********** ENTERTAINMENT **********
return to top
‘A plea for tolerance’: why Wagon Master is my feelgood movie
Mon, 12 May 2025 09:00:50 GMT
The latest in our series of comfort movie picks is an ode to John Ford’s surprisingly gentle and laidback western
When it comes to the legendary American director John Ford, you either get it or you don’t.
If you connect with his work – and for me it’s a connection far beyond any other I have experienced through cinema, felt somewhere between the back of my throat and the depth of my soul – then nothing else matters. Not his films’ conflicted politics, their interludes of witless brawling, or those sequences of drunk comedy we can tactfully classify as “broad”.
Continue reading...  | submitted by /u/KillerCroc1234567 [link] [comments] |
The man who brought Tetris to the west reveals what the movie of his life got right and wrong, how he influenced Nintendo, and why he has now swapped gaming for climate change campaigning
When game designer and entrepreneur Henk Rogers first encountered Tetris at the 1988 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, he immediately knew it was special. “It was just the perfect game,” he recalls. “It looked so simple, so rudimentary, but I wanted to play it again and again and again … There was no other game demo that ever did that to me.”
Rogers is now co-owner of the Tetris Company, which manages and licenses the Tetris brand. Over the past 30 years, he has become almost as famous as the game itself. The escapades surrounding his deal to buy its distribution rights from Russian agency Elektronorgtechnica (Elorg) were dramatised in an Apple TV+ film starring Taron Egerton. “I suggested that Johnny Depp or Keanu Reeves should play me, but apparently they were way too old,” Rogers says.
Continue reading...Götz Valien recreates promotional adverts in giant hand-painted images that add a distinct pop art flourish
Götz Valien is Berlin’s last movie poster artist, for more than three decades earning a modest living producing giant hand-painted film adverts to hang at the city’s most beloved historic cinemas – a craft he says will probably die with him, at least in western Europe. The studios’ own promotional posters serve as a template, but Austrian-born Valien, 65, adds a distinctive pop art flourish to each image coupled with the beauty of imperfection – part of the reason he has managed to extend his career well into the 21st century.
“Advertising is about drawing attention and I add the human touch, which is why it works,” he said. Valien’s work plays up the image’s essence: the imposing bow of a ship, the haunting eyes of a screen siren, a mysterious smile. He jokingly calls himself a Kinosaurier – a play on the German words for cinema and dinosaur.
Continue reading...Forget modern edicts and prepare for the return of power dressing, big hair, short skirts and movie-star-in-a-convertible sunglasses
Boom boom is this year’s new vibe. It’s a vibe, not just a trend, meaning it takes tectonic rumblings in culture and gives them expression in what we wear and say and drink and watch on TV.
Boom boom is a new weather system that is sweeping away pretty much everything we thought we knew about modern fashion (gender fluidity, quiet luxury, elevated basics, ethical brands) and replacing it with ambitious power dressing for day, and traditional tropes of feminine and masculine sexual allure for evening. It is fur (real or fake), gold watches, big hair, wearing ties, sexy dancing. It is a silhouette that has inflection points at the shoulders (big), the breasts (important) and the waist (tiny) instead of worshipping a peachy bum or flat abs.
Continue reading...
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
Inspired by her stuntwoman daughter, Ginny MacColl decided to get pumped; before she knew it, she was taking on all comers on the reality show American Ninja Warrior
Ginny MacColl was 63 when she accepted her daughter’s challenge to complete a pull-up. It took nine months to nail it. Now, a decade on, MacColl can pump out 17 of them in a row. It’s hard to argue with her when she says: “You can get stronger with age.”
MacColl has since competed three times in the reality TV show American Ninja Warrior. She’s the oldest person to complete an obstacle, and the oldest female ninja athlete, according to Guinness World Records. It was watching her daughter, Jessie Graff, a stuntwoman, compete on the show that made her want to grow stronger herself.
Continue reading...What is the equivalent of a Couch to 5k or parkrun for swimmers? Do I need loads of expensive gear? And should I join a club? Here’s how I learned to love the pool
Mine is a familiar story: I used to hate even the idea of running. But, in 2020, when gyms closed their doors, I downloaded the Couch to 5k app, and ran approximately three times a week for the next four years, culminating in a half marathon in 2024 – and, predictably, an injury.
Physios treating my persistent hip pain didn’t tell me to stop running – but they did suggest I might want to explore other, lower impact options, such as swimming. But where to start? What’s the aquatic version of Couch to 5k or parkrun?
Continue reading...The dramatic results of weight-loss drugs often come with a side order of stigma, as though it’s ‘cheating’ not to stick to willpower, diet and exercise alone. Is that why so many are telling no one – not even their partners?
Every Friday night, Claire, a 50-year-old woman in Berkshire, waits until her husband and son have gone to bed. When she is sure the house is quiet, she tiptoes out to her garage, and over to a tin tucked away in the corner. It is chilly out there, but she doesn’t mind; that’s the point. Inside the tin, away from the prying eyes of her family, is a vial of the GLP-1 medication Mounjaro, which needs to be kept at about 8C. Claire has been taking it without them knowing for several months. “It would have been harder to get away with in summer,” she says.
As weight-loss medications have become more and more popular, lots of people in the public eye have been dramatically changing shape, walking the red carpets or hosting TV shows in bodies half the size they once were. But as the jabs have become cheaper and more readily available, so, too, have ordinary people been disappearing before our eyes. And many are choosing not to disclose just how this weight loss is happening. Like Claire, these “secret jabbers” are keeping it private even from their closest family and friends.
Continue reading...
Imagine going somewhere and not having to hear all about a stranger’s toxic boyfriend, pitch deck or hernia op
Demand for silent experiences is on the rise: apparently silent book clubs, a concept launched in San Francisco in 2012, are spreading like quiet wildfire, with “1,600 chapters in 54 countries”, according to the BBC, including about 100 in the UK. In the same article, Eventbrite reported a 460% increase in silent book events organised at the beginning of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.
Silent cafes – sacred safe spaces where you won’t have to hear about anyone’s transversal skill set, toxic boyfriend, pitch deck or hernia op – are proliferating, too. The algorithm thinks, correctly, that I would enjoy a silent reading cafe in Tokyo and there are silent cafes in Osaka, China and Turkey. Silent travel was decreed a “top travel trend” last year by Condé Nast Traveller, spanning everything from full-on week-long retreats and a certified “wilderness quiet park” in Ecuador to quiet hotels, silent group walks and even discos.
Continue reading...The authors of a new marine guide share their favourite spots to catch a glimpse of submerged species – plus tips on how to snorkel safely
The British coastline is a thriving marine habitat, with a biodiversity that’s driven by high tidal range and strong nutrient-rich currents. When conditions are right, snorkelling in British waters brings a connection with a variety of species and stunning terrain: sea lochs, sheltered bays, shipwrecks, tidal pools, kelp forests, sandy seabeds and rocky reefs. You might see sharks, seals, scorpionfish, octopus and cuttlefish. These are our 10 favourite spots.
Continue reading...With three floors to fill, this 270-year-old restaurant chain’s understated approach feels rather bold
The demise of London’s Chinatown has long been predicted, what with recent rent and rate rises, and diners’ changing tastes. Yet on a spring lunchtime last week, business on Wardour Street was booming, with alfresco noodle-slurping, long queues and endless selfie sessions all in full swing.
Song He Lou, a historic restaurant brand that champions Suzhou cuisine, clearly believes there are big profits to be made in this postcode, and it has put its money where its mouth is by opening a whopping 144-seater right here in the centre of Chinatown. I’m not chucking in that “historic” willy-nilly, either: Song He Lou was founded in Suzhou near Shanghai almost 270 years ago, during the reign of Emperor Qianglong, and makes Rules in nearby Covent Garden, which is a piffling 227, look like a fly-by-night pop-up.
Continue reading...A cargo flight will haul 14 tons of nitrocellulose from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to an Israeli weapons manufacturer.
The post Explosive Materials Bound for Israel Are Flying Out of JFK Airport appeared first on The Intercept.
A world away from Italy’s crowded beach resorts, the island’s south-west offers remote golden sands plus villages, vineyards and great restaurants
It felt like a classic British beach outing, but with more reliable weather. Toting umbrella, towels, sun cream, water and a cool-box picnic, my husband, son and I turned our backs on the marina in Porto Palo, near Menfi in south-west Sicily, and walked west. About 10 minutes on a narrow signposted coastal path brought us to Le Solette, a half-mile curving golden beach between rocky outcrops and backed by low hills. It’s a gorgeous spot, with soft sand and clear water in hues from turquoise to indigo – but the most remarkable thing about it is not what’s there, but what’s not.
Seaside resorts in north and central Italy are a strange phenomenon: the sand is usually almost invisible beneath pairs of sunbeds and matching umbrellas. OK, there is the convenience of loos and showers, but at what cost? I’ve been to resorts in Liguria, in north-west Italy, where from Easter to September a walk along the front affords views not of the sea but of the walls and changing cabins of an unbroken row of beach stabilimenti.
Continue reading...A refund depends on the departure date and the booking type – no wonder more people are now selling trips on
Even the best-laid holiday plans can go awry. Illness, bereavements, break-ups, money problems, redundancy, pregnancy, jury duty, floods – all of these can throw a getaway into disarray.
But while you may miss out on a break in the sun or relaxing city break, you do not necessarily have to lose all of your money as a result of problems at home that force you to cancel your trip. You can now sell on your holiday in much the same way you sell on a concert ticket, although that is not the only way to get some money back.
