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Richard Brody’s Best Movies of 2024 So Far
Fri, 28 Jun 2024 20:23:37 +0000
At the midway point of the year, the film critic discusses his top three pictures.
Match ID: 0 Score: 55.00 source: www.newyorker.com age: 2 days
qualifiers: 35.00 (best|good|great) (show|movie), 20.00 movie
The 19 Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (July 2024)
Fri, 28 Jun 2024 19:00:00 +0000
The Idea of You, Road House, and American Fiction are just a few of the movies you should be watching on Amazon Prime Video this week.
Match ID: 1 Score: 55.00 source: www.wired.com age: 2 days
qualifiers: 35.00 (best|good|great) (show|movie), 20.00 movie
The 21 Best Movies on Apple TV+ Right Now (July 2024)
Thu, 27 Jun 2024 19:00:00 +0000
Fancy Dance, Argylle, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Blade Runner 2049 are just a few of the movies you should be watching on Apple TV+ this month.
Match ID: 2 Score: 47.14 source: www.wired.com age: 3 days
qualifiers: 30.00 (best|good|great) (show|movie), 17.14 movie
A Quiet Place: Day One review – stylish and satisfying prequel
Sun, 30 Jun 2024 14:00:22 GMT
Lupita Nyong’o stars as a poet with cancer who wants to live a little in this beefed-up disaster movie set in New York
It could be the idea of setting the Quiet Place prequel in New York, one of the noisiest places on Earth. Or perhaps it’s because the intimate, taut horror premise of the first two pictures is beefed up with some robust city-smashing disaster movie muscle. Maybe it’s the casting of the always excellent Lupita Nyong’o in a textured and complex role – she plays Sam, a poet and a terminal cancer patient who just wants to live a little before she dies. All of this combines to ramp up the impact of A Quiet Place: Day One considerably, compared with its immediate predecessor. It’s a bleak, bruising but also curiously life-affirming account of the start of the end of the world. The directing baton has been passed to Michael Sarnoski (Pig), who co-wrote the film’s deft, light-footed screenplay with the original writer/director, John Krasinski. And while there are a couple of underdeveloped plot points (the discovery of an alien egg nursery is rather thrown away) and an over-reliance on Sam’s unfeasibly unflappable cat as a device, for the most part, this is a stylish and satisfying prequel that elegantly integrates Sam’s poet’s sensibility into the storytelling.
• In UK and Irish cinemas now
Continue reading...A new documentary tells the stories of three Palestinian families as they have fought to survive nine months of genocide.
The post The Night That Won’t End in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
While the former champion is keeping fans guessing about his appearance at the tournament, there is justified optimism for Jack Draper, Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu
Considering he has carried the hopes of a nation on his shoulders for almost two decades, it’s perhaps no surprise that Andy Murray’s 37-year-old body has started to buckle and break down. The big one was an operation in 2019 that left him with a metal right hip. But injuries have been a recurring feature of his latter career: the latest is a spinal cyst that required back surgery last weekend. The recovery period for that is typically six to 12 weeks; by Wednesday, Murray – one of the most belligerent competitors any sport has seen – was hitting balls again.
As for playing at Wimbledon, which starts tomorrow, Murray is keeping us guessing. He is slated to face the Czech world No 38 Tomas Machac on Tuesday. “I would say it’s probably more likely that I’m not able to play singles right now,” he said last week. “I’m also doing rehab 24/7 to try to give myself that opportunity to play there again.”
Continue reading...Sources close to the ousted prime minister say Khan also accuses Gen. Asim Munir for assassination attempt and cover-ups.
The post From Prison, Imran Khan Says Top Pakistani General Betrayed Secret Deal to Stay Out of Politics appeared first on The Intercept.
The most dangerous precedent in the case against Assange is the idea that the U.S. government can decide how to define journalism.
The post Like Julian Assange, I Know How It Feels to Be Prosecuted for Acts of Journalism appeared first on The Intercept.
Pyongyang calls ‘Freedom Edge’ drills involving fighter jets and nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier ‘provocative’
North Korea has criticised a joint military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the US held this month, state media have said, saying such drills show the relationship among the three countries has developed into “the Asian version of Nato”.
