Nancy Pelosi, 83, confirms she is running AGAIN: Former Democrat speaker reveals she wants two more years in Congress – and to help San Francisco’s recovery

• ‘Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,’ Pelosi wrote on X
• The former House speaker stepped down from her leadership position last year 
• San Francisco is experiencing a major crime wave including smash-and-grab robberies and carjackings 

By Kelly Laco, Executive Editor Of Politics For Dailymail.Com

Published: 12:13 EDT, 8 September 2023 | Updated: 13:47 EDT, 8 September 2023

A real-life ‘Barbie’ is accused of running a ‘sect’ and putting her followers at risk of poisoning.

Valeria Lukyankova – who has 2.5 million followers across several social media accounts – has suddenly this week closed a £13-a-month ‘club’ where she is alleged to have put her fans at risk with dangerous advice.

Known for years as the Ukrainian Barbie, she also styles herself as alien princess Amatue, and is facing a probe by the Russian police and prosecutors office despite being an avid Putin supporter.

Among the accusations against her is one that she has urged her followers to drink turpentine to rid their bodies of parasites.

Another claim is that she urged her female fans to breathe over mercury because ‘paranormal abilities and memory of past lives awaken’.

Women were also urged to ‘make tampons with tar and essential oil of grapefruit’ to make their sexual organs smaller, said a leading critic Katya Konasova, a blogger and Youtuber who specialises in exposing fake healers.

Lukyanova seeks to encourage women to rid themselves of ‘parasites’ that do not exist, said Konasova.

‘Turpentine is used in the chemical industry. It should not be used inside the human body,’ she said.

‘Lera [Valeria] is convinced that a scary either worm or octopus lives in everyone’s body, something with tentacles that destroys your will and dominates [you],’ she said.

‘If you got scared, don’t you fear – Lukyanova has a private club in which they will open your ‘third eye’ too.’

It is this private club Rex Deus that the wannabe Barbie has this week closed.

Lukyanova – now believed to be 37 – posted a rambling explanation: ‘Why did I close the Rex Deus club?

‘Rex Deus helped thousands of people to find themselves, to learn their mission, to learn how the world works, to master quantum technologies, and to apply them in daily life.

‘Every day I receive words of gratitude from the members of the club.

‘Despite this, I realised that I cannot do it anymore.

‘I have to share information with even more people.

‘We did a lot of research in rejuvenation in the recent years […] this information can not fit into the old club.’

One commenter said the real reason was that Konasova had exposed her.

Another said: ‘How do you sleep at night knowing that you poison people and scam them out of money?

‘So pretty but so rotten inside.’

One woman follower is highlighted saying that after following Lukyanova she ‘wanted to drink turpentine’.

‘I listen to myself now, and I am terrified,’ she said.

‘It saved me that I couldn’t find turpentine anywhere.

‘I tried her cocktails, not cocktails but smoothies, a garlic one, I literally vomited.

‘People mostly do it voluntarily, they sincerely believe [her] and are ready for anything….

‘People listen to [her advice] and put their lives at risk.’

An aide to this Barbie is called Anastasia who – despite having no medical education – is her proponent for cleaning the body of parasites.

Anastasia is also accused of threatening critics in the club, once saying: ‘If some bas**** says even a [negative] word regarding our cleansing, expresses doubt, I will flush you down the toilet, do you understand?

‘Or about me or Valeria.’

Konasova said: ‘What is scary, is that after these threats people are actually afraid to share the dark stuff that happens there.

‘This reminds me a lot of a sect.

‘Such sects should be banned and closed, so that Lukyanova and her accomplices stop making money from it.’

In 2014, Lukyanova arrived in Crimea to boost tourism to the region soon after it was annexed by Vladimir Putin.

‘I tend to cut off anything I don’t need,’ she said at the time.

‘The next step is to cut off Ukraine entirely, because all I get here is s***.

‘Why waste myself on this?’

She is now believed to be in Mexico.

For years, Lukyanova has denied having plastic surgery to create her distinctive looks – other than a boob job – while priding herself on her Barbie look which she put down to ‘Breatharianism’ – surviving on ‘cosmic micro-food’, otherwise known as air and light.

‘All genetics came to me from nature, except my breasts,’ she said.

‘I lost weight and, unfortunately, I have very small breasts.

‘I had to increase my size to feel like a normal girl.

‘But I didn’t subject myself to other plastic surgery.’

She claims to have out of body experiences which take her to other planets.

She explained: ‘I travelled to other planets, which are very far away.

‘They have not been discovered by our scientists, but they exist.

‘I communicated with extraterrestrial intelligence and beings and understood other universes.’

One commenter named Tatiana said: ‘The worst thing about Lukyanova’s sect is how it puts pressure on the psyche, keeping people at bay so they don’t tell anyone, advising dangerous things under the guise of health benefits.

‘As a healthy and seemingly sane person, I felt uneasy from what she was saying.

‘And at the same time, this is excellent bait for everyone who has various forms of eating disorders, because these people have a desire to cleanse themselves of everything ‘harmful’, and lose weight with all sorts of cleansing, despite the consequences for the body.’

Another called diamond2494 said: ‘I was in this sect and barely survived after such experiments.’

She followed Lukyanova’s advice and ended up with severe anaemia, she said. 

President Joe Biden is running for reelection, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reaffirmed Monday, after being pressed at a briefing over record inflation following a report featuring Democratic fretting about the president’s age.

Jean-Pierre began her response by mentioning limitations on what she can say about politics when speaking from the White House podium when asked directly if the president is running for reelection.  

