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With Marriages Declining in Japan, Tokyo’s Government Is Building Its Own Dating App
2024-06-07T18:12:00+00:00
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UN secretary general makes plea for nuclear states to agree on mutual pledge not to be first to use nuclear weapons
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that the spread of artificial intelligence technology multiplies the threat of nuclear war, and that humanity is now “on a knife’s edge” as dangers to its existence coalesce.
Guterres’s warning is due to be shown on a recorded video to be played on Friday morning at the annual meeting of the US Arms Control Association (ACA) in Washington.
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The US Justice Department has dismantled an enormous botnet:
According to an indictment unsealed on May 24, from 2014 through July 2022, Wang and others are alleged to have created and disseminated malware to compromise and amass a network of millions of residential Windows computers worldwide. These devices were associated with more than 19 million unique IP addresses, including 613,841 IP addresses located in the United States. Wang then generated millions of dollars by offering cybercriminals access to these infected IP addresses for a fee...
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Democracy campaigners welcome move by Lord Sumption and Lord Collins, who cited political situation in statement
Two of the last remaining British judges to sit on Hong Kong’s top court have resigned, with one citing the political situation in the former colony.
Lawrence Collins and Jonathan Sumption, former UK supreme court justices, announced their resignations on Thursday. “I have resigned from the court of final appeal because of the political situation in Hong Kong, but I continue to have the fullest confidence in the court and the total independence of its members,” Lord Collins said.
Continue reading...Microsoft recently caught state-backed hackers using its generative AI tools to help with their attacks. In the security community, the immediate questions weren’t about how hackers were using the tools (that was utterly predictable), but about how Microsoft figured it out. The natural conclusion was that Microsoft was spying on its AI users, looking for harmful hackers at work.
Some pushed back at characterizing Microsoft’s actions as “spying.” Of course cloud service providers monitor what users are doing. And because we expect Microsoft to be doing something like this, it’s not fair to call it spying...
Sanmu Chen appeared to write the date of massacre in the air as anniversary becomes increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong
Hong Kong police detained an artist on Monday night after he appeared to write “8964” in the air with his hand, a reference to the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre, hours before Tuesday’s 35th anniversary.
Public acknowledgment of the events of 4 June 1989, when Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people – is banned in mainland China and increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Defeats for ruling Bharatiya Janata party in Uttar Pradesh highlight underbelly of malcontent over inequality and lack of jobs
A few weeks before the election that weakened Narendra Modi’s grip on India, the rich, powerful and beautiful descended on his home state of Gujarat. The occasion was what one Indian writer described as “likely the most ostentatious pre-wedding ceremony the modern world has ever seen”.
In March, to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump flew in. So did the entertainment: Rihanna and Akon. The airport near the venue was supposed to be reserved for India’s armed forces but the media reported that the authorities had granted special permission for non-military jets to land.
Continue reading...We would like to hear from British Indians across the UK about their thoughts on the election result in India
We would like to hear from British Indians across the UK about their reaction to the election result in India declared on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) retained power in the national elections by winning the most seats, but not enough to pass the 272 parliamentary majority mark. Modi was forced to rely on coalition partners to return to power.
The opposition alliance, which goes by the acronym INDIA, collectively won more than 230 of the total 543 seats.
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Smaller allies emerge as powerful kingmakers in effort to form government before swearing in of PM
Narendra Modi is facing the first test of coalition politics after losing his outright majority in the Indian election, with smaller coalition allies emerging as powerful kingmakers in the formation of the government.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won the most seats in the election results declared on Tuesday, but not enough to pass the 272 parliamentary majority mark, forcing it to rely on coalition partners to return to power.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: After pollsters and pundits predicted a sweeping victory that never came, is India’s prime minister entering his final act in politics?
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition
Good morning.
For months, the consensus was that India’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) was going to win a thumping majority in the general election. A few days ago, exit polls indicated the BJP was going to secure a sweeping victory, and could even gain seats to win a two-thirds majority in parliament. The party’s confidence came through most clearly in its highly publicised goal of winning 400 seats.
Israel-Gaza war | At least 30 Palestinians including five children have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a UN school housing displaced people in al-Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, medical officials have said, with dozens more wounded. The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted a UN school in al-Nuseirat, saying it had been housing Hamas terrorists from the 7 October attack on Israel who were planning further attacks.
Wales | The Welsh first minister, Vaughan Gething, has lost a no-confidence vote less than 12 weeks after taking office, following a series of scandals that have called into question his judgment and transparency.
General election 2024 | The UK Statistics Authority has opened an investigation into remarks made by Rishi Sunak about the economy “going gangbusters” amid concerns that politicians could misuse economic data in the run-up to the election. The watchdog’s intervention came soon after the chair of the organisation began a review of Sunak’s claim that the Treasury calculated that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 for everyone if it won the election.
Climate crisis | Fossil fuel companies are the “godfathers of climate chaos” and should be banned in every country from advertising akin to restrictions on big tobacco, the secretary general of the United Nations has said while delivering dire new scientific warnings of global heating.
NHS | A cyber-attack thought to have been carried out by a Russian group has forced London NHS hospitals to resurrect long-discarded paper records systems in which porters hand-deliver blood test results because IT networks are disrupted.
Continue reading...Strongman-style leader set for historic third term but with authority diminished after loss of majority
Narendra Modi has secured the backing of his political allies in order to form a government and is expected to be sworn in over the weekend, after a dramatic election in which his party failed to secure an outright majority.
At a meeting in Delhi after Tuesday’s shock results, parties in the National Democratic Alliance, which is led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), pledged their support to Modi and backed his return as prime minister for a historic third term. “We, the leaders of the NDA, unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader,” the party leaders said in a resolution.
Continue reading...Anger at rampant unemployment, stagnant wages and inflation led to surprise losses in Uttar Pradesh
It was less than six months ago that Narendra Modi walked solemnly through the ornate surroundings of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and one of its most politically crucial. His appearance in the holy city to inaugurate the newly constructed Hindu temple, built on the ruins of a mosque demolished two decades earlier, was cast as the pinnacle of the prime minister’s decade in power – the crowning glory of his Hindu nationalist agenda and his ticket to a third term in office. The ceremony was deemed to mark the unofficial launch of his election campaign.
But on Tuesday evening Modi was faced with a rude awakening. His Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which has ruled India with an iron grip for a decade, has lost its majority as a single party and will have to rely on coalition partners to return to government. The losses were particularly heavy in Uttar Pradesh, long considered to be the BJP’s bastion – and nowhere more so than in Ayodhya.
Continue reading...Latest results reveal unexpected blow to PM, forcing negotiation with coalition partners to regain power
Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.
With all votes counted early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in polls had not materialised and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country.
Continue reading...Uncrewed Chang’e-6 lander is carrying rock and soil samples in ‘very important achievement’ after lunar liftoff
China’s uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe is on its way back to Earth carrying the first samples from the far side of the moon, in a major achievement for Beijing’s space programme.
The probe landed on the lunar surface on Sunday, within one of the oldest craters on the moon – the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin – then spent two days gathering rock and soil samples using its drill and robotic arm.
Continue reading...Critics label as ‘absurd’ idea from government-backed thinktank as country seeks to address population decline
A government thinktank in South Korea has sparked anger after suggesting that girls start primary school a year earlier than boys because the measure could raise the country’s low birthrate.
A report by analysts at the Korea Institute of Public Finance said creating a one-year age gap between girls and boys at school would make them more attractive to each other by the time they reached marriageable age.
Continue reading...Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to predict that artificial intelligence will affect every aspect of our society. Not by doing new things. But mostly by doing things that are already being done by humans, perfectly competently.
Replacing humans with AIs isn’t necessarily interesting. But when an AI takes over a human task, the task changes.
In particular, there are potential changes over four dimensions: Speed, scale, scope and sophistication. The problem with AIs trading stocks isn’t that they’re better than humans—it’s that they’re faster. But computers are better at chess and Go because they use more sophisticated strategies than humans. We’re worried about AI-controlled social media accounts because they operate on a superhuman scale...
A court in the Philippines has banned the commercial growth of golden rice, a genetically modified rice which was created to help tackle vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. It’s just the latest twist in a long and controversial journey for this rice. Ian Sample hears from the Observer science and environment editor, Robin McKie, and from Glenn Stone, a research professor of environmental science at Sweet Briar College in Virginia who is also an anthropologist who has studied golden rice, about why it has taken so long for this potentially life-saving technology to reach the fields, if it is the silver bullet so many had hoped for, and whether this ban is really the end of the story
Continue reading...Residents living near the volcano have been ordered to evacuate as authorities warn of further eruptions
Authorities in the Philippines have ordered residents living near Kanlaon volcano in the country’s west to evacuate, after an eruption sent a 5km (three mile) plume of ash into the sky.
The six-minute explosive eruption on Monday caused a “strong earthquake” and prompted the suspension of work and schools in nearby Canlaon City, while three airlines cancelled 32 flights on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Found guilty on 34 counts by a New York jury, Trump might find himself campaigning behind bars.
The post These Convictions Thwart Trump’s Plan to Pardon Himself appeared first on The Intercept.
“It’s hard to see this wildly disproportionate response as anything other than an attempt to chill speech on this issue.”
The post Columbia Coincidentally Rewrites Disciplinary Rules Just in Time to Screw Over Student Protesters appeared first on The Intercept.
All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
The post The Little-Known Reason Counties Keep Building Bigger Jails: Architecture Firms appeared first on The Intercept.
