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Philippines turns up heat over disputed waters but confronts formidable foe
Fri, 14 Jun 2024 05:00:05 +0000
A voyage in the South China Sea revealed the challenge as a flotilla of wooden fishing boats drew an armada of Chinese warships and coast guard vessels.
Match ID: 0 Score: 90.00 source: www.washingtonpost.com age: 0 days
qualifiers: 40.00 china, 35.00 south china sea, 15.00 philippines
Philippines increases South China Sea patrols as Beijing set to roll out new trespass laws
Fri, 14 Jun 2024 01:30:18 GMT
Manila has previously described new regulations, which allow Chinese coast guard to detain foreigners, as ‘an escalation of the situation’
The Philippines has stepped up patrols in the disputed South China Sea ahead of the rollout of a new Chinese regulation that empowers its coast guard to detain foreigners accused of trespassing.
The regulation, which is effective from Saturday, marks a further escalation in tensions in the fiercely contested waterway, which is one of the world’s most economically important and busiest trading routes
Continue reading...Sophia Huang Xueqin, who reported on #MeToo movement and Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, sentenced along with labour activist Wang Jianbing
A Chinese court has sentenced prominent #MeToo journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin to five years in jail and labour activist Wang Jianbing to three and a half years, almost 1,000 days after they were detained on allegations of inciting state subversion, according to supporters.
On Friday, supporters of the pair said the court had found them guilty and delivered Huang the maximum sentence. A copy of the verdict seen by Reuters corroborated their claim. Huang told the court she intended to appeal, the supporters said.
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The owner of Vauxhall, Jeep and Fiat says it opposes EU measures against Chinese EVs and wants to compete ‘as a global company’
The owner of the Jeep, Fiat and Vauxhall brands has said it will not take a defensive stance in the battle for electric car sales, amid signs of an escalating trade war in the market between Europe and China.
Stellantis’s chief executive, Carlos Tavares, has criticised the EU tariffs on imported Chinese cars announced on Wednesday and said the world’s fourth biggest carmaker preferred to “fight to stay competitive”.
Continue reading...The three British judges still on territory’s top bench under pressure to quit after two others stepped down last week
Pressure is increasing on the last remaining British judges who sit in Hong Kong’s top court to resign, after two senior justices stepped down last week because of the “political situation” in the former British colony.
Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins resigned as non-permanent overseas judges from Hong Kong’s court of final appeal on Thursday. Collins cited the “political situation in Hong Kong” in a brief statement about his departure.
Continue reading...Peeping pooches, five-year-old photobombers and a guest appearance from the Fab Four all feature in Shin Noguchi’s vibrant photography
Continue reading...Workers for US defence contractor KBR concerned after colleagues die on island with no hospital-grade health facility
Migrant workers employed by the US defence contractor KBR on the British-owned island of Diego Garcia have expressed concerns for their safety after the recent deaths of two of their colleagues, the Observer has learned.
The most recent death on Diego Garcia, which is host to a strategic American military base in the British Indian Ocean Territory, came on 5 January. Relemay Fabula Gan, 41, from the Philippines, died after suffering a collapsed lung following several weeks of illness after a Covid diagnosis, her family said.
Continue reading...Forced to travel far to find gruelling work making bricks, women and children fall sick but cannot access healthcare
The phrase “khat rahein hain” (“being worn down”) is how Suma Devi describes her 16 years of labouring at the brick kilns near the city of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, more than 500 miles from her own state of Bihar.
Six years ago Devi had just given birth to her baby daughter when she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and put on a nine-month course of antibiotics. It is an effective way to treat TB but Devi had to abandon the course halfway through to find work at the Madhav brick kiln in Naujheel, far from her home in a village near the city of Gaya.
Continue reading...As India concluded the world’s largest election on June 5, 2024, with over 640 million votes counted, observers could assess how the various parties and factions used artificial intelligence technologies—and what lessons that holds for the rest of the world.
The campaigns made extensive use of AI, including deepfake impersonations of candidates, celebrities and dead politicians. By some estimates, millions of Indian voters viewed deepfakes.
But, despite fears of widespread disinformation, for the most part the campaigns, candidates and activists used AI constructively in the election. They used AI for typical political activities, including mudslinging, but primarily to better connect with voters...
More than 50 people also injured in fire, which broke out in a six-storey building housing foreign workers
At least 49 people, all Indian nationals, have been killed in a fire which swept through a building housing foreign workers in Kuwait.
More than 50 others were injured in the blaze, which broke out in the six-storey building south of Kuwait City at dawn on Monday.
Continue reading...For the second time, the IFC is bucking recommendations to offer money as reparations to people hurt at a chain of schools it invested in, Bridge International Academies.
The post World Bank Financing Arm Rejects Calls to Directly Compensate Victims of Harm at Kenya Schools appeared first on The Intercept.
Civilian aircraft have been cleared from Pyongyang’s airport and there are signs of preparations for a possible parade in Kim Il-sung Square
The US and South Korea have warned Vladimir Putin against forging closer military ties with North Korea, as speculation grows that the Russian leader will visit the secretive state in the coming days.
Putin is planning to meet the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in a reciprocal visit following Kim’s weeklong trip to Russia last September, media reports said. During that trip, the two leaders are believed to have agreed that North Korea would receive Russian help with its space programme in return for providing Russia with armaments for the war in Ukraine, in violation of UN resolutions.
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Modi becomes second leader in Indian history to win three consecutive terms, but opposition leaders snub ceremony
Narendra Modi has been sworn in as prime minister of India for a historic third term, ushering in a new era of coalition politics for India’s strongman leader.
The ceremony, which took place at the presidential palace on Sunday evening, marked Modi’s return to power, only the second leader in India’s history to win three consecutive terms.
Continue reading...Campaigners say election shows rejection of ‘hate politics’ after marginalised groups vote to deny BJP a majority
It was widely described as the week that India’s beleaguered democracy was pulled back from the brink. As the election results rolled in on Tuesday, all predictions and polls were defied as Narendra Modi lost his outright majority for the first time in a decade while the opposition re-emerged as a legitimate political force. On Sunday evening, Modi will be sworn in as prime minister yet many believe his power and mandate stands diminished.