Continue reading...A new Which? Travel report on overtourism also cites Mallorca and Paris as destinations suffering from an influx of visitors, but some argue that bad behaviour is as much of a problem as numbers
In Great Yarmouth there are some signs of regeneration: the vast glass palace of the Winter Gardens is being refurbished and the ornate Cafe 1903 next to the historic Hippodrome is busy. But the bustling tourist industry of the Edwardian era is long gone. “When Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show came in 1903, the tent held 5,000,” says local historian Roger Silver. “A couple of years earlier the Bass Brewery brought 10,000 workers on a day trip from Burton upon Trent. It took 16 trains.”
Coincidentally, that is the same number of visitors who poured into the Italian mountain village of Roccaraso (population 1,500) in January, drawn by the presence of Tik Tok influencer Rita de Crescenzo. But the similarities end there. The Yarmouth invasion received no complaints, while the residents of Roccaraso reacted with horror. The mayor, Francesco Di Donato, threatened to call in the army.
Continue reading...TikTok trend is inspiring tourists to seek out cheaper locations such as Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina
It will take more than a TikTok trend to break Britons’ love affair with Mediterranean beaches. But latest figures show travellers are increasingly swapping Málaga for North Macedonia and Benidorm for the Balkans as part of a social media craze for “destination dupes”.
Flights from the UK to Bosnia and Herzegovina soared by 284% in 2024 compared with the previous year, while trips to Montenegro increased by 164%. Getaways to Albania – billed by some as “the new Croatia” – rose by 61%, according to an analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data.
Continue reading...We’re highlighting the best reader photography in the Guardian in print and online. Share your images with us below
Since 2014 the Guardian’s print letters page has carried a wide range of brilliant photographs that readers have shared. Now we are making greater use of your submissions in a series of online picture galleries.
From reportage to portraits, extraordinary weather events and travel photography to your images of the places you live in or the wildlife you share them with, we’re looking forward to hearing from you and seeing your work. What’s important to us is the quality of the image – the subject matter is up to you.
Try to upload the highest resolution possible
Landscape or square images are preferable, but if you have a great portrait image, we’ll consider it
Tell us as much as you can about when and where the photo was taken as well as what was happening
When we publish an image we want to credit you so please ensure that we have contact information and your full name
Continue reading...Private prison firms CoreCivic and GEO Group are thrilled about ICE’s spending spree, but they’re already facing local opposition.
The post Private Prison CEO on ICE Contracts: We’re a Better Deal Than El Salvador’s CECOT appeared first on The Intercept.
“The Bukele model is built upon Kilmar Abregos — there are thousands of them.”
The post CECOT Is What the Bukele Regime Wants You to See appeared first on The Intercept.
The court let a military trans ban go into effect — potentially setting a precedent to accept the anti-trans myth behind Trump’s executive order.
The post The Supreme Court Just Imperiled the Rights — and Lives — of All Trans People appeared first on The Intercept.
Former Sinn Féin leader denies claim made in 2016 documentary he sanctioned 2006 killing of MI5 informant Denis Donaldson
It is a small, compact courtroom with a digital clock that glows beneath the judge’s bench, but the evidence unfurled in the case of Gerry Adams versus the BBC is expansive and spans decades of Irish and British history.
The former Sinn Féin leader’s childhood and political awakening, the evolution of the Troubles, the IRA’s deadly campaign, the peace process, the murder of a British spy, all have been outlined – and contested – in the libel hearing at Dublin’s high court.
Continue reading...Judge confirms move would breach order as Libya’s rival governments say both would refuse any US deportees
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to deport a group of immigrants to Libya, despite a judge’s efforts on Wednesday to block any such flights and the state department’s previous condemnation of the “life-threatening” prison conditions in the country.
Reuters cited three unnamed US officials as saying the deportations could happen this week. Two of the officials said the immigrants, whose nationalities are not known, could be flown to the north African country as soon as Wednesday, but they added the plans could still change. The New York Times also cited a US official confirming the deportation plans.
Continue reading...After drone strikes, nuclear jitters and a ceasefire, the latest fighting between India and Pakistan reveals how peace dies by routine
“The arms race between India and Pakistan poses perhaps the most probable prospect for future use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons,” James Woolsey, the CIA director, told Congress in 1993. That assessment is relevant now, after days of escalating conflict that included missile and drone strikes on military bases. It is a uniquely modern arms race: high on nationalist fervour and habitual mistrust, choreographed so that each clash is always just one provocation away from becoming the last.
On Saturday, Donald Trump announced a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The truce, brokered by US officials, came amid speculation by military analysts that Pakistan was edging closer to using nuclear weapons. It was met with cautious optimism – not least as both sides accused each other of violating the agreement within hours, with reports of cross-border shelling in Indian-administered Kashmir. Should the ceasefire pause the missiles, it won’t resolve the deeper dispute at the roof of the world.
Continue reading...“Many of the potential issues we see with the Trump family’s crypto practices are a feature — not a bug — of the crypto industry.”
The post Democrats Woke Up to Trump’s Crypto Grift. Will They Stop Other Scammers? appeared first on The Intercept.
Israeli extremist officials deny the existence of famine in Gaza as they push for harsher measures to block food.
The post Famine Haunts the People of Gaza. Israel Is Trying to Convince You It’s Fake. appeared first on The Intercept.
“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,” said a union official about a raid in western New York.
The post “They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump’s proposal cuts SpaceX competitors out of the NASA budget and could add billions to the company’s defense contracts.
The post Elon Musk Set to Win Big With Trump’s Trillion-Dollar Pentagon Budget appeared first on The Intercept.
A day after being attacked by a pro-Israel mob, protesters were shot by rubber bullets — whose use is restricted by California law.
The post Police Shot Them in the Head With Rubber Bullets. Now UCLA Gaza Protesters Are Suing. appeared first on The Intercept.
“I’m not someone who says, ‘History will judge them’ — they will have to be judged before then,” Francesca Albanese said in an exclusive interview.
The post EU President Should Be Investigated for Complicity in Israel’s War Crimes, Says Top U.N. Expert on Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
Meta is suing NSO Group, basically claiming that the latter hacks WhatsApp and not just WhatsApp users. We have a procedural ruling:
Under the order, NSO Group is prohibited from presenting evidence about its customers’ identities, implying the targeted WhatsApp users are suspected or actual criminals, or alleging that WhatsApp had insufficient security protections.
[…]
In making her ruling, Northern District of California Judge Phyllis Hamilton said NSO Group undercut its arguments to use evidence about its customers with contradictory statements...
“The Bukele model is built upon Kilmar Abregos — there are thousands of them.”
The post CECOT Is What the Bukele Regime Wants You to See appeared first on The Intercept.
Observers say candidates who lose elections by narrow margins could copy Republican effort to have votes tossed
A disputed North Carolina state supreme court race that took nearly six months to resolve revealed a playbook for future candidates who lose elections to retroactively challenge votes, observers warn, but its ultimate resolution sent a signal that federal courts are unlikely to support an effort to overturn the results of an election.
Democrat Allison Riggs defeated Republican Jefferson Griffin by 734 votes last November out of around 5.5m cast. But for months afterwards, Griffin waged an aggressive legal fight to get 65,000 votes thrown out after the election, even though those voters followed all of the rules election officials had set in advance.
Continue reading...“Many of the potential issues we see with the Trump family’s crypto practices are a feature — not a bug — of the crypto industry.”
The post Democrats Woke Up to Trump’s Crypto Grift. Will They Stop Other Scammers? appeared first on The Intercept.
Senate race will be key to future of Sara Duterte as she faces impeachment trial, while her father could become mayor despite being detained in The Hague
Millions of Filipinos began voting on Monday in a midterm election widely seen as a referendum on the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached vice-president Sara Duterte.
Workers in the capital, Manila, were busily setting up polling stations on Sunday for a race that will decide more than 18,000 posts, from seats in the House of Representatives to hotly contested municipal offices.
Continue reading...Trump’s proposal cuts SpaceX competitors out of the NASA budget and could add billions to the company’s defense contracts.
The post Elon Musk Set to Win Big With Trump’s Trillion-Dollar Pentagon Budget appeared first on The Intercept.
Amelia Hamer could only secure small primary vote swing towards Liberals in Kooyong, while Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown holds inner-Brisbane seat of Ryan
The independent MP Monique Ryan has won Kooyong in Melbourne, holding off her Liberal challenger, but Nicolette Boele, another Climate 200-backed candidate, is expected to fall short on Sydney’s north shore.
The ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, on Monday projected that Ryan would maintain her slim lead in the Melbourne seat, where she led by about 1,100 votes with a few thousand left to count.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...First it was the Conservatives and now Reform. The only thing the government has to offer is that it’s the least worst option
It is less than a year into this Labour government and we are already in another cycle of scare tactics. During the general election, any concerns expressed over Labour’s policies (or lack thereof) were quickly shut down by the pressing need to get a disastrous Tory government out.
Now in power, concerns have been once again pushed aside. There is no time for the luxury of scrutiny of accountability, because now Reform is rising and the party must be stopped. Once again, the voter is asked to park their issues with Labour and save the nation from a worse alternative. “A vote for anyone but Labour risks more chaos under a Farage-Tory coalition,” posted the Labour party on its X account in early May. “Vote Labour. Stop Reform.”
Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist
One year of Labour, with Pippa Crerar, Rafael Behr and more On 9 July, join Pippa Crerar, Rafael Behr, Frances O’Grady and Salma Shah as they look back at one year of the Labour government and plans for the next three years
Continue reading...Three times in the last week, Trump expressed ignorance when responding to questions about his signature policies.
The post “I Don’t Know.” Trump’s Go-To Response to All Sorts of Questions appeared first on The Intercept.
From militarized crackdowns to legal impunity, Trump’s policing agenda is designed to crush dissent and critics.
The post A Trumped Up Police State Is Coming appeared first on The Intercept.