Deterrence policy against asylum seeker boats is under strain, with three vessels arriving in a week in May
The number of asylum seekers on Nauru appears to have topped 100, with a further two groups of 37 people sent to the Pacific Island.
The people, classified as “unauthorised maritime arrivals”, include 33 Bangladeshis who were found on Christmas Island on 9 May, one of who is a woman. Their boat was destroyed by bad weather.
Continue reading...Kuo Chiu, known as KC to his friends, teaches urban design at Tunghai University in Taiwan. He’s also one of many of the country's citizens who practises rifle skills in his spare time, in case of a Chinese invasion.
The population of Taiwan has long grown familiar with Beijing’s pledge to one day ‘unify’ what it claims is a breakaway province. But recently, there has been a significant increase in aggressive and intimidatory acts.
Taiwan’s 160,000 active military personnel are vastly outnumbered by China’s 2 million-member armed forces, leading many civilians to turn to voluntary medical and combat training to protect themselves.
The Guardian's video team spent time with KC to see how he is preparing
Continue reading...Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
Tinned chickpeas are flying off the shelves at Tesco. Vegan influencer Christina Soteriou and child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed explain why – and share their tips for recipes and moreish snacks
“Chickpeas are flying off the shelves, so our priority is making sure they’re always available when customers want them,” says Ashley Wainaina, Tesco’s canned pulses buyer. “We’ve even changed our stocking system to make it more efficient, so we can keep up with demand.”
As the UK’s largest food retailer, Tesco is helping customers make better choices when they shop by highlighting better foods, such as snacks containing under 100 calories or foods that are high in fibre or low in sugar, through its Better Baskets campaign. Chickpeas are loaded with protein and fibre, they’re filling, a third of a tin counts as one of your five a day, and they can be cooked in a plethora of different ways. They’ve been eaten for millennia across the Middle East, India and the Mediterranean, and their popularity has soared here recently, too.
Continue reading...We know turbulence is a common part of flying – but are some routes more prone? And where is it the worst? Turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries to crew and passengers and after the fatal Singapore Airlines incident and injuries to passengers above Turkey on a Qatar Airways flight, you might be wondering if flights are about to get bumpier. Incidents of severe turbulence are on the rise – increasing by 55% between 1979 and 2020 – and the climate crisis is thought to be a responsible factor
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Continue reading...Ban Khun Samut Chin, a coastal village in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, has been slowly swallowed by the sea over the past few decades. This has led to the relocation of the school and many homes, resulting in a dwindling population. Currently, there are only four students attending the school, often leaving just one in each classroom. The village has experienced severe coastal erosion, causing 1.1-2km (0.5-1.2 miles) of shoreline to disappear since the mid-1950s
Continue reading...Lauren Mechling and Madeleine Aggeler debate whether getting fit with friends is fun – or absolutely dreadful
Some think working out is best with a friend; others couldn’t think of anything worse. Guardian US writers Lauren Mechling and Madeleine Aggeler debate: is it best to sweat alone or with others?
Continue reading...Spending your weekends watching the kids while your other half heads out on another training ride? You’re not alone. Meet the Lycra widows and widowers picking up the slack
‘He’s treated like a hero when he does marathons,” says Julia. “But once, while we were watching him cross the finishing line, my aunt leaned over and said: ‘You deserve the medal, for doing everything behind the scenes, so he can do all that training.’”
From 5Ks to Ironman races, most people will have a friend, colleague or family member who is training for some kind of fitness challenge. The odd parkrun isn’t enough to merit kudos these days – the bar is set somewhere around “triathlon”. But what about the Lycra widows and widowers who solo-parent, fix bikes, sleep in cars while “crewing”, and diligently stick chicken in the air fryer five times a day to support their sport-mad partners? Where’s their “me-time” after they’ve done bedtime for the 11th day in a row because their partner has been out on a six-hour training ride?
Continue reading...Technology was once simply a tool—and a small one at that—used to amplify human intent and capacity. That was the story of the industrial revolution: we could control nature and build large, complex human societies, and the more we employed and mastered technology, the better things got. We don’t live in that world anymore. Not only has technology become entangled with the structure of society, but we also can no longer see the world around us without it. The separation is gone, and the control we thought we once had has revealed itself as a mirage. We’re in a transitional period of history right now...
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The draconian restrictions on asylum-seekers owe a lot to Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, but the path was paved by Democrats.
The post Joe Biden’s Cruel Border Shutdown Follows in Clinton and Obama’s Footsteps Too appeared first on The Intercept.
UN secretary general makes plea for nuclear states to agree on mutual pledge not to be first to use nuclear weapons
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has warned that the spread of artificial intelligence technology multiplies the threat of nuclear war, and that humanity is now “on a knife’s edge” as dangers to its existence coalesce.
Guterres’s warning is due to be shown on a recorded video to be played on Friday morning at the annual meeting of the US Arms Control Association (ACA) in Washington.
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This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Clarence Thomas, read our full report:
As Joe Biden wrapped up his speech, he said the rangers who stormed Pointe du Hoc would want Americans to believe in the importance of democracy.
“I stand here today as the first President to come to Pointe du Hoc when none of those 225 brave men who scaled this cliff on D-day are still alive,” the president said.
So, listen to the echoes of their voices. To hear them, because they are summoning us, and they’re summoning us now.
They ask us, what will we do? They’re not asking us to scale these cliffs, they’re asking us to stay true what America stands for. They’re not asking us to give or risk our lives, but they are asking us to care for others in our country more than ourselves. They’re not asking us to do their job. They’re asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up (to) aggression abroad and at home, to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin’s aggression here in Europe today? They stormed the beaches alongside their allies. Does anyone believe these rangers want America to go alone today?
They fought to vanquish a hateful ideology the 30s and 40s. Does anyone doubt they wouldn’t move heaven and earth to vanquish hateful ideologies of today? These rangers put mission and country above themselves. Does anyone believe they would exact any less from every American today?
Continue reading...US president urges today’s Americans to defend democracy, with apparent reference to Putin and Trump
Joe Biden has said that the heroes of D-day would have wanted today’s Americans to stand up to aggression “abroad and at home”, in what appeared to be a reference to both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
Biden pointed to the looming threats to democracy in remarks he made at the Pointe du Hoc in France, where US Rangers scaled the cliffs in a pivotal moment in the D-day landings 80 years ago.
Continue reading...Defeats for ruling Bharatiya Janata party in Uttar Pradesh highlight underbelly of malcontent over inequality and lack of jobs
A few weeks before the election that weakened Narendra Modi’s grip on India, the rich, powerful and beautiful descended on his home state of Gujarat. The occasion was what one Indian writer described as “likely the most ostentatious pre-wedding ceremony the modern world has ever seen”.
In March, to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump flew in. So did the entertainment: Rihanna and Akon. The airport near the venue was supposed to be reserved for India’s armed forces but the media reported that the authorities had granted special permission for non-military jets to land.
Continue reading...Siwei Lyu of the DeepFake-o-meter explains how to tell when photos, videos and audio aren’t real
You – a human, presumably – are a crucial part of detecting whether a photo or video is made by artificial intelligence.
There are detection tools, made both commercially and in research labs, that can help. To use these deepfake detectors, you upload or link a piece of media that you suspect could be fake, and the detector will give a percent likelihood that it was AI-generated.
Continue reading...Activists suing the Biden administration over Gaza policy are demanding the judge recuse himself over the sponsored trip.
The post A Federal Judge Visited Israel on a Junket Designed to Sway Public Opinion. Now He’s Hearing a Gaza Case. appeared first on The Intercept.
With high levels of people seeking asylum, and after failed attempts to pass reforms, Biden has presented his most aggressive restrictions yet
Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an aggressive new immigration order suspending asylum rights, signalling that “securing the border” was a central tenet of his re-election bid.
At the southern US border, the policy is set to cause chaos and hardship for those seeking the protection of the United States.
Continue reading...1 min: No pitch invaders yet, so that’s a plus point for Wembley’s security team.
England kick off. The atmosphere is polite.
Continue reading...War in Gaza, Russian attacks in Kyiv, voting in Mexico and D-day commemorations: the last seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing
Continue reading...Move comes after Russian hack on Monday which continues to cause serious disruption to NHS care
Hospitals in London have had to cancel cancer operations this week because of a Russian cyber-attack that continues to cause serious disruption to NHS services in the capital.
St Thomas’ and King’s College hospitals have postponed procedures that their surgeons were due to perform on cancer patients since the attack began last Monday, the Guardian can reveal.
Continue reading...US president says sorry for ‘weeks of not knowing’, referring to members of Congress holding up a $61bn aid package
Joe Biden has apologised publicly to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for the months of delay in American military assistance that allowed Russia to make gains on the battlefield, and announced a further $225m (£177m) in military aid to Ukraine.
Meeting Zelenskiy in Paris on Friday, the US president told him: “You haven’t bowed down, you haven’t yielded at all, you continue to fight in a way that is … just remarkable. We are not going to walk away from you.”
Continue reading...Amelia Sanjurjo, a member of Uruguay’s Communist party who disappeared in 1977, was identified and laid to rest
A Uruguayan woman who was abducted by security forces during the country’s military dictatorship has received a proper burial, nearly 50 years after she was forcibly disappeared.
Bone fragments of Amelia Sanjurjo were exhumed exactly a year ago from a military base in a small southern town in Uruguay. She was finally identified last week after investigators took DNA samples from her maternal aunt and nephews in Uruguay, Spain and Italy in hopes of finding a match.