For one opposition politician in particular, the humbling of the strongman prime minister was a moment to savour. Late last year, Mahua Moitra, one of the most outspoken critics of Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), found herself unceremoniously expelled from parliament and kicked out of her bungalow, after what she described as a “political witch-hunt” for daring to stand up to Modi.
Continue reading...Authorities fear looming economic crises caused by an expanding elderly population without enough workers to support them
In the courtyard of the Chung Hsing private high school, desks and chairs are piled high like a monument or an unlit bonfire. Mounds of debris cover the play area, as two construction workers pull more broken furniture from empty classrooms, throwing them towards a pickup truck.
The central Taipei private school closed in 2019 after failing to reverse financial problems caused by low enrolment, and was sold to developers. The school was an early victim of a problem now sweeping across Taiwan’s educational institutions: decades of declining births mean there are no longer enough students to fill classrooms.
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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...
Judges praised Klein’s Doppelganger for its ‘courageous’ study of truth in politics and called Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night a ‘masterpiece’ of historical fiction
Doppelganger by Guardian US columnist Naomi Klein has become the inaugural winner of the Women’s prize for nonfiction, while Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan has been named winner of the fiction prize.
Both books look at how people get swept up in extremism: Doppelganger uses the fact that Klein is regularly confused with feminist turned conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf as a jumping off point for an exploration of truth in politics, discussing populist figures such as Steve Bannon and Donald Trump. Meanwhile Brotherless Night, mostly set in Jaffna during the Sri Lankan civil war, is about a girl who dreams of becoming a doctor before war breaks out in her country and those around her begin to engage with violent political ideologies.
Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan (£9.99) and Doppelganger by Naomi Klein (£25) are both published by Penguin. To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copies at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Continue reading...“One side or the other is going to win,” Alito told a person he thought was a right-wing activist.
The post Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Caught on Secret Audio appeared first on The Intercept.
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...Muhammad Yunus tells the Guardian charges against him are politically motivated, and expresses concern about personal attacks from politicians
The Nobel peace laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus has said that years of fighting what he calls “dirty” politically motivated attacks on his work to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh have made life “totally miserable”.
Yunus told the Guardian he had come under 20 years of pressure from the Bangladeshi government for his work, which is credited with improving the lives of millions of poor people, particularly women.
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...
H. A. Hellyer and Murtaza Hussain discuss the current discord and complex history between the Israeli government and Egyptian military.
The post Rafah Clash Exposes Roots of Egypt and Israel Tension appeared first on The Intercept.
Bring some Caribbean heat to this veggie dish that works great as a standout main or flavour-packed side
Aubergines roasted over fire, glazed with umami-rich miso and the fruity heat of Encona West Indian Original Hot Pepper Sauce – yum! Encona has done a lot of the work already – the sauce has heat and fruitiness from scotch bonnets and tang from vinegar – so you’re building flavour from a really delicious, complex base. Cook a load of these to pile high as a side for guests to feast on, or have them as a quick and tasty midweek dinner.
This recipe is veggie (and can easily be made plant based by replacing the honey with maple syrup or agave nectar), and has loads of flavour, which makes for a deeply satisfying meal.
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.
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...From the jump, the lawsuit challenging the legality of mifepristone was a cynical, propagandistic endeavor. In a 9-0 opinion, the Supreme Court threw it out.
The post GOP States Double Down on Fighting Medication Abortion After Supreme Court Keeps It Legal appeared first on The Intercept.
“One side or the other is going to win,” Alito told a person he thought was a right-wing activist.
The post Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Caught on Secret Audio appeared first on The Intercept.
Judges praised Klein’s Doppelganger for its ‘courageous’ study of truth in politics and called Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night a ‘masterpiece’ of historical fiction
Doppelganger by Guardian US columnist Naomi Klein has become the inaugural winner of the Women’s prize for nonfiction, while Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan has been named winner of the fiction prize.
Both books look at how people get swept up in extremism: Doppelganger uses the fact that Klein is regularly confused with feminist turned conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf as a jumping off point for an exploration of truth in politics, discussing populist figures such as Steve Bannon and Donald Trump. Meanwhile Brotherless Night, mostly set in Jaffna during the Sri Lankan civil war, is about a girl who dreams of becoming a doctor before war breaks out in her country and those around her begin to engage with violent political ideologies.
Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan (£9.99) and Doppelganger by Naomi Klein (£25) are both published by Penguin. To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copies at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Continue reading...The lack of suitable placements for at-risk young people has led to a huge rise in deprivation of liberty orders. Family judges are right to be furious
Seven years ago, Sir James Munby, then the president of the family division of the high court, issued a highly unusual public judgment. Denouncing a “disgraceful and utterly shaming lack”, he called for an overhaul of council provision for children who need intensive support in a residential setting. Since then, the children’s commissioner for England and other senior judges have made similar criticisms.
Councils in England do not have enough places in which to look after some of the most vulnerable children for whom they are responsible. The result is that rising numbers are subjected to deprivation of liberty orders, leading to forcible detention in unregulated placements including rented flats. Last weekend, Sir James spoke up again, calling the situation a “shocking moral failure” and for it to be discussed in the run-up to next month’s election.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...When even Angela Rayner remains relentlessly on message, you know the election is in the bag
You win some, you lose some. This week, both Labour and the Tories will reckon they’ve struck lucky with the timings of their manifesto launches – though for very different reasons.
It’s always hard to know which is the best launch slot. To go first and set the agenda, with the anxiety that everyone will have soon forgotten what you are about. Or to go late and risk your manifesto lingering in the memory for all the wrong reasons. This year, both the main parties – if the Tories can still be called that – will reckon they judged it perfectly.
Continue reading...Co-president of the KlimaSeniorinnen says declaration is betrayal of older women
Swiss politicians have rejected a landmark climate ruling from the European court of human rights, raising fears that other polluting countries may follow suit.