On Thursday, the three countries began the large-scale joint military drills called “Freedom Edge”, involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defences against missiles, submarines and air attacks.
Continue reading...Many want the president to quit his re-election bid following a catastrophic debate. His team must ask what is best for the US
The Democrats have no good options. The question now is which is the least dangerous of the bad ones. Democratic voters did not want Joe Biden to run again. Almost 70% judged him too old to serve another term as president when polled last year. Privately, many senior Democrats and donors shared their qualms. But with Mr Biden determined to stand, the consensus was to rally round. Now, after last Thursday’s catastrophic debate, the party is panicking. Only four months from the election, there is frenzied discussion of potential replacements.
That would almost certainly require Mr Biden’s agreement. His wife, Jill, seen as key to his decision, seems to be urging him on. He is said to believe that only he is capable of beating Mr Trump again. Few agree. The lack of a formal mechanism to remove him does not preclude the effects of political gravity. Slumping polls, drying up funds and private, or even public, demands for his departure from senior Democratic figures could yet change his mind. A growing chorus of previously supportive media figures is urging him to quit.
Continue reading...Republican senator warns of retribution: ‘Pandora’s box opened by the Democrats is going to be applied’
South Carolina’s Republican senator Lindsey Graham warned of retribution against Democrats amid Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal cases.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, Graham, a staunch Trump ally, said without evidence, “The Democrats keep calling president Trump a felon. Well, be careful what you wish for. I expect there will be an investigation of Biden’s criminality at the border.”
Continue reading...Officials dismiss reports family would discuss president quitting race and say summit was scheduled before debate
Joe Biden was meeting with his family on Sunday, a discussion believed to include talk about his political future even though it was already scheduled to take place before his calamitous presidential debate on Thursday with Donald Trump.
The meeting at Camp David came as pressures mounted on Biden following the vast fallout of the debate, in which his halting performance highlighted his vulnerabilities in a close election and invited calls from pundits, media and voters for him to step aside.
Continue reading...60% of respondents, Republicans and Democrats, say president should be replaced, while 11% were unsure
A majority of voters want Joe Biden to stand down following his dismal debate performance, yet aren’t convinced there is a suitable alternative Democratic candidate, new polls have found.
In a Morning Consult poll, 60% of respondents, Republicans and Democrats, said the president should be replaced by his party for November’s election, while another 11% were unsure.
Continue reading...Tron theatre, Glasgow
Johnny McKnight’s snappy revival makes us all complicit in Philip Ridley’s satire on capitalism and consumerism
What moral compromises has the Christian right had to make in order to lend its support to Donald Trump, a convicted felon? It is a question that goes through your head watching this sparky revival of Philip Ridley’s needling black comedy. How can anyone square their New Testament beliefs with all that bling, avarice and deceit.
Troubled by a biblical sense of right and wrong, Radiant Vermin is an extreme fantasy about self-styled good people justifying their immoral behaviour in the name of a consumerist god.
Continue reading...AAF to publish dossiers of employees they consider hostile to ex-president, with goal of ultimately replacing them
Armed with rhetoric about the “deep state”, a conservative-backed group is planning to publicly name and shame career government employees that they consider hostile to Donald Trump.
This “blacklist” of civil servants, which will be published online, is intended to advance Trump’s broader goals, which, if elected, include weeding out government employees and replacing them with loyalists.
Continue reading...Many of bloc’s diplomats fear a six-month ‘fiasco’ with Viktor Orbán’s government overseeing the agenda
For months, it was rumoured that Hungary planned to use a reworked version of Donald Trump’s slogan for its upcoming EU presidency: Make Europe Great Again. That idea “sounded so lame and ridiculous that we refrained from reporting it”, Szabolcs Panyi, one of Hungary’s leading investigative journalists, wrote on X this month. “We were wrong.”
On 1 July, under that Trumpian banner, Hungary will take on the six-month rotating presidency of the EU council of ministers. As well as a spell in the diplomatic limelight, Viktor Orbán’s government will be setting the EU agenda for the rest of the year.