Private prison firms CoreCivic and GEO Group are thrilled about ICE’s spending spree, but they’re already facing local opposition.
The post Private Prison CEO on ICE Contracts: We’re a Better Deal Than El Salvador’s CECOT appeared first on The Intercept.
Former leader had been due to visit in October but trip was cancelled when it coincided with David Lammy’s trip to Beijing
Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will visit Britain this week at the invitation of British politicians, a trip that comes as London is trying to improve ties with Beijing and China ramps up efforts to diplomatically isolate the island.
Britain, like most countries, has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the economic and political exchanges between the two sides have increased as Beijing ratchets up military threats to force Taipei to accept its sovereignty claim over the democratic island.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Labor’s Tanya Plibersek has avoided comment about her ministerial desires or expectations, offering little other than general remarks when pressed this morning on the issue of the forthcoming cabinet announcement from Anthony Albanese.
Plibersek, who previously held the environment portfolio, told Sunrise this morning that cabinet decisions were “completely a matter for the prime minister” and that she was just “very grateful” to be on the front bench, and to have won the election, and to get to do “a good job for the government and for the people of Australia” again … and, well, you get the idea.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Waveney Valley MP and North Hereforshire MP likely to go up against party’s deputy leader Zack Polanski
Adrian Ramsay is to stand as Greens co-leader with another of the party’s MPs, Ellie Chowns, amid what the duo describe as an unprecedented fracturing of political allegiances that meant it was vital to have leaders in Westminster with a proven record of winning.
Ramsay has already been co-leader for four years, alongside Carla Denyer, who with Ramsay, Chowns and Siân Berry were elected to parliament last year in the party’s greatest electoral triumph.
Continue reading...PM has named his new frontbench, including Michelle Rowland as the new attorney general, after a factional brawl over positions
Tanya Plibersek has been moved out of the environment portfolio and into social services as part of Anthony Albanese’s reshaped cabinet, replaced by Queenslander Murray Watt as Labor pursues a new model for its stalled “nature positive” laws.
Revealing his refreshed lineup following Labor’s emphatic election victory, Albanese on Monday named Michelle Rowland as the new attorney general, added the NDIS to Mark Butler’s responsibilities alongside the health portfolio, and moved Anika Wells from aged care to communications.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Greens co-leader to table private member’s bill on a worker-led green transition in attempt to seize narrative back from Nigel Farage’s party
The Labour government is standing back and letting Reform UK “sell the lie” that net zero will harm working people, Carla Denyer, the Greens’ co-leader has said as she prepares to step back from the role she has held for four years.
Denyer, who will not contest this summer’s party leadership re-election process, told the Guardian that she wanted to focus on her Bristol Central constituency, and to campaign on particular issues, including a net zero policy shaped to the needs of workers.
Continue reading...PM unveils new policies meant to drive down net migration by end of this parliament
Q: If you want to grow the economy, won’t these plans make it harder because it will be more difficult for people to get UK citizenship?
Starmer says he does not accept the argument that high immigration is always good for growth. The last government had high immigration but stagnant growth.
I promise that [net migration] will fall significantly, and I do want to get it down by the end of this parliament, significantly.
Continue reading...President plans to use executive powers, saying US should pay ‘same price as nation that pays the lowest price’
Donald Trump has promised to use his executive powers to cut the price of prescription drugs in the US in an attempt to bring them more in line with other countries, triggering a sharp fall in drugmakers’ share prices.
The US president has said he will sign an order on Monday that will reduce prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices “almost immediately” by “30% to 80%”.
Continue reading...The court let a military trans ban go into effect — potentially setting a precedent to accept the anti-trans myth behind Trump’s executive order.
The post The Supreme Court Just Imperiled the Rights — and Lives — of All Trans People appeared first on The Intercept.
Qatar royal family’s offer of to US president of luxury jumbo jet ignites accusations of bribery and corruption
Qatar has offered to donate a plane to the United States and details are still being worked out, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
“The Qatari Government has graciously offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense. The legal details of that are still being worked out,” Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News.
Continue reading...Countries to drastically cut reciprocal tariffs as US treasury secretary says ‘neither side wants a decoupling’
China and the US have agreed a 90-day pause to the deepening trade war that has threatened to upend the global economy, with reciprocal tariffs to be lowered by 115 percentage points.
Speaking to the media after talks in Geneva, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said both sides had shown “great respect” in the negotiations.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Harris poll for Guardian finds people reconsidering major life events such as having children or buying a home
Americans are reconsidering major life events including marriage, having children and buying a home amid economic anxiety in the opening months of the Trump presidency, according to an exclusive poll for the Guardian.
Six in 10 Americans said the economy has affected at least one of their major life goals, according to the Harris poll, citing either lack of affordability or anxiety around the current economy.
Continue reading...PM unveils policies to ‘significantly’ drive down net migration including English tests and degree requirements
The UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” without tougher controls on who enters the country, Keir Starmer has said, as he unveiled a set of policies meant to significantly drive down net migration.
The prime minister said his government would “take back control of our borders” and close the book on a “squalid chapter” of rising inward migration.
Continue reading...  | submitted by /u/Saltedline [link] [comments] |
The latest in our series of comfort movie picks is an ode to John Ford’s surprisingly gentle and laidback western
When it comes to the legendary American director John Ford, you either get it or you don’t.
If you connect with his work – and for me it’s a connection far beyond any other I have experienced through cinema, felt somewhere between the back of my throat and the depth of my soul – then nothing else matters. Not his films’ conflicted politics, their interludes of witless brawling, or those sequences of drunk comedy we can tactfully classify as “broad”.
Continue reading...Decriminalisation is finally possible – but unless we future-proof the law against anti-abortion extremists, the right to choose hangs in the balance
Opening the Pandora’s box of abortion reform is something no one should do without the confidence that they are able to manage the resulting chaos. Moves to decriminalise abortion, in response to the continued prosecution of women for having one, could unintentionally enable the restriction of access under a future regressive government. To prevent this and protect services, it is time to write into our statute that safe and legal access to abortion is a human right across our nation.
It still shocks many people to realise that in 2025 abortion is not actually legal for most of the UK. Only in Northern Ireland do women have a right to an abortion. Everywhere else they are exempted from prosecution if it is determined they have met certain access conditions. This is not a quaint jurisprudence debate – it is driving the explosion in recent years of investigations and prosecutions of women and girls for having abortions in England. A vulnerable 15-year-old girl who didn’t know she was pregnant and had a late-term miscarriage found a police constable at her hospital bed. Others have spent years under suspicion and investigation, and in some cases in jail.
Stella Creasy is the Labour and Cooperative MP for Walthamstow
Continue reading...Exclusive: John Bird warns government has ‘lost trust of its supporters’ as he tables amendment to schools bill
Labour will not hold back the rise of Reform UK if it fails to tackle poverty, the Big Issue co-founder John Bird has warned as he tables an amendment to the schools bill that would force governments to meet legally binding child poverty reduction targets.
Lord Bird, who sits as a crossbench peer, said Nigel Farage’s party was “only going places because the major parties have lost their way”.
Continue reading...Member for Stafford Jimmy Sullivan responds with defiant statement accusing Labor MPs of ‘cheap political move’ against him
Queensland Labor has voted to expel one of its members from caucus in a move labelled “unprecedented” by the state party’s leader, Steven Miles.
The member for Stafford, Jimmy Sullivan, was subsequently ejected from the Labor party entirely on Monday night, after a meeting of its administrative committee.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Wild Justice says bill would reduce environmental protections and calls on Angela Rayner to correct statement saying it will not
A legal campaign group is planning a judicial review against the UK government’s new planning bill, arguing it will result in a weakening of environmental protections which were fought for and created over decades.
Wild Justice is calling on the housing minister, Angela Rayner, to correct a parliamentary statement in which she told MPs the bill, which applies mainly to England and Wales, would not reduce the level of protection. Her words were echoed in a letter to the Guardian from the nature minister, Mary Creagh, who stated it did not repeal habitat or species protections or give a licence to do harm.
Continue reading...A deeply-researched account of the public fascination with Diana Spencer takes in royalists, republicans, lookalikes and sex workers
A thriving industry of books, TV shows and films has kept Diana, Princess of Wales’s image alive since her death in 1997. Most focus on her flawed inner world, and claim to uncover her “true” self. Edward White’s lively, deeply researched Dianaworld gives us something very different.
White, whose previous work includes an acclaimed biography of Alfred Hitchcock, approaches Diana’s story through the people who saw themselves in her – the doppelgangers, opportunists and superfans who found parallels between the princess’s life of extraordinary privilege and their own. His subjects are the frequently ridiculed devotees who fuel celebrity culture: women rushing for the Diana hairdo; impersonators opening supermarkets; psychics jolted awake the night of the fatal crash. It is, White says, “less a biography of Diana, more the story of a cultural obsession”.
Dianaworld by Edward White (Penguin Books Ltd, £25). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Continue reading...The 28-year-old died last week from injuries he suffered near the city of Izium in eastern Ukraine, according to reports
An Australian man has been killed while working for a humanitarian organisation in Ukraine.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Monday confirmed the 28-year-old former soldier had died.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Health worker describes 40-year-old as ‘compliant’ and ‘diligent’ patient but recalls 2020 phone call and a possible ‘warning sign’ of mental health relapse
A nurse at the Queensland medical practice where Joel Cauchi was treated for schizophrenia remembers him as a “compliant” and “diligent” patient, telling an inquest she vomited when she learned he had fatally stabbed six people at a Sydney shopping centre.
Cauchi, 40, killed Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, and Faraz Tahir, 30, and injured 10 others at Westfield Bondi Junction on 13 April last year before he was shot and killed by police inspector Amy Scott.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...The Michelin-starred chef prides himself on his ‘socialist’ business empire. But the hospitality trade is struggling – and so are his staff. What would he change if he had the power?
