America's top diplomat on Friday insisted that a strong Ukraine in control of its own territory was a prerequisite for talks with Russia, warning against a "Potemkin"...

Solar and wind energy installations could earn hundreds of millions of dollars by mining bitcoin during periods of excess electricity generation, according to a new study. Scientists from Cornell University in the US, who conducted the research, said setting up mining operations could reduce the environmental impact of cryptocurrency, while also providing revenue that could be reinvested in future renewable energy projects. “Profitability of a mining system hinges on periods of steady energy availability since renewable energy sources can vary significantly,” said Fengqi You, a professor of energy systems at Cornell University. “Therefore, it is important to site the mining farm strategically to maximise productivity.” The state with the most potential for setting up profitable crypto mining operations is Texas, according to the study, with 32 planned renewable projects capable of generating combined profits of $47 million. California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada and Virginia all showed potential, though setting up mining rigs presents a large initial cost. One way of incentivising such projects, Cornell doctoral student Apoorv Lal suggested, could be the introduction of new policies that provide economic rewards for mining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with clean energy ”These rewards can act as an incentive for miners to adopt clean energy sources, which can lead to combined positive effects on climate change mitigation, improved renewable power capacity, and additional profits during pre-commercial operation of wind and solar farms,” Mr Lal said. “We also recommend policies that encourage cryptocurrency-mining operations to return some of their profits back into infrastructure development. This would help create a self-sustaining cycle for renewable energy expansion.” Bitcoin has drawn criticism from environmentalists for the vast amounts of electricity required to support its network and mint new units of the cryptocurrency, with recent analysis from the University of Cambridge estimating that it uses roughly the same amount of electricity as Poland. The plummeting costs of renewable energy mean bitcoin miners are increasingly turning to solar, wind and hydro sources to power their operations. “In its current status, the infrastructure that supports the Bitcoin protocol cannot be sustained, but the beauty of the protocol is that the incentive structure will force miners to adopt the cheapest form of electricity, which in the near future will be renewable energy,” Don Wyper, COO of DigitalMint, told The Independent last year. The latest study, titled ‘From mining to mitigation: how bitcoin can support renewable energy development and climate action’, was published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Read More Bitcoin mining rate hits all-time high amid record-breaking prediction for 2024 Nasa has received a signal from 10 million miles away Scientists reveal surprise finding from huge study into internet and mental health Nasa has received a signal from 10 million miles away Scientists reveal surprise finding from huge study into internet and mental health Software firm Cloudsmith announces £8.8m investment

A federal appeals court wrestled in oral arguments on Tuesday with a Biden administration request that it pause a judge's ruling that would wipe away an Obamacare mandate requiring certain preventive care services -- including statins and some cancer screenings -- to be provided at no cost.

Can it get any crazier? You better believe it can. The playoffs are less than a week away, and there are still several teams jockeying for a spot in the MLB postseason.

Joy Behar, 80, was discussing the legacy of Tina Turner, who died on Wednesday, May 24, when she made the unexpected comment

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Sovereign bonds and shares declined in Asia after hawkish signaling from the Federal Reserve stirred concerns the US

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen confirmed on Monday that she unwittingly ate a dish containing hallucinogenic mushrooms at a restaurant during a visit to China last month. “So I went with this large group of people and the person who had arranged our dinner did the ordering. There was a delicious mushroom dish,” she said on Monday. “I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later.” “I … read that if the mushrooms are cooked properly, which I’m sure they were, at this very good restaurant, that they have no impact,” she added. “But all of us enjoyed the mushrooms, the restaurant and none of us felt any ill effects from having eaten them.” During the Treasury official’s visit to China last month, she and her team stopped at a location of Yi Zuo Yi Wang, a restaurant chain specialising in dishes from the Yunnan province, where a food blogger on Weibo spotted the top official eating a variety of Chinese dishes. “When I walked by their table on my way to the washroom, I slowed down to take a glance at the dishes they ordered,” the blogger wrote. That included an order of potentially hallucinogenic jian shou qing mushrooms, a delicacy in Yunnan province. “Our staff said she loved mushrooms very much,” the restaurant wrote on social media. “She ordered four portions of jian shou qing (a Yunnan wild mushroom species). It was an extremely magical day.” The mushrooms are “considered poisonous as they can be hallucinogenic,” Dr Peter Mortimer, a professor at Kunming Institute of Botany who studies the region’s mushrooms, told CNN. “However, scientists have not, as of yet, identified the compounds responsible for causing the hallucinations,”he added. “It remains a bit of a mystery, and most evidence is anecdotal. I have a friend who mistakenly ate them and hallucinated for three days.” Chinese state media quoted diners praising Ms Yellen for her interest in Chinese cuisine and warning about the impacts of the mushrooms. “You thought you were walking straight but you just fell sideways,” one person who had eaten a similar dish told the Xinhua state news agency. The restaurant where the secretary ate was quickly flooded with reservations. "We received a larger number of inquiries about bookings. We are fully booked for Friday and Saturday," a staff member told the state-owned Global Times. Read More Biden signs order barring US investment in Chinese chips, quantum computing and AI sectors Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reportedly ate hallucinogenic mushrooms at restaurant during China visit China's Xi tells Kissinger that China-US ties are at a crossroads and stability is still possible