Continue reading...Trump’s racist remarks toward migrants and Palestinians were met with little more than “thank you, President Trump.”
The post Trump Used “Palestinian” as a Slur. Biden and Debate Moderators Didn’t Say a Word. appeared first on The Intercept.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden took to the debate stage in Atlanta, Georgia, for their first head to head of this year’s presidential campaign.
Jonathan Freedland and Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone look at who did better on the night
Archive: CNN
Continue reading...I filed a lawsuit to obtain the 6,700-page report with “excruciating detail” about the CIA’s abuses.
The post More Than 10 Years Later, the Senate Torture Report Is Still Secret appeared first on The Intercept.
One person was killed and at least nine others injured in Kharkiv; a 14-storey apartment building in Kyiv was set on fire after Russia strikes. What we know on day 859
One person was killed and nine others including a baby were injured in a Russian strike on a post office in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, local authorities said. “A man, a post office employee, was killed,” the head of Kharkiv’s regional administration, Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram. The city of Kharkiv has been regularly targeted by Russian troops in recent months, but military analysts say the frequency has dipped since the US authorised Ukrainian use of its weapons on certain Russian targets.
In Kyiv’s Obolon suburb, the local military administration said falling fragments from a Russian missile started a fire and damaged balconies on a 14-storey apartment building. Emergency services, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said five female residents were treated for stress, and mayor Vitali Klitschko said 10 residents had been evacuated. The head of the military administration of Kyiv region said missile fragments had also fallen outside the capital, causing injuries and damage, though no details were provided.
Drone footage from Ukraine’s military has shown what appears to be bodies in a civilian area in the embattled eastern town of Toretsk, which has come under heavy Russian bombardment in recent days. The attacks in the war-torn Donetsk region have prompted a scaled-up evacuation effort by Ukrainian rescue services. Local officials said that powerful Russian glide bombs have also been used in the town. Glide bombs are heavy Soviet-era bombs fitted with precision guidance systems and launched from aircraft flying out of range of air defences.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a post on Telegram, said Russia had used more than 800 glide bombs on Ukrainian targets in the past week. He issued a fresh plea in his nightly video address for better weapons systems. “The sooner the world helps us deal with the Russian combat aircraft launching these bombs, the sooner we can strike – justifiably strike – Russian military infrastructure … and the closer we will be to peace,” he said.
Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church on Sunday elected Metropolitan Daniil – who experts see as pro-Russian in a church traditionally considered very close to Moscow – as its new leader. Daniil supported the Kremlin in a lengthy video message published in 2023. The Bulgarian patriarch is elected for life unless he himself decides to step down.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report
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Raducanu faces difficult Russian opponent in first round while Jannik Sinner starts a major as world No 1 for first time
During her relatively short time as a professional tennis player, Emma Raducanu has never known Wimbledon without chaos. In her debut in 2021, having spent the prior months away from the sport altogether to focus on her A-levels, she reached the fourth round before dramatically retiring due to breathing difficulties. The next year, she injured an ankle early in her opening match on grass at the Nottingham Open and was barely ready in time. Last year, she did not even make it to the starting blocks.
For once, things seem relaxed in Raducanu’s world. She returns for her third Wimbledon after months of consistent training, with a growing number of matches under her belt and also, essentially, wins. She reached the semi-finals in Nottingham and the quarter-finals in Eastbourne, where she clinched her first win over a top-10 player by defeating Jessica Pegula, the world No 5. As she finishes her preparations for SW19, Raducanu says she is the most settled she has been for some time.
Continue reading...Ukraine president says long-distance strikes and modern air defences ‘crucial to halting Russian terror’
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has renewed his calls for more air defences and long-range weapons after a missile attack in southern Ukraine killed seven people including two children.
Ukrainian officials released photos showing bodies covered with picnic blankets in a park in Vilniansk, a town near the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, alongside deep craters in the scorched earth and the charred remains of a nearby building.
Continue reading...Three people died when tree crushed car they were travelling in, while torrential rains triggered landslides
Ferocious storms and torrential rains that lashed France, Switzerland and Italy this weekend have left seven people dead, local authorities said.