‘He hasn’t – first of all, let’s let’s reset for a second,’ she began. ‘I cannot talk about elections. I cannot be a political analyst from here, or, you know, or the midterms or anything like that, including 2024. The President, as you know, has been asked that question many times, and he has answered it 

‘His answer has been pretty simple. Which is yes, he’s running for reelection. I can’t say more than that,’ she said.

Biden told ABC in December 2021 he would run if he’s ‘in good health.’ Asked if he would run against predecessor Donald Trump, he replied: ‘Why would I not run against Donald Trump as the nominee? That would increase the prospect of running.’

Jean-Pierre had a curt answer when asked about Biden’s consistently low approval ratings, which have dropped below 40 per cent.

‘The President’s focus on delivering for the American people that’s his focus right now,’ she said.

Biden’s approval rating stands at 39 per cent in the RealClearPolitics polling average. He has been underwater since August 2021, and now must confront record inflation, food shortages, gun violence, a war in Ukraine and a host of other issues, along with concerns about his age that party faithful might be more willing to overlook if he had better numbers heading into midterm elections where the party in power usually suffers losses. 

There was a new round of scrutiny about Biden’s age at the start of the week after the New York Times quoted a mix of rank-and-file Democrats and senior figures raising concerns about the issue as the mid-term elections approach.

The paper’s Sunday front page treatment of the subject that dogged Biden, 79, throughout his most recent presidential campaign, comes amid low approval ratings and fears among some Democrats that he remains vulnerable to a restoration effort by former President Donald Trump.

‘I need an equivalent of Ron DeSantis, a Democrat, but not a 70- or 80-year-old — a younger person,’ Maryland data analyst Alex Wyshyvanuk, 33, told the paper. ‘Someone who knows what worked for you in 1980 is not going to work for you in 2022 or 2024,’ he said.

DeSantis, 43, is the Florida governor who’s ability to grab headlines and rise in the polls has caught the attention of Trump’s circle. 

The paper also quoted a Democratic National Committee member from Florida, Steve Simionidis, saying Biden ‘should announce his intent not to seek re-election in ’24 right after the midterms.’

But the publication cited ‘deep concern’ about Biden’s political viability among dozens of officials who would not provide on-record comments. Biden would be 82 at the time of the next Inauguration Day. The airing of concerns comes at a time when the House Jan. 6 committee was busy laying out evidence gleaned from hundreds of interviews about Trump’s election overturn effort.

‘The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,’ said David Axelrod, 67, who helped propel Barack Obama’s ascent with a campaign that featured youghful energy and a ‘hope’ slogan. Obama was 47 when he took office, after failing to complete his first term in the Senate. 

The story set off a new round of speculation about Biden’s age, amid fretting that his age, amid record inflation, a war in Ukraine, and a now tumbling stock market  could imperil an effort to beat back Trump.

Axios chimed in with a story on the American gerontocracy, noting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82 and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer is 71.  

Even longtime commentator David Gergen, 80, told PBS NewsHour: ‘I think people like Biden and Trump ought to both step back and leave open the door to younger people.’

The Times has run similar pieces before, including one in 2019 where Democrats were fretting that the candidate, then 76, was ‘slow off the mark, uncertain about how to counterpunch,’ according to the paper, in a debate that featured then Sen. Kamala Harris. He went on to capture the nomination and win the presidency.

Biden has the powers of incumbency on his side, along with similar poll troubles for Vice President Kamala Harris, his 57 year old partner in office.

The Austrian capital of Vienna has been ranked as the world’s ‘most liveable city’, while Copenhagen and Melbourne followed close behind in The Economist’s annual rankings.

The list was dominated by Western European, Australian and Canadian cities, with nine of the top ten spots (taken by 11 cities) in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2023 Global Liveability Index. 

Only two cities outside of Europe, Australia and Canada made it onto the list – Osaka in Japan and Auckland in New Zealand. The cities came in joint 10th place.

The Economist ranked 173 cities on a variety of factors, including political stability, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. 

Authors said the latest liveability index showed that living conditions in cities across the world have fully recovered from the deterioration caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Big cities like London, Los Angeles and Stockholm have dropped in the annual ratings, with London losing 12 ranks to move to 46th place, Los Angeles losing 17 positions to 57th in the ranking and Stockholm losing 22 to land on the 43rd rank. 

Kyiv is back in the annual survey after it was forced out last year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the city ranks low in 165th place due to the instability and damaged infrastructure. 

Here, MailOnline takes a look at the top 10 ‘most liveable cities’: 

1. Vienna, Austria

Vienna, home to nearly two million people, topped the rankings in 2023 as the most liveable city with a score of 98.4 out of 100, as it did in 2022, 2019 and 2018.

With its mix of stability, good culture and entertainment, reliable infrastructure, and ‘exemplary’ education and health services, the Austrian city leads the ranking yet again, with only the Covid-19 pandemic causing the city to vacate its top spot.

Vienna is renowned for the glorious architecture of its imperial past with gilded palaces and decadent opera halls filled with classical music.

In addition to the stunning surroundings, it is known as ‘red Vienna’ for its left-wing tendencies and those who live there can expect good healthcare, stability, cheap public services and abundant social housing.

2. Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen had another perfect score for infrastructure, education and stability in this year’s Global Liveability – and an overall score of 98, the same as in 2022.

The city has kept its second place due to a low crime rate, due to Copenhagen’s focus on preventative initiatives. 

