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Rock’n’roles: Dwayne Johnson films – ranked!
Thu, 01 May 2025 13:00:15 GMT
As the wrestler turned action hero turns 53, we count down his best movies – from Baywatch to Jumanji to that time he played the Tooth Fairy
Dwayne Johnson is about to violently switch gears. His next films include a Benny Safdie drama about an MMA fighter battling addiction and a true-crime drama produced by Martin Scorsese. The reason for this abrupt handbrake turn towards grownup film-making seems to be Red One; a duff Christmas action film. During its production, tales of Johnson’s backstage behaviour leaked out: the star was said to frequently be late, and would habitually hand his assistant bottles of urine rather than walk to the toilet. It was the biggest knock to The Rock since his career began. But onwards and upwards.
Continue reading...Twenty-five years after its first release, the horror franchise that made mundane life seem fraught with danger returns with a bloody but oddly moving fifth sequel
‘My inbox is filled with the most horrible ways people can die,” says Craig Perry, the producer – or, as he would prefer, “curator” – of the Final Destination franchise. Over 25 years, his films have punctured, skewered, crushed, flattened and decapitated men, women and children in a series of horrifying “accidents” and Perry has been a witness to them all. His friends clearly want him to witness many more.
But as we speak on video call, just a few weeks before the sixth instalment is released, he seems far from traumatised. Instead, he’s ebullient, buzzing infectiously about the many gory deaths he has overseen with the same enthusiasm other people might display when talking about their children (“If you’re not having fun, don’t do it!” he grins). He has every right to be proud. To date, the films have made more than $657m (£493m) worldwide and helped to terrify a generation of millennials about the dangers that arise not from entering a haunted house or swimming in shark-infested waters but from the mundanities of taking a shower or driving your car. In the Final Destination movies, death is everywhere.
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
Going back out on tour, the 13-time Grammy winner recalls stark inspirations and steamy studio sessions as she answers your questions
You’ve had a decades-long career. When did you first feel that you had “made it”? LondonLuvver
I wasn’t expecting to do music for a job. I was into social activism in college, and I just had music as a hobby. My boyfriend managed a bunch of blues artists and I asked if I could open for some of them – just to have fun and hang out with my heroes. Unbeknown to me, there really weren’t any women playing blues guitar and doing the mix of songs [I was], and I immediately got more offers of gigs and even a record company offer within about a year. That first gig I got under my own name, when I was 19, was a total surprise: that’s when I felt I had made it.
How was it growing up with a father [John Raitt] who was such a big Broadway star? Abbeyorchards7
He had hits in the 1940s with Carousel, and in the 50s with The Pajama Game. By the time I was 10 or 11, he was on the road touring in the summer – he loved taking Broadway shows out to the countryside. That influenced me a lot later when I decided to veer off from college and go into music: his love of travelling, of every night being opening night, and putting everything he had into every performance. And he was on tour basically until his mid-80s, so I think that had a tremendous influence on me: like, we can’t believe we get paid, and this is our job.
Why did an unloved two-seater become both an art project and a tourist attraction? Photographer Alex Elton-Wall explains all
A sofa was dumped in the middle of Lydbrook, a village in Gloucestershire, and every time Alex Elton-Wall walked past it he found himself smiling. While he’s clear he doesn’t condone fly-tipping, the cream-coloured two-seater looked “really funny,” he says, perched on a patch of waste ground, next to a road, the woods as a scenic backdrop. As an amateur photographer, he spotted an opportunity.
At the start of April, a few weeks after the sofa first appeared, the 49-year-old office worker posted a message in the village Facebook group asking for people to come and pose on the sofa so he could take their portraits. That day, he says, “I ended up taking pictures from 10 in the morning until eight o’clock that night. People were just having so much fun, and it was so bizarre what we were doing.”
Continue reading...After deploying AI tools in Israel and on the U.S. border, American tech companies are now powering domestic repression.
The post U.S. Companies Honed Their Surveillance Tech in Israel. Now It’s Coming Home. appeared first on The Intercept.