Continue reading...They thought they were mounting a low-key protest against Russian oil – until balaclava-clad soldiers took them prisoner. The Arctic 30 talk about the guns, the alcohol theft … and how Paul McCartney got involved
The sun had barely risen on 18 September 2013 when Sini Saarela started to worry she might drown. The climate activist was trying to occupy Prirazlomnaya – a bright red oil platform in Russia’s Pechora Sea – and things were getting tough. Workers were using water cannon to stop her and colleague Marco Weber climbing up, crushing them under a relentless torrent of freezing cold water. He was showing signs of hypothermia.
“That was a frightening experience,” Saarela says today, on a video call from her home in Finland. It certainly looks that way in new BBC documentary On Thin Ice: Putin vs Greenpeace. The addictive six-part series tells the inside story of the Arctic 30, a group of Greenpeace activists who set out to halt work at the first offshore oil rig in the Russian Arctic, and ended up pawns in Vladimir Putin’s power struggle with the west. Edited from footage shot by the 28 activists and two journalists on board (some of it smuggled out of prison), it is this moment, as Saarela hangs off the edge of Prirazlomnaya, when the show kicks into gear.
Continue reading...Critics label as ‘absurd’ idea from government-backed thinktank as country seeks to address population decline
A government thinktank in South Korea has sparked anger after suggesting that girls start primary school a year earlier than boys because the measure could raise the country’s low birthrate.
A report by analysts at the Korea Institute of Public Finance said creating a one-year age gap between girls and boys at school would make them more attractive to each other by the time they reached marriageable age.
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The U.S. has trained 15 coup leaders in recent decades — and U.S. counterterrorism policies in the region have failed.
The post After Training African Coup Leaders, Pentagon Blames Russia for African Coups appeared first on The Intercept.
In today’s newsletter: After pollsters and pundits predicted a sweeping victory that never came, is India’s prime minister entering his final act in politics?
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition
Good morning.
For months, the consensus was that India’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) was going to win a thumping majority in the general election. A few days ago, exit polls indicated the BJP was going to secure a sweeping victory, and could even gain seats to win a two-thirds majority in parliament. The party’s confidence came through most clearly in its highly publicised goal of winning 400 seats.
Israel-Gaza war | At least 30 Palestinians including five children have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a UN school housing displaced people in al-Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, medical officials have said, with dozens more wounded. The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted a UN school in al-Nuseirat, saying it had been housing Hamas terrorists from the 7 October attack on Israel who were planning further attacks.
Wales | The Welsh first minister, Vaughan Gething, has lost a no-confidence vote less than 12 weeks after taking office, following a series of scandals that have called into question his judgment and transparency.
General election 2024 | The UK Statistics Authority has opened an investigation into remarks made by Rishi Sunak about the economy “going gangbusters” amid concerns that politicians could misuse economic data in the run-up to the election. The watchdog’s intervention came soon after the chair of the organisation began a review of Sunak’s claim that the Treasury calculated that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 for everyone if it won the election.
Climate crisis | Fossil fuel companies are the “godfathers of climate chaos” and should be banned in every country from advertising akin to restrictions on big tobacco, the secretary general of the United Nations has said while delivering dire new scientific warnings of global heating.
NHS | A cyber-attack thought to have been carried out by a Russian group has forced London NHS hospitals to resurrect long-discarded paper records systems in which porters hand-deliver blood test results because IT networks are disrupted.
Continue reading...Naval exercises spurred by US support for Ukraine are likely to include port calls in Cuba and Venezuela, says official
Russia plans to send combat vessels into the Caribbean region this summer as part of naval exercises that will probably include port calls in Cuba and possibly stops in Venezuela, a senior US official said on Wednesday.
“As part of Russia’s regular military exercises, we anticipate that this summer, Russia will conduct heightened naval and air activity near the United States. These actions will culminate in a global Russian naval exercise this fall,” the official said.
Continue reading...Microsoft recently caught state-backed hackers using its generative AI tools to help with their attacks. In the security community, the immediate questions weren’t about how hackers were using the tools (that was utterly predictable), but about how Microsoft figured it out. The natural conclusion was that Microsoft was spying on its AI users, looking for harmful hackers at work.
Some pushed back at characterizing Microsoft’s actions as “spying.” Of course cloud service providers monitor what users are doing. And because we expect Microsoft to be doing something like this, it’s not fair to call it spying...
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, revealed the tactics and traits that help him face the daily frustrations of leading a country at war for more than two years.
Within a ceremonial room inside Kyiv’s presidential compound, Zelenskiy spoke for nearly an hour with a Guardian team, including the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner. The interview took place during perhaps the toughest time for Ukraine since the early days of the war. Russia is on the offensive in Kharkiv, an advance that follows months of delay in the US Congress over the passing of a major support package, limiting Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities
Continue reading...Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
The charge of an illegitimate marriage is all that’s left after a court acquitted Khan over his handling of a classified cypher.
The post Imran Khan Remains Imprisoned Over His Wife’s Menstrual Cycles. State Department Says That’s “Something For the Pakistani Courts to Decide.” appeared first on The Intercept.
John Browne appears to back Labour energy policy as he underlines need for green transition
The former boss of BP John Browne has appeared to back a key Labour energy policy by calling for an end to new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences.
The oil industry veteran, who was known as the Sun King when he ran the oil company between 1995 and 2007, said an important test for the UK’s political parties before next month’s general election was whether they have “serious plans for the country’s green energy transition”.
Continue reading...Solar projects such as Botley West in Oxfordshire are latest net zero schemes bogged down by local disputes
A few hundred metres from her house, Rosemary Lewis stands at a clearing on a footpath overlooking a tract of rolling hills in the Oxfordshire countryside that could become home to UK’s largest solar farm. With plans to install 2.5m solar panels along an 11-mile (18km) stretch north of Oxford, the Botley West solar farm would be vast.
The proposal is one of 30 large-scale solar projects vying for approval, which could give the UK a much-needed shot in the arm to achieve its climate goals of generating 100% clean electricity by 2035 and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Continue reading...Andrew Bailey’s office has a losing record of fighting against exonerations recommended by local prosecutors — but it’s not giving up.
The post Missouri’s Attorney General Is Waging War to Keep the Wrongly Convicted Locked Up appeared first on The Intercept.
Three men were convicted and fined $500 for ‘deliberately and intentionally’ performing the salute
Three Croatian men have been convicted and fined after separately making Nazi salutes during the 2022 Australia Cup soccer final.
Nikola Marko Gasparovic, 46, Dominik Sieben, 25, and Marijan Lisica, 45, performed the salute at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium on October 1 2022, during the match between Sydney United 58 and Macarthur FC.
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Twelve jurors in New York have presented their fellow Americans with a simple question: are you willing to elect a convicted criminal to the White House?
On Thursday, Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The verdict makes him the first president, current or former, to be found guilty of felony crimes in the US's near 250-year history. Regardless, the conviction does not disqualify Trump as a presidential candidate or bar him from again sitting in the Oval Office.
Trump, who opted not to take the stand during the trial, has denied wrongdoing, railed against the proceedings and ahead of the verdict compared himself to a saint: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. The charges are rigged,” he said on Wednesday. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is expected to appeal the verdict.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine has been in court over the last several weeks covering all the developments – here are three testimonies he found most memorable.
Could Trump go to prison? Here’s what happens next after the guilty verdict
Found guilty on 34 counts by a New York jury, Trump might find himself campaigning behind bars.
The post These Convictions Thwart Trump’s Plan to Pardon Himself appeared first on The Intercept.
The draconian restrictions on asylum-seekers owe a lot to Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, but the path was paved by Democrats.
The post Joe Biden’s Cruel Border Shutdown Follows in Clinton and Obama’s Footsteps Too appeared first on The Intercept.
Many disenchanted farmers in England are seeking new political homes. Can Labour and the Lib Dems capitalise on this opportunity?
“Since I first voted for Thatcher in 1979, I’ve always gone Conservative,” says the Hertfordshire farmer Andrew Watts – a longer period than the three decades he has been managing his cereal farm near the village of Puckeridge.
But when he enters the voting booth on 4 July, the 64-year-old will be backing the Liberal Democrats. Watts says the switch is partly down to what he calls a “lack of coherent agricultural policy” from Westminster, but he mainly blames it on a loss of integrity within the Tories in recent years.
Continue reading...The PM slipped away from D-day events to give an interview, while the Lib Dem leader talked movingly about his son
After a whirlwind of activity during the first week of campaigning in which all the party leaders took part in at least two events a day – or stunts (delete where necessary) – the second week was a more gentle affair. It was as though everyone had realised if they kept up that pace for the duration they would all be knackered by the end. Plus, there was the law of diminishing returns: many people were already sick of the sight of politicians racing up and down the country making promises of which many were sceptical. So there was a more low-key feel this week. Still, there was time for the first leaders’ debate – a head-to-head between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer – which turned into a fairly bad-tempered affair in which the tetchiness of the prime minister was again to the fore. Wednesday and Thursday were largely set aside for the D-day commemorations. A time to honour the men who didn’t come back and those who did. Unlike many of our politicians, we will remember them.
Continue reading...Mordaunt, for the Tories, faced Labour’s Angela Rayner, Reform’s Nigel Farage and candidates from Lib Dems, SNP, Greens and Plaid Cymru
I think it would be fair to say that children’s minister David Johnston is not having a vintage media round today.
First he was ambushed by Rishi Sunak issuing his D-day absence apology while the minister was literally out defending Sunak by repeatedly pointing out that he had been in France earlier in the day and in Portsmouth the day before [See 8.18 BST].