Copenhagen has a population of 1.3 million people, which is only a slight growth since last year for Denmark’s capital city.

Denmark became the first European Union country to lift all of its domestic Covid restrictions – meaning those living in the country could go back to life as normal and enjoy cultural events and restaurants again, which also helped Australian cities like Melbourne and Sydney to bounce back.

3. Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne has been a fixture in the top ten in the last few years and has yet again been Australia’s highest-ranking city with a score of 97.7.   

The great healthcare, education and infrastructure – which all got a score of 100 – has helped the city land the 3rd spot in the ranking.

The shift towards normality after the pandemic has helped Melbourne since seeing its healthcare score improve since last year, when they were still affected by the strain of the pandemic on the healthcare systems. 

Melbourne has moved up seven places in the ranking after placing a joint 10th with Osaka, Japan, last year. 

4.  Sydney, Australia

As the second most liveable city in Australia, Sydney scored a 97.4.

While the healthcare, education and infrastructure scores are just as perfect as those in Melbourne, the culture and environment lacks behind its Australian neighbour.

Nevertheless, the city is among the most liveable in the world and has banished European cities like Frankfurt and Amsterdam from the list after bouncing back after the pandemic.

Sydney has a population of 5.2million, which has grown by about 60,000 people since last year.

5. Vancouver, Canada

Canada also has two of its cities represented in the top 10 most liveable cities – and Vancouver was one of them with a score of 97.3, which even improved on last year’s score while the ranking in 5th place remained the same.

Perched on the west coast of Canada, Vancouver has the highest population in the country and is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities there – with 50 per cent of residents belonging to minority groups. 

Vancouver, one of the greenest cities in the world, is also one of the most expensive cities to live in.

The stability score in Vancouver is up compared to last year, when the city was impacted by anti-vaccine protests. 

6. Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich ranked third in the liveability index with a score of 97.1 – largely due to it being a safe and green city, which is also a major financial centre.

The mid-sized city is also extremely wealthy – and the index’s authors said that this combination meant that the city fared very well in the survey. 

The city has rebounded since the pandemic on the back of its stability, good infrastructure and services. 

The education score has risen from 2022 and now sits at 100.

7. Calgary, Canada and Geneva, Switzerland

Calgary dropped from 3rd position last year to a joint 7th place shared with Geneva, which also dropped down from 6th. Both scored 96.8. 

The cities scored best due to its citizens’ access to good healthcare and education, with Calgary scoring 100 on infrastructure and stability, but just a low 87.3 on culture and entertainment. 

Geneva beats the Canadian city in culture and entertainment, likely due to it being a financial centre and a centre for diplomacy due to it being the headquarters of many UN agencies. 

Geneva therefore ranked highly for its stability and infrastructure with 95.0 and 96.4 respectively.

9. Toronto, Canada

Toronto scored 96.5 overall and a perfect score of 100 for its healthcare and education in the index. 

The city’s 2.9million residents can visit iconic landmarks such as the CN tower and museums. 

The city also has diverse neighourhoods, each being a micro cultural hub with different restaurants and parks. 

Like Vancouver, the stability score in Toronto is also up compared to last year when the city was disrupted by anti-vaccine protests. 

10. Osaka, Japan and Auckland, New Zealand

Asia-Pacific cities have made some of the biggest gains in the liveability index, accounting for eight of top ten movers up the rankings as economies recover from the pandemic. 

Auckland has soared by 25 places to a shared 10th with Osaka, which already held this position in 2022. They share a score of 96.0.

Osaka was the only Asian city to land in the top 10 this year, while Auckland is only Zealandian city to make it.   

The strong stability and good infrastructure are the main charms of the two cities, supported by good healthcare and opportunities for culture and entertainment, although the latter is significantly higher in Auckland, while Osaka scored better for stability.

Another one of New Zealand’s cities moved up in the ranking, which Wellington gaining 35 places to rank 23rd.

Perth and Adelaide, both in Australia, came shared 12th place after moving up 21 and 19 ranks respectively. 

Among the cities moving down the ranking were UK cities Edinburgh (-23 for 58th place), Manchester (-16 for 44th place) and London (-12 for 46th place). 

Edinburgh was the biggest mover down in the ranking this year. While none of these cities has seen a particularly sharp decline in their index scores, but they have failed to ‘make the gains that many other cities—particularly those in Asia—have made in the past year’, the Economist analysts explained in their report.

Other European cities dominating the list of the top ten fallers down the ranking are Stockholm, Sweden, after losing 22 places to rank 43rd, Rotterdam, Netherlands, after losing 16 places to 44th and Lyon, France, after losing 12 places to 37th.

Western European cities have slipped down the rankings in the 2023 survey due to increased instances of workers’ strikes and civil unrest, which have hurt their stability ratings.

Damascus, Syria, and Tripoli, Libya, are still at the bottom of the list and are the least liveable cities, held back by social unrest, terrorism and conflict. 

However, while Damascus has seen no improvement since last year despite the regional political comeback of its president, Bashar al-Assad, scores for Tripoli and other cities in the bottom ten have improved as the pandemic has receded. 

Desperate family and friends of the five missing on the Titan submarine fear they are ‘losing time’ after ‘banging’ noises were picked up by sonar devices – but experts warn the crew has just 24 hours of breathable air left.

Rescue teams are racing against the clock three days after the deep-sea vessel disappeared near the wreck of the Titanic.

Loud banging noises had last night been detected in the search area, the US Coast Guard confirmed, but it added that initial attempts to locate the sub using underwater equipment had ‘yielded negative results’.