A panel of Strasbourg judges ruled in April that Switzerland had violated the human rights of older women through weak climate policies that leave them more vulnerable to heatwaves. Activists hailed the judgment as a breakthrough because it leaves all members of the Council of Europe exposed to legal challenges for sluggish efforts to clean up carbon-intensive economies.
Continue reading...The three British judges still on territory’s top bench under pressure to quit after two others stepped down last week
Pressure is increasing on the last remaining British judges who sit in Hong Kong’s top court to resign, after two senior justices stepped down last week because of the “political situation” in the former British colony.
Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins resigned as non-permanent overseas judges from Hong Kong’s court of final appeal on Thursday. Collins cited the “political situation in Hong Kong” in a brief statement about his departure.
Continue reading...
The federal judge hearing a human rights case disputed allegations he might not 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.
Lawmakers sing Happy Birthday to ex-president, 78 on Friday, who reportedly called convention host Milwaukee ‘horrible’
Donald Trump went to the US Capitol to rally congressional Republicans in his first visit since 6 January 2021, when his supporters descended on the building in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Trump’s favour.
A packed room full of House Republicans sang Happy Birthday to Trump, who turns 78 on Friday.
Continue reading...Former House speaker says ex-president has ‘cemented his legacy of shame’ over January 6 attack, prompting bizarre riposte from Trump
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic former House speaker, mounted a forceful denunciation of Thursday’s first visit to the US Capitol by Donald Trump since he incited a mob to attack it on January 6 2021, accusing him of returning with “the same mission of dismantling our democracy”.
In remarks that triggered a fresh war of words between the pair, Pelosi said the former president’s visit to discuss strategy with congressional Republicans in advance of the election amounted to a symbolic return to the scene of a crime that he deliberately initiated.
Continue reading...As India concluded the world’s largest election on June 5, 2024, with over 640 million votes counted, observers could assess how the various parties and factions used artificial intelligence technologies—and what lessons that holds for the rest of the world.
The campaigns made extensive use of AI, including deepfake impersonations of candidates, celebrities and dead politicians. By some estimates, millions of Indian voters viewed deepfakes.
But, despite fears of widespread disinformation, for the most part the campaigns, candidates and activists used AI constructively in the election. They used AI for typical political activities, including mudslinging, but primarily to better connect with voters...
The Republican amendment to the annual defense budget is just one of several proposals to restrict humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The post House Votes to Block U.S. Funding to Rebuild Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Dan Osborn, running as an independent, has racked up endorsements in a race that could help determine Senate control in 2024.
The post UAW Endorses Nebraska Underdog Threatening to Unseat a Republican Senator appeared first on The Intercept.
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.
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.
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.
Researchers tested for bias in Facebook’s algorithm by purchasing ads promoting for-profit colleges and studying who saw them.
The post One Facebook Ad Promotes a For-Profit College; Another a State School. Which Ad Do Black Users See? appeared first on The Intercept.
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...Former House speaker says ex-president has ‘cemented his legacy of shame’ over January 6 attack, prompting bizarre riposte from Trump
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic former House speaker, mounted a forceful denunciation of Thursday’s first visit to the US Capitol by Donald Trump since he incited a mob to attack it on January 6 2021, accusing him of returning with “the same mission of dismantling our democracy”.
In remarks that triggered a fresh war of words between the pair, Pelosi said the former president’s visit to discuss strategy with congressional Republicans in advance of the election amounted to a symbolic return to the scene of a crime that he deliberately initiated.
Continue reading...Dan Osborn, running as an independent, has racked up endorsements in a race that could help determine Senate control in 2024.
The post UAW Endorses Nebraska Underdog Threatening to Unseat a Republican Senator appeared first on The Intercept.
“One side or the other is going to win,” Alito told a person he thought was a right-wing activist.
The post Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Caught on Secret Audio appeared first on The Intercept.
On Tuesday, Hunter Biden was found guilty on all three criminal charges relating to buying a handgun while being a user of crack cocaine. His father – the president – was firm in his support for his son, but also in his belief in the justice system.
After Donald Trump was convicted in a New York court last month, rightwing pundits and Republican politicians were lining up to accuse the Biden administration of rigging the justice system for political advantage. Yet now the courts have convicted Biden’s own son.
Jonathan Freedland is joined by Susan Glasser of the New Yorker to look at how the right has decided to spin this latest historical conviction.
Archive: ABC News, CBS Chicago, CNN, C-SPAN, NBC, Reuters
Continue reading...This stretch of Conservative rule has been so destructive that even allies have called it ‘the worst government ever’
And so ends a unique failure in British democratic history. Any political incumbent can expect to have passionate detractors. They can normally count, however, on having equally committed champions. Not so for this Conservative reign. The party will leave government with even the most tribal Tories struggling to champion its successes. This era will be recorded by history as one of failure, whatever political standpoint you look at it from.
No other party has left office so lacking in true believers. Take New Labour, which claimed to marry social justice and market capitalism. The criticisms of its record practically write themselves. Public services were undermined by the private finance initiative, which saddled NHS trusts with lasting debts. There was the bloody turmoil in Iraq, the rolling back of civil liberties, and what Gordon Brown later admitted was a “big mistake”: the government’s approach to bank regulation in the run-up to the 2008 financial crash.
Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
Guardian Newsroom: Election results special. Join Gaby Hinsliff, John Crace, Jonathan Freedland and Zoe Williams on 5 July
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Lawmakers sing Happy Birthday to ex-president, 78 on Friday, who reportedly called convention host Milwaukee ‘horrible’
Donald Trump went to the US Capitol to rally congressional Republicans in his first visit since 6 January 2021, when his supporters descended on the building in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Trump’s favour.
A packed room full of House Republicans sang Happy Birthday to Trump, who turns 78 on Friday.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For more on the latest supreme court decision, read our full report:
The Massachusetts Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren hailed the supreme court’s decision to uphold mifepristone access, calling the challenge to reject it “meritless from the start”.
Warren, an outspoken reproductive rights activist, wrote on X:
This challenge to mifepristone was meritless from the start. Abortion medication is safe and effective. Make no mistake: Donald Trump and Republican politicians will not stop marching us toward a nationwide abortion ban. We must protect reproductive freedom everywhere.
