McLaren have announced 18-year-old Bianca Bustamente as the first ever female driver in their development programme. The Filipino teenager will drive with McLaren’s livery in F1 Academy next year, with all 10 F1 teams being represented by at least one driver in 2024. Bustamente is currently seventh in the Academy’s inaugural season standings, having recorded two wins and two podiums this year, ahead of the season finale this weekend in Austin, Texas. She has won numerous karting championships in Asia and has previously competed in W Series, Formula 4 UAE Championship and Italian Formula 4. "To sign with McLaren and ART Grand Prix is way beyond anything I could’ve ever imagined growing up racing karts in the Philippines", said Bustamante. "I still have a hard time seeing my name next to McLaren without getting emotional, as the history and heritage linked to this team leaves me truly speechless.” The likes of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and current McLaren driver Lando Norris have come through the team’s illustrious junior ranks. "I’m so grateful for this opportunity as I believe I now have the best possible development structure around me to take the next step up in my career,” Bustamente added. "For now, my focus is to finish off the F1 Academy season strongly here in Austin, but we’ll get to work immediately on the 2024 season. "I’ve never been more motivated in my life! A big thanks goes to Susie Wolff [F1 Academy managing director] and the team at F1 Academy for fighting so hard for us girls and to give us this opportunity to be the best we can be." Spanish driver Marta Garcia is set to wrap up the F1 Academy title at the US Grand Prix – she has a 48-point lead ahead of this weekend’s three races. Read More Daniel Ricciardo to make F1 return from injury at United States Grand Prix Nico Rosberg identifies ‘dream candidate’ for Red Bull seat Nicolas Hamilton: ‘Lewis has never put a penny into my racing... it’s not easy being related to him’ Daniel Ricciardo to make F1 return at US Grand Prix Netflix reveal star line-up for F1 Drive to Survive vs Full Swing golf match F1 2023 season race schedule: When is the US Grand Prix?

A two-day global gathering billed as China's "most important diplomatic event" of the year wrapped up in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, with Beijing touting its outsized role in world development -- and its alternative vision to that of the United States.

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While millions of people own cats and dogs and wouldn’t dream of getting rid of them, pets pose a health risk to humans that is massively overlooked, according to a new study. Since the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world with devastating impact, it has become evident how much of a risk new viruses can pose to our well-being. However, experts are warning that it is not just the wildlife trade or exotic animals that we should be concerned about, as pets could also be sources of zoonotic diseases (which jump from animals to humans). Back garden pets, house pets, working animals and even rodents and pests could host new viruses that could affect humans, according to a new study. It warns that the urbanisation of our habitats and climate change will have an impact on diseases and their dynamics. The study was shared in Science Translational Medicine and penned by disease ecologist Amandine Gamble along with a group of colleagues, who gave examples of how companion animals (aka pets) and stray animals carried a risk of zoonotic spillover. While the risk is thought to be small, experts warn it is significantly underappreciated, especially given the frequent proximity human beings have to pets and strays. The study said: “These animals can play critical roles in zoonotic spillover by enabling the maintenance of a zoonotic pathogen, facilitating its spatial spread, acting as a bridge between otherwise unconnected species, or providing particular opportunities for its evolution.” While the zoonotic spillover that caused Covid-19 sparked a global pandemic, any instance of infection that jumps from animal to human is known as a zoonotic, regardless of the numbers affected. Pet parrots are a known transmitter of the Chlamydia psittaci bacterium to humans. Elsewhere, bats and horses are also known sources of zoonotic diseases. In terms of common household pets, cats can act as a link to a number of fatal diseases. The experts explained: “Numbers of infections are low, but plague is endemic in 17 western U.S. states, and many of the small mammals on which cats prey carry Y. pestis. “Consequently, outdoor cats and cats with incomplete veterinary care, combined with human interaction, suggest that cat-transmitted plague can be considered an increasing public health risk.” They conclude that “it is critical to implement surveillance programs allowing us to track changes in pathogen dynamics”. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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WhatsApp is changing the way billions of users log into the messaging app, ditching passwords and two-factor authentication in favour of quicker and more secure passkeys. The move is part of a major shift within the tech industry to move away from decades-old password technology and replace it with the more modern passkey format, which combines biometric information like fingerprints with a simple numeric code in order to identify people. A similar switch was recently announced by Google, which will introduce passkeys to its apps like Maps, Search and YouTube. WhatsApp’s update will only impact Android users to begin with. “Passkeys are a new way to log back into your account,” said Will Cathcart, who heads WhatsApp. “This is a more secure way of confirming it’s really you – and gives you an added layer of security.” WhatsApp is also rolling out self-destructing voice notes to users as part of new measures to improve privacy on the world’s most popular messaging app. The update is currently only available for beta tester users who have the latest version of WhatsApp installed on their phone or computer, though it is expected to eventually be introduced for all users. With more than 2.7 billion users worldwide – the majority of which on Android devices – WhatsApp updates typically need to be introduced gradually in order to make sure any potential security bugs do not have a critical impact. The self-destructing audio messages, first spotted by WhatsApp feature tracker Wabetainfo, is compatible with both Android and iOS users, though no date has been given for when a wider roller out might be expected. WhatsApp does not comment on release schedules for feature updates unless they relate to security. “After sending the voice note with view once mode enabled, you won’t be able to listen to it and the recipient can no longer listen to the voice note after dismissing it,” Wabetainfo noted. “This mode effectively minimises the chances of unauthorised access or later listening, providing a new layer of privacy for sensitive and confidential information.” The latest update follows recently added features like ‘Channels’, which allow people to follow celebrities and companies within the app, and a ‘Create’ button that gives users the ability to make custom art on the platform. The Create feature brings generative artificial intelligence to WhatsApp for the first time, and means users do not require external tools or specific design skills to create the stickers. Instead, the custom stickers can be produced using simple text-based prompts, similar to other AI image generators like Midjourney and OpenAI’s Dall-E. Read More Facebook and Instagram users face monthly fee for ad-free version Meta launches AI chatbots with ‘personalities’ to take on ChatGPT Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake Amazon trials humanoid robots to see if they can help staff warehouses Tesla’s profits dip as Musk goes on rant about staff working from home