Nevertheless it sparked fresh hopes that the passengers onboard were alive and could be hitting the side of the craft with cups in a frantic attempt to be detected on sonar.

But at 12,500ft – nearly two-and-a-half miles – below the surface, there are possibly just two vessels on Earth capable of rescuing them.

Last night the US Coast Guard estimated the 22ft long OceanGate Expeditions vessel had just over 40 hours of oxygen left.

The five onboard, which includes British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, remain in the dark depths of the Atlantic, which experts have likened to ‘being in space’.

Shahzada Dawood, 48, his son Suleman, 19, OceanGate’s chief executive and founder Stockton Rush and French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet, are also stuck inside. 

Above the surface of the wreck five vessels remain on standby helping the frantic search efforts – with four more from the US Coast Guard on their way, including one boat filled with medical personnel, according to marine tracking data.

In a heartbreaking plea this morning, one of Mr Harding’s close friends Jannicke Mikkelsen warned ‘we are losing time’.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I’m nervous. I’m sick to my stomach with nerves. I’m terrified, I’m anxious. I’m not sleeping at the moment. I’m just hoping for good news. Every single second, every single minute feels like hours.’

Colonel Terry Virts, another friend who dubbed Mr Harding ‘the quintessential British explorer’, also stressed that ‘the clock is ticking’ to find the five onboard.

Meanwhile retired British navy rear admiral Chris Parry told LBC that hopes of finding the missing deep-sea vessel without an ’emitting signal’ will be ‘impossible’ to find in the timescale. 

It comes as:

• It emerged that OceanGate refused to put Titan through an independent inspection process;
• Machinery was flown into a Canadian airport to help with the ‘last chance’ rescue;
• And a friend of Mr Harding said he pulled out of the mission due to ‘safety concerns. 

Admiral Parry said: ‘I’m afraid the odds are vanishingly small. Obviously, we want to remain hopeful and optimistic but there are two problems here – one is actually finding the thing and secondly is how on earth are you going to get it off the seabed? 

‘It’s never been done before and I don’t think anybody’s got any ideas about how to do it at the moment.’ 

Scientist Dr Michael Guillen, who ‘almost died’ when visiting the Titanic wreck in 2000, said that the trapped crew could be using cups to bang on the side of the sub to communicate.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘If their hydrophone failed so early in the mission, less than two hours down which means they never made it to the bottom, the very least they could take their cups and bang it on the side of the sub.

‘That’s what I would do if I were down there and I am sure that’s what the pilot will be telling everybody.

‘They have five people, they can make quite a racket by just banging on the side as sound communicates extremely well in water.’

Dr Guillen added that when he heard the news it gave him ‘great hope that perhaps they’re still alive’.

Another friend of the British billionaire Chris Brown revealed he pulled out of the doomed voyage after becoming concerned about the quality of the technology and materials used in the vessel. 

The 61-year-old, who is also an explorer, told BBC Breakfast of the banging sounds: ‘That is just the sort of thing I would have expected Hamish to come up with.’

‘There’s always hope. As an explorer, you never give up anyway,’ he added.

The sounds, heard at 30-minute intervals, could be coming from those trapped within the submarine intensely banging on the vessel’s hull in order to be picked up by a sonar.

Sonobuoys in the ocean listen to sounds before transmitting the sonar sound energy – this most commonly referred to as a ‘ping’ that notifies the buoys at the surface. 

Rear Admiral John Mauger, who is helping coordinate the search, said yesterday that the submarine it could be stuck.

‘We don’t have equipment onsite that can do a survey of the bottom,’ he said.

‘There is a lot of debris, so locating it will be difficult. Right now, we’re focused on trying to locate it.’

Titan stopped transmitting signals on Sunday. It is supposed to send a sonar ‘ping’ (radar and GPS not functioning underwater) to mothership Polar Prince every 15 minutes, but the last one was at 9.45am – an hour and 45 minutes into the dive as it was floating right above the Titanic.

Speaking of the conditions in the depths of the ocean, Admiral Parry added: ‘It’s utterly dark down there, and you have also got a lot of mud and other stuff getting swept up. You can only see about 20ft in front of you with searchlights. There are very strong ocean currents which are pushing you along.’

Colonel Virts, a former commander of the International Space Station, told the Today programme he believes if the group ‘can be rescued they will be because of the amount of effort being put in’.

He added: ‘They’re in a tough situation and the clock is ticking. According to the company and submarines spec, by Thursday they will be out of oxygen.

‘So hopefully we get them up soon as the clock is ticking.’ 

‘The water is very deep – two miles plus. It’s like a visit to another planet. It is a sunless, cold environment and high pressure.’

Last night, search equipment was seen being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic to help with the frantic search, hours after the Canadian aircraft first detected the noises.

The bangs were first noted in an email exchange with the US Department of Homeland security – seen by Rolling Stone – but was later confirmed Coast Guard officials.

They said underwater noises were heard by a plane and operations were ‘relocated’ to determine the origin. As of early today, they have ‘yielded negative results’.

The memo, while did not reveal the timing or cause of the noises, read: ‘CC Halifax launched a P8, Poseidon, which has underwater detection capabilities from the air. 

It added that the aircraft had ‘reported a contact in a position close to the distress position’. ‘The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later additional sonar was deployed and banging was still heard.’

Rescue crews will now analyse the data further to help form a search plan into the deep Atlantic Ocean. 

As the search continues, OceanGate has continued to come under fire, with Admiral Parry slamming the company this morning claiming the submarine trip was ‘fundamentally dangerous’ and had ‘no back-up plan’. 