Is this the world’s most macho introduction? On entering the garden behind the Butcher’s Tap and Grill in Marlow in Buckinghamshire, I’m engulfed in charcoal smoke. Through the fog I spy a countertop laden with slabs of raw meat – a leg of lamb here, a tomahawk steak there. And presiding over two enormous kamado grills is celebrity chef Tom Kerridge, 6ft 3in tall and with a meat cleaver in one hand and a butcher’s saw in the other.
“Smoke and meat!” he says with a grin before jumping into host mode. “Can I get you a drink? A tea or a coffee?” It’s a boiling hot day, so I say just a glass of water would be great. “Really?” he says, his face crumpling like I’ve just told him I’ve run over a beloved pet. “How about a gin and tonic? Or a glass of wine?”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Decision on whether to work with turbine maker being overseen by ministers after British Steel rescue
Ministers are weighing up proposals for a Chinese company to supply wind turbines for a major offshore windfarm in the North Sea.
The government is in discussions with Green Volt North Sea over whether Mingyang, China’s biggest offshore wind company, should supply the wind turbines. Mingyang has emerged as the preferred manufacturer, but the company has sought advice from ministers on whether to proceed.
Continue reading...Sir Adrian Montague’s appearance on Tuesday offers perhaps the last chance to scrutinise utility’s dealings
Hurrah, Sir Adrian Montague, the chair of Thames Water, is scheduled to make another of his rare public appearances. On Tuesday, he will be at the environment select committee, the forum where 18 months ago he gave a strong signal that the company’s financial crisis was even worse than feared.
The shareholders, in their standoff with the regulator over bills, wanted to know the business was “investable”, said Montague. Three months later those investors decided it wasn’t and refused to put in another penny. That forced the current refinancing contest that has seen KKR, the US private equity group, chosen as preferred bidder at the end of March.
Continue reading...Former Sinn Féin leader denies claim made in 2016 documentary he sanctioned 2006 killing of MI5 informant Denis Donaldson
It is a small, compact courtroom with a digital clock that glows beneath the judge’s bench, but the evidence unfurled in the case of Gerry Adams versus the BBC is expansive and spans decades of Irish and British history.
The former Sinn Féin leader’s childhood and political awakening, the evolution of the Troubles, the IRA’s deadly campaign, the peace process, the murder of a British spy, all have been outlined – and contested – in the libel hearing at Dublin’s high court.
Continue reading...News of present known as ‘flying palace’ from royal family to replace Air Force One has ignited accusations of bribery and corruption
Donald Trump has indicated he is ready to accept a luxury plane being offered to the US president as a gift from Qatar’s royal family, almost immediately igniting accusations of bribery and corruption as well as commensurate criticism.
A statement from Qatar on Sunday acknowledged it had held discussions with the US about “the possible transfer” of a plane to be used temporarily by Trump as his presidential aircraft, usurping Air Force One. The emirate’s statement denied a final decision over the transfer had been made – or that it was a gift.
Continue reading...Surveys show employer confidence at record low, prompting job cuts and hiring freeze
UK employers laid off staff in April at a faster pace than the previous month as the combination of higher employment costs and shock waves from Donald Trump’s tariff war sent boardroom confidence levels plummeting.
The human resources association, CIPD, said employer confidence levels slumped to an all-time low, prompting job cuts and a widespread hiring freeze.
Continue reading...Britain was a global, multiracial empire – not a white bastion of democratic resistance that fought alone, says Judy Vertannes, in response to an article on VE Day by Gary Young. Plus a letter from Angela Blazy-O’Reilly
Regarding Gary Younge’s article (Millions of the black and brown people who fought for Europe’s freedom didn’t get a VE Day, 8 May), it is refreshing to read about what actually happened at the end of the second world war. But I do resist strongly the framing of the millions of colonised people in the British empire as having “fought for the allies”. They were the allies. These people, including my late father, were subjects of the British empire, just like any soldier from Liverpool or an Auxiliary Territorial Service recruit from Maidenhead. They were trained as the British army and they fought and died, or survived, just like those from Scotland or Wales.
Many British people don’t want to hear that millions of the grandparents and parents of those “foreigners” living here were born and lived under the same rule as any Bristol or Birmingham council estate, but that was the case. The far-right “othering” of people is a result of a deliberate and hateful ideology aimed at seizing power.
Continue reading...Prof Shafiqul Islam and Wajid Mushtaq Teli respond to an editorial on the ongoing military clashes between the two countries
Your editorial (The Guardian view on India and Pakistan: a newly dangerous moment in an old dispute, 7 May) underscores the alarming escalation between India and Pakistan, but the suspension of the Indus waters treaty and the missile strikes are more than just a return to familiar hostility. They reflect a deeper pattern that I call the urgency-actionability trap: the impulse to respond to provocation, even when those responses, whether symbolic or military, offer little durable benefit and risk spiralling escalation.
India’s suspension of the Indus treaty is technically limited – it cannot “turn off the tap” overnight – but it sets a dangerous precedent in normalising water as a weapon. Pakistan’s retaliatory posture, similarly, satisfies domestic politics while weakening regional water security. Neither action advances stability; both reinforce distrust.
Continue reading...From showerheads to plastic straws, the president brags that he’s expanding options for consumers – while drastically restricting choices in almost all other spheres
Freedom of choice is a venerable American value. Donald Trump’s attachment to it is, however, highly selective.
Over the first four months of his administration, Trump has been eagerly promoting the expansion of choice in our economic lives. That’s especially the case when it comes to our role as consumers. Think kitchens, baths and automobiles; the stated goal every time he talks about commodities has been increasing the number of options so we can select and buy what we like best – environmental effects notwithstanding. Even his tariffs are only supposed to bring temporary pain, as in emptier toy shelves, before American-made abundance starts to rule the day once again.
Continue reading...  | submitted by /u/rezwenn [link] [comments] |
President eager to discuss trade and investment but no plans to visit Israel amid tensions over Gaza war
Donald Trump this week will embark on the first foreign trip of his second administration with a tour of the Middle East, as he looks to secure investment, trade and technology deals from friendly leaders with deep pockets amid turbulent negotiations around numerous regional conflicts, including Israel’s war in Gaza.
The tour through the Middle East is largely a repeat of his first international trip in 2017, when he was feted in the region as a transactional leader eager to secure quick wins and capable of providing support for the regional monarchies’ economic and geopolitical interests.
Continue reading...Under pressure from Reform and from the former PM, Keir Starmer is facing a series of tests of his resolve on green policy
Populist politicians are striking a chord with the public in their attack on “the green agenda” because they are right – climate policies are elitist. So says the man standing to be the next leader of the Green party in England and Wales.
“We should all be angry about net zero,” argues Zack Polanski, currently the Greens’ deputy leader. “The poorest people in our society are being expected to step up to tackle the climate crisis. But it’s the government’s fault, not the people’s fault.”
Continue reading...After being threatened with losing their housing, several students who weren’t involved in the protests had their suspensions lifted.
The post Students Studying at Columbia Library Were Suspended for Protest They Took No Part In appeared first on The Intercept.
Any Trump administration efforts to send non-Libyans to the north African country would violate a prior court order
Immigrants in Texas who were told they would be deported to Libya sat on a military airfield tarmac for hours on Wednesday, unsure of what would happen next, an attorney for one of the men has said.
The attorney, Tin Thanh Nguyen, told the news agency Reuters that his client, a Vietnamese construction worker from Los Angeles, was among the immigrants woken in the early morning hours and bussed from an immigration detention center in Pearsall, Texas, to an airfield where a military aircraft awaited them.
Continue reading...Groups say plan to resume limited humanitarian assistance under strict Israeli rules ‘risks enabling war crimes’
Aid groups have voiced alarm at US moves to pressure them into accepting an Israeli proposal to resume limited humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory under strictly controlled conditions.
The Trump administration has attempted to strong-arm international agencies – including the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) – into accepting Israel’s stringent rules for resuming deliveries, according to sources familiar with the discussions and news reports.
Continue reading...Israeli extremist officials deny the existence of famine in Gaza as they push for harsher measures to block food.
The post Famine Haunts the People of Gaza. Israel Is Trying to Convince You It’s Fake. appeared first on The Intercept.
Pope faced questions about his handling of clerical sexual abuse cases earlier in his career after a survivors group filed a complaint
Groups supporting clergy-molestation survivors say they are gravely concerned and insulted by the election of Pope Leo XIV after he overcame questions about his handling of clerical sexual abuse cases earlier in his career to become the Roman Catholic church’s first-ever US-born leader.
Before Robert Prevost’s ascent to the papacy at age 69, he was leading a chapter of the Augustinian religious order in his home town of Chicago when allegations surfaced that a priest and Catholic high school principal under his jurisdiction had molested at least one student as well as kept child-abuse imagery.
Continue reading...UN World Food Programme says $50m is urgently needed amid fears that Uganda may now begin forced repatriations
Food rations for a million people in Uganda have been cut off completely this week amid a funding crisis at the United Nations World Food Programme, raising fears that refugees will now be pushed back into countries at war.
The WFP in Uganda warned two weeks ago that $50m (£37m) was urgently needed to help refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.
Continue reading...Judge confirms move would breach order as Libya’s rival governments say both would refuse any US deportees
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to deport a group of immigrants to Libya, despite a judge’s efforts on Wednesday to block any such flights and the state department’s previous condemnation of the “life-threatening” prison conditions in the country.
Reuters cited three unnamed US officials as saying the deportations could happen this week. Two of the officials said the immigrants, whose nationalities are not known, could be flown to the north African country as soon as Wednesday, but they added the plans could still change. The New York Times also cited a US official confirming the deportation plans.
