluge of water as flash floods washed away roads and sent families fleeing last night.

Picturesque Coverack – which sits precariously on the south Cornwall coast – was hit by flash flooding as torrential rain hit the South West.

One elderly couple had to be winched to safety by helicopter in what was described as a “life critical condition”.

They had reportedly been trapped inside their home along with four others – although no injuries have been reported.

At least 50 properties were damaged by the disaster – which some locals likened to the devastating floods that battered fellow Cornish town Boscastle in 2004.

Dramatic footage showed raging waters tear through Coverack as villagers likened it to a disaster movie…

Source: Cornwall flash flood rips through fishing village of Coverack and forces families to flee as ‘apocalyptic’ 4ft torrent tears up roads and destroys 50 homes

London fire: Cladding boss ‘did not know’ material used. …many countries + Australia use DEADLY ACM

THE director of the company responsible for the Grenfell Tower refurbishment has admitted he doesn’t know what the cladding blamed for spreading the inferno was made from.

In a fraught exchange with host Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain, Rydon director Andrew Goldman admitted he had no idea what type of cladding had been used on Grenfell Tower.

“We know your company did the refurbishment only last year and added all this exterior cladding,’ Morgan said.

“Almost all witnesses said they saw the cladding basically firing up — bits of it were igniting before their very eyes.

Similar cladding now covers homes and offices across Britain and indeed many countries across the world, including Australia.

Source: London fire: Cladding installation boss ‘did not know’ material used

The White House in a downward spiral: Republicans pile pressure on Trump… Ex CIA Director: leak is ‘highly damaging’

A leading Republican Senator has claimed Donald Trump’s administration is in a ‘downward spiral’ – as backlash grows following reports the president shared ‘highly classified’ information with top Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week.

Bob Corker, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, was one of the first Republicans to speak out against the White House after reports emerged in the Washington Post.

‘The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order,’ Corker said.

‘It’s got to happen. Obviously they’re in a downward spiral right now and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips [with] all that’s happening.’

The Washington Post report claimed Trump revealed highly classified information about Islamic State militants last week.

Three White House officials who were in the May 10 meeting strongly denounced the story, claiming no intelligence sources and methods were discussed – but they didn’t deny that classified information was disclosed.

But the Post’s report, citing current and former US officials, shared details about an ISIS terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The anonymous officials told the Post that the information Trump relayed during the Oval Office meeting had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement.

They said it was considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the US government.

After the reports emerged on Monday, Republican Senator Susan Collins also lashed out at Trump’s office.

‘Can we have a crisis-free day? That’s all I’m asking,’ she told reporters, according to HLN’s Carol Costello.

John McCain also offered a timid criticism of Trump, saying: ‘We certainly don’t want any president to leak classified information, but the president does have the right to do that.’

Democratic leaders were understandably much more stringent in their response to the reports.

Adam Schiff of California called the story ‘deeply disturbing’ and said if it’s true, the disclosure could jeopardize sources of very sensitive intelligence and relationships with key allies.

That the Russians would be the potential recipients of this intelligence and may be able to determine its source is all the more problematic, since the Russian interest in Syria and elsewhere is, in many respects, deeply antithetical to our own,’ Schiff said.

He added that he wants the House intelligence committee fully briefed on what, if anything, was shared with the Russian officials.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner tweeted: ‘If true, this is a slap in the face to the intel community. Risking sources & methods is inexcusable, particularly with the Russians.’

Senator Martin Heinrich chimed in with some sarcastic, helpful advice for the president: ‘Protip: Don’t give the Russians classified information. #Classified101.’

Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell also said he was concerned by the latest round of reports.

‘This is highly damaging for two reasons,’ Morell told CBS News.

‘First, the Russians will undoubtedly try to figure out the source or the method of this information to make sure that it is not also collecting on their activities in Syria – and in trying to do that they could well disrupt the source.

‘The second damage is that third countries who provide the United States with intelligence information will now have pause to do so if the United States is sharing such information with the Russians without their permission.’

Read more:

Source: Republicans speak about about latest Trump reports | Daily Mail Online

Diet Coke/Pepsi Max: Just one can a day could triple the risk of a deadly stroke’

IF YOU’RE partial to a can of Pepsi Max at lunch, or enjoy a splash of Coke Zero with your favourite rum — you might want to put that drink back on ice.