‘Why on earth you would go in a dodgy piece of technology where you actually have to sign away any right to sue the company for emotional damage, injury or death is beyond me’, he added.

‘It is fundamentally dangerous, there was no back-up plan, it’s experimental and I’m afraid to say there’s an element of hubris if you want to go down and do that.’ 

But a businessman who has previously made the deep-sea voyage to the wreck of the Titanic said he had confidence in the crews, adding ‘there’s a very good chance they will be found.’

Oisin Fanning told the BBC: ‘The two guys on the sub currently, so Paul and Stockton, are both consummate professionals.

‘I mean, to be honest, if I was in trouble, I’d want to be on a sub with them.’ 

Richard Garriott de Cayeux, president of The Explorers Club, said last night that ‘there is cause for hope.’

He said in a statement: ‘We have much greater confidence that 1) There is cause for hope, based on data from the field – we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site.’ 

Mr Garriott de Cayeux said he believed US Coast Guard was ‘doing everything possible with all resources they have’.

Mr Harding is a founding member of the board of trustees for The Explorers Club. 

The group said they have a direct lines to Congress, the Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy as well as the White House. 

If the mini-sub lost power, with no working propellers, lights or heating, its five passengers will be in total darkness in temperatures of around 3C (37F) as the craft rolls along the seabed.

Oceanographer Mr Gallo said: ‘Where is it? Is it on the bottom, is it floating, is it mid-water? That is something that has not been determined yet.’

For some reason, OceanGate Expeditions, the company that runs the tours of the Titanic, took eight hours to call the coastguard on Sunday. It was reported at 5.40pm, and Canada’s Coastguard was alerted even later, at 9.13pm.

OceanGate, which started dives to the Titanic in 2021, is now facing questions after it emerged the Titan previously suffered electrical damage and had to be rebuilt to withstand the deep seas.

The Titanic wreckage lies at 12,500ft, and Titan was one of the only craft in the world capable of reaching it. Even nuclear submarines cannot safely go that far down. Dive specialists are assisting in the ‘unique and challenging’ operation, said Captain Jamie Frederick from the US Coast Guard.

Standing on a dockside, he told reporters: ‘Getting salvage equipment on scene is a top priority. It is very heavy equipment, it is very complex, but the best experts are on scene. If the sub is located, the experts will look at the best course of action for recovering the sub.’

Among the equipment is a decompression chamber for the five passengers should they be brought to the surface.

Last night friend of Mr Harding, Mr Brown, also a thrill seeker who intended to join the group on the missing Titanic sub pulled out of the dive because he thought OceanGate was ‘cutting too many corners’, it has emerged.

He paid the deposit to go on the doomed voyage but said he changed his mind after becoming concerned by the quality of technology and materials used in the vessel, The Sun reported last night. 

Among his concerns were OceanGate’s use of ‘old scaffolding poles’ for the ballast and the fact that its controls were ‘based on computer game-style controllers’.

He told the newspaper that despite being ‘one of the first people to sign up for this trip’, he ultimately decided the ‘risks were too high’.

Mr Brown added he felt ‘really upset about Hamish’, who is among the five passengers on the submersible.

Mr Brown and Mr Harding signed up for the voyage after sharing a ‘few beers’ while holidaying on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island.

The pair paid the 10 per cent deposit for the trip, which has since more than doubled in price, while the Titan vessel was still being developed, he claimed.

But Mr Brown alleged that in the years that followed, he learned OceanGate had ‘missed key targets’ when depth-testing the submersible.

The multi-millionaire digital marketing tycoon found it concerning that the vessel was controlled by a modified Playstation controller.

He also is understood to have been worried by the technical issues and delays throughout the development process.

He told The Sun: ‘I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub’s ballast.

‘If you’re trying to build your own submarine you could probably use old scaffold poles. But this was a commercial craft.’

Mr Brown, who said he is ‘not one to shy away from risk’, eventually emailed OceanGate and asked for a refund.

He is worried for his friend but said Mr Harding is not the panicking type. He believes the billionaire is likely keeping ‘extremely calm’ and ‘processing plans, schemes and ideas through his enormous brain’.

He said his friend will be ‘giving hope’ to the other passengers.

A US Navy veteran warned of the chilling health effects of being trapped in a submarine just weeks before the Titanic tourism sub went missing, DailyMail.com can reveal.

In a scientific paper published in a medical journal last month, Dr. Dale Molé, the former director of undersea medicine and radiation health for the US Navy, detailed the ‘hostile’ environment onboard commercial submersibles, with passengers facing depleting oxygen supplies, toxic carbon dioxide levels and plummeting temperatures.

The Titan vessel that is still missing will have a carbon dioxide scrubber on board to remove excess toxic gas that builds up when passengers exhale in the confined space, but in most craft, those have a limited capacity.

A scrubbing system removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making the air safe to breathe. 

Speaking to DailyMail.com Tuesday, Molé said it is ‘very much’ a race against time to rescue the passengers, if they are not already dead from a ‘catastrophic rupture of the pressure vessel.’

He added: ‘Anytime humans are confined in an airtight space, most people may think of oxygen, but carbon dioxide is actually a bigger concern.

‘In a submersible, they’ll have some system of scrubbing carbon dioxide. If they lost battery power, then that system would no longer work.’

There is also a risk of hypothermia due to the low temperatures in the depths of the ocean, as well as hyperventilation induced by panic attacks, which can use up more valuable oxygen. 