Continue reading...Do you work in the UK in any sector where there have been efforts to increase representation and have they been sustained?
Reform UK has said it will roll back diversity and inclusion initiatives in councils it controls. Nigel Farage said during a speech on Friday that he would advise staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives to seek “alternative careers very, very quickly” after the party took control of Durham county council.
What has your experience of these policies been in the workplace? Do you work in any sector where there have been efforts to increase representation and have they been sustained?
Continue reading...Leo XIV celebrated as second Latin American pope having spent many years in Peru’s church
The election of Pope Leo XIV has been celebrated across Latin America, where many hailed him as the second pontiff from the region, after his Argentinian predecessor, Francis.
The news prompted particular elation in Peru, where he lived and worked for more than 20 years and was granted citizenship in 2015. In the capital, Lima, the bells of the cathedral rang in celebration.
In his first appearance from the Vatican balcony, Leo XIV briefly switched from Italian to Spanish to address the faithful “from my beloved diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru”, where he served as bishop for more than a decade.
A Chinese company has developed an AI-piloted submersible that can reach speeds “similar to a destroyer or a US Navy torpedo,” dive “up to 60 metres underwater,” and “remain static for more than a month, like the stealth capabilities of a nuclear submarine.” In case you’re worried about the military applications of this, you can relax because the company says that the submersible is “designated for civilian use” and can “launch research rockets.”
“Research rockets.” Sure.
...As Trump talks of a ceasefire with the Houthis, soldiers in the Middle East have faced steady and seldom discussed attacks.
The post U.S. Troops Are Being Attacked Every Other Day in the Middle East appeared first on The Intercept.
The suit says Michigan is the only state with a policy directive to use body cameras on women in invasive searches, showers, and even on the toilet.
The post Michigan Prison Films Women in Showers — and Caught Guards Saying Lewd Things, Lawsuit Says appeared first on The Intercept.
The historian Rutger Bregman makes the case for why corporate high flyers should quit their jobs to pursue something more meaningful
“Moral ambition is the desire to stand on the right side of history before it is fashionable, to basically devote your career, your life, to some of the most pressing issues that we face as a species.”
Rutger Bregman, historian and author of Moral Ambition, believes that too many of us are in what he calls “bullshit jobs”.
Continue reading...A day after being attacked by a pro-Israel mob, protesters were shot by rubber bullets — whose use is restricted by California law.
The post Police Shot Them in the Head With Rubber Bullets. Now UCLA Gaza Protesters Are Suing. appeared first on The Intercept.
After The Intercept revealed Michael Obadal’s equity in Anduril, Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for him to sell his shares.
The post Trump Army Appointee Should Sell His Anduril Stock, Sen. Warren Demands appeared first on The Intercept.
After drone strikes, nuclear jitters and a ceasefire, the latest fighting between India and Pakistan reveals how peace dies by routine
“The arms race between India and Pakistan poses perhaps the most probable prospect for future use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons,” James Woolsey, the CIA director, told Congress in 1993. That assessment is relevant now, after days of escalating conflict that included missile and drone strikes on military bases. It is a uniquely modern arms race: high on nationalist fervour and habitual mistrust, choreographed so that each clash is always just one provocation away from becoming the last.
On Saturday, Donald Trump announced a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The truce, brokered by US officials, came amid speculation by military analysts that Pakistan was edging closer to using nuclear weapons. It was met with cautious optimism – not least as both sides accused each other of violating the agreement within hours, with reports of cross-border shelling in Indian-administered Kashmir. Should the ceasefire pause the missiles, it won’t resolve the deeper dispute at the roof of the world.
Continue reading...Direct to consumer tests that claim to tell us our biological – as opposed to chronological – age are getting a lot of attention, but what can they really tell us about our health? Science editor Ian Sample talks to Dr Brian H Chen, an epidemiologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, who has conducted research into a variety of these tests called epigenetic clocks. He explains what exactly they are measuring and whether, once we have the results, there are any evidence-based strategies we can adopt to lower our biological age
Real age versus biological age: the startups revealing how old we really are
Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod
Continue reading...“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,” said a union official about a raid in western New York.
The post “They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case 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.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
Upon completing your creative endeavor on LimeWire, the platform allows you the option to publish your content. An intriguing feature follows this step: LimeWire automates the process of minting your creation as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), utilizing either the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. This transformative step imbues your artwork with a unique digital signature, securing its authenticity and ownership in the decentralized realm.
Creators on LimeWire hold the power to decide the accessibility of their NFT creations. By opting for a public release, the content becomes discoverable by anyone, fostering a space for engagement and interaction. Furthermore, this choice opens the avenue for enthusiasts to trade the NFTs, adding a layer of community involvement to the artistic journey.
Alternatively, LimeWire acknowledges the importance of exclusivity. Creators can choose to share their posts exclusively with their premium subscribers. In doing so, the content remains a special offering solely for dedicated fans, creating an intimate and personalized experience within the LimeWire community. This flexibility in sharing options emphasizes LimeWire's commitment to empowering creators with choices in how they connect with their audience and distribute their digital creations.
After creating your content, you can choose to publish the content. It will automatically mint your creation as an NFT on the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. You can also choose whether to make it public or subscriber-only.
If you make it public, anyone can discover your content and even trade the NFTs. If you choose to share the post only with your premium subscribers, it will be exclusive only to your fans.
Additionally, you can earn ad revenue from your content creations as well.
When you publish content on LimeWire, you will receive 70% of all ad revenue from other users who view your images, music, and videos on the platform.
This revenue model will be much more beneficial to designers. You can experiment with the AI image and content generation tools and share your creations while earning a small income on the side.
The revenue you earn from your creations will come in the form of LMWR tokens, LimeWire’s own cryptocurrency.
Your earnings will be paid every month in LMWR, which you can then trade on many popular crypto exchange platforms like Kraken, ByBit, and UniSwap.
You can also use your LMWR tokens to pay for prompts when using LimeWire generative AI tools.
You can sign up to LimeWire to use its AI tools for free. You will receive 10 credits to use and generate up to 20 AI images per day. You will also receive 50% of the ad revenue share. However, you will get more benefits with premium plans.
For $9.99 per month, you will get 1,000 credits per month, up to 2 ,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 50% ad revenue share
For $29 per month, you will get 3750 credits per month, up to 7500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 60% ad revenue share
For $49 per month, you will get 5,000 credits per month, up to 10,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
For $99 per month, you will get 11,250 credits per month, up to 2 2,500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
With all premium plans, you will receive a Pro profile badge, full creation history, faster image generation, and no ads.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
In conclusion, LimeWire emerges as a democratizing force in the creative landscape, providing an inclusive platform where anyone can unleash their artistic potential and effortlessly share their work. With the integration of AI, LimeWire eliminates traditional barriers, empowering designers, musicians, and artists to publish their creations and earn revenue with just a few clicks.
The ongoing commitment of LimeWire to innovation is evident in its plans to enhance generative AI tools with new features and models. The upcoming expansion to include music and video generation tools holds the promise of unlocking even more possibilities for creators. It sparks anticipation about the diverse and innovative ways in which artists will leverage these tools to produce and publish their own unique creations.
For those eager to explore, LimeWire's AI tools are readily accessible for free, providing an opportunity to experiment and delve into the world of generative art. As LimeWire continues to evolve, creators are encouraged to stay tuned for the launch of its forthcoming AI music and video generation tools, promising a future brimming with creative potential and endless artistic exploration
Are you looking for a new graphic design tool? Would you like to read a detailed review of Canva? As it's one of the tools I love using. I am also writing my first ebook using canva and publish it soon on my site you can download it is free. Let's start the review.
Canva has a web version and also a mobile app
Canva is a free graphic design web application that allows you to create invitations, business cards, flyers, lesson plans, banners, and more using professionally designed templates. You can upload your own photos from your computer or from Google Drive, and add them to Canva's templates using a simple drag-and-drop interface. It's like having a basic version of Photoshop that doesn't require Graphic designing knowledge to use. It’s best for nongraphic designers.
Canva is a great tool for small business owners, online entrepreneurs, and marketers who don’t have the time and want to edit quickly.
To create sophisticated graphics, a tool such as Photoshop can is ideal. To use it, you’ll need to learn its hundreds of features, get familiar with the software, and it’s best to have a good background in design, too.
Also running the latest version of Photoshop you need a high-end computer.
So here Canva takes place, with Canva you can do all that with drag-and-drop feature. It’s also easier to use and free. Also an even-more-affordable paid version is available for $12.95 per month.
The product is available in three plans: Free, Pro ($12.99/month per user or $119.99/year for up to 5 people), and Enterprise ($30 per user per month, minimum 25 people).
To get started on Canva, you will need to create an account by providing your email address, Google, Facebook or Apple credentials. You will then choose your account type between student, teacher, small business, large company, non-profit, or personal. Based on your choice of account type, templates will be recommended to you.
You can sign up for a free trial of Canva Pro, or you can start with the free version to get a sense of whether it’s the right graphic design tool for your needs.
When you sign up for an account, Canva will suggest different post types to choose from. Based on the type of account you set up you'll be able to see templates categorized by the following categories: social media posts, documents, presentations, marketing, events, ads, launch your business, build your online brand, etc.
Start by choosing a template for your post or searching for something more specific. Search by social network name to see a list of post types on each network.
Next, you can choose a template. Choose from hundreds of templates that are ready to go, with customizable photos, text, and other elements.
You can start your design by choosing from a variety of ready-made templates, searching for a template matching your needs, or working with a blank template.
Inside the Canva designer, the Elements tab gives you access to lines and shapes, graphics, photos, videos, audio, charts, photo frames, and photo grids.The search box on the Elements tab lets you search everything on Canva.