Three people in their 70s and 80s died in France’s north-eastern Aube region on Saturday when a tree crushed the car in which they were travelling during fierce winds, the local authority told Agence France-Presse. A fourth passenger was in critical care, it added.
Continue reading...The holders were meekly disposed of by Switzerland in the last 16 and now a root-and-branch review is required
Berlin, the city where they won a World Cup in 2006, has a special place in Italy’s footballing imagination. The prospect of returning for a last-16 tie at Euro 2024 was so thrilling it caused one commentator to trip over his tongue. Fabio Caressa, whose breathless repetition of “goal by [Fabio] Grosso!” became almost as iconic as that player’s semi-final strike 18 years ago, spluttered for a moment after Mattia Zaccagni’s equaliser against Croatia on Monday and briefly was unable to speak.
Caressa had no such trouble finding his words, on Saturday night, after the Azzurri were eliminated by a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland. “The way we played tonight was unacceptable,” said Caressa during a post-match discussion on the Italian broadcaster Sky Sport. “We have to be able to say that. This match was unwatchable … this is not the level of our national team.”
Continue reading...A Russian missile killed seven people and wiped out the country’s main book printer in May. But moves are already afoot to rebuild Factor Druk
Olena Ninadovska was inside Ukraine’s biggest printing house when the Russian missile hit. She was working in the binding department. It was 10.20am. Two colleagues – Tetaina Khrapina and Olha Kurasova – stood next to her. The women were operating a row of book-sewing machines. Another employee, Sveta Arestova, had just stepped away to take a telephone call.
The S-300 missile came through the roof. There was no warning. It instantly killed Ninadovksa and the others at her workstation. Arestova was injured but survived. The blast flipped over a 10-tonne book-finishing machine, killing Svitlana Ryzhenko, who was sitting at the end of the assembly line. Two more workers died at an adjacent table. Another, Roman Stroyhi, was killed by shards from a guillotine machine.
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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nedum Onuoha and Nicky Bandini as the hosts win in controversial style and the holders bow out disgracefully
On the podcast today: A storm stops the match in Dortmund but can’t stop Germany beating Denmark with goals from Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala. Denmark were hard done by with the decisions, having been denied a goal and then conceding a penalty for a very harsh handball against Joachim Anderson.
Elsewhere, Switzerland knocked out the holders, Italy, with relative ease thanks to a dismal display from Luciano Spalletti’s side. The Swiss will now face the winners of England v Slovakia in the quarter-finals.
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We’ve been making short-term decisions about our planet for a long time. The consequences are horrific to behold
The slashing rain turned the dirt roads into muddy creeks, the bus’s wipers shoved the torrent back and forth across the windshield, and Don Schreiber handled the wheel like Sandra Bullock in Speed as he wisecracked from under a big gray moustache. The vehicle swerved and slid in the storm, lightning flashed on the horizon, thunder shook the air. Whether the old yellow bus would make it back to the ranch house, get stuck or slide and flip depended on his driving.
Don, in his white Stetson and a blue and white checked western shirt, was our tour guide on this land in northwestern New Mexico that he knew intimately and had dedicated his retirement to protecting. When he and his wife Jane Schreiber bought the ranchland about 200 miles north-west of Santa Fe in 1999 to retire to, they – like many westerners – found that they owned the land, but not the subsurface rights. The fracking boom came, and gas companies began gouging holes for gas wells, laying pipelines and cutting roads across the fragile desert soil. Big trucks rolled across the land night and day to service the wells that studded the landscape. At the well we stopped at, the pressure gauge was broken.
Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell’s Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility
Continue reading...Top Democrats used to go all in on protecting incumbents. That wasn’t the case for Bowman, who was defeated Tuesday.
The post Half-Hearted Efforts by Democratic Leaders Couldn’t Save Jamaal Bowman From AIPAC’s Attacks appeared first on The Intercept.
In April, President Joe Biden said he was “considering” dropping charges against the WikiLeaks founder.
The post Julian Assange Strikes Plea Deal, Will Return to Australia appeared first on The Intercept.