It has also emerged that a Florida couple sued the Rush, CEO of the Titanic tourism company OceanGate Expeditions, accusing him of misleading them about their trip to visit the wreck and refusing to refund their $210,258 when they complained.

Marc and Sharon Hagle, who made their fortune in commercial real estate, are well known for their philanthropy and their adventurous spirit. In March 2022, they were on the fourth Blue Origin passenger space flight and became the first married couple to become space tourists.

In 2016, while on a trip to the South Pole, they decided their next adventure would be underwater. In 2017 they were announced as among the first customers for OceanGate, which was founded in 2009 by Seattle-born aviator and businessman Stockton Rush, now 61.

But they never got to take their trip, and in February this year sued Rush, accusing him of selling the adventure knowing it was not on schedule, and refusing to refund their cash. 

Liz Cheney says she has NOT ruled out running for president in 2024 and the most important issue is ‘protecting the nation from Donald Trump’

• Rep. Liz Cheney has not ruled out a presidential run in 2024 
• ‘I’ll make a decision about ’24 down the road,’ she said in an interview Sunday with ABC talk show This Week
• She added, ‘The single most important thing is protecting the nation from Donald Trump’ 
• Trump, who still holds outsize influence in the Republican Party, has discussed a potential new candidacy with increasing openness
• Some outlets reported he could announce a fresh bid for the White House as early as July  

By Afp

Published: 10:56 EDT, 4 July 2022 | Updated: 11:01 EDT, 4 July 2022

Ukraine’s western allies are ‘all running out’ of weapons to donate, the UK Defence Secretary has said, meaning they may have to buy more to keep Kyiv‘s forces supplied in the face of Russian aggression.

Ben Wallace said that while Western support for Ukraine remains steadfast, ‘we have seen reality, which is that we are all running out’ of defence equipment to donate. 

While Western weapons stockpiles may be dwindling, Russian forces are already lacking in much-needed equipment, he said, with a stark warning that: ‘if you punch Russian forces in the wrong place, they’ll collapse’.

The Defence Secretary was also confident about the progress of the Ukrainian forces, even suggesting that Ukraine could retake Crimea as early as this year in his interview with The Washington Post.

It comes after Rishi Sunak reiterated the UK’s unfaltering military support for Ukraine last week, as Britain sent its most potent non-nuclear missile, the Storm Shadow, to support the resistance against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

The donation made the UK the first Western country to offer long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, and added to the extensive variety of weapons gifted to Kyiv by the British government.

Britain has pledged tanks, missile launching systems, NLAW anti-tank weapons, tanks and drones to Ukraine.

The UK has so far committed £4.6 billion in arms, the second most of Ukraine’s allies behind the US ($37.6 billion).

It was reported last month that the US has so far sent weapons valued at about $21.1bn to from its stockpiles, including HIMARS launchers, Javelin anti-tank weapons and a surface-to-air missile system.

Mr Wallace’s assessment of existing munitions levels comes after strategic analyst Howard Wheeldon shared concerning analysis around Britain’s military capability earlier this week.

He told the Mail: ‘All credit to the UK government for its fast response and actions, but the sad fact is that after providing an unquantified number of probably time-expired Storm Shadow missiles, the UK has little else it can give.

‘The notion that we might also have been able to provide fast jet capability left much to be desired, for the simple reason we haven’t got enough to defend the UK and continue our international commitments.

‘When it comes to equipment capability and overall available capacity, we are a nation that, when it comes to defence, is already drained of available resource.’

A report published in March outlined that if donations to Ukraine continue at their current rate, it would take ten years for British weapon stocks to reach an acceptable level. 

Addressing the London Defence Conference last week, the Prime Minister said that the UK is committed to supplying Ukraine with weapons over the long-term.

Mr Sunak said: ‘We were the first country to provide [Ukraine] with main battle tanks and longer-range weapons, we’ve also helped with air defence and trained Ukrainian forces.

‘We’ve led the charge on making sure they’ve had the resources and we are going to be steadfast in our support of Ukraine. Our support is not going to go away.

‘Ukraine can count on its allies, particularly the UK, to continue supporting them. We are united.’

Mr Sunak added that Britain was ‘leading the conversation’ with its allies on what long-term agreements can be made with Ukraine to ensure the country’s security.

The Prime Minister also reiterated his ambition to increase UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP – but did not set a date for doing so.

A Congressional candidate whose ancestors were enslaved is calling on President Joe Biden to issue reparations of $2.8 million to qualified black Americans. 

Gregg Marcel Dixon is running a longshot primary challenge to unseat US Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat, in South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District.

‘This country owes reparations to black Americans, and if this country had done to you what it had done to black Americans, I would be right there fighting for you to get what you’re owed as well,’ he told Fox News Digital in an interview published on Wednesday.

Dixon proposes that federal reparations in the form of $2.8 million in cash bonds should be paid to Americans who both identify as black, and can trace their ancestry to people who were enslaved in the US prior to the Civil War.

He said that he believes Biden could issue reparations with an executive order reinstating the Freedmen’s Bureau, a federal agency that was tasked with assisting formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. 

‘That bureau has an unfinished job of repairing the great inequities that we see here in America, where Black Americans have been in this country longer than nearly all other ethnic groups,’ he told Fox News. ‘We’re at the bottom in terms of land and wealth and that’s because the job of reconstruction never finished.’ 

Dixon identifies as Gullah-Geechee, a black American ethnic group native to the southern sea islands, and says his family has resided in South Carolina’s Lowcountry since at least the mid 1700s.

