The United States has enacted sanctions against Moscow in relation to its 2016 election meddling and at least two previous cyberattacks. The sanctions target 19 individuals and five organisations, focusing primarily on the Russian intelligence services, including the FSB and its military intelligence wing, GRU. Russia has promised to announce its response “soon”. Soviet double agents the world round are no doubt avoiding park benches and the free food samples at the store.

Rex Tillerson has not yet had time to find a box for his things before President Donald Trump had announced another high-profile firing. This time, National Security Adviser HR McMaster. White House sources indicated that McMaster clashed with Trump over “personality and style“, because one of them was a witless reptile and the other a distinguished military veteran.

A footbridge in Miami collapsed late on Thursday, killing at least four people. The walkway connected student housing with a local university. Less than a week old, the bridge’s collapse raises major concerns over the standard to which it was built. 

Step aside Elon Musk, Australia has a new battery. British billionaire businessman Sanjeev Gupta – hopefully no relation – has built the world’s largest battery in South Australia. The 120MW/140MWh behemoth was designed in order to support a new solar farm. This dwarfs Musk’s 100MW/129MWh battery. However, not to be outdone, Musk switched over to rolling out solar panels to over 50,000 homes in Australia.

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