According to a new study, just one diet drink a day can triple the risk of a deadly stroke, with researchers also finding the beverages have a “worrying association” with dementia.

The team of researchers from Boston’s University School of Medicine, said people who consume a can of artificially-sweetened soft drink a day were at three times the risk of suffering the most common form of stroke compared to non-drinkers.

The US study also indicated that diet soft drink fans were 2.9 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. But after accounting for all lifestyle factors, the researchers found the link to dementia was statistically insignificant, however, the impact on stroke risk remained.

The study, which looked at ten years’ worth of data from more than 4,300 people, indicates that people need to look beyond the word ‘diet’ when making drink choices.

“Drinking at least one artificially sweetened beverage daily was associated with almost three times the risk of developing stroke or dementia compared to those who drank artificially sweetened beverages less than once a week,” the research read, which was published in Stroke, the journal of the American Heart Association.

“After adjustments for age, sex, education (for analysis of dementia), calorific intake, diet quality, physical activity and smoking, higher recent and higher cumulative intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks were associated with an increased risk of ischaemic stroke, all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s disease dementia.”

THE PROBLEM WITH THE ‘NO CALORIES’ TRADEOFF:

Diet drinks contain next-to-no calories, because they use artificial sweeteners that are hundreds, sometimes thousands of times sweeter than sugar.

There is public concern about some sweeteners, with scientists across the world arguing that low-calorie substitutes may lead to weight gain and increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

“A lot of people assume they must be healthy choices because they are not sugared beverages, but the critical thing for people to understand is we don’t have the evidence,” Prof Susan Swithers, from the US’s Purdue University told the BBC.

Typically, the different types of sweeteners used in diet drinks range from Aspartame, Saccharine and Stevia.

Aspartame is the sweetener most used in diet drinks, and is also the most controversial.

At 200 times sweeter than sugar, it is used right across the world as a sugar substitute, including cereal, chewing gum and lollies.

“Diet drinks, despite having zero sugar and hardly any calories, actually taste far sweeter than regular soft-drinks,” nutritionist Kristen Beck told news.com.au.

“The problem is that the human brain aren’t set up to be able to deal with the

intensely-sweet, zero-calorie version of sweetness that artificial sweeteners provide.”

Source: Diet Coke: Just one can a day could ‘triple the risk of a deadly stroke’, study claims

Melbourne driver escapes after SUV flips on its roof [SUV/4WD = 200% Flipping Chance] VIDEO

House of Cards theory hints season 5 might be Frank Underwood’s last

The return of House of Cards may be a matter of months away, but very little is known about what to expect when we finally do catch up with President Frank Underwood and First Lady, Claire. One theory surrounding the forthcoming batch of episodes, however, is that this will serve as the swansong for the Netflix political drama’s lead character, played by Kevin Spacey.

Reddit user Changyang1230 has pointed out that the clue may be in the series’ overall episode count.

To date, four seasons have aired – one every year since 2013 – and each has boasted 13 episodes bringing the overall tally to 52: the same number as a deck of cards.

See where they’re going with this?

he theory goes that, having used the first four seasons to build up the ‘house of cards,’ the fifth season will see it come crashing down as the shady President Underwood finally gets his comeuppance.

While there has been no official confirmation from Netflix on the future of the popular series, the first of the streaming service’s original properties, it’s not outside the realms of possibility that House of Cards season five could be the last for actor Spacey.

Backing this up is the fact that showrunner Beau Willimon departed last season making way for writers Frank Pugliese and Melissa James Gibson who have overseen the new season which will be unveiled on 30 May.

Source: House of Cards theory hints season 5 might be Frank Underwood’s last | The Independent

OMG!! F-35 can only hit stationary or slow moving targets-AUSTRALIA Spend $17 billion to buy them!!

The controversial Joint Strike Fighter cannot strike moving ground targets using the targeting system of its latest update, it has been revealed. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been hailed as the ‘most expensive weapon in history’, costing $400bn. However, according to Aviation Week, the plane’s laser targeting system has one slight flaw – it […]

via OMG!!  F-35 can only hit stationary or slow moving targets-AUSTRALIA Spend $17 billion to buy them!! — Jade News and Gossip