He grew up in the home of his great-grandmother, who was herself raised by formerly enslaved ancestors, according to a campaign ad he posted on Twitter.

His great-grandmother Justine Brown, who died at 101 years old in 2015, grew up in the home of her grandfather, who was born enslaved in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1838, and died in 1930. 

‘We like to say slavery was a long time ago, but you are looking at a man who was raised in the same house with a woman who was raised by someone who was enslaved by America,’ he said.

Dixon, who garnered just 4.5 percent of the vote in the 2022 Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional Seat, said that reparations are a matter of paying a debt that is owed. 

‘It is not to fight against racism, it is not to punish white people, it is not race based,’ he said, comparing the issue to payments made to Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II. 

Dixon was critical of the Biden administration for failing to do more to tangibly help black Americans. 

‘He has no incentive to do for us because he knows no matter how awful he is, he is going to still get the majority of the black vote,’ he said. 

‘Black Americans don’t get any of that besides fish fries and feel-good dances and wearing Converse and listening to rap music— that’s all we get, and we allow that to the bottom, and we just give away our vote,’ added Dixon.

In March, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to reveal Biden’s stance on federal reparations for black descendants of slaves, saying the administration feels the issue is best left to Congress.

At a press briefing, a reporter asked Jean-Pierre where the Biden administration stands ‘on reparations for slavery, and segregation, and similar historic wrongs’ specifically affecting black people in the US.

‘We think Congress is the appropriate venue for consideration on such action, and so we’re going to leave it there for Congress to decide,’ she responded, referring to a recently re-introduced federal bill to study the reparations issue.

Rumors are swirling that former President Donald Trump could announce a third campaign for the White House on Monday night – but Trumpworld itself is at odds on whether he should wait until after the midterm elections, sources told DailyMail.com.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani believes he shouldn’t, he told DailyMail.com on Monday afternoon, arguing that what’s likely to be a strong Republican showing across the country is best left to speak for itself.

A separate source close to Trump’s orbit said the former president wants to announce tonight in order to take credit for the anticipated ‘red wave’ on Tuesday –  but said others are warning him that he ‘doesn’t want to be on the hook for surprise losses.’

Trump is holding his fourth MAGA rally in four days on Monday, appearing in Ohio alongside Senate GOP hopeful JD Vance. It’s his final push to help Republicans win back control of Congress for the last two years of President Joe Biden‘s term.

Giuliani, his ally and friend of more than three decades, has embarked on his own multi-state effort to bolster Republican midterm candidates and is broadcasting his WABC radio show from New Hampshire on Monday to cover its tight races.

In addition to predicting GOP victories there and other battleground states – and even the blue stronghold of New York – he’s also anticipating a certain Trump comeback in 2024.

‘I think he’s gonna run. In fact, I’m at a point where I’d be surprised if he didn’t,’ Giuliani said.

He declined to go into details of his personal conversations with Trump but noted he was ‘reading the tea leaves with the benefit of being his friend for 32 years.’

Asked whether Trump should go through with announcing it tonight, however, Giuliani advised against it.

‘Right now, I like where we are. I don’t think- it can always be a surprise, we could always be wrong, right? But if you asked me, could this be lined up better for a big Republican win? No. So leave it alone,’ the former Big Apple mayor explained. ‘Don’t add anything new to it.’

He said earlier that Republicans ‘could not be in a better position to win’ amid Americans’ overwhelming dissatisfaction with Democrats’ handling of the economy, noting that he was an early supporter of many of the same MAGA candidates Trump had since endorsed like Kari Lake in Arizona.

Taking that likely success into account, he said of Trump: ‘I would say short answer is, if I were him, I wouldn’t make an announcement tonight.’

However, the Trump ally suggested the ex-president has his support if and when he does announce.

‘He would be the only one to really get us where the American people simply long to be,’ Giuliani said. ‘They’re very upset because they’re not only in a very bad position right now financially, but they can they can compare it directly to where they were two years ago.’

Meanwhile, another Trumpworld source said they’re supportive of him announcing a 2024 at Monday night’s rally – and that the former president was ‘considering’ doing so.

‘He wants to announce, he wants to take credit for tomorrow. But there are people asking him to hold back,’ the source told DailyMail.com.

‘What they will try to tell them is, you don’t want to be on the hook if we have any surprise losses. 

‘My line of thinking and others’ on the other camp say, look, he doesn’t back down. He’s always followed his instincts and if his instincts tell him we’re gonna be ok in these places, go for it.’

Trump said at his last rally, in Miami, Florida on Sunday night, ‘I did much better the second time. And now, in order to make our country successful and glorious, I will probably have to do it again.’

Should the former president not run, however, Giuliani said Republicans are still in better shape to win back the White House than Democrats are to keep it.

He added his prediction that Biden would not run for a second term. The president has not said whether he intends to run again but officials around him have suggested that it’s highly likely.

‘If God forbid, something happened to the former president, or he made a decision not to run, I think we have- we’ve got a multitude of candidates,’ Giuliani said.

‘They’ve got nobody. They’ve got a president who can’t run. He’s not gonna I don’t care what they tell you. You’re not going to make it. He can’t make it off the stage, how’s he going to run?’

But the former mayor declined to say who he’d favor if Trump wasn’t an option in 2024.

‘I wouldn’t even begin to guess about that,’ Giuliani said. ‘I just know I like that we’ve got a lot of choices.’ 