To begin with, Canva has a large library of elements to choose from. To find them, be specific in your search query. You may also want to search in the following tabs to see various elements separately:
The Photos tab lets you search for and choose from millions of professional stock photos for your templates.
You can replace the photos in our templates to create a new look. This can also make the template more suited to your industry.
You can find photos on other stock photography sites like pexel, pixabay and many more or simply upload your own photos.
When you choose an image, Canva’s photo editing features let you adjust the photo’s settings (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.), crop, or animate it.
When you subscribe to Canva Pro, you get access to a number of premium features, including the Background Remover. This feature allows you to remove the background from any stock photo in library or any image you upload.
The Text tab lets you add headings, normal text, and graphical text to your design.
When you click on text, you'll see options to adjust the font, font size, color, format, spacing, and text effects (like shadows).
Canva Pro subscribers can choose from a large library of fonts on the Brand Kit or the Styles tab. Enterprise-level controls ensure that visual content remains on-brand, no matter how many people are working on it.
Create an animated image or video by adding audio to capture user’s attention in social news feeds.
If you want to use audio from another stock site or your own audio tracks, you can upload them in the Uploads tab or from the more option.
Want to create your own videos? Choose from thousands of stock video clips. You’ll find videos that range upto 2 minutes
You can upload your own videos as well as videos from other stock sites in the Uploads tab.
Once you have chosen a video, you can use the editing features in Canva to trim the video, flip it, and adjust its transparency.
On the Background tab, you’ll find free stock photos to serve as backgrounds on your designs. Change out the background on a template to give it a more personal touch.
The Styles tab lets you quickly change the look and feel of your template with just a click. And if you have a Canva Pro subscription, you can upload your brand’s custom colors and fonts to ensure designs stay on brand.
If you have a Canva Pro subscription, you’ll have a Logos tab. Here, you can upload variations of your brand logo to use throughout your designs.
With Canva, you can also create your own logos. Note that you cannot trademark a logo with stock content in it.
With Canva, free users can download and share designs to multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack and Tumblr.
Canva Pro subscribers can create multiple post formats from one design. For example, you can start by designing an Instagram post, and Canva's Magic Resizer can resize it for other networks, Stories, Reels, and other formats.
Canva Pro subscribers can also use Canva’s Content Planner to post content on eight different accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack, and Tumblr.
Canva Pro allows you to work with your team on visual content. Designs can be created inside Canva, and then sent to your team members for approval. Everyone can make comments, edits, revisions, and keep track via the version history.
When it comes to printing your designs, Canva has you covered. With an extensive selection of printing options, they can turn your designs into anything from banners and wall art to mugs and t-shirts.
Canva Print is perfect for any business seeking to make a lasting impression. Create inspiring designs people will want to wear, keep, and share. Hand out custom business cards that leave a lasting impression on customers' minds.
The Canva app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Canva app has earned a 4.9 out of five star rating from over 946.3K Apple users and a 4.5 out of five star rating from over 6,996,708 Google users.
In addition to mobile apps, you can use Canva’s integration with other Internet services to add images and text from sources like Google Maps, Emojis, photos from Google Drive and Dropbox, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, Bitmojis, and other popular visual content elements.
In general, Canva is an excellent tool for those who need simple images for projects. If you are a graphic designer with experience, you will find Canva’s platform lacking in customization and advanced features – particularly vectors. But if you have little design experience, you will find Canva easier to use than advanced graphic design tools like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator for most projects. If you have any queries let me know in the comments section.
After being banned from campus buildings following peaceful sit-ins, students said the disciplinary processes broke from school policies.
The post NYU Demands Law Students Renounce Protests or Be Barred From Sitting Final Exams appeared first on The Intercept.
“I’m not someone who says, ‘History will judge them’ — they will have to be judged before then,” Francesca Albanese said in an exclusive interview.
The post EU President Should Be Investigated for Complicity in Israel’s War Crimes, Says Top U.N. Expert on Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
European leaders say Russia must to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine
Pope Leo then says that one of the most important challenges he sees is how to “promote communication that can bring us out of the Tower of Babel in which we sometimes find ourselves, out of the confusion of loveless languages that are often ideological or partisan.”
Curiously, he then turns to artificial intelligence, which he hails its “immense potential,” but also warns that it “requires responsibility and discernment in order to ensure that it can be used for the good of all, so that it can benefit all of humanity.”
“Let us disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred, let us free it from aggression.
We do not need loud, forceful communication, but rather communication that is capable of listening and of gathering the voices of the weak who have no voice.”
Continue reading...Countries to lower reciprocal tariffs by 115% as US treasury secretary says ‘neither side wants a decoupling’. Plus, meet the TV and film stars who didn’t even act
Good morning.
China and the US have agreed a 90-day pause to the deepening trade war that has threatened to upend the global economy, with reciprocal tariffs to be lowered by 115%.
What does the 90-day pause apply to? With the new deduction, Chinese duties on US goods will be lowered to 10%, while the US tax on Chinese goods will be lowered to 30% (as the US tariffs include a 20% rate imposed by Trump before the latest trade war).
Was there any immediate reaction? China’s yuan jumped to a six-month high on the signal that the trade war would be paused. Up to 16m jobs were at risk in China, according to some estimates, while the US faced rising inflation and empty shelves thanks to dizzying tariffs on the biggest supplier of US goods.
When was the last time the two leaders spoke? They have not spoken directly since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and there have been no publicly known talks between Moscow and Kyiv since March 2022, shortly after the war began.
Continue reading...After being threatened with losing their housing, several students who weren’t involved in the protests had their suspensions lifted.
The post Students Studying at Columbia Library Were Suspended for Protest They Took No Part In appeared first on The Intercept.
 | submitted by /u/duckanroll [link] [comments] |
Hundreds of jobs may be at risk, say heads of ABF Sugar and Ensus, as Starmer agrees to remove tariffs on US ethanol
The British bioethanol industry could collapse as a result of Keir Starmer’s trade deal with Donald Trump, industry bosses have said.
The bosses of ABF Sugar and Ensus, the companies behind almost all of the UK’s production capacity of bioethanol – a petrol substitute produced from agricultural products – have said hundreds of jobs in north-east England and Yorkshire could be at risk as a result of the deal.
Continue reading...After drone strikes, nuclear jitters and a ceasefire, the latest fighting between India and Pakistan reveals how peace dies by routine
“The arms race between India and Pakistan poses perhaps the most probable prospect for future use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons,” James Woolsey, the CIA director, told Congress in 1993. That assessment is relevant now, after days of escalating conflict that included missile and drone strikes on military bases. It is a uniquely modern arms race: high on nationalist fervour and habitual mistrust, choreographed so that each clash is always just one provocation away from becoming the last.
On Saturday, Donald Trump announced a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The truce, brokered by US officials, came amid speculation by military analysts that Pakistan was edging closer to using nuclear weapons. It was met with cautious optimism – not least as both sides accused each other of violating the agreement within hours, with reports of cross-border shelling in Indian-administered Kashmir. Should the ceasefire pause the missiles, it won’t resolve the deeper dispute at the roof of the world.
Continue reading...Truce agreement was reached after diplomacy and pressure from US but within hours there was cross-border shelling
A fragile ceasefire was holding between India and Pakistan on Sunday, after hours of overnight fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours, as US president Donald Trump said he would work to provide a solution regarding Kashmir.
The arch-rivals were involved in intense firing for four days, the worst in nearly three decades, with missiles and drones being fired at each other’s military installations and dozens of people killed.
Continue reading...Ukraine conflict and Trump’s threat to seize Greenland have caused internal tensions within intergovernmental body
Norway is to hand over the leadership of an intergovernmental body comprising countries with territory in the Arctic after what its foreign minister called a “difficult two years”, during which there have been unprecedented tensions within the group’s membership related to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s threat to seize Greenland.
The Arctic Council requires consensus from all eight Arctic states – the US, Russia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the kingdom of Denmark, which includes Greenland, and Sweden – for all decisions and statements.
Continue reading...General Keith Kellogg has reacted to the Russian president’s suggestion for talks with Ukraine on Thursday
On Saturday morning, local officials in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region said Russian shelling over the past day had killed three residents and injured four more.
Another civilian died on the spot on Saturday as a Russian drone struck the southern city of Kherson, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Continue reading...A cargo flight will haul 14 tons of nitrocellulose from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to an Israeli weapons manufacturer.
The post Explosive Materials Bound for Israel Are Flying Out of JFK Airport appeared first on The Intercept.
The rules-based world order is in retreat and violence is on the rise, forcing countries to rethink their relationships
In a week in which former allies in a redividing globe separately commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, the sense of a runaway descent towards a third world war draws ever closer.
The implosion of Pax Americana, the interconnectedness of conflicts, the new willingness to resort to unbridled state-sponsored violence and the irrelevance of the institutions of the rules-based order have all been on brutal display this week. From Kashmir to Khan Younis, Hodeidah, Port Sudan and Kursk, the only sound is of explosions, and the only lesson is that the old rules no longer apply.
Continue reading...Three times in the last week, Trump expressed ignorance when responding to questions about his signature policies.
The post “I Don’t Know.” Trump’s Go-To Response to All Sorts of Questions appeared first on The Intercept.
Donald Trump has “blinked”, says analyst, at Washington and Beijing cut reciprocal tariffs sharply, for 90 days at least
Asked about the details of the new tariffs between the US and China, trade ambassador Jamieson Greer explains that today’s agreement is based on the reciprocal tariff which was imposed by the United States on 2 April, and the escalatory steps which followed by each side.
He says the Chinese side and the US side ended up at 125% on each other’s imports. “That has all come down by 115% to 10% each”, Greer says (in the 90-day pause announced this morning).