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou is hopeful captain Son Heung-min and James Maddison will be fit for Saturday’s “great test” against Liverpool. Son and Maddison were forced off late on during last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Arsenal after not being “100 per cent” for the derby, according to the Spurs boss. The influential duo both trained on Friday and Postecoglou remains confident they will feature against Jurgen Klopp’s team, but Brennan Johnson will be absent. He said: “From last week, Brennan will miss out. It’s nothing too serious but he won’t be right for this week. “Madders and Sonny trained today, just finished the session and seemed to get through it not too bad. “We’ll just have to see how they pull up as it’s fair to say they were a bit sore after last week and had a bit of an interrupted week training, so just a matter of seeing how they pull up.” Maddison and Son combined twice at the Emirates to earn Tottenham a 2-2 draw and maintain their unbeaten start to life under Postecoglou in the Premier League. Summer recruit Maddison suggested post-match the club were beginning to shed their ‘Spursy’ tag after they showed plenty of grit to peg back Arsenal on two occasions last Sunday. “I haven’t heard exactly what Madders said but he is obviously new to the club and is going on what he is feeling at the moment,” Postecoglou reflected. “It is fair to say the lads have shown a fair bit of resilience this year and we’ve had to adjust to the nature of the way the games have gone. We have had a lot of things in the context of a football game that haven’t gone our way. “Sometimes these things can become a little bit overblown because opposition supporters are obviously looking for any kind of sore point that a football club may have. “This club has been up at the top of the table for quite a while now and got close to having the ultimate success in the Champions League, so it is far from being a club that has fallen on bad times for a long time. “Obviously there is a crucial bit missing there and every group of players, myself included, have the opportunity to change that.” Liverpool boss Klopp had been full of praise for Postecoglou during his press conference earlier on Friday and the Australian returned the favour. Postecoglou added: “They probably bring something different from any other team in the league in the way they play and the manner they go about things. “It’ll be a really good test for us to try to impose our football on a team that’s fairly unique in the way they play the game. “Jurgen is an outstanding manager, he’s one of the managers I think it’s fair to say who has made an impact on the competition, not just his club. “Because when he came in, with the way Liverpool went about things, he challenged quite a few of the conventions about the Premier League and introduced a new style of play that others have followed. It’s a great test for where we are at the moment in terms of our development.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Mark Selby edges out Jack Lisowski to reach Cazoo British Open semi-finals Captain Ardie Savea proud of New Zealand’s 14-try drubbing of Italy Ange Postecoglou had a love of Liverpool as a youngster but says ‘things change’

Dejan Kulusevski has acknowledged Tottenham have an advantage over their rivals with no European football this year and feels it could make the difference come the end of the season. Spurs returned to the Premier League summit on Monday night with a 2-0 win over Fulham courtesy of goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison. Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent side are next in action on Friday at Crystal Palace, where they could go five points clear at the top with a victory and while Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have European fixtures to contend with this week, Tottenham can focus purely on league action. “Honestly, it helps a lot. Physically, I remember last season was very hard playing three games a week,” Kulusevski said. “You feel very tired in the warm-ups. Also, mentally not having to travel to Spain or Italy to play games helps. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year. “You can feel the difference and hopefully you will see even more at the end of the season. “It is early because we will see what happens. Everything can change every day so we don’t need to talk about (title), but we must live for the day with a smile, train hard and not forget who we are. We must try to get better every day. “It is not important what people say. The important thing is to work hard, be humble, listen to the coach and keep the smiles on faces. Then at the end of the season we will see where we are.” Tottenham’s young side produced a mature display against Fulham, creating early chances before Son broke the deadlock in the 36th minute. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year. Spurs' Dejan Kulusevski on no European football Calvin Bassey’s misplaced pass under pressure from Spurs’ press was latched onto by Micky van de Ven, touched into Richarlison where he recycled the ball for Son, who dribbled past Tim Ream and curled superbly into the top corner for his seventh goal of the campaign. Son turned provider nine minutes after half-time when Bassey again gave away the ball and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fizzed possession into Son, who played in Maddison for his first home goal as a Tottenham player. The hosts took their foot off the gas during the final exchanges with Fulham wasteful late on, which led to Postecoglou lambasting his team for taking “liberties” post-match. Kulusevski added: “Number one, we have to keep playing football and that is why we are winning. We have to get back to playing the way we can and be ready for Friday.” Spurs were without the suspended Yves Bissouma for the visit of Fulham, but Hojbjerg slotted in to good effect on his first league start of the season. The Danish midfielder expressed his delight at starting and urged his team-mates to “live with the pressure” amid talk of a potential title challenge. “Honestly it felt amazing to play. It was really nice to play. It felt really good,” Hojbjerg said. “First half I thought we played some good football. I think we had to score more than the one and second half we lost a bit of intensity. We let Fulham back into it but especially first half I thought was strong. “It is up to the coach to analyse (second half) now and to show us a bit what we needed. Personally, I felt the quality on the ball dropped a bit, but again we always know the first game back from the internationals is always a challenge. “I think it is game by game and it is important to try to improve. Improve every single week and try to see where we can take it. I think you have to live with the pressure, assume the pressure but again it is about improving and looking at yourself week in, week out.” Read More Sandro Tonali trains with Newcastle team amid betting investigation in Italy Super League case binding ruling due to be handed down on December 21 Texas Rangers see off Houston Astros to reach first World Series since 2011 On this day in 2018 – Christian Wade quits rugby in bid to launch NFL career Mikel Arteta hopes to be talking about football after Arsenal’s trip to Sevilla Jean Kleyn: RWC final with South Africa ‘outside realm of thinking’ months ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have declared open season on Ukraine's consequential grain exports, targeting the port city of Odesa with new ferocity and jeopardizing worldwide food prices.