Continue reading...Fox had said he had no political ambitions when being vetted as chair of Independent Monitoring Authority
A Conservative candidate has been accused of lying to MPs about his political ambitions in order to secure a lucrative role heading up a post-Brexit regulator.
Sir Ashley Fox was confirmed on Friday as the Tory candidate for the safe seat of Bridgwater in Somerset, which he applied for last year despite having previously promised members of the justice select committee that he would not do so.
Continue reading...David Purdy says the party needs to provide moral and intellectual leadership, Andrew Pellow says family life was better under Labour, but Julia Williams says it doesn’t speak to her cares and concerns any more. Plus letters from Clive Tempest, Ed McDonnell and Graham Walsh
Nesrine Malik rightly warns the Labour party against alienating its leftwing activists and supporters (Starmer? Sunak? Millions know they are different but still feel alienated. Ignore that at your peril, 3 June). But in a liberal democracy, radical economic and social reform cannot be achieved without winning hearts and changing minds, and this takes time: it cannot be done in the space of a six-week election campaign. As Antonio Gramsci, the Italian communist leader, observed: “The counting of votes is the final ceremony of a long process.”
The trouble with Labour – one of the troubles – is that with its focus on fighting or preparing to fight elections, it ignores what Gramsci called the “war of position” in civil society: the struggle to challenge and change entrenched and widespread habits, practices, attitudes and beliefs that obstruct or inhibit progress towards a fairer, greener, happier, less divided and more democratic social order. Unless and until the party develops the capacity to provide such moral and intellectual leadership throughout society and at all times, not just during elections, its room for manoeuvre, in or out of government, is bound to remain tightly constricted.
David Purdy
Stirling
Penny Mordaunt criticises absence as ‘completely wrong’ while internal party WhatsApp groups reportedly full of horrified responses
Rishi Sunak provoked condemnation from a senior cabinet colleague and fury from Conservative grassroots after he was forced to apologise for skipping a key part of the D-day commemorations, the biggest misstep yet of an already faltering election campaign.
Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, criticised the prime minister’s absence from the international events as “completely wrong” during the BBC general election debate on Friday night, while Tory officials said internal party WhatsApp groups were full of horrified responses, with some local chairs saying the decision to go back to the UK to film a TV interview could cost the party seats on 4 July.
Continue reading...Document approved at ‘clause V’ meeting despite union’s reservations about issues including fire and rehire
Labour has signed off its election manifesto before its launch next week, despite a decision by Unite not to endorse it.
At the party’s “clause V” meeting on Friday afternoon, the shadow cabinet, union representatives and the national executive committee (NEC) green-lighted the manifesto.
Continue reading...Amid heavy criticism, the PM denies he had planned to skip commemorations entirely
Rishi Sunak has apologised for missing a key part of the D-day commemorations in northern France to film a TV interview, as he faces a wave of condemnation over what may be his biggest misstep yet in a faltering election campaign.
The prime minister was heavily criticised for leaving the 80th anniversary events for an ITV interview that is not scheduled for broadcast until next week, with opposition parties calling it crass and a dereliction of duty.
Continue reading...It’s time to resist the right’s narrative of immigration as aberration. Nations thrive on it – and they always have done
The state is an invention. It’s a bureaucratic tool of governance for an arbitrarily defined landmass; an artifice made convincing through emotive storytelling. Although many countries have their “long, long ago” symbolic foundation story, in truth the vast majority of them have only existed as independent constitutions for a matter of decades. We, the nationals, are the result of millennia of migrations of ancestral hunter-gatherers, herders, farmers, merchants, students, industrialists; of colonists and colonisers; of people invading, fleeing, crusading, exploring, roaming, slave-trading; uprooted for war, work, fortune and love. The dense interconnectedness of the human family, our genetic similarity, means that in terms of our biology, there are no different races. We can all claim ancestry from across the world.
Nevertheless, our politics is obsessed with distinctions based on national identity. Many of the arguments against immigration rest on the idea that there is a true and pure national identity, which means some people “belong” while others do not. Ethno-nationalism is particularly overt among far-right parties, even if the message has been softened from “racial identity” to “cultural identity”, to make it more palatable. But the cord that tethers us to a particular land – our national identity – is not innate; it is based on recent or ancient migrations, or the happenstance of your mother’s location at the moment of your birth.
Gaia Vince is an author, journalist and broadcaster. Her latest book is Nomad Century
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Continue reading...How climate-denying money is influencing UK politics in the run-up to the general election
A number of wealthy climate sceptics are giving funding to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, rightwing Conservatives, and the climate science-denying thinktank the Global Warming Policy Foundation. But who are they and how are they linked?
The biggest donor to the Reform party this year is the shipping magnate Terence Mordaunt, the head of First Corporate Shipping. His personal company, Corporate Consultants Ltd, has given £200,000 to Reform over the past 12 months. He was previously chair of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) and is now a trustee.
Continue reading...Activists suing the Biden administration over Gaza policy are demanding the judge recuse himself over the sponsored trip.
The post A Federal Judge Visited Israel on a Junket Designed to Sway Public Opinion. Now He’s Hearing a Gaza Case. appeared first on The Intercept.
Reports surfaced a few weeks ago that the supreme court justice Samuel Alito had flown an upside-down US flag outside his home days after insurrectionists flew similar flags when they stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021. Alito has blamed his wife, saying he wanted her to take down the flag down after a dispute with neighbours.
Democrats want Alito to recuse himself from any supreme court case involving 6 January, but he has refused to do so. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Amanda Marcotte of Salon about whether this latest scandal is proof that the supreme court is incapable of being unbiased
Archive: CNN, CBS, CSPAN, Today, NBC
Continue reading...Andrew Bailey’s office has a losing record of fighting against exonerations recommended by local prosecutors — but it’s not giving up.
The post Missouri’s Attorney General Is Waging War to Keep the Wrongly Convicted Locked Up appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
John Browne appears to back Labour energy policy as he underlines need for green transition
The former boss of BP John Browne has appeared to back a key Labour energy policy by calling for an end to new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences.
The oil industry veteran, who was known as the Sun King when he ran the oil company between 1995 and 2007, said an important test for the UK’s political parties before next month’s general election was whether they have “serious plans for the country’s green energy transition”.
Continue reading...Left and Green parties say nationalists can be beaten as Netherlands is first to vote in four-day election
Left and Green parties in the Netherlands have said the far right can be beaten, after exit polls showed a progressive alliance narrowly ahead of their nationalist rivals on the first day of European elections.
Dutch voters were the first to be called to the polls in the four-day democratic exercise where citizens in 27 EU member states are electing 720 representatives to the world’s only directly elected transnational parliament.
Continue reading...He had only to look back a few years to see his error. But today’s politicians keep ignoring history, even when they’ve lived through it
But is it art? Could that explain Rishi Sunak’s campaign – that it is, in fact, a piece of daring, innovative performance art in which the prime minister deliberately conducts himself so haplessly and with such a tin ear that it prompts us to reflect on the state of the nation? Is his future not, as most predict, wearing a zip-up fleece and making squillions in Silicon Valley, but rather as a groundbreaking conceptual artist, one who invites his audience to see 4 July less as an election day and more as the unveiling of his boldest ever installation?
It’s as good an explanation as any. Otherwise it’s near-impossible to comprehend his decision to make an early exit from the memorial ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-day, subbing in his foreign secretary to stand alongside the leaders of France, the US and Germany as they remembered those who died to free Europe from fascism. We shall fight them on the beaches, said Churchill. We shall leave them on the beaches, said Sunak.
Continue reading...Anger over Starmer’s stance on Gaza and perceived shift to the right could lead to the Greens’ Carla Denyer being elected in Bristol Central
Early June in the bohemian enclave of Montpelier in Bristol, the sun warms the tightly packed terrace houses, delis and cafes. Flashes of Labour red that may once have adorned the windows in previous general elections are notably absent. In their place are badges of green, displayed with pride.
Enjoying the sun outside the Bristolian cafe on Picton Street is Norhan Nabeeh, 34, a secondary teacher of psychology and religious studies who has always previously voted Labour. She won’t be doing so this year.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak under pressure to give up money from party’s biggest donor after further allegations of racist behaviour
Labour has written to Conservative candidates urging them not to hand out election material that they say is paid for by the party’s biggest donor, Frank Hester, who has been widely condemned for allegedly making racist remarks.
Hester, who has donated £15m, is bankrolling about 40% of the Conservative party’s national spending in the election.
Continue reading...Grim figures show that children in poverty are dying needlessly. We desperately need a government that puts them first
In all the sound and fury of the election, annual statistics land unnoticed. Yet these grim Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures are the best benchmark for what has happened to the country during the Conservative years. Infant mortality has risen: more babies are dying, and more older children are dying, too, from causes including abuse, neglect and suicide. The long-term trend in infant deaths has been downwards, as you would expect. But not recently in the UK. The Nuffield Foundation reported in 2021 that Britain’s rate of infant deaths was 30% above the median across EU countries.
According to OECD data, the UK ranks 30th out of 48 countries for infant deaths. The risk rises for mothers who are poor, black, young or living in deprived areas. Last year, child deaths in England rose by 8%, and more than a third of these were officially judged “avoidable”, bringing an outburst from Camilla Kingdon, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. She explained: “The clear driver is rising child poverty. Figures such as these in a nation as rich as ours are unforgivable.”