Continue reading...The Republican amendment to the annual defense budget is just one of several proposals to restrict humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The post House Votes to Block U.S. Funding to Rebuild Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
As India concluded the world’s largest election on June 5, 2024, with over 640 million votes counted, observers could assess how the various parties and factions used artificial intelligence technologies—and what lessons that holds for the rest of the world.
The campaigns made extensive use of AI, including deepfake impersonations of candidates, celebrities and dead politicians. By some estimates, millions of Indian voters viewed deepfakes.
But, despite fears of widespread disinformation, for the most part the campaigns, candidates and activists used AI constructively in the election. They used AI for typical political activities, including mudslinging, but primarily to better connect with voters...
The election dynamic has changed and Nigel Farage’s party does not need to win seats to damage Conservatives
We have just passed the halfway mark of the election campaign. The candidates have been nominated, polling cards are arriving and the first postal votes are about to be cast. With more than 4,500 candidates standing and no seat having fewer than five candidates, voters will have more choice than ever – so how will they use it?
There are a record number of independent candidates, at 459, more than double the number in 2019. Although independents have been doing well in local elections throughout this parliament, their impact at a general election is usually more limited.
Continue reading...Politicians, activists and charities say online harassment is particularly bad, including hate speech and disinformation
Abuse of female election candidates is becoming worse, say candidates, activists and charities.
One female Labour candidate in the north of England said “the harassment continues apace” in the build-up to the election, with online harassment being a particular problem.
Continue reading...Craig Williams’s £100 bet prompted inquiry by the Gambling Commission and fury within Conservatives
Bookmakers have been asked by the Gambling Commission to trawl through all substantial bets placed on a July election after one of Rishi Sunak’s closest aides put a wager on the poll date just days before it was announced.
The prime minister said he was “disappointed” with the behaviour of Craig Williams, which was revealed in the Guardian, but neither would be drawn on whether they had discussed the date of the election prior to the bet being placed.
Continue reading...When even Angela Rayner remains relentlessly on message, you know the election is in the bag
You win some, you lose some. This week, both Labour and the Tories will reckon they’ve struck lucky with the timings of their manifesto launches – though for very different reasons.
It’s always hard to know which is the best launch slot. To go first and set the agenda, with the anxiety that everyone will have soon forgotten what you are about. Or to go late and risk your manifesto lingering in the memory for all the wrong reasons. This year, both the main parties – if the Tories can still be called that – will reckon they judged it perfectly.
Continue reading...We would like to hear from teachers, NHS workers and other key workers on their thoughts on political parties’ manifestos
The UK’s main political parties have launched their manifestos – and now we’d like to hear from public sector workers about the policy pledges that apply to them.
From teachers to NHS workers, we’d like to hear from public sector workers on what they think about each of the manifestos. How might their plans affect your job? Which, if any of the pledges, are influencing your vote? Is there anything missing that you’d like to see?
Continue reading...The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss how Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak performed at the Sky News special leaders’ event in Lincolnshire
Continue reading...In the run-up to July's general election, the Guardian video team is touring the UK looking at the issues that matter to voters. After swimmers and rowers fell sick from sewage discharges into the River Thames we went to the seat of Henley and Thame to see how environmental concerns rank for voters in a seat that has been Conservative for more than 100 years
Continue reading...Labour’s downbeat manifesto for a downbeat nation reflects the feeling that voters want action now – not grandiose words
“Look at that,” said a middle-aged woman delightedly, stopping halfway down the street in Great Yarmouth to nudge her friend. “Life is crap!”
She was pointing to a stall selling slogan T-shirts for a fiver, all bearing those three words in several bleak variations: life is crap because your ex got the house, life is crap because you’re out of wine, or … well, fill in your own version. I heard plenty over three days of travelling up the east coast, where Labour is targeting a string of Tory-held former fishing ports and seaside resorts where life for many is no holiday.
Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist
Guardian Newsroom: Election results special. Join Gaby Hinsliff, John Crace, Jonathan Freedland and Zoe Williams on 5 July
Continue reading...Party representatives asked how they would fix a health service that is ‘on its knees’
In more disappointing news for the Tories, the Times is publishing an opinion poll that says that Reform have now overtaken them. Its political editor, Steven Swinford, has recently tweeted the story.
According to Savanta, the Labour manifesto featured 34 pictures of Keir Starmer while the Conservative manifesto had no pictures of Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...Legal actions seek payouts for asylum seekers locked up for weeks without immediate plan for deportation
The next government could have to make costly payouts to dozens of asylum seekers detained for deportation to Rwanda, even if the Rwanda deal falls apart after the general election.
Legal actions are being lodged by asylum seekers who say the Home Office locked them up unlawfully before the threatened first flight to the east African country. Home Office sources indicated they did not accept these claims.
Continue reading...Leader accused of being part of a ‘conspiracy of silence’ over economic challenges ahead as he launches wealth creation plan for government
Keir Starmer faced new questions over how Labour would pay to fix Britain’s broken public services as he vowed to “turn the page for ever” on held-back potential and to end political “pantomime” during the party’s manifesto launch.
The Labour leader said he saw “potential held back” everywhere he went as a result of a lack of housing, the cost of living crisis, low wages and inadequate healthcare for children.
Continue reading...Voters are ready for a change of government, but lack of enthusiasm for the opposition’s programme may spell trouble ahead
At the Conservative manifesto launch on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak offered a selection of gimmicks not a strategy, and a compendium of uncosted promises instead of a plan. The result was a slapdash manifesto, with large areas of government responsibility almost wholly ignored. It offered the same old prejudices and the same old policy reflexes to the same old audience.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour manifesto launch in Manchester on Thursday could hardly have been more different. A party that looked into the electoral abyss in 2019 now stands on the threshold of government – and it showed. Labour has raised its game, and the manifesto rollout was optimistic and professional.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...The lack of suitable placements for at-risk young people has led to a huge rise in deprivation of liberty orders. Family judges are right to be furious
Seven years ago, Sir James Munby, then the president of the family division of the high court, issued a highly unusual public judgment. Denouncing a “disgraceful and utterly shaming lack”, he called for an overhaul of council provision for children who need intensive support in a residential setting. Since then, the children’s commissioner for England and other senior judges have made similar criticisms.