Harry Maguire will report for England duty next week re-established as a first-choice defender for Manchester United. When Gareth Southgate’s squad met up in October Maguire had made only two starts for Erik ten Hag’s side all season but he has been ever-present in the starting XI since, usually in a partnership with veteran Jonny Evans as Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof have had to bide their time. Maguire and Evans is not a pairing many would have seen coming in the summer, when Maguire was being linked with a move away from Old Trafford and Evans was a free agent after leaving relegated Leicester. An injury to Evans will see a change made when Luton visit on Saturday, but Ten Hag said Maguire was keeping former Real Madrid defender Varane, a key part of last season’s success, out on merit. “Harry Maguire is doing very well at the moment, and I am very happy with that,” he said. “As I always said, Harry Maguire can do the job — and now he is showing he can do the job. “Last year Harry didn’t play a lot, so I was very happy with Rapha’s performances. I have always been happy with his performance. But in this moment, Harry is playing very well and there is internal competition.” Ten Hag sees Maguire and Varane as being in direct competition for the right side of central defence. Although Maguire has spent much of his career on the left, Ten Hag does not like the balance of his side with the 30-year-old there. “There are moments in certain games where they can play together and they have already proven they can do it,” he said. “But the build-up is not that fluid when one of them is playing from the left.” Last season, the partnership Varane formed with Lisandro Martinez, protected by Casemiro, helped United win the Carabao Cup and return to the Champions League. But with Martinez and Casemiro currently out injured along with Luke Shaw, and Varane out of favour, there is a different look at present. “The injuries don’t help us,” Ten Hag said. “So often you have to swap the back four and then you don’t get the routine. In such moments, it is so important to have routines. “We had a new keeper (Andre Onana) coming in and every time you form a new back four and they know the rules and principles, but the routines are not the same. “Communication is so important, but that is all split-second decisions. You need that cooperation and you need it 100 per cent because when it doesn’t work, then you concede goals at this level.” Wednesday’s dramatic 4-3 Champions League defeat in Copenhagen made it nine defeats from 17 games in all competitions for United this season, piling the pressure on Ten Hag amid on the ongoing wait for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a minority stake in the club to be completed. “Nothing has changed (in our approach),” Ten Hag added. “We stay in the same issues because we are not in the best moment, but I think I see that we are going forward, like at Fulham (a 1-0 win last weekend), and I thought Copenhagen was a very good game and we have to build on that. “Andre Onana came new in and in the last games has stepped up, Rasmus Hojlund is a new striker and he came in and is stepping up. That is good stuff. “We had some good midfield balance in the last two games, and hopefully we can keep that without new injuries in such departments and then I think we can really improve and find our success this season.” Read More Don’t worry about it – Ange Postecoglou brushes off series of Spurs setbacks ‘I heard what I heard’ – Tom Curry stands by racism claim against Bongi Mbonambi Katie Boulter has come ‘full circle’ as GB return to Copper Box for BJK Cup tie Mauricio Pochettino learned lessons from famous battle to mature as manager Mikel Arteta warns Aaron Ramsdale not to rush decision over Arsenal future Dawid Malan: I want to play on but I don’t know what my England future holds