After the Trump administration cut funding to demining efforts, unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War killed four people in February alone.
The post The Vietnam War Is Still Killing People, 50 Years Later appeared first on The Intercept.
Narendra Modi must weigh a response that balances domestic fury with strategic restraint
India’s furious response to the terrorist massacre of 26 men in a popular travel destination is being shaped by public rage at the deadliest civilian attack in Kashmir in a quarter-century.
The brutality of the assault in one of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s marquee tourist spots – and its national resonance – leaves Prime Minister Narendra Modi needing to signal strength, but without triggering uncontrolled escalation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, analysts say.
Continue reading...From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
Continue reading...Critics warn a new bill clamping down on ethnic studies classes over antisemitism concerns goes too far.
The post Dems Push for “Educational Gag Order” Over Palestine Lessons in California appeared first on The Intercept.
In the absence of opposition party challenges and disempowered labor, courts are one of the few sites of meaningful pushback on Trump’s agenda.
The post Judges Are Slowing Down Trump’s Fascist Deportation Regime. Now He’s Arresting Them For It. appeared first on The Intercept.
Ruby gave Elodie and Max a bowl that wasn’t their style. He exchanged it, but Elodie lied and said he’d smashed it. Should they tell Ruby the truth? You decide
Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror
The present was a caring gesture whether we liked it or not. Returning it was rude – Max should fess up
We both hated it, so why should we feel obliged to keep an ugly gift? I wasn’t ungrateful – just practical
Continue reading...In key victories for students, judges ruled to release Mohsen Mahdawi and allow Mahmoud Khalil’s case to advance in federal court.
The post Students Are Winning in Court Against Trump’s Deportation Regime 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...
A bomb threat at Barnard College targeted the “terrorists/communists that are protesting.” But you wouldn’t know that from the school’s statements.
The post A Bomb Threat Targeted Student Protesters. So Why Did They Get Blamed for It? appeared first on The Intercept.
Guardian reporters map out how Trump is eviscerating efforts to protect the natural world – from ‘drill, baby, drill’ to mass firings
Donald Trump has never been mistaken for an environmentalist, having long called the climate crisis a “giant hoax” and repeatedly lauding the supposed virtues of fossil fuels.
But the US president’s onslaught upon the natural world in this administration’s first 100 days has surprised even those who closely charted his first term, in which he rolled back environmental rules and tore the US from the Paris climate agreement.
Taken more than 140 actions to roll back environmental rules and push for greater use of fossil fuels.
Set about rewriting regulations that limit pollution from cars, trucks and power plants.
Officially reconsidering whether greenhouse gases actually cause harm to public health.
Legally targeted states that have their own laws on tackling the climate crisis.
Speeded up environmental reviews of drilling projects, from years to just a few weeks.
Winding back water efficiency standards for showers and toilets and halting a phase-out of plastic straws
Continue reading...After the Trump administration cut funding to demining efforts, unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War killed four people in February alone.
The post The Vietnam War Is Still Killing People, 50 Years Later appeared first on The Intercept.
Senate Democrats had a legislative path to shield journalists and their sources from surveillance and subpoenas. They didn’t act.
The post Democrats Had a Shot at Protecting Journalists From Trump. They Blew It. appeared first on The Intercept.
Justice Democrats, the group that helped elect the Squad, is backing a primary against AIPAC-backed incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar.
The post Down Two Squad Members, Progressives Come for an AIPAC Democrat appeared first on The Intercept.
Fearing retribution from Trump, major donors to progressive organizations are holding back at a time when they need it most.
The post Trump Doesn’t Need an Executive Order to Kill Progressive Nonprofits appeared first on The Intercept.
Rubio wants to dismantle the only internal sounding board for critics of Israel — and the only place those criticisms might’ve had any teeth.
The post Marco Rubio Silences Every Last Little Criticism of Israel at State Department appeared first on The Intercept.