Councils in England do not have enough places in which to look after some of the most vulnerable children for whom they are responsible. The result is that rising numbers are subjected to deprivation of liberty orders, leading to forcible detention in unregulated placements including rented flats. Last weekend, Sir James spoke up again, calling the situation a “shocking moral failure” and for it to be discussed in the run-up to next month’s election.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Alan Mitcham says leftwing parties must make ending war their priority, Gillian Homeri encourages citizens to be more politically active and Barry Kushner says centrist parties must reach across the class divide
I read your reports on the European elections, including your assessment that the political landscape has moved to the right (EU elections 2024: how did key countries vote and what does it mean?, 10 June). Although this is correct, I feel that it doesn’t tell the whole story.
The main and paramount criteria for my vote (here in Germany) was to vote for a party which proposes a diplomatic solution to the various wars that are raging. To me it is obvious that no other problems (especially the issue of climate change) can really be solved until the wars stop. I voted for Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), which surged from a standing start of zero to six seats, because this party proposes a diplomatic solution to the wars. The only other viable party proposing negotiations with Russia is the AfD – so, despite everything, if BSW had not been available, I, a liberal, would have voted AfD.
Continue reading...Dr Ian Saville and Ben Norman respond to an article by Frances Ryan on Labour’s plans on tax and wealth creation
Frances Ryan describes the situation very well (There is no ‘change’ for Britain without a massive injection of cash. Why won’t our politicians admit it?, 7 June). The decision by Rachel Reeves to work within the Conservative tax framework, apart from small changes that can only raise inadequate amounts, must condemn a Labour administration to pernicious austerity. The obvious remedy for this is a modest wealth tax, raising enough to improve public services considerably.
More significantly, Reeves, like her Conservative counterpart, relies on the dream of growth to pay for the improvements we all desire. But the commonplace insistence on the need for growth must be challenged. Economists like Kate Raworth and Kohei Saito have argued persuasively that the continuing pursuit of growth on a finite planet must lead inevitably to environmental destruction and widening inequality.
Continue reading...Italian PM was all smiles at start of G7 summit as she met parade of haunted-looking statesmen, most of whose days in power are numbered
Never has a host had so little in common with her guests. Standing serene in a salmon pink trouser suit having topped the poll in the European parliamentary elections, Italy’s far-right leader, Giorgia Meloni, waited to greet her fellow G7 leaders. She stood on a small stage under an awning and an azure sky with the backdrop a suspiciously imported-looking olive tree, a pointless rustic water pipe and the brash G7 flags discreetly put to one side so they did not spoil the view’s centrepiece – Meloni herself.
To her right was a large stone arch that acts as the entranceway to Borgo Egnazia, the purpose-built “medieval” holiday complex giving celebrities an authentic sense of Puglia’s rural life, including a Michelin-starred restaurant, spas and wellness clinics.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer showed genuine anger in Manchester. For all the criticism of his caution, I see welcome flashes of campaigning zeal
“We can stop the chaos, turn the page, and start to rebuild our country,” declares Labour’s manifesto. With faith in politics at an all-time low, why should that slogan be any more credible than “stop the boats”? How much better can the Labour party make Britain, when its combined tax and spending promises amount to only 0.2% of GDP? And yet I could not help myself thinking: I actually want this. I would love to rebuild the country. I would love it if food banks came to feel like a dark Tory nightmare. I would love not to lurch from one catastrophe to the next. Slogans feel different when you want them.
Labour’s manifesto looks like a catalogue from which you can buy multiple Keirs – 36 poses across a range of moods, running the gamut from “businesslike” to “serious”. He appeared on the Manchester podium, sleeves rolled up in echo of his core message: that he will roll his sleeves up. He is still engaged in a bit of left-baiting, repeating that this is a “changed Labour party”. When a protester interrupted, he said, “We gave up being a party of protest five years ago. We want to be a party of power.”
Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Party focuses on economy with founding goal of Welsh independence absent from leader’s opening remarks
Labour is offering “more austerity but painted red”, Plaid Cymru leaders have said as they launched the party’s manifesto.
Speaking in Cardiff, the Plaid Cymru Westminster leader and candidate for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Liz Saville Roberts, said Labour was offering no “radical manifesto”.
Invest in the NHS and recruit 500 GPs.
Launch a new cancer strategy.
Increase child benefit by £20 a week.
Increase windfall taxes and devolve the crown estate.
Equalise capital gains tax with income tax, raising between £12bn and £15bn.
Investigate increasing higher earners’ national insurance contributions.
Support introducing a wealth tax.
Assume control of Wales’s natural resources, waters and land.
Continue reading...Once-critical CEOs have reasons to back a second Trump term, with plans for tax breaks and reduced worker power
Chief executives of some of America’s largest companies will meet privately with Donald Trump later on Thursday, and many CEOs who were once critical of his unprecedented conduct appear increasingly open to the former president’s return to office, a Guardian analysis has found.
The private audience with the former president will take place at the quarterly gathering of the Business Roundtable, a powerful Washington lobbying group that advocates for the interests of chief executives of big US firms. Joe Biden was also invited; his chief of staff will attend while the US president is abroad, a Business Roundtable spokesperson said.
Continue reading...Brexit border checks are just the latest hurdle placed before British farmers. Labour must do more to back our food producers
Just before the election was called, news broke of Sue Gray’s so-called “shit list”: an inventory compiled by the Labour leader’s chief of staff of the immediate challenges an incoming Labour government would face. They include the potential collapse of Thames Water, prison overcrowding and chronic-acute issues with the NHS. One challenge was notable for its absence: the very real risk of empty supermarket shelves. The fact is British agriculture is in crisis. Its absence from the list is not entirely surprising. Historically, Labour has been an urban party. At the 2019 election it won just three of the 100 most rural seats. It has never quite grasped the importance or complexities of agriculture and the food supply chain.