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...In the run-up to July's election, the Guardian video team will be touring the UK looking at the issues that matter to voters. In a week when an attack on a refugee camp in Rafah and the Labour party's treatment of Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen dominated the headlines, we spoke to voters in Ilford – North and South – who were protesting locally about Gaza. We asked whether these issues would make a difference to how they vote in the election, met canvassers getting behind independent candidates, and spoke to business owners about their political priorities
Continue reading...Smaller allies emerge as powerful kingmakers in effort to form government before swearing in of PM
Narendra Modi is facing the first test of coalition politics after losing his outright majority in the Indian election, with smaller coalition allies emerging as powerful kingmakers in the formation of the government.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won the most seats in the election results declared on Tuesday, but not enough to pass the 272 parliamentary majority mark, forcing it to rely on coalition partners to return to power.
Continue reading...Strongman-style leader set for historic third term but with authority diminished after loss of majority
Narendra Modi has secured the backing of his political allies in order to form a government and is expected to be sworn in over the weekend, after a dramatic election in which his party failed to secure an outright majority.
At a meeting in Delhi after Tuesday’s shock results, parties in the National Democratic Alliance, which is led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), pledged their support to Modi and backed his return as prime minister for a historic third term. “We, the leaders of the NDA, unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader,” the party leaders said in a resolution.
Continue reading...The U.S. has trained 15 coup leaders in recent decades — and U.S. counterterrorism policies in the region have failed.
The post After Training African Coup Leaders, Pentagon Blames Russia for African Coups appeared first on The Intercept.
The Guardian’s political sketch writer John Crace discusses Sunak’s extraordinary decision to fly home early from Normandy on Thursday and skip the international D-day commemorations
Continue reading...After polling concludes in Europe, political parties will seek to strengthen existing alliances and forge new ones
Most political parties in the European parliament make alliances with each other, forming larger groups with those who share their broad ideology. This year’s elections are expected to shake up the parliament’s political landscape as a surge in support for hard-right parties is predicted to strengthen nationalist and far-right groups.
At the same time, parties new to the European parliament will be looking for groups to join, and some of those getting re-elected are looking for fresh alliances as well.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Vaz to run in Leicester East, infuriating Labour candidates who have campaigned for his eviction for years
The disgraced former MP Keith Vaz has been belatedly kicked out of Labour after announcing he is standing in his old seat, Leicester East, for a new local party.
The former minister, who is running against an official Labour party candidate, was still a member of the party on Thursday when it emerged that he was standing in the constituency for the One Leicester party.
Continue reading...The federal judge hearing a human rights case disputed allegations he might be impartial but recused himself out of an “abundance of caution.”
The post Judge Who Went on Israel Junket Recuses Himself From Gaza Case appeared first on The Intercept.
Former employees of Tory donor Frank Hester have made a series of fresh allegations that Hester repeatedly made comments about race or religion in the workplace, including in recent years. Archie Bland reports
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: After pollsters and pundits predicted a sweeping victory that never came, is India’s prime minister entering his final act in politics?
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Good morning.
For months, the consensus was that India’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) was going to win a thumping majority in the general election. A few days ago, exit polls indicated the BJP was going to secure a sweeping victory, and could even gain seats to win a two-thirds majority in parliament. The party’s confidence came through most clearly in its highly publicised goal of winning 400 seats.
Israel-Gaza war | At least 30 Palestinians including five children have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a UN school housing displaced people in al-Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, medical officials have said, with dozens more wounded. The Israeli military confirmed it had targeted a UN school in al-Nuseirat, saying it had been housing Hamas terrorists from the 7 October attack on Israel who were planning further attacks.
Wales | The Welsh first minister, Vaughan Gething, has lost a no-confidence vote less than 12 weeks after taking office, following a series of scandals that have called into question his judgment and transparency.
General election 2024 | The UK Statistics Authority has opened an investigation into remarks made by Rishi Sunak about the economy “going gangbusters” amid concerns that politicians could misuse economic data in the run-up to the election. The watchdog’s intervention came soon after the chair of the organisation began a review of Sunak’s claim that the Treasury calculated that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 for everyone if it won the election.
Climate crisis | Fossil fuel companies are the “godfathers of climate chaos” and should be banned in every country from advertising akin to restrictions on big tobacco, the secretary general of the United Nations has said while delivering dire new scientific warnings of global heating.
NHS | A cyber-attack thought to have been carried out by a Russian group has forced London NHS hospitals to resurrect long-discarded paper records systems in which porters hand-deliver blood test results because IT networks are disrupted.
Continue reading...A proposed New York training facility shows how establishment politicians only understand governance through policing.
The post New York Spends $225 Million on Its Own “Cop City” — to Make the Whole City Run on Cops appeared first on The Intercept.
Latest results reveal unexpected blow to PM, forcing negotiation with coalition partners to regain power
Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.
With all votes counted early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in polls had not materialised and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country.
Continue reading...US president urges today’s Americans to defend democracy, with apparent reference to Putin and Trump
Joe Biden has said that the heroes of D-day would have wanted today’s Americans to stand up to aggression “abroad and at home”, in what appeared to be a reference to both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
Biden pointed to the looming threats to democracy in remarks he made at the Pointe du Hoc in France, where US Rangers scaled the cliffs in a pivotal moment in the D-day landings 80 years ago.
Continue reading...Party of far-right populist predicted to take 11 seats against six for challenger who is building a centrist movement
Céline, a civil servant and administrator in several French government ministries, used to keep quiet about the fact that she voted for the far-right, anti-immigration party of Marine Le Pen. “I couldn’t talk about it at work; people would say: ‘You’re a fascist.’ It was frowned upon – it was almost a sackable offence,” said the 68-year-old, who retired three years ago.
But today, even in her hometown of Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris, where the largely well-off residents have been historically closed to the far right, and voted 83% for the centrist Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 presidential final round, Céline has noticed a shift in the public mood.
Continue reading...Defeats for ruling Bharatiya Janata party in Uttar Pradesh highlight underbelly of malcontent over inequality and lack of jobs
A few weeks before the election that weakened Narendra Modi’s grip on India, the rich, powerful and beautiful descended on his home state of Gujarat. The occasion was what one Indian writer described as “likely the most ostentatious pre-wedding ceremony the modern world has ever seen”.
In March, to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump flew in. So did the entertainment: Rihanna and Akon. The airport near the venue was supposed to be reserved for India’s armed forces but the media reported that the authorities had granted special permission for non-military jets to land.
Continue reading...We would like to hear from British Indians across the UK about their thoughts on the election result in India
We would like to hear from British Indians across the UK about their reaction to the election result in India declared on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) retained power in the national elections by winning the most seats, but not enough to pass the 272 parliamentary majority mark. Modi was forced to rely on coalition partners to return to power.
The opposition alliance, which goes by the acronym INDIA, collectively won more than 230 of the total 543 seats.
Continue reading...Government employees are using their official badges to demonstrate against U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
The post “Not the Career in Public Service I Signed Up For”: Federal Workers Protest War appeared first on The Intercept.
Anger at rampant unemployment, stagnant wages and inflation led to surprise losses in Uttar Pradesh
It was less than six months ago that Narendra Modi walked solemnly through the ornate surroundings of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and one of its most politically crucial. His appearance in the holy city to inaugurate the newly constructed Hindu temple, built on the ruins of a mosque demolished two decades earlier, was cast as the pinnacle of the prime minister’s decade in power – the crowning glory of his Hindu nationalist agenda and his ticket to a third term in office. The ceremony was deemed to mark the unofficial launch of his election campaign.
But on Tuesday evening Modi was faced with a rude awakening. His Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which has ruled India with an iron grip for a decade, has lost its majority as a single party and will have to rely on coalition partners to return to government. The losses were particularly heavy in Uttar Pradesh, long considered to be the BJP’s bastion – and nowhere more so than in Ayodhya.
Continue reading...I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to predict that artificial intelligence will affect every aspect of our society. Not by doing new things. But mostly by doing things that are already being done by humans, perfectly competently.
Replacing humans with AIs isn’t necessarily interesting. But when an AI takes over a human task, the task changes.
In particular, there are potential changes over four dimensions: Speed, scale, scope and sophistication. The problem with AIs trading stocks isn’t that they’re better than humans—it’s that they’re faster. But computers are better at chess and Go because they use more sophisticated strategies than humans. We’re worried about AI-controlled social media accounts because they operate on a superhuman scale...
The charge of an illegitimate marriage is all that’s left after a court acquitted Khan over his handling of a classified cypher.
The post Imran Khan Remains Imprisoned Over His Wife’s Menstrual Cycles. State Department Says That’s “Something For the Pakistani Courts to Decide.” appeared first on The Intercept.
Technology was once simply a tool—and a small one at that—used to amplify human intent and capacity. That was the story of the industrial revolution: we could control nature and build large, complex human societies, and the more we employed and mastered technology, the better things got. We don’t live in that world anymore. Not only has technology become entangled with the structure of society, but we also can no longer see the world around us without it. The separation is gone, and the control we thought we once had has revealed itself as a mirage. We’re in a transitional period of history right now...
Biden’s rule for 2% fuel-economy increase a year met with disappointment by some environmental groups
New vehicles sold in the US will have to average about 38 miles per gallon (mpg) of gasoline in 2031 in real-world driving, up from about 29mpg this year, under new federal rules unveiled on Friday by the Biden administration.
The final rule will increase fuel economy by 2% a year for model years 2027 to 2031 for passenger cars, while SUVs and other light trucks will increase by 2% a year for model years 2029 to 2031, according to requirements released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Clarence Thomas, read our full report:
As Joe Biden wrapped up his speech, he said the rangers who stormed Pointe du Hoc would want Americans to believe in the importance of democracy.
