Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s obvious impatience over Nato’s slow-moving decision-making process has reportedly irritated US officials enough that they reconsidered Ukraine’s invitation to join the alliance. For months, Mr Zelensky has appealed to Nato leaders hoping they would accept his country’s application to join the alliance as they fight off Russian troops. But Nato countries have been reluctant – not wanting to rock the boat too much with Russia during the middle of the war. Then, after Nato countries failed to deliver a specific timeline to Mr Zelensky on Nato membership before the summit this week, Mr Zelensky’s frustration resulted in a more aggressive approach in the form of a tweet. “It’s unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership. While at the same time vague wording about "conditions" is added even for inviting Ukraine. It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance,” Mr Zelensky wrote on Tuesday. “This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror.” He added: “Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.” Mr Zelensky’s strong message was a clear response to Nato’s unspecific and vague statement regarding Ukraine’s membership: “We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine when allies agree and conditions are met” However the Ukrainian’s message to Nato leaders left US officials feeling particularly “furious”, a source familiar with the situation told The Washington Post. Several US officials allegedly questioned whether the alliance should get rid of the passage which Mr Zelensky found “absurd”, The Post reported. The US has already given Ukraine more than $75bn in assistance. Most recently the Pentagon announced that they had sent the controversial cluster munitions to assist in Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Despite the hiccup, byy the end of the Nato summit on Wednesday, Mr Zelesnky had come to Nato’s accept decision calling it a “significant security victory” while still reiterating the preferred outcome would be an invitation to join Nato. Read More Pentagon says cluster munitions have arrived in Ukraine The Nato summit was not the triumph that Zelensky hoped it would be Nato could have sent a stronger signal on Ukraine’s future – Iain Duncan Smith Pentagon says cluster munitions have arrived in Ukraine Senators renew effort to bar future US withdrawal from Nato Republican senator should drop his 'irresponsible' protest and OK military nominees, Biden says

There is no evidence to suggest using Facebook is detrimental to wellbeing, Oxford scientists have said, challenging the view that the social media platform is linked to psychological harm. Researchers from the University’s Oxford Internet Institute analysed data from nearly a million people across 72 countries over 12 years – in the largest study of its kind – to understand more about the impact of Facebook on wellbeing. Professor Andrew Przybylski, who co-led the research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, said: “We examined the best available data carefully – and found they did not support the idea that Facebook membership is related to harm – quite the opposite. “In fact, our analysis indicates Facebook is possibly related to positive well-being.” The research looked at Facebook data from 2008 to 2019, going back to when the platform was in its early stages. “We examined 72 countries’ per capita active Facebook users in males and females in two age brackets, 13-34 years and 35+ years,” the researchers said. The results also showed the association between using Facebook and wellbeing was slightly more positive for males as well as for younger people. Writing in the research paper, the authors said: “Although reports of negative psychological outcomes associated with social media are common in academic and popular writing, evidence for harms is, on balance, more speculative than conclusive.” Professor Matti Vuorre, also of the Oxford Internet Institute, who co-led the study, said: “Our findings should help guide the debate surrounding social media towards more empirical research foundations. “We need more transparent collaborative research between independent scientists and the technology industry to better determine how, when and why modern online platforms might be affecting their users.” Commenting on the study, Peter Etchells, professor of psychology and science communication at Bath Spa University, said: “This is a fascinating study that attempts to link Facebook uptake with measures of mental wellbeing in a broad-strokes manner, using data from over 70 countries. “Contrary to popular sentiment, the researchers didn’t find a negative association between the two; instead, it was generally the case that there were positive associations between country-level Facebook uptake and mental wellbeing. “To my mind, the value in this study lies in proof of principle – it demonstrates that it’s possible to leverage industry data to address meaningful questions about how digital technology interacts with our mental health.” But Prof Etchells said there were some caveats associated with the findings – which the study authors have addressed. He said: “This is a descriptive study, and as such cannot tell us anything about causation – that is, we don’t know how, if, or to what extent, changes in Facebook adoption drive changes in mental wellbeing. “Wellbeing is a complex phenomenon, and even in the context of social media use, we need to be careful drawing any firm conclusions by looking at how people use a single platform such as Facebook.” Read More Move fast and beat Musk: The inside story of how Meta built Threads Japan's tech investor SoftBank trims losses and promises offensive turnaround Chatbots sometimes make things up. Not everyone thinks AI's hallucination problem is fixable Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

The former president's offer comes at a time when he is already planning to make a significant appearance on Capitol Hill in the near future

At least eight people have died after two Russian missiles hit a residential building in east Ukraine, on the same day Vladimir Putin has ordered the state-owned defence conglomerate to produce more attack drones. Five people, including four civilians and one emergency official, were killed after the rockets hit an apartment complex in the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region on Monday, Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. At least 31 more have been injured, as videos from outside the building show emergency services rescuing people trapped under the rubble and treating the wounded. Writing on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed “Russia will be held accountable for everything it has done in this terrible war”. It came as the UK’s Foreign Office told The Independent it was reviewing its sanctions on Russia after a dramatic intervention from Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska condemning loopholes that allow Moscow to fund its invasion. Speaking to Independent TV from Kyiv’s presidential compound, Ms Zelenska called for an urgent crackdown on such trade to strangle Moscow’s funds. Read More Chris Christie gifted Zelensky handwritten Jon Bon Jovi lyrics Moment Russian drone nearly hits Ukrainian evacuation car Russia blasts Saudi Arabia talks on ending war in Ukraine after Moscow gets no invitation to attend

Racist text messages between members of a San Francisco Bay Area police department were the subject of a Friday court hearing on possible violations of a state law aimed at stamping out racism in the criminal justice system

A cannabis operation in Cardiff was discovered when a man who tried to steal drugs was murdered.

By Brad Brooks LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) -A prolonged heat wave blanketed a swath of the U.S. stretching from California to

Disgraced French prop Mohamed Haouas will play for second tier Biarritz next season after he and Top 14 outfit Clermont came to a severance agreement...

Taiwan’s exports plunged in June at the fastest pace since 2009, exacerbating concerns about the slump in global

The pilot of a $100 million stealth fighter jet parachuted safely into the backyard of a home in South Carolina after a malfunction forced him to eject from the aircraft, causing the plane to crash into a wooded area about 60 miles away

Troubled trucking company Yellow Corp. is shutting down and filing for bankruptcy, the Teamsters said Monday

South Korea says North Korea has launched a ballistic missile toward the North’s eastern waters