Pentagon accounting error overvalued Ukraine weapons aid by US$3 billion: Sources
The Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles and other equipment it sent to Ukraine by around US$3 billion (S$4.05 billion), a Senate aide and a defense official said on Thursday, an error that may lead the way for more weapons being sent to Kyiv for its defense against Russian forces.
The error was the result of assigning a higher than warranted value on weaponry that was taken from US stocks and then shipped to Ukraine, two senior defense officials said on Thursday.
“We’ve discovered inconsistencies in how we value the equipment that we’ve given” to Ukraine one of the senior defense officials told Reuters. The officials and the Senate aide spoke on the condition of anonymity. Congress is being notified of the accounting adjustment on Thursday, the sources said.
WHO recommends new Covid-19 shots should target only XBB variants
A World Health Organization (WHO) advisory group on Thursday recommended that this year’s Covid-19 booster shots be updated to target one of the currently dominant XBB variants.
New formulations should aim to produce antibody responses to the XBB.1.5 or XBB.1.16 variants, the advisory group said, adding that other formulations or platforms that achieve neutralising antibody responses against XBB lineages could also be considered.
The group suggested no longer including the original Covid-19 strain in future vaccines, based on data that the original virus no longer circulates in human beings and shots targeting the strain produce “undetectable or very low levels of neutralizing antibodies” against currently circulating variants.
New dinosaur found in Spain illuminates history of meat-eating group
During the Cretaceous Period in a lush coastal region in eastern Spain, an impressive dinosaur with an elongated and vaguely crocodile-like skull was on the prowl for a meal, its curved and serrated teeth able to rip the flesh of its prey.
Scientists on Thursday said they had unearthed a partial skeleton of a previously unknown dinosaur species in the town of Cinctorres in the Spanish province of Castellon that helps provide a deeper understanding of a highly successful group of meat-eaters that hunted on land and in the water.
Living about 126 to 127 million years ago, the bipedal dinosaur, named Protathlitis cinctorrensis, was about 33 to 36 feet (10 to 11 metres) long and weighed about 2 tonnes. It was part of a group called spinosaurs whose biggest member, Spinosaurus, was among the largest meat-eating dinosaurs on record.
Mick Jagger’s daughter Jade arrested in Ibiza
Jade Jagger, the daughter of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, has been arrested on the Spanish island of Ibiza for attacking police officers, a police source said on Thursday without providing further details.
The 51-year-old jewelry designer had been staying at a hotel on the popular party island since at least May 11, according to her Instagram account.
She was arrested on Wednesday along with a man following an altercation at a restaurant in the island’s capital Ibiza Town, Spain’s largest newspaper El Pais reported, citing witnesses.
Newcastle crush Brighton as top-four finish looms
Newcastle United claimed an emphatic 4-1 home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion to take a massive step towards clinching a top-four finish in the Premier League on Thursday.
An own goal by Deniz Undav and a Dan Burn header before the interval put third-placed Newcastle in command.
But sixth-placed Brighton, themselves seeking to qualify for Europe for the first time, pulled a goal back through Undav.