That said, the Tories won 96 of those 100 seats, have many farmer MPs and have still made a bloody mess of it. The first challenge they will bequeath to Labour, should it win, involves untying the tangled knot around imports and exports. The confused introduction of hyper-bureaucratic and horrendously expensive border checks is the result of hardcore Brexit ideology. Boris Johnson could have negotiated alignment with the EU on food standards and animal welfare. Then we would simply be doing internal checks as before, and trade would flow freely.
Continue reading...The Guardian is reporting from the constituency of Nottingham East to find out what issues people there care about most – and we want your help
The Guardian will be reporting from Nottingham East ahead of the general election. This will be part of a series of pieces from across the country focused on finding out what matters most to the people who live there.
If you live in the constituency of Nottingham East, can you tell us what will decide your vote? We’d like to understand the big issues facing you and your family and which policies matter to you. How happy are you with the state of housing, work, public transport, local facilities for young people, policing and health services? What local issues should we be looking at?
Continue reading...Public polling is a critical function of modern political campaigns and movements, but it isn’t what it once was. Recent US election cycles have produced copious postmortems explaining both the successes and the flaws of public polling. There are two main reasons polling fails.
First, nonresponse has skyrocketed. It’s radically harder to reach people than it used to be. Few people fill out surveys that come in the mail anymore. Few people answer their phone when a stranger calls. Pew Research reported that 36% of the people they called in 1997 would talk to them, but only 6% by 2018. Pollsters worldwide have faced similar challenges...
From the jump, the lawsuit challenging the legality of mifepristone was a cynical, propagandistic endeavor. In a 9-0 opinion, the Supreme Court threw it out.
The post GOP States Double Down on Fighting Medication Abortion After Supreme Court Keeps It Legal appeared first on The Intercept.
We would like to hear how people are experiencing the UK election through the WhatsApp group you share with your family or friends
The Guardian is trying to understand how people are consuming news during the general election – and the role that WhatsApp is playing.
How are you experiencing the election through the messaging app? Has your family or friends WhatsApp groups being overrun by politics? Are you mainly in agreement or are your friendships being tested by political bickering in your group chat? Are you being overwhelmed with memes and video clips?
Continue reading...Labour published its manifesto today with no surprise announcements. But is it the whole story of the party’s plan for government? Heather Stewart reports
Continue reading...Three governments accuse Russia at G7 of ‘spreading lies’ relating to presidential election and EU referendum
The UK, US and Canada have accused Russia of a plot to interfere in Moldova’s presidential election and referendum on EU membership later this year.
In a pointed joint statement issued on the first day of the G7 summit in Italy, the three governments accused Russian actors of “spreading lies” and “seeking to undermine Moldovan democratic institutions” in a campaign of political interference stretching back years.
Continue reading...Campaigners say election shows rejection of ‘hate politics’ after marginalised groups vote to deny BJP a majority
It was widely described as the week that India’s beleaguered democracy was pulled back from the brink. As the election results rolled in on Tuesday, all predictions and polls were defied as Narendra Modi lost his outright majority for the first time in a decade while the opposition re-emerged as a legitimate political force. On Sunday evening, Modi will be sworn in as prime minister yet many believe his power and mandate stands diminished.
For one opposition politician in particular, the humbling of the strongman prime minister was a moment to savour. Late last year, Mahua Moitra, one of the most outspoken critics of Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), found herself unceremoniously expelled from parliament and kicked out of her bungalow, after what she described as a “political witch-hunt” for daring to stand up to Modi.
Continue reading...New South Wales draft boundaries would also affect the seats of Bennelong and Bradfield, held by Labor and Liberals respectively
The Australian Electoral Commission has recommended one of the country’s oldest electorates, North Sydney, be abolished in a boundary shake-up that could have far-reaching consequences for the major parties.
After reviewing population changes and submissions, the AEC has released its draft proposal for New South Wales’s new electoral boundaries, recommending the federation seat currently held by independent MP Kylea Tink be abolished.
Continue reading...When I heard that a boy from my primary school had been convicted of trafficking, I had to find out what had happened to make him fall so far.
By Francisco Garcia
Continue reading...Police investigate potential offence after hoax package sent to former defence minister Jeremy Quin
A bomb squad had to be called in to a Conservative candidate’s constituency office after he said he received a suspicious package.
Sir Jeremy Quin, a former defence minister and the Tory candidate for the Horsham constituency, received the package at his West Sussex office. Bomb disposal experts were called in to investigate after a decision by Sussex police. Police and the explosive ordnance disposal team were stood down by about 9pm on Thursday after the package was confirmed to be safe, although the force is investigating whether an offence has been committed.
Continue reading...Senior economists have complained to BBC about Laura Kuenssberg comparing Whitehall spending to taking out a credit card
Politicians have often struggled to explain how governments borrow money to fund their spending. The implications of higher or lower borrowing are also difficult to assess when the figures run into hundreds of billions of pounds.
The temptation is to simplify the arguments by comparing the nation’s finances to a household budget or a credit card. The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has talked about the Conservatives “maxing out the credit card”, and Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak have also used the analogy.
Continue reading...Germans under 25 gave the far-right AfD 16% of their vote in the European elections, with particular support in the east
Paul Friedrich, 16, could not wait to cast his first ballot and had no doubt which German party had earned his support in the watershed European elections.
“Correct, I voted AfD,” he said proudly in the bustle of the commuter railway station in Brandenburg an der Havel, an hour from central Berlin.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron’s snap legislative poll could have big consequences, even propelling the far-right National Rally into government
France’s snap legislative election is one of the most consequential in decades for both the country and the rest of Europe, potentially propelling the far-right National Rally (RN) to a parliamentary majority and therefore into government.
The two-round election will take place on 30 June and 7 July. How will it work, what are the stakes and what is the result likely to be?