Trump’s former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday her former boss should wait until after the Georgia runoff next month to announce a run for president – and implied he should stay out of Georgia and let Ron DeSantis do the stumping for Republicans. 

‘I know there’s a temptation to starting talking about 2024 — no, no, no, no, no,’ McEnany said on Wednesday’s edition of ‘Outnumbered.’

‘2022 is not over. Every Republican energy needs to go to grinding the Biden agenda to a halt, and that could go straight through the state of Georgia.’ 

Pressed by host Harris Faulkner on if that meant Trump delaying his reelection announcement, she said: ‘I think he needs to put it on pause, absolutely.’

McEnany refused to say whether Trump should appear with Walker in the Peach State in the run-up to December 6.  

Asked by Faulkner whether the former president should go to Georgia, McEnany replied: ‘I think we’ve got to make strategic calculations. Gov. DeSantis, I think he should be welcome to the state, given what happened last night. You’ve got to look at the realities on the ground.’ 

Georgia’s Senate race is expected to head to a runoff on Dec. 6 after neither candidate breached the 50 percent threshold, per the state’s election law.  Incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock holds a slight edge over Republican Herschel Walker. 

During an election eve Ohio rally for J.D. Vance, Trump turned the midterm spotlight back onto himself by revealing he would have a ‘major announcement’ next week on Nov. 15. 

Trump insiders said the former president was gunning to announce his run before the midterm elections. Many urged him to wait, in part to avoid turning the election into a referendum on him and partly to avoid blame should Republicans underperform on Tuesday. 

But the former president was eager to piggyback off expected GOP momentum. But that excitement has waned, as conservatives underperform their expectations. Many now blame Trump for launching unelectable candidates to the forefront on primaries and placing fealty to him and his election fraud claims above likability and policy proposals. 

On Wednesday Trump acknowledged Tuesday’s results were ‘disappointing’ for Republicans but counted them as a win for himself. 

‘While in certain ways yesterday’s election was somewhat disappointing, from my personal standpoint it was a very big victory – 219 WINS and 16 Losses in the General – Who has ever done better than that? 

Trump shot Walker to the front of the primary by backing him, even as he attacked Georgia’s GOP Gov. Brian Kemp and Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger for not toeing the line on his election fraud claims. Both Kemp and Raffensperger won with a comfortable lead over their opponents, suggesting a large number of ticket splitters could not bring themselves to vote for Trump-backed Walker. 

Some Republicans are now gunning for a new leader of their party, and all eyes, including McEnany’s, are now turning to Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis after his successful re-election bid. 

‘This was the single best case I have heard someone make for the GOP in quite some time,’ McEnany, a Florida native, said of DeSantis’ victory speech on Fox. 

‘[Trump] will make that decision, he’ll make his own decision,’ McEnany said. ‘If I’m advising any contender, DeSantis, Trump, whomever, no one announces 2024 until we get through Dec. 6.’ 

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Johnson emerged victorious over his Democratic rival Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin, as all major news networks called the race by Wednesday afternoon. Now the Senate hangs at a 48-48 balance. Alaska is sure to notch a GOP win – though ranked choice voting there pit incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski against Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka. 

Arizona is tilting toward Democrats, though the race is still too close to call, while Nevada is leaning in favor of Republican Adam Laxalt. If trends hold, fate of the upper chamber will come down to the wire after another excruciating month of campaigning for Georgia’s runoff races. 

The control of the House was also in the balance in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the Democrats performed better than expected. Many House races have not yet been called, but Republicans are up 203-174.  

In Pennsylvania, Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz lost the currently Republican-held Senate seat to Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. 

Trump was said to be ‘livid’ this morning and ‘screaming at everybody’ after a lackluster performance by Republicans in the midterms – and is even rumored to be blaming his wife Melania for advising him to endorse defeated Pennsylvania candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz. 

‘Trump is indeed furious this morning, particularly about Mehmet Oz, and is blaming everyone who advised him to back Oz — including his wife, describing it as not her best decision, according to people close to him,’ the well-sourced New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted. 

She continued: ‘There are people pushing Trump to reschedule his announcement next week, and several Rs have texted asking whether he will, but it’s risky and would be acknowledging he’s wounded by yesterday, something that some of his advisers insist is not the case.’ 

CNN’s Jim Acosta cites an unnamed adviser who said the president is ‘livid’ and ‘screaming at everybody’ today after last night’s underwhelming Republican results. 

Taylor Budowich, Trump’s spokesperson, told DailyMail.com such reports were ‘completely fake’ this morning. 

Acosta cites an unnamed adviser who said he is ‘screaming at everybody’ today. 

He also took credit for Ron DeSantis 2018 win, saying he ‘was not going to be a factor’ in the race before his endorsement. 

‘He was not going to be able to even be a factor in the race. And as soon within moments, the race was over. 

‘I got him the nomination. He didn’t get it. I got it, because the minute I made that endorsement, he got it.’ 

Duncan, the Lt. Gov of Georgia, said Republicans would have had better success with a different pool of candidates.  

‘It turns out Mitch McConnell knew what he was talking about with candidate quality,’ he said, referring to McConnell’s prediction in August that poor quality would impact the result. 

‘If they would have just woke up 12 months ago, and stopped taking his lead and took the lead of what real Republican, real conservative policies meant and mattered, we’d be in a different place.

‘I wouldn’t want to be the one delivering him the news last night or this morning as to what the results of the candidates they supported and poured money into were, it’s time to turn the page.

‘I’m ready to move on. Who knows. Donald Trump is moving from a movement to a distraction for the Republican Party now.