Turnout estimated to be as low as 40%, a record low since the revolution and a rebuff for the regime
Iran is heading to a runoff election in a week’s time after the reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian secured a narrow lead over the hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili but failed to secure more than 50% of the votes.
Turnout may end up low as 40%, a record low for an Iranian presidential election since the revolution in 1979.
Continue reading...Millions expected to boycott election as they believe regime will manipulate result to ensure loyalist victory
More than 61.5 million Iranians aged over 18 have been given a chance to vote for a new president and send a message to the regime about the state of the economy, although millions were expected to boycott an election they believe will be manipulated by the regime to ensure a loyalist victory.
Iran’s leaders want to renew their legitimacy after a steady decline in turnout reached crisis point last year with fewer than 41% voting in parliamentary elections, and fewer than 10% in the capital, Tehran.
Continue reading...The administration says the “Azov Brigade” is separate from the old, Nazi-linked “Azov Battalion.” The unit itself says they’re the same.
The post The U.S. Says a Far-Right Ukrainian Army Unit Can Now Get Aid. A Photo Shows Training Was Already Happening. appeared first on The Intercept.
As Republicans thirst for restarting federal executions, Absolute Standards told Connecticut lawmakers it hasn’t made or sold pentobarbital since December 2020.
The post Company Linked to Federal Execution Spree Says It Will No Longer Produce Key Drug appeared first on The Intercept.
Project 2025 — a road map for the next Trump White House — urges overturning Supreme Court precedent, and a trickle of bills may tee up challenges.
The post Can Conservatives Expand the Death Penalty Using the “Trigger Law” Playbook? 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
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...Increasing use of fans, air coolers and air conditioners is placing ‘serious’ strain on grid in north of country
Engineers in India have warned of the possibility of prolonged power outages in the north, where a heatwave has brought misery for millions of people.
Demand for electricity has soared due to fans, air coolers and air conditioners being run constantly, placing a strain on the grid in Delhi and elsewhere in the north. Manufacturers of air conditioners and air coolers report sales rising by 40-50% compared with last summer.
Continue reading...I filed a lawsuit to obtain the 6,700-page report with “excruciating detail” about the CIA’s abuses.
The post More Than 10 Years Later, the Senate Torture Report Is Still Secret appeared first on The Intercept.
Many want the president to quit his re-election bid following a catastrophic debate. His team must ask what is best for the US
The Democrats have no good options. The question now is which is the least dangerous of the bad ones. Democratic voters did not want Joe Biden to run again. Almost 70% judged him too old to serve another term as president when polled last year. Privately, many senior Democrats and donors shared their qualms. But with Mr Biden determined to stand, the consensus was to rally round. Now, after last Thursday’s catastrophic debate, the party is panicking. Only four months from the election, there is frenzied discussion of potential replacements.
That would almost certainly require Mr Biden’s agreement. His wife, Jill, seen as key to his decision, seems to be urging him on. He is said to believe that only he is capable of beating Mr Trump again. Few agree. The lack of a formal mechanism to remove him does not preclude the effects of political gravity. Slumping polls, drying up funds and private, or even public, demands for his departure from senior Democratic figures could yet change his mind. A growing chorus of previously supportive media figures is urging him to quit.
Continue reading...Both parties try to appear tough on crime – but neither have convincing answers to the chaos in British criminal justice
The criminal justice system is close to collapse. Don’t take my word for it. “The entire criminal justice system stands on the precipice of failure,” warned the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) this week, as it notified politicians that prisons in England and Wales are quite literally full. Meanwhile, two judges who ruled on legal aid cuts in February, concluded: “Unless there are significant injections of funding in the relatively near future, any prediction … that the system will arrive in due course at a point of collapse is not overly pessimistic.”
Whoever comes into power on 5 July will have to move quickly to address this. But observing the election campaign, you would have little sense of the scale of the interrelated crises in the prison and court systems. Politicians on both sides, nervous about seeming soft on crime, are reluctant to talk about reducing sentence times, improving miserable prison conditions, and whether we actually want a ballooning prison population. (England and Wales have the highest per capita prison population in western Europe.) The irony is that while trying to appear tough, Conservative governments have brought the justice system – our primary mechanism for dealing with crime – to its knees.