Continue reading...Qatar royal family’s offer of to US president of luxury jumbo jet ignites accusations of bribery and corruption
Qatar has offered to donate a plane to the United States and details are still being worked out, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
“The Qatari Government has graciously offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense. The legal details of that are still being worked out,” Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News.
Continue reading...Countries to drastically cut reciprocal tariffs as US treasury secretary says ‘neither side wants a decoupling’
China and the US have agreed a 90-day pause to the deepening trade war that has threatened to upend the global economy, with reciprocal tariffs to be lowered by 115 percentage points.
Speaking to the media after talks in Geneva, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said both sides had shown “great respect” in the negotiations.
Continue reading...Surveys show employer confidence at record low, prompting job cuts and hiring freeze
UK employers laid off staff in April at a faster pace than the previous month as the combination of higher employment costs and shock waves from Donald Trump’s tariff war sent boardroom confidence levels plummeting.
The human resources association, CIPD, said employer confidence levels slumped to an all-time low, prompting job cuts and a widespread hiring freeze.
Continue reading...President eager to discuss trade and investment but no plans to visit Israel amid tensions over Gaza war
Donald Trump this week will embark on the first foreign trip of his second administration with a tour of the Middle East, as he looks to secure investment, trade and technology deals from friendly leaders with deep pockets amid turbulent negotiations around numerous regional conflicts, including Israel’s war in Gaza.
The tour through the Middle East is largely a repeat of his first international trip in 2017, when he was feted in the region as a transactional leader eager to secure quick wins and capable of providing support for the regional monarchies’ economic and geopolitical interests.
Continue reading...US president praises ‘very good’ discussions as top US and Chinese officials meet over trade war triggered by Trump’s tariff blitz
Donald Trump has hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations after the first day of talks between top American and Chinese officials in Geneva aimed at defusing a trade war sparked by his tariff rollout.
The US president praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner”.
Continue reading...Meeting aimed at de-escalating trade war after Chinese exports beat expectations despite slump in trade
Donald Trump has floated cutting tariffs on China from 145% to 80% before a weekend meeting as he looks to de-escalate the trade war.
Top US officials are expected to meet a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland in the first significant talks between the two nations since Trump provoked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports.
Continue reading...Celebrations held in both countries while Kashmir residents beg for long-term solutions over disputed territory
India and Pakistan have both claimed victory after a ceasefire was declared over the weekend, which brought the two nuclear-nations back from the brink of war.
After days of escalating clashes that culminated in both sides launching missile and drone strikes on each other’s major military bases – the closest they had come to full-scale war in decades – the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was declared by Donald Trump on Saturday evening.
Continue reading...Truce agreed after US mediation but both sides accuse each other of violations only hours later
India and Pakistan have agreed to a US-mediated ceasefire with immediate effect, though its longevity was thrown into question after reports of cross-border shelling and explosions in Indian-administered Kashmir just hours after it was announced.
The ceasefire – which was hoped to end days of escalating clashes between the two nuclear-armed countries – was first declared by the US president, Donald Trump, on Saturday afternoon, after 48 hours of diplomacy between India and Pakistan, apparently brokered by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and vice-president, JD Vance.
Continue reading...“Many of the potential issues we see with the Trump family’s crypto practices are a feature — not a bug — of the crypto industry.”
The post Democrats Woke Up to Trump’s Crypto Grift. Will They Stop Other Scammers? appeared first on The Intercept.
The Bank of England has voted to cut the cost of borrowing, reducing the base rate to 4.25%. Here’s what it means for you
The Bank of England has cut interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25%. It follows two interest rate cuts in the second half of last year, and another one in February this year.
Continue reading...After The Intercept revealed Michael Obadal’s equity in Anduril, Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for him to sell his shares.
The post Trump Army Appointee Should Sell His Anduril Stock, Sen. Warren Demands appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump’s proposal cuts SpaceX competitors out of the NASA budget and could add billions to the company’s defense contracts.
The post Elon Musk Set to Win Big With Trump’s Trillion-Dollar Pentagon Budget appeared first on The Intercept.
Israel says there will be ‘safe corridor’ in Gaza for Alexander’s release but has not agreed to ceasefire
At least 29 Palestinians have been killed and 94 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Four bodies of people killed in previous Israeli attacks were also recovered over the past day, it added, Al Jazeera reports.
Continue reading...Head of US Department of Health told parents to ‘do their own research’ when deciding to vaccinate their children
Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, has intimated that parents are to blame for their children’s autism, and that they are responsible for researching every aspect of their children’s lives that could affect their development.
“We have to recognize we are doing this to our children, and we need to put an end to it,” Kennedy said at his first press conference as health secretary.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Harris poll for Guardian finds people reconsidering major life events such as having children or buying a home
Americans are reconsidering major life events including marriage, having children and buying a home amid economic anxiety in the opening months of the Trump presidency, according to an exclusive poll for the Guardian.
Six in 10 Americans said the economy has affected at least one of their major life goals, according to the Harris poll, citing either lack of affordability or anxiety around the current economy.
Continue reading...President plans to use executive powers, saying US should pay ‘same price as nation that pays the lowest price’
Donald Trump has promised to use his executive powers to cut the price of prescription drugs in the US in an attempt to bring them more in line with other countries, triggering a sharp fall in drugmakers’ share prices.
The US president has said he will sign an order on Monday that will reduce prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices “almost immediately” by “30% to 80%”.
Continue reading...News of present known as ‘flying palace’ from royal family to replace Air Force One has ignited accusations of bribery and corruption
Donald Trump has indicated he is ready to accept a luxury plane being offered to the US president as a gift from Qatar’s royal family, almost immediately igniting accusations of bribery and corruption as well as commensurate criticism.
A statement from Qatar on Sunday acknowledged it had held discussions with the US about “the possible transfer” of a plane to be used temporarily by Trump as his presidential aircraft, usurping Air Force One. The emirate’s statement denied a final decision over the transfer had been made – or that it was a gift.
Continue reading...The US president has the leverage to force through a ceasefire. If he does not, he will implicitly signal approval of what looks like a plan of total destruction
Donald Trump would like a big foreign policy win as he embarks on his tour of the Middle East this week. He could secure one – and save lives – by demanding that Israel agree to a lasting ceasefire in exchange for the release of all hostages held in Gaza. He might prefer to avoid the issue, but no other leader has the leverage to force its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to end this war. If Mr Trump instead backs Israel’s current proposals, he will put the US imprimatur on what looks like a plan of total destruction.
Israel’s attacks have already killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities – the vast majority of them civilians, many of them children. Bakeries, hospitals and schools have been obliterated. Aid has been blocked for two months. Gaza faces famine. Last week, Israeli officials briefed that if no deal to free the hostages seized in the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023 is reached, its forces would flatten Gaza, forcing Palestinians to crush into a single “humanitarian area” or flee abroad. Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, said that Gaza would be “entirely destroyed”, and “totally despairing” Palestinians would realise “there is no hope”. He has said that freeing hostages is “not the most important thing”.
Continue reading...From showerheads to plastic straws, the president brags that he’s expanding options for consumers – while drastically restricting choices in almost all other spheres
Freedom of choice is a venerable American value. Donald Trump’s attachment to it is, however, highly selective.
Over the first four months of his administration, Trump has been eagerly promoting the expansion of choice in our economic lives. That’s especially the case when it comes to our role as consumers. Think kitchens, baths and automobiles; the stated goal every time he talks about commodities has been increasing the number of options so we can select and buy what we like best – environmental effects notwithstanding. Even his tariffs are only supposed to bring temporary pain, as in emptier toy shelves, before American-made abundance starts to rule the day once again.
Continue reading...| | submitted by /u/rezwenn [link] [comments] |
 | submitted by /u/Shogouki [link] [comments] |
Upmarket bucolic area notes big rise in number of US citizens scoping a plan B away from the States
Thanksgiving in the Cotswolds is no small affair. Every November, Americans flock to the English market town of Stow-on-the-Wold to collect glazed turkey breasts, green bean casserole and a traditional sweet potato dish covered in marshmallows.
It is, by Jesse D’Ambrosi’s own admission, “bizarre”. The chef, owner of D’Ambrosi Fine Foods, is one of the many Americans who have made the Cotswolds their home in recent years. Here, her Thanksgiving and Fourth of July food hampers are highly coveted.
Continue reading...Any Trump administration efforts to send non-Libyans to the north African country would violate a prior court order
Immigrants in Texas who were told they would be deported to Libya sat on a military airfield tarmac for hours on Wednesday, unsure of what would happen next, an attorney for one of the men has said.
The attorney, Tin Thanh Nguyen, told the news agency Reuters that his client, a Vietnamese construction worker from Los Angeles, was among the immigrants woken in the early morning hours and bussed from an immigration detention center in Pearsall, Texas, to an airfield where a military aircraft awaited them.
Continue reading...President Claudia Sheinbaum says lawsuit has been filed after US lawmakers voted on name change
Mexico has sued Google for changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to “Gulf of America” for Google Maps users in the United States, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said on Friday.
“The lawsuit has already been filed,” Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference, without saying where and when it was submitted.
Continue reading...“The Bukele model is built upon Kilmar Abregos — there are thousands of them.”
The post CECOT Is What the Bukele Regime Wants You to See appeared first on The Intercept.
Groups say plan to resume limited humanitarian assistance under strict Israeli rules ‘risks enabling war crimes’
Aid groups have voiced alarm at US moves to pressure them into accepting an Israeli proposal to resume limited humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory under strictly controlled conditions.
The Trump administration has attempted to strong-arm international agencies – including the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) – into accepting Israel’s stringent rules for resuming deliveries, according to sources familiar with the discussions and news reports.
Continue reading...Private prison firms CoreCivic and GEO Group are thrilled about ICE’s spending spree, but they’re already facing local opposition.