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron stunned politicians and the public by announcing a snap general election after the far-right National Rally party won about 32% of the French vote. But it wasn’t just in France that the far right was celebrating. In Germany and Austria, parties on the populist right made stunning gains. Despite that, the pro-European centre appeared to have held in a set of results likely to complicate EU lawmaking
EU elections: populist right makes gains but pro-European centre holds
Fears for Green Deal as number of MEPs from climate-denying parties set to rise
Police seek public assistance after alleged criminal damage took place in the early hours of Friday morning. Follow the day’s news live
The education minister, Jason Clare, has said stricter regulations on social media for teenagers had bipartisan support.
Speaking to Channel 7’s Sunrise, Clare called social media a “cesspit”, and added that Labor’s age verification trial would be the first step to protecting young people.
I think we all agree that social media’s a cesspit. We all agree we don’t want our kids on it. It’s about how do you do it?
This should be something where the Labor party and the Liberal party can work together.
Continue reading...Bereaved from scandals including tower block fire, infected blood and Covid-19 gather calling for guarantee that recommendations don’t gather dust
Families bereaved by the Grenfell Tower fire, the infected blood scandal and Covid-19 have called on the next prime minister to guarantee that potentially life-saving ideas that emerge from public inquiries and emergency planning exercises are acted upon.
They want a new mechanism to increase public confidence that reports that cost hundreds of millions of pounds to produce won’t gather dust and will instead be followed up. They will issue their joint demand together beneath the ruin of Grenfell Tower after joining hundreds of members of the west London community in a silent march on Friday evening to mark the seventh anniversary of the blaze that killed 72 people, including 18 children.
Fifty-eight people and 19 companies and organisations suspected by police of crimes related to Grenfell brace for the publication of the final public inquiry report into the disaster on 4 September.
The Fire Brigades Union warned Keir Starmer that a Labour government must end the deregulation of building standards, which was a key cause of the Grenfell disaster, to ensure 1.5m new homes it has pledged over the next parliament are safe.
The London Eye will be illuminated in green lights on Friday night in commemoration.
Representatives for thousands of high-rise leaseholders said the pace of making existing homes affected by Grenfell-style fire defects remains “shockingly slow – and at this rate, it could take decades”.
Architects and landscape designers have started putting together competing pitches for a permanent memorial on the site of the west London tower block that is expected to be partially or completely demolished.
Continue reading...Record high of 4.1 million people found to be in precarious employment such as zero-hours contracts and casual work
The UK has seen an “explosion” in insecure, low-paid work in the past 14 years, according to a new report.
The TUC said its study had found that the number of people in insecure work had reached a record high of 4.1 million.
Continue reading...Giorgia Meloni appears to recoil from UK PM, who has no formal bilateral meetings with other G7 leaders on day one
Rishi Sunak has insisted he was not being snubbed by other leaders after his first day at the G7 summit ended without any bilateral meetings with his counterparts and he had an awkward encounter with Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni, the Italian prime minister who is one of Sunak’s closest international allies, appeared to recoil from him after they embraced on his arrival in Puglia for the G7 leaders’ summit on Thursday.
Continue reading...Minnesota police charge Jessica Beske, 43, after traces of methamphetamine found in drug paraphernalia in her car
A woman who was pulled over by Minnesota police officers faces up to 30 years in prison after a bong containing water that tested positive for methamphetamine was discovered in her car, despite Minnesota decriminalizing drug paraphernalia last year.
The case shows how some are still affected by harsher laws from the “war on drugs” era.
Continue reading...Campaigner calls for mutual respect between patients and doctors, as 143 NHS sites sign up to rapid review scheme
The mother of a 13-year-old girl who died of sepsis has said she hopes Martha’s rule, which gives patients and their families the right to a second medical opinion, will “upend” the “hierarchy” on hospital wards.
Merope Mills, who campaigned with her husband, Paul Laity, to give families more say regarding care following the death of their daughter Martha, also called for a “mutual respect” between patients and doctors.
Continue reading...Judges praised Klein’s Doppelganger for its ‘courageous’ study of truth in politics and called Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night a ‘masterpiece’ of historical fiction
Doppelganger by Guardian US columnist Naomi Klein has become the inaugural winner of the Women’s prize for nonfiction, while Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan has been named winner of the fiction prize.
Both books look at how people get swept up in extremism: Doppelganger uses the fact that Klein is regularly confused with feminist turned conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf as a jumping off point for an exploration of truth in politics, discussing populist figures such as Steve Bannon and Donald Trump. Meanwhile Brotherless Night, mostly set in Jaffna during the Sri Lankan civil war, is about a girl who dreams of becoming a doctor before war breaks out in her country and those around her begin to engage with violent political ideologies.
Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan (£9.99) and Doppelganger by Naomi Klein (£25) are both published by Penguin. To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copies at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Continue reading...Dutch hauliers say facilities at border posts where some trucks are held for up to 20 hours are inadequate
Lorry drivers could start rejecting jobs transporting goods from continental Europe to the UK unless delays are reduced and driver conditions improved at post-Brexit border posts, the biggest trade body for Dutch hauliers has warned.
Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN), which represents 5,000 Dutch transport companies, said its members were facing average waits of more than four hours in Britain because of the new checks brought in after the UK’s exit from the EU, with some being held at border posts for up to 20 hours.
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...Questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a few jokes, every Thursday. How will you fare?
With a UK general election campaign in full swing, and with Emmanuel Macron calling a snap vote in France, you will be pleased to know that this week’s election question features Belgium. Your challenge overall is to answer 15 questions on topical news and general knowledge, with a smattering of in-jokes included. There are no prizes, but let us know how you get on in the comments, where you can earn bonus points by being funny or spotting tenuous links to children’s teatime favourite Doctor Who. Enjoy!
The Thursday quiz, No 164
Continue reading...Modi becomes second leader in Indian history to win three consecutive terms, but opposition leaders snub ceremony
Narendra Modi has been sworn in as prime minister of India for a historic third term, ushering in a new era of coalition politics for India’s strongman leader.
The ceremony, which took place at the presidential palace on Sunday evening, marked Modi’s return to power, only the second leader in India’s history to win three consecutive terms.
Continue reading...Workers for US defence contractor KBR concerned after colleagues die on island with no hospital-grade health facility
Migrant workers employed by the US defence contractor KBR on the British-owned island of Diego Garcia have expressed concerns for their safety after the recent deaths of two of their colleagues, the Observer has learned.