Continue reading...Britain to make legal arguments over jurisdiction in case of alleged war crimes by the Israeli PM
An intervention by the UK government at the international criminal court is expected to delay a decision over whether an arrest warrant can be issued against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Judges at the ICC ruled on Thursday they would allow the UK to make legal arguments in the case as they consider whether to approve requests made by the ICC’s chief prosecutor for warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Continue reading...Richard Rojem’s death sentence was twice overturned by appellate courts, but his conviction itself has never been fully revisited.
The post Oklahoma Prepares to Kill Another Man Who Says He’s Innocent appeared first on The Intercept.
The Supreme Court’s conservative bloc advances a key aim of the Project 2025 manifesto: “deconstruct the Administrative State.”
The post The Supreme Court’s Latest Power Grab: Regulatory Oversight appeared first on The Intercept.
Despite deciding not to decide, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority laid out a legal road map for anti-abortion zealots.
The post Alito’s Dissent in Emergency Abortion Case Provides “Building Blocks” for More Extreme Bans appeared first on The Intercept.
Democratic leaders did not tell members to vote against an amendment to block the State Department from citing the Gaza Health Ministry’s statistics.
The post 62 Democrats Join 207 Republicans in Vote to Conceal Gaza Death Toll appeared first on The Intercept.
Decision could result in retailers being prosecuted if they import goods made through forced labour, campaigners say
The UK National Crime Agency’s decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province was unlawful, the court of appeal has found.
Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which brought the action, said Thursday’s decision was a landmark win that could lead to high street retailers being prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) if they import goods made through forced labour.
Continue reading...Despite the various factors that contributed to Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s loss, progressive strategists said there was one clear takeaway from the results.
The post Progressives on AIPAC’s Defeat of Bowman: “Now We Know How Much It Costs to Buy an Election” appeared first on The Intercept.
In April, President Joe Biden said he was “considering” dropping charges against the WikiLeaks founder.
The post Julian Assange Strikes Plea Deal, Will Return to Australia appeared first on The Intercept.
Top Democrats used to go all in on protecting incumbents. That wasn’t the case for Bowman, who was defeated Tuesday.
The post Half-Hearted Efforts by Democratic Leaders Couldn’t Save Jamaal Bowman From AIPAC’s Attacks appeared first on The Intercept.
Project 2025 — a road map for the next Trump White House — urges overturning Supreme Court precedent, and a trickle of bills may tee up challenges.
The post Can Conservatives Expand the Death Penalty Using the “Trigger Law” Playbook? appeared first on The Intercept.
The administration says the “Azov Brigade” is separate from the old, Nazi-linked “Azov Battalion.” The unit itself says they’re the same.
The post The U.S. Says a Far-Right Ukrainian Army Unit Can Now Get Aid. A Photo Shows Training Was Already Happening. 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...A great homemade pickle goes a long way during the summer months
All those laid-back summer lunches, the salads and cold cuts, smoked fish and simple tarts seem to cry out for a crisp, sharp accompaniment. The answer in this house is a tangle of bright young vegetables that has been left in a sweet and salty marinade. A pickle to bring out at will – I keep mine in the fridge – to complement whatever else is on the plate.
I take shavings of new season carrots, chunks of cucumber and sliced, white-tipped radishes and dress them with a little sauerkraut, juniper berries, rice wine vinegar and fennel seeds. The sharpness they bring is refreshing and the crunch of raw vegetables is always welcome, but especially at a sunny summer’s lunch.
Continue reading...The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
My 13-year-old daughter just came to me and said: “I have a much longer tongue than my friends. Does that mean I have more taste buds?” I don’t know who else to ask; can the readers help? David Wynne, West Sussex
Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday.