The post Private Prison CEO on ICE Contracts: We’re a Better Deal Than El Salvador’s CECOT appeared first on The Intercept.
From militarized crackdowns to legal impunity, Trump’s policing agenda is designed to crush dissent and critics.
The post A Trumped Up Police State Is Coming appeared first on The Intercept.
Both sets of fans thanked Spaniard for breaking Bayern’s hegemony – then Dortmund found a ‘killer instinct’
It was the last two and a half years in a nutshell; deliciously inventive, daringly late and, quite frankly, a bit too good for Borussia Dortmund. As stoppage time ticked on Florian Wirtz received the ball on the left, seemingly without an angle for a cross; so he dug out a spinning ball with the outside of his foot, spearing it to the back post. The substitute Jonas Hofmann snuck around the back of the defence to bullet a diving header into the far corner as we went into the second minute of added time, another goal at the last for Bayer Leverkusen. Yet there was just a muted cheer and as the familiar chords of ATC’s All Around The World greeted the strike from the sound system, they were met by considerable echo.
This time, it was already over. Xabi Alonso’s side had lost a Bundesliga game for only the third time this season but the moment had long since passed, for coach and for team. With the concession of their title to Bayern Munich last weekend came this week’s confirmation from Alonso that “these last two games are going to be my last two games as Bayer Leverkusen coach”. It was, in many ways, a relief, giving clarity and a chance to truly celebrate everything that Alonso’s spell in charge has meant for club and coach.
Continue reading...An astonishing array of outcomes remain possible with two games left in tantalisingly unpredictable end to season
Antonio Conte characterised it as Napoli’s “bonus” game, a free swing, the mistake they could yet afford. A 2-2 draw at home to Genoa left a bitter taste, after having taken the lead in both halves, but this was no time to panic. “Before this we needed seven points to win the Scudetto,” said Conte. “We took one, so now we must win our last two games.”
It sounded so simple, put like that, but we had just been reminded of why it will not be. Genoa at home was supposed to be the most straightforward of Napoli’s remaining fixtures, against opponents with no objectives left to play for.
Continue reading...The man who brought Tetris to the west reveals what the movie of his life got right and wrong, how he influenced Nintendo, and why he has now swapped gaming for climate change campaigning
When game designer and entrepreneur Henk Rogers first encountered Tetris at the 1988 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, he immediately knew it was special. “It was just the perfect game,” he recalls. “It looked so simple, so rudimentary, but I wanted to play it again and again and again … There was no other game demo that ever did that to me.”
Rogers is now co-owner of the Tetris Company, which manages and licenses the Tetris brand. Over the past 30 years, he has become almost as famous as the game itself. The escapades surrounding his deal to buy its distribution rights from Russian agency Elektronorgtechnica (Elorg) were dramatised in an Apple TV+ film starring Taron Egerton. “I suggested that Johnny Depp or Keanu Reeves should play me, but apparently they were way too old,” Rogers says.
Continue reading...The 28-year-old died last week from injuries he suffered near the city of Izium in eastern Ukraine, according to reports
An Australian man has been killed while working for a humanitarian organisation in Ukraine.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Monday confirmed the 28-year-old former soldier had died.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Ukrainian president proposes face-to-face meeting after Russian leader suggests two sides hold talks in Turkey
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has challenged Vladimir Putin to meet in person for peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday, in a dramatic gambit after a weekend of diplomatic flurry.
His comments came after Putin rejected a demand from Ukraine and European allies to sign up to a 30-day ceasefire, but said Russia was ready for direct negotiations with Ukraine. Putin said delegations from the two countries should meet on Thursday in Turkey.
Continue reading...A world away from Italy’s crowded beach resorts, the island’s south-west offers remote golden sands plus villages, vineyards and great restaurants
It felt like a classic British beach outing, but with more reliable weather. Toting umbrella, towels, sun cream, water and a cool-box picnic, my husband, son and I turned our backs on the marina in Porto Palo, near Menfi in south-west Sicily, and walked west. About 10 minutes on a narrow signposted coastal path brought us to Le Solette, a half-mile curving golden beach between rocky outcrops and backed by low hills. It’s a gorgeous spot, with soft sand and clear water in hues from turquoise to indigo – but the most remarkable thing about it is not what’s there, but what’s not.
Seaside resorts in north and central Italy are a strange phenomenon: the sand is usually almost invisible beneath pairs of sunbeds and matching umbrellas. OK, there is the convenience of loos and showers, but at what cost? I’ve been to resorts in Liguria, in north-west Italy, where from Easter to September a walk along the front affords views not of the sea but of the walls and changing cabins of an unbroken row of beach stabilimenti.
Continue reading...UN World Food Programme says $50m is urgently needed amid fears that Uganda may now begin forced repatriations
Food rations for a million people in Uganda have been cut off completely this week amid a funding crisis at the United Nations World Food Programme, raising fears that refugees will now be pushed back into countries at war.
The WFP in Uganda warned two weeks ago that $50m (£37m) was urgently needed to help refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan.
Continue reading...The injured aviators are the latest in a growing number of casualties in the Middle East that the Trump White House prefers to ignore.
The post More Troops Injured as U.S. Planes Keep Plunging Into Red Sea appeared first on The Intercept.
The court let a military trans ban go into effect — potentially setting a precedent to accept the anti-trans myth behind Trump’s executive order.
The post The Supreme Court Just Imperiled the Rights — and Lives — of All Trans People appeared first on The Intercept.
Judge confirms move would breach order as Libya’s rival governments say both would refuse any US deportees
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to deport a group of immigrants to Libya, despite a judge’s efforts on Wednesday to block any such flights and the state department’s previous condemnation of the “life-threatening” prison conditions in the country.
Reuters cited three unnamed US officials as saying the deportations could happen this week. Two of the officials said the immigrants, whose nationalities are not known, could be flown to the north African country as soon as Wednesday, but they added the plans could still change. The New York Times also cited a US official confirming the deportation plans.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Decision on whether to work with turbine maker being overseen by ministers after British Steel rescue
Ministers are weighing up proposals for a Chinese company to supply wind turbines for a major offshore windfarm in the North Sea.
The government is in discussions with Green Volt North Sea over whether Mingyang, China’s biggest offshore wind company, should supply the wind turbines. Mingyang has emerged as the preferred manufacturer, but the company has sought advice from ministers on whether to proceed.
Continue reading...Maeve and Otto’s sex life took a real dip, but revealing what they like – and writing it down – has reawakened their passion
How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously
For the first time, we openly talked about what we liked and didn’t like, which really opened up our relationship for exploration
Continue reading...PC, PS5, Xbox; id Software/Bathesda Softworks
This prequel takes a blunt force trauma approach to problem-solving and demon-killing, with a slower pace but more spectacular weaponry
Billed as a prequel to id Software’s 2016 revival of Doom, The Dark Ages is about as different as it could be from its predecessors while remaining recognisably part of the series. Where 2020’s Doom Eternal was about speed and evasion, The Dark Ages emphasises standing your ground. Where Eternal involved picking off enemies one by one, The Dark Ages empowers you to obliterate dozens of demons simultaneously. Where Eternal saw you juggling rapid-fire weapons in a finger-cramping frenzy, The Dark Ages lets you solve most problems by hitting things ferociously hard. Ripping and tearing are out. Blunt force trauma is in.
The kernel of The Dark Ages’ combat stretches back to the 1993 original, inspired by the slow-moving projectiles fired by enemies such as imps, cacodemons, and hell knights. The Dark Ages empowers most of its enemies to shoot such projectiles, making its interdimensional battlefields glow with drifting fireballs, scudding orbs and floating energy barriers.
Continue reading...As Trump talks of a ceasefire with the Houthis, soldiers in the Middle East have faced steady and seldom discussed attacks.
The post U.S. Troops Are Being Attacked Every Other Day in the Middle East appeared first on The Intercept.
A day after being attacked by a pro-Israel mob, protesters were shot by rubber bullets — whose use is restricted by California law.
The post Police Shot Them in the Head With Rubber Bullets. Now UCLA Gaza Protesters Are Suing. appeared first on The Intercept.
“We are concerned at the appearance of targeting publicly pro-union worker leaders,” said a union official about a raid in western New York.
The post “They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case appeared first on The Intercept.
After being banned from campus buildings following peaceful sit-ins, students said the disciplinary processes broke from school policies.
The post NYU Demands Law Students Renounce Protests or Be Barred From Sitting Final Exams appeared first on The Intercept.
Bills continued to arrive despite calls, emails and legal firm handling probate sending copy of death certificate
My sister passed away nearly two years ago but I am struggling to get British Gas to accept she is dead.
Since her death in July 2023 I have emailed, called and even got the legal firm handling probate to contact it. They sent a certified copy of her death certificate but all that happened was the address on the account was changed to the solicitor’s.
Continue reading...A Chinese company has developed an AI-piloted submersible that can reach speeds “similar to a destroyer or a US Navy torpedo,” dive “up to 60 metres underwater,” and “remain static for more than a month, like the stealth capabilities of a nuclear submarine.” In case you’re worried about the military applications of this, you can relax because the company says that the submersible is “designated for civilian use” and can “launch research rockets.”
“Research rockets.” Sure.
...“I’m not someone who says, ‘History will judge them’ — they will have to be judged before then,” Francesca Albanese said in an exclusive interview.
The post EU President Should Be Investigated for Complicity in Israel’s War Crimes, Says Top U.N. Expert on Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
RSS Rabbit links users to publicly available RSS entries.
Vet every link before clicking! The creators accept no responsibility for the contents of these entries.
Relevant
Fresh
Convenient
Agile
We're not prepared to take user feedback yet. Check back soon!