“I stand here today as the first President to come to Pointe du Hoc when none of those 225 brave men who scaled this cliff on D-day are still alive,” the president said.
So, listen to the echoes of their voices. To hear them, because they are summoning us, and they’re summoning us now.
They ask us, what will we do? They’re not asking us to scale these cliffs, they’re asking us to stay true what America stands for. They’re not asking us to give or risk our lives, but they are asking us to care for others in our country more than ourselves. They’re not asking us to do their job. They’re asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up (to) aggression abroad and at home, to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin’s aggression here in Europe today? They stormed the beaches alongside their allies. Does anyone believe these rangers want America to go alone today?
They fought to vanquish a hateful ideology the 30s and 40s. Does anyone doubt they wouldn’t move heaven and earth to vanquish hateful ideologies of today? These rangers put mission and country above themselves. Does anyone believe they would exact any less from every American today?
Continue reading...President’s son, accused of buying a firearm while being a drug addict, was joined in court by family members
Federal prosecutors rested their case against Hunter Biden on Friday morning after days of testimony that revealed deeply personal and grim details about his struggles with drug addiction.
Hunter Biden, the only surviving son of Joe Biden, faces three felony charges tied to a 2018 firearm purchase while using narcotics. He is accused of making false statements on a gun-purchase form when he said he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs, and then unlawfully possessing the gun for 11 days.
Continue reading...Three US nationals on trial in Democratic Republic of Congo over events in May described as an attempted coup
More than 50 people, including three US citizens and a Belgian, have gone on trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo over what the army has described as an attempted coup.
The actions of the three Americans were “punishable by death”, Judge Freddy Ehume told the military court in the DRC capital, Kinshasa.
Continue reading...Exclusive: AI-generated footage of former PM Scott Morrison also used in more than a dozen Facebook ads that reached thousands of Australians
Images of the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, and the foreign minister, Penny Wong, have been used in deepfake investment scam videos in the latest examples of a concerning trend of politicians being used in online fraud.
The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie and the former prime minister Scott Morrison have also had their faces used in scams through Facebook videos that appear to be generated by AI, with more than a dozen examples this week of paid ads reaching thousands of Australians before being removed.
Continue reading...The party has backtracked on a policy to reduce childbirth interventions. Questioning the use of C-sections harks back to the days of ‘too posh to push’
Sometimes, when I’m reflecting on how far we’ve come since the 1990s, I think about the phrase “too posh to push”. How disgustingly, physiologically misogynistic that phrase is, and how cavalierly people just … said it, as though how a woman decides to give birth – through her vagina or from an incision in her abdomen – was a matter of public debate. Back then, it really was. The tabloids were full of speculation about whether female celebrities gave birth vaginally or not, and the general public adopted the catchphrase, feeding the (false) impression that many women were choosing to have caesarean sections simply for the sake of convenience.
I’d be shocked, these days, to hear someone roll that out. Yet myths about caesareans are still peddled. Take a policy from the Green party’s website, now hastily deleted after a deserved backlash: “We will work to reduce the number of interventions in childbirth, and change the culture of the NHS so that birth is treated as a normal and non-medical event.” C-sections were described as “expensive and, when not medically required, risky”.
Continue reading...Plus: Posh Spice’s parenting and the white British male love-in at the Washington Post
So much bad news around these days, but at the beginning of this week, like a shaft of pure sunlight, we heard of a nonagenarian finding love and marrying his sweetheart in a small ceremony attended only by his closest business associates and, judging by reports, none of his children.
Continue reading...Siwei Lyu of the DeepFake-o-meter explains how to tell when photos, videos and audio aren’t real
You – a human, presumably – are a crucial part of detecting whether a photo or video is made by artificial intelligence.
There are detection tools, made both commercially and in research labs, that can help. To use these deepfake detectors, you upload or link a piece of media that you suspect could be fake, and the detector will give a percent likelihood that it was AI-generated.
Continue reading...Labour policy likely to irritate Israel, whose prime minister reacted angrily when Ireland, Spain and Norway officially recognised Palestine in May
Keir Starmer is planning to use the Labour manifesto to make his strongest commitment on Palestinian statehood since the war in Gaza started, sources have told the Guardian, in a move to shore up the party’s core support on the left.
People with knowledge of the document say the Labour leader is expected to include a pledge to recognise Palestine before the end of any peace process, and to make sure such a move does not get vetoed by a neighbouring country.
Continue reading...A lively chat saw different views on gas-guzzling cars and whether we are able to halt the climate emergency, but could they at least agree on air pollution?
Bob, 76, Portishead
Occupation Retired, former IT director
Continue reading...Microsoft recently caught state-backed hackers using its generative AI tools to help with their attacks. In the security community, the immediate questions weren’t about how hackers were using the tools (that was utterly predictable), but about how Microsoft figured it out. The natural conclusion was that Microsoft was spying on its AI users, looking for harmful hackers at work.
Some pushed back at characterizing Microsoft’s actions as “spying.” Of course cloud service providers monitor what users are doing. And because we expect Microsoft to be doing something like this, it’s not fair to call it spying...
Found guilty on 34 counts by a New York jury, Trump might find himself campaigning behind bars.
The post These Convictions Thwart Trump’s Plan to Pardon Himself appeared first on The Intercept.
Deterrence policy against asylum seeker boats is under strain, with three vessels arriving in a week in May
The number of asylum seekers on Nauru appears to have topped 100, with a further two groups of 37 people sent to the Pacific Island.
The people, classified as “unauthorised maritime arrivals”, include 33 Bangladeshis who were found on Christmas Island on 9 May, one of who is a woman. Their boat was destroyed by bad weather.
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Diane Rwigara’s name missing from list of candidates to challenge Paul Kagame in 15 July vote
A prominent opponent of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, has been barred from standing in next month’s election to challenge his three-decade rule.
Diane Rwigara, the leader of the People Salvation Movement, who was also barred in 2017, launched her election bid in May and submitted her candidacy last week. Her name was missing from the provisional list of candidates announced by the electoral commission on Thursday.
Continue reading...The board had proposed appending a statement that would have undermined a Palestinian scholar's article. The students rejected it.
The post Columbia Law Review Is Back Online After Students Threatened Work Stoppage Over Palestine Censorship appeared first on The Intercept.
With high levels of people seeking asylum, and after failed attempts to pass reforms, Biden has presented his most aggressive restrictions yet
Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an aggressive new immigration order suspending asylum rights, signalling that “securing the border” was a central tenet of his re-election bid.
At the southern US border, the policy is set to cause chaos and hardship for those seeking the protection of the United States.
Continue reading...Twelve jurors in New York have presented their fellow Americans with a simple question: are you willing to elect a convicted criminal to the White House?
On Thursday, Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The verdict makes him the first president, current or former, to be found guilty of felony crimes in the US's near 250-year history. Regardless, the conviction does not disqualify Trump as a presidential candidate or bar him from again sitting in the Oval Office.
Trump, who opted not to take the stand during the trial, has denied wrongdoing, railed against the proceedings and ahead of the verdict compared himself to a saint: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. The charges are rigged,” he said on Wednesday. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is expected to appeal the verdict.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine has been in court over the last several weeks covering all the developments – here are three testimonies he found most memorable.
Could Trump go to prison? Here’s what happens next after the guilty verdict
Government prosecutors claimed they didn’t know a former detainee recanted his testimony in interviews with the government.
The post Guantánamo Prosecutors Accused of “Outrageous” Misconduct for Trying to Use Torture Testimony appeared first on The Intercept.
Will Lewis’s appointment of his ex-Telegraph lieutenant Robert Winnett sparks fears journalism will be diminished
Below the archaic font of the Washington Post’s masthead, its motto is printed in italic flourish: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
The publication has been enveloped in its own black cloud this week, as a worsening crisis sparked fears among staff – and media commentators – about the new British senior executives at the heart of its operation.
Continue reading...Inclusion comes after eight months of the country’s bombing of Gaza which has killed 13,000 children
The United Nations has added Israel to the global list of states and armed groups who have committed violations against children, according to the country’s UN envoy, Gilad Erdan.
News of Israel’s inclusion on the list follows eight months of war on Gaza, in which more than 13,000 children are estimated to be among the 36,500 killed, and comes a day after the Israeli bombing of a UN school in central Gaza, which killed more than 40 Palestinians, some of them children.
Continue reading...He has published more than 100 novels, gives his work away, and his surrealist books have a massive cult following. Now Argentina’s favourite rule-breaker is tipped for the Nobel prize. By Alejandro Chacoff
Continue reading...International aid organisations are warning Gaza is on the brink of famine. But since the start of the year groups of protesters have been trying to prevent food and supplies from getting in. Emma Graham-Harrison reports
Since the start of the year, groups of Israeli demonstrators have been gathering, first on the border with Gaza and then later in the West Bank, to lie down in front of food trucks – or in the West Bank even to attack them and their drivers – to try to prevent food aid getting into Gaza.
Who are these protesters and why would they try to prevent supplies from getting into the Gaza Strip, where international agencies say some children are already starving? Emma Graham-Harrison went to speak to the protesters to find out. She tells Michael Safi how, while their actions may seem extreme, believing aid should not be sent to Gaza is a worryingly mainstream view in Israel.