The most recent death on Diego Garcia, which is host to a strategic American military base in the British Indian Ocean Territory, came on 5 January. Relemay Fabula Gan, 41, from the Philippines, died after suffering a collapsed lung following several weeks of illness after a Covid diagnosis, her family said.
Continue reading...‘There’s nothing better than sitting on Wayne Pearce Hill,’ prime minister says of stadium that has remained a fan favourite
Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval will get $40m in funding to upgrade its crumbling infrastructure, with the federal government joining state and local governments in a bid to revive what locals have called “the eighth wonder of the world”.
Anthony Albanese announced $20m of federal funding on Friday, with the Inner West council and the New South Wales government contributing another $10m each to modernise the stadium.
Continue reading...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.
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 federal judge hearing a human rights case disputed allegations he might not 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.
A school in west London is trying to give children their childhood back – by extending its hours from 7am to 7pm. Will it work? Helen Pidd reports
From the isolating effect of the Covid pandemic, to austerity and the cost of living crisis, schools are on the front line of the problems facing the communities that surround them. And on top of those challenges in recent years worries have been going of the effect that mobile phones and social media are having on the mental health of pupils. Now, one school has decided to take drastic action.
For the last seven weeks, All Saints Catholic college in Ladbroke Grove has been opening its doors to children from 7am to 7pm. It’s part of a pilot scheme running for 10 weeks with the aim of addressing some of the problems teachers have seen grow over the past few years. The school is in the shadow of Grenfell Tower, many children are eligible for free school meals – and it is thriving. Now it wants to help parents ensure their children do their homework, play games and socialise face to face.
Continue reading...Billionaire tells shareholders ‘hot damn, I love you guys’ after retaining largest-ever executive pay package at US-listed firm
Tesla shareholders have approved a $45bn (£35.3bn) pay deal for CEO Elon Musk, following a fiercely contested referendum on his leadership.
The result, announced on Thursday, comes as the billionaire tycoon fights to retain the largest-ever compensation package granted to an executive at a US-listed company.
Continue reading...The owner of Vauxhall, Jeep and Fiat says it opposes EU measures against Chinese EVs and wants to compete ‘as a global company’
The owner of the Jeep, Fiat and Vauxhall brands has said it will not take a defensive stance in the battle for electric car sales, amid signs of an escalating trade war in the market between Europe and China.
Stellantis’s chief executive, Carlos Tavares, has criticised the EU tariffs on imported Chinese cars announced on Wednesday and said the world’s fourth biggest carmaker preferred to “fight to stay competitive”.
Continue reading...As Love Island returns, Chanté Joseph speaks to former contestant Nas Majeed and Guardian writer Simon Usborne, about the increasing pressure to achieve the perfect male body
Archive: Tik Tok, ITV
Continue reading...Here in the UK talking about the weather is already a national pastime, but this month the water-cooler weather chat has ramped up a notch as rain, grey skies and biting temperatures have put summer firmly on hold. Ian Sample talks to Matt Patterson, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, to find out what’s causing the chilly weather, whether it’s really as unusual as it seems, and whether any sun is on the horizon for the UK
Find out more about what’s going on with the weather in First Edition
Continue reading...For the second time, the IFC is bucking recommendations to offer money as reparations to people hurt at a chain of schools it invested in, Bridge International Academies.
The post World Bank Financing Arm Rejects Calls to Directly Compensate Victims of Harm at Kenya Schools appeared first on The Intercept.
The three British judges still on territory’s top bench under pressure to quit after two others stepped down last week
Pressure is increasing on the last remaining British judges who sit in Hong Kong’s top court to resign, after two senior justices stepped down last week because of the “political situation” in the former British colony.
Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins resigned as non-permanent overseas judges from Hong Kong’s court of final appeal on Thursday. Collins cited the “political situation in Hong Kong” in a brief statement about his departure.
Continue reading...In an open letter, a group of self-described Apple workers, former employees, and shareholders are calling on the company to halt donations to nonprofits linked with Israel’s war effort.
The post Apple Matches Worker Donations to IDF and Illegal Settlements, Employees Allege appeared first on The Intercept.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...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.
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...
H. A. Hellyer and Murtaza Hussain discuss the current discord and complex history between the Israeli government and Egyptian military.
The post Rafah Clash Exposes Roots of Egypt and Israel Tension appeared first on The Intercept.
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.
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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.
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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
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.
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...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...A school in west London is trying to give children their childhood back – by extending its hours from 7am to 7pm. Will it work? Helen Pidd reports
From the isolating effect of the Covid pandemic, to austerity and the cost of living crisis, schools are on the front line of the problems facing the communities that surround them. And on top of those challenges in recent years worries have been going of the effect that mobile phones and social media are having on the mental health of pupils. Now, one school has decided to take drastic action.
For the last seven weeks, All Saints Catholic college in Ladbroke Grove has been opening its doors to children from 7am to 7pm. It’s part of a pilot scheme running for 10 weeks with the aim of addressing some of the problems teachers have seen grow over the past few years. The school is in the shadow of Grenfell Tower, many children are eligible for free school meals – and it is thriving. Now it wants to help parents ensure their children do their homework, play games and socialise face to face.
Continue reading...Public polling is a critical function of modern political campaigns and movements, but it isn’t what it once was. Recent US election cycles have produced copious postmortems explaining both the successes and the flaws of public polling. There are two main reasons polling fails.
First, nonresponse has skyrocketed. It’s radically harder to reach people than it used to be. Few people fill out surveys that come in the mail anymore. Few people answer their phone when a stranger calls. Pew Research reported that 36% of the people they called in 1997 would talk to them, but only 6% by 2018. Pollsters worldwide have faced similar challenges...
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.
Researchers tested for bias in Facebook’s algorithm by purchasing ads promoting for-profit colleges and studying who saw them.
The post One Facebook Ad Promotes a For-Profit College; Another a State School. Which Ad Do Black Users See? appeared first on The Intercept.
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