Continue reading...At heart this is a local pub, but everything about it is dialled up a couple of notches
The Hero, 55 Shirland Road, London W9 2JD. Snacks £6-£13, starters £9-£14, mains £13-£18, desserts £8, wine from £32 a bottle
The Hero, a pub in London’s Maida Vale, is currently a middle-class rave fuelled by a crisp gavi and banging scotch eggs. You will hear it before you see it, as the sounds of the west London mob outside, smoking like it’s 1992, float towards you down tidy streets of wedding cake stucco. To get a sense of the place, however, let’s first pop into the gents at the back. There, standing side by side at the urinals, are two chaps who are not quite young but also not quite middle aged: tousled hair, many opinions, saggy jeans that have never seen better days because they came out of the box like this. One of them says: “I think it’s time I tried the country. I love the country.” The other says: “No, no, I’m all about the city. So many possibilities.”
Continue reading...The recall of the gummies this week sparked concern about the spread of natural stimulants such as herbs and fungi in everyday products
Mushroom gummies have made headlines this week after one brand was recalled Australia-wide as customers were hospitalised with “disturbing hallucinations”.
Attention soon turned to the question of whether cannabis was present.
Continue reading...It wasn’t until David Fletcher left his native Stoke-on-Trent that he realised Staffordshire oatcakes are not widely known outside of the area. Unlike the biscuit-like Scottish oatcakes, the version he grew up with is a savoury pancake served with fillings such as bacon and cheese. “Every shop has its own secret recipe,” he says. “The variations must be very slight, but you still get quite fierce opinions about which are the best oatcakes.” Now based in the New Forest, the photographer has spent the past two years documenting oatcake shops. “If this was a French food it would probably have some kind of protected status of origin, but we don’t do that much in England. For me it represents a cultural and culinary heritage.”
See more at davidfletcherphoto.com and Instagram
Continue reading...The Supreme Court’s conservative bloc advances a key aim of the Project 2025 manifesto: “deconstruct the Administrative State.”
The post The Supreme Court’s Latest Power Grab: Regulatory Oversight appeared first on The Intercept.
Despite deciding not to decide, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority laid out a legal road map for anti-abortion zealots.
The post Alito’s Dissent in Emergency Abortion Case Provides “Building Blocks” for More Extreme Bans appeared first on The Intercept.
A new documentary tells the stories of three Palestinian families as they have fought to survive nine months of genocide.
The post The Night That Won’t End in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Attacked in the field, in the office, and at home, 1 in 10 reporters in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military campaign.
The post Israel’s War on Gaza Is the Deadliest Conflict on Record for Journalists appeared first on The Intercept.
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas
Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.
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Continue reading...In the run-up to July's election, the Guardian video team is touring the UK looking at issues that matter to communities. In the town of Port Talbot, in the Aberafan Maesteg constituency, many voters are worried about the future of the steelworks where at least 2,800 jobs are on the line. We spoke to businesses, food banks and charities and politicians, all worried about the knock-on effect on families who have been steelworkers for generations. We also heard voters' other concerns and asked politicians what people were saying about the steelworks on the doorstep
Continue reading...We spoke to two of the traders heading to Glastonbury 2024 about their behind-the-scenes prep, what they’re most looking forward to, and why, when it comes to speedy payments, Vodafone’s onsite connectivity is king …
A five-day event spread over more than 360 hectares at Worthy Farm in Somerset, the Glastonbury Festival takes a full year of planning, with about 3,000 staff and volunteers working behind the scenes to help make the festival a bucket-list event for 200,000 or more revellers.
Among the staff are almost 800 vendors selling everything from food and drink to upcycled clothing, handmade jewellery and art. Whether they’re busy building up stock and testing new products or making sure the payment network at the festival won’t let them down, these vendors spend weeks planning their crucial contribution to the Glastonbury experience.
Continue reading...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...South Africa's case against Israel over allegations of genocide before the international court of justice has raised a central question of international law: what is genocide and how do you prove it? It is one of three genocide cases being considered by the UN's world court, but since the genocide convention was approved in 1948, only three instances have been legally recognised as genocide. Josh Toussaint-Strauss looks back on these historical cases to find out why the crime is so much harder to prove than other atrocities, and what bearing this has on South Africa's case against Israel and future cases
What is the genocide convention and how might it apply to the UK and Israel?
‘Famine is setting in’: UN court orders Israel to unblock Gaza food aid
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every Thursday
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday
Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you
Continue reading...Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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