Continue reading...A court in the Philippines has banned the commercial growth of golden rice, a genetically modified rice which was created to help tackle vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. It’s just the latest twist in a long and controversial journey for this rice. Ian Sample hears from the Observer science and environment editor, Robin McKie, and from Glenn Stone, a research professor of environmental science at Sweet Briar College in Virginia who is also an anthropologist who has studied golden rice, about why it has taken so long for this potentially life-saving technology to reach the fields, if it is the silver bullet so many had hoped for, and whether this ban is really the end of the story
Continue reading...A senior USAID adviser said he was pressured to resign days after the agency censored his presentation.
The post He Made a PowerPoint on Mothers Starving in Gaza. Then He Lost His Government Job. appeared first on The Intercept.
US president says sorry for ‘weeks of not knowing’, referring to members of Congress holding up a $61bn aid package
Joe Biden has apologised publicly to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for the months of delay in American military assistance that allowed Russia to make gains on the battlefield, and announced a further $225m (£177m) in military aid to Ukraine.
Meeting Zelenskiy in Paris on Friday, the US president told him: “You haven’t bowed down, you haven’t yielded at all, you continue to fight in a way that is … just remarkable. We are not going to walk away from you.”
Continue reading...ANC leader and president accepts he will need help of opposition parties to tackle serious problems facing country
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said that his African National Congress (ANC) would seek to form a government of national unity with a broad group of opposition parties.
“The purpose of the government of national unity must be, first and foremost, to tackle the pressing issues that South Africans want to be addressed,” Ramaphosa said late on Thursday after a marathon ANC meeting.
Continue reading...In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, revealed the tactics and traits that help him face the daily frustrations of leading a country at war for more than two years.
Within a ceremonial room inside Kyiv’s presidential compound, Zelenskiy spoke for nearly an hour with a Guardian team, including the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner. The interview took place during perhaps the toughest time for Ukraine since the early days of the war. Russia is on the offensive in Kharkiv, an advance that follows months of delay in the US Congress over the passing of a major support package, limiting Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities
Continue reading...In Gainesville, Florida, children are on the front lines of the hazards long ignored by local and state government officials.
The post For Decades, Officials Knew a School Sat on a Former Dump — and Did Little to Clean Up the Toxins appeared first on The Intercept.
Michelle Roach bought a used ice-cream van in order to bring cheap, affordable food to Liverpool's struggling communities. She wanted a vehicle with freezers built in for frozen food, and also something cheerful that was able to break down stigmas around food poverty. Using a '10 items for £5' model, Michelle sources discount food from supermarket surplus and donations.
The Guardian's Christopher Cherry follows Michelle and the van on its rounds, with the service struggling to meet overwhelming demand as the cost of living crisis deepens, and the UK's general election fast approaches.
Continue reading...We want to hear from UK voters across the political spectrum about the issues and factors that will influence their vote
After prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that a general election will be held on 4 July, we want to hear from UK voters about what will decide their vote.
Will you vote in the general election, and do you know who you will vote for?
Continue reading...All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
The post The Little-Known Reason Counties Keep Building Bigger Jails: Architecture Firms appeared first on The Intercept.
Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
In the rapidly advancing landscape of AI technology and innovation, LimeWire emerges as a unique platform in the realm of generative AI tools. This platform not only stands out from the multitude of existing AI tools but also brings a fresh approach to content generation. LimeWire not only empowers users to create AI content but also provides creators with creative ways to share and monetize their creations.
As we explore LimeWire, our aim is to uncover its features, benefits for creators, and the exciting possibilities it offers for AI content generation. This platform presents an opportunity for users to harness the power of AI in image creation, all while enjoying the advantages of a free and accessible service.
Let's unravel the distinctive features that set LimeWire apart in the dynamic landscape of AI-powered tools, understanding how creators can leverage its capabilities to craft unique and engaging AI-generated images.
This revamped LimeWire invites users to register and unleash their creativity by crafting original AI content, which can then be shared and showcased on the LimeWire Studio. Notably, even acclaimed artists and musicians, such as Deadmau5, Soulja Boy, and Sean Kingston, have embraced this platform to publish their content in the form of NFT music, videos, and images.
Beyond providing a space for content creation and sharing, LimeWire introduces monetization models to empower users to earn revenue from their creations. This includes avenues such as earning ad revenue and participating in the burgeoning market of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). As we delve further, we'll explore these monetization strategies in more detail to provide a comprehensive understanding of LimeWire's innovative approach to content creation and distribution.
LimeWire Studio welcomes content creators into its fold, providing a space to craft personalized AI-focused content for sharing with fans and followers. Within this creative hub, every piece of content generated becomes not just a creation but a unique asset—ownable and tradable. Fans have the opportunity to subscribe to creators' pages, immersing themselves in the creative journey and gaining ownership of digital collectibles that hold tradeable value within the LimeWire community. Notably, creators earn a 2.5% royalty each time their content is traded, adding a rewarding element to the creative process.
The platform's flexibility is evident in its content publication options. Creators can choose to share their work freely with the public or opt for a premium subscription model, granting exclusive access to specialized content for subscribers.
As of the present moment, LimeWire focuses on AI Image Generation, offering a spectrum of creative possibilities to its user base. The platform, however, has ambitious plans on the horizon, aiming to broaden its offerings by introducing AI music and video generation tools in the near future. This strategic expansion promises creators even more avenues for expression and engagement with their audience, positioning LimeWire Studio as a dynamic and evolving platform within the realm of AI-powered content creation.
The LimeWire AI image generation tool presents a versatile platform for both the creation and editing of images. Supporting advanced models such as Stable Diffusion 2.1, Stable Diffusion XL, and DALL-E 2, LimeWire offers a sophisticated toolkit for users to delve into the realm of generative AI art.
Much like other tools in the generative AI landscape, LimeWire provides a range of options catering to various levels of complexity in image creation. Users can initiate the creative process with prompts as simple as a few words or opt for more intricate instructions, tailoring the output to their artistic vision.
What sets LimeWire apart is its seamless integration of different AI models and design styles. Users have the flexibility to effortlessly switch between various AI models, exploring diverse design styles such as cinematic, digital art, pixel art, anime, analog film, and more. Each style imparts a distinctive visual identity to the generated AI art, enabling users to explore a broad spectrum of creative possibilities.
The platform also offers additional features, including samplers, allowing users to fine-tune the quality and detail levels of their creations. Customization options and prompt guidance further enhance the user experience, providing a user-friendly interface for both novice and experienced creators.
Excitingly, LimeWire is actively developing its proprietary AI model, signaling ongoing innovation and enhancements to its image generation capabilities. This upcoming addition holds the promise of further expanding the creative horizons for LimeWire users, making it an evolving and dynamic platform within the landscape of AI-driven art and image creation.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
Upon completing your creative endeavor on LimeWire, the platform allows you the option to publish your content. An intriguing feature follows this step: LimeWire automates the process of minting your creation as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), utilizing either the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. This transformative step imbues your artwork with a unique digital signature, securing its authenticity and ownership in the decentralized realm.
Creators on LimeWire hold the power to decide the accessibility of their NFT creations. By opting for a public release, the content becomes discoverable by anyone, fostering a space for engagement and interaction. Furthermore, this choice opens the avenue for enthusiasts to trade the NFTs, adding a layer of community involvement to the artistic journey.
Alternatively, LimeWire acknowledges the importance of exclusivity. Creators can choose to share their posts exclusively with their premium subscribers. In doing so, the content remains a special offering solely for dedicated fans, creating an intimate and personalized experience within the LimeWire community. This flexibility in sharing options emphasizes LimeWire's commitment to empowering creators with choices in how they connect with their audience and distribute their digital creations.
After creating your content, you can choose to publish the content. It will automatically mint your creation as an NFT on the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. You can also choose whether to make it public or subscriber-only.
If you make it public, anyone can discover your content and even trade the NFTs. If you choose to share the post only with your premium subscribers, it will be exclusive only to your fans.
Additionally, you can earn ad revenue from your content creations as well.
When you publish content on LimeWire, you will receive 70% of all ad revenue from other users who view your images, music, and videos on the platform.
This revenue model will be much more beneficial to designers. You can experiment with the AI image and content generation tools and share your creations while earning a small income on the side.
The revenue you earn from your creations will come in the form of LMWR tokens, LimeWire’s own cryptocurrency.
Your earnings will be paid every month in LMWR, which you can then trade on many popular crypto exchange platforms like Kraken, ByBit, and UniSwap.
You can also use your LMWR tokens to pay for prompts when using LimeWire generative AI tools.
You can sign up to LimeWire to use its AI tools for free. You will receive 10 credits to use and generate up to 20 AI images per day. You will also receive 50% of the ad revenue share. However, you will get more benefits with premium plans.
For $9.99 per month, you will get 1,000 credits per month, up to 2 ,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 50% ad revenue share
For $29 per month, you will get 3750 credits per month, up to 7500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 60% ad revenue share
For $49 per month, you will get 5,000 credits per month, up to 10,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
For $99 per month, you will get 11,250 credits per month, up to 2 2,500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
With all premium plans, you will receive a Pro profile badge, full creation history, faster image generation, and no ads.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
In conclusion, LimeWire emerges as a democratizing force in the creative landscape, providing an inclusive platform where anyone can unleash their artistic potential and effortlessly share their work. With the integration of AI, LimeWire eliminates traditional barriers, empowering designers, musicians, and artists to publish their creations and earn revenue with just a few clicks.
The ongoing commitment of LimeWire to innovation is evident in its plans to enhance generative AI tools with new features and models. The upcoming expansion to include music and video generation tools holds the promise of unlocking even more possibilities for creators. It sparks anticipation about the diverse and innovative ways in which artists will leverage these tools to produce and publish their own unique creations.
For those eager to explore, LimeWire's AI tools are readily accessible for free, providing an opportunity to experiment and delve into the world of generative art. As LimeWire continues to evolve, creators are encouraged to stay tuned for the launch of its forthcoming AI music and video generation tools, promising a future brimming with creative potential and endless artistic exploration
Are you looking for a new graphic design tool? Would you like to read a detailed review of Canva? As it's one of the tools I love using. I am also writing my first ebook using canva and publish it soon on my site you can download it is free. Let's start the review.
Canva has a web version and also a mobile app
Canva is a free graphic design web application that allows you to create invitations, business cards, flyers, lesson plans, banners, and more using professionally designed templates. You can upload your own photos from your computer or from Google Drive, and add them to Canva's templates using a simple drag-and-drop interface. It's like having a basic version of Photoshop that doesn't require Graphic designing knowledge to use. It’s best for nongraphic designers.
Canva is a great tool for small business owners, online entrepreneurs, and marketers who don’t have the time and want to edit quickly.
To create sophisticated graphics, a tool such as Photoshop can is ideal. To use it, you’ll need to learn its hundreds of features, get familiar with the software, and it’s best to have a good background in design, too.
Also running the latest version of Photoshop you need a high-end computer.
So here Canva takes place, with Canva you can do all that with drag-and-drop feature. It’s also easier to use and free. Also an even-more-affordable paid version is available for $12.95 per month.
The product is available in three plans: Free, Pro ($12.99/month per user or $119.99/year for up to 5 people), and Enterprise ($30 per user per month, minimum 25 people).
To get started on Canva, you will need to create an account by providing your email address, Google, Facebook or Apple credentials. You will then choose your account type between student, teacher, small business, large company, non-profit, or personal. Based on your choice of account type, templates will be recommended to you.
You can sign up for a free trial of Canva Pro, or you can start with the free version to get a sense of whether it’s the right graphic design tool for your needs.
When you sign up for an account, Canva will suggest different post types to choose from. Based on the type of account you set up you'll be able to see templates categorized by the following categories: social media posts, documents, presentations, marketing, events, ads, launch your business, build your online brand, etc.
Start by choosing a template for your post or searching for something more specific. Search by social network name to see a list of post types on each network.
Next, you can choose a template. Choose from hundreds of templates that are ready to go, with customizable photos, text, and other elements.
You can start your design by choosing from a variety of ready-made templates, searching for a template matching your needs, or working with a blank template.
Inside the Canva designer, the Elements tab gives you access to lines and shapes, graphics, photos, videos, audio, charts, photo frames, and photo grids.The search box on the Elements tab lets you search everything on Canva.
To begin with, Canva has a large library of elements to choose from. To find them, be specific in your search query. You may also want to search in the following tabs to see various elements separately:
The Photos tab lets you search for and choose from millions of professional stock photos for your templates.
You can replace the photos in our templates to create a new look. This can also make the template more suited to your industry.
You can find photos on other stock photography sites like pexel, pixabay and many more or simply upload your own photos.
When you choose an image, Canva’s photo editing features let you adjust the photo’s settings (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.), crop, or animate it.
When you subscribe to Canva Pro, you get access to a number of premium features, including the Background Remover. This feature allows you to remove the background from any stock photo in library or any image you upload.
The Text tab lets you add headings, normal text, and graphical text to your design.
When you click on text, you'll see options to adjust the font, font size, color, format, spacing, and text effects (like shadows).
Canva Pro subscribers can choose from a large library of fonts on the Brand Kit or the Styles tab. Enterprise-level controls ensure that visual content remains on-brand, no matter how many people are working on it.
Create an animated image or video by adding audio to capture user’s attention in social news feeds.
If you want to use audio from another stock site or your own audio tracks, you can upload them in the Uploads tab or from the more option.
Want to create your own videos? Choose from thousands of stock video clips. You’ll find videos that range upto 2 minutes
You can upload your own videos as well as videos from other stock sites in the Uploads tab.
Once you have chosen a video, you can use the editing features in Canva to trim the video, flip it, and adjust its transparency.
On the Background tab, you’ll find free stock photos to serve as backgrounds on your designs. Change out the background on a template to give it a more personal touch.
The Styles tab lets you quickly change the look and feel of your template with just a click. And if you have a Canva Pro subscription, you can upload your brand’s custom colors and fonts to ensure designs stay on brand.
If you have a Canva Pro subscription, you’ll have a Logos tab. Here, you can upload variations of your brand logo to use throughout your designs.
With Canva, you can also create your own logos. Note that you cannot trademark a logo with stock content in it.
With Canva, free users can download and share designs to multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack and Tumblr.
Canva Pro subscribers can create multiple post formats from one design. For example, you can start by designing an Instagram post, and Canva's Magic Resizer can resize it for other networks, Stories, Reels, and other formats.
Canva Pro subscribers can also use Canva’s Content Planner to post content on eight different accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack, and Tumblr.
Canva Pro allows you to work with your team on visual content. Designs can be created inside Canva, and then sent to your team members for approval. Everyone can make comments, edits, revisions, and keep track via the version history.
When it comes to printing your designs, Canva has you covered. With an extensive selection of printing options, they can turn your designs into anything from banners and wall art to mugs and t-shirts.
Canva Print is perfect for any business seeking to make a lasting impression. Create inspiring designs people will want to wear, keep, and share. Hand out custom business cards that leave a lasting impression on customers' minds.
The Canva app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Canva app has earned a 4.9 out of five star rating from over 946.3K Apple users and a 4.5 out of five star rating from over 6,996,708 Google users.
In addition to mobile apps, you can use Canva’s integration with other Internet services to add images and text from sources like Google Maps, Emojis, photos from Google Drive and Dropbox, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, Bitmojis, and other popular visual content elements.
In general, Canva is an excellent tool for those who need simple images for projects. If you are a graphic designer with experience, you will find Canva’s platform lacking in customization and advanced features – particularly vectors. But if you have little design experience, you will find Canva easier to use than advanced graphic design tools like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator for most projects. If you have any queries let me know in the comments section.
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Continue reading...Canadian-American producer who won Oscars for the hit film classics The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby
It is common enough for the lives of actors to be dramatised. Even directors get the biographical treatment on occasion. Producers not so much. One exception is Albert S Ruddy, who has died aged 94. His initiative and perseverance in shepherding to the screen the magisterial crime drama The Godfather was documented in the 10-part mini-series The Offer (2022), starring Miles Teller as Ruddy.
Its title was a reference to the threat famously issued in the film by the mafia boss Don Corleone, played by Marlon Brando: “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Ruddy dealt directly with the criminal bosses who tried to muscle in on the movie.
Continue reading...The Shiva Baby and Bodies, Bodies, Bodies standout goes serious in an uneven and at times frustrating combination of disparate tones and genre
There’s a particular, distinctly online note – dead-eyed, chaotic, teetering between hyper self-consciousness and delusional confidence – that comedian Rachel Sennott can hit so effectively it will temporarily and memorably spark its container: Twitter, where she rose to prominence as a self-aware zillennial comedy It Girl; Bodies Bodies Bodies, where she provided the bulk of the horror comedy’s actual zingers; The Idol, where her bit part as a pop star’s assistant was one of the misbegotten HBO series’ few highlights. As a lead – in Emma Seligman’s claustrophobic feature Shiva Baby and, less successfully, in Seligmans’ follow-up comedy Bottoms – Sennott stretched her shtick but remained most successful in this familiar, self-deprecating zone, though she has hinted at something darker and less irony-pilled.
I Used to Be Funny, the feature debut from the Canadian writer-director Ally Pankiw, overambitiously tries to combine Sennott’s proven comedic chops with a trauma plot in the format of a thriller. Sennott plays Sam Cowell, a Toronto-based twentysomething reeling from a mysterious (though entirely predictable) Traumatic Event handled like a lump of coal (“things have been different since, you know …”). The fallout has made her, according to small glances at a Twitter-like timeline, a social media pariah and a recluse. Once a promising standup, Sam is now nearly bedridden, floating through life via the emotional and financial support of her friends, fellow comics Paige (Sabrina Jalees) and Philip (Caleb Hearon, by far the best asset of this movie), and concerned ex-boyfriend Noah (Ennis Esmer).
Continue reading...A raft of new films, from Challengers to Hit Man, have shown the importance and popularity of desire on screen
The success of Hit Man, Richard Linklater’s new comedy that has garnered glowing reviews heralding Glen Powell’s emergence as a true movie star, largely boils down to one factor: illicit attraction. It’s the kind that powers fantasies and a good portion of human behavior, whether we’d like to admit it or not.
There’s the pull of Powell’s Gary, a nerdy thirtysomething psychology professor in New Orleans, moonlighting as an undercover impersonator of hired killers, trying on different, more confident identities for size. There’s the longstanding, vicarious thrill of watching ethically dubious protagonists flitter through a well-oiled crime caper. And most especially, there’s the heat between Gary, in disguise as a suave hitman, and Adria Arjona’s Madison, a potential client with whom he has the type of identity-incinerating sex that leads to cocooning in a townhouse and making unwise choices.
Continue reading...Technology was once simply a tool—and a small one at that—used to amplify human intent and capacity. That was the story of the industrial revolution: we could control nature and build large, complex human societies, and the more we employed and mastered technology, the better things got. We don’t live in that world anymore. Not only has technology become entangled with the structure of society, but we also can no longer see the world around us without it. The separation is gone, and the control we thought we once had has revealed itself as a mirage. We’re in a transitional period of history right now...
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
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