Reporters Matt Sledge and Jessica Washington discuss Trump’s growing crypto empire as he deregulates the industry.
The post Trump’s Very Stable Genius Coin appeared first on The Intercept.
By shipping immigrants to Nayib Bukele’s megaprison in El Salvador, Trump is using a far-right ally for his own ends.
The post The Long History of Lawlessness in U.S. Policy Toward Latin America appeared first on The Intercept.
From anxious children unable to cope with school to those with more complex, profound disabilities, support for Send children in England is broken, with underfunded local authorities delaying legal obligations to support families and increasing numbers of parents unable to work, burnt out, judged and even suffering PTSD from attempting to navigate the system. The Guardian meets parents and children from across the country to get a sense of the scale of the issue
Continue reading...The school later told staff it had provided the Trump administration with personal contact information for faculty members.
The post Trump Administration Texted College Professors’ Personal Phones to Ask If They’re Jewish appeared first on The Intercept.
Why did a shadowy nonprofit make a six-figure gift to Trump’s inauguration committee? “It was mostly to meet people,” said a company official.
The post AI Firm Behind Mysterious Trump Donation Is Run by Alleged Election Overthrow Plotter appeared first on The Intercept.
Instead of tackling crashing markets, Congress is pushing a crypto sector that the Trump family is financially involved in.
The post Congress’s Biggest Financial Priority Is “Stablecoin.” What the Hell Is That? appeared first on The Intercept.
After the Trump administration cut funding to demining efforts, unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War killed four people in February alone.
The post The Vietnam War Is Still Killing People, 50 Years Later appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump administration suspended delivery of US military aid to Ukraine in March but is now set to restore exports
Ukraine and the US signed a long-awaited minerals deal last night, signaling a major step forward in bilateral relations. But the full text of the agreement, including key details on the contentious small print issues that dragged out negotiations, has yet to be made public.
Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal suggested yesterday that the process of ratifying the agreement could start today, with party consultations. Expect more details to emerge.
Continue reading...While details remain to be finalised, Zelenskyy may have have secured a better agreement than first seemed likely
There is cautious optimism in Kyiv over the terms of the long-discussed US-Ukraine minerals deal, signed on Wednesday, which appear to be more advantageous for Ukraine than most had expected.
Many details are still to be finalised and will be written into a yet-to-be-signed further technical agreement, suggesting that the long saga over the deal may not be quite over. But Ukrainian analysts have noted that Kyiv has apparently been able to extract some major concessions, despite Donald Trump’s repeated claim that Ukraine “has no cards” to play.
Continue reading...Move seals a deal to create a fund the Trump administration says will begin to repay roughly $175bn provided to Ukraine
The US and Kyiv have signed an agreement to share profits and royalties from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that Donald Trump has said will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defense and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.
The minerals deal, which has been the subject of tense negotiations for months and nearly fell through hours before it was signed, will establish a US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that the Trump administration has said will begin to repay an estimated $175bn in aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Continue reading...Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties says tortured inmates bypassed amid focus on territory and security guarantees
Ukrainian and Russian civil society leaders have called for the unconditional release of thousands of Ukrainian civilians being held in Russian captivity, pushing for world leaders to make it a central part of any peace deal.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties, which won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, said most of the discussion on ending the conflict, led by Donald Trump’s administration, focused solely on territories and potential security guarantees.
Continue reading...Decline in output and new orders in April allied with rising uncertainty is prompting layoffs, survey finds
Britain’s factories suffered a slump in export orders last month as Donald Trump’s globally unsettling tariff regime sent overseas demand for UK goods tumbling at the fastest pace in five years.
Manufacturers reported rising economic and trade uncertainties in April as some tariffs took effect and other threatened border taxes loomed, forcing them to lay off workers for a sixth consecutive month.
Continue reading...Blitzkrieg has hit protections in place for land, oceans, forests and wildlife, and will worsen the climate crisis
Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented assault upon the environment, instigating 145 actions to undo rules protecting clean air, water and a livable climate in this administration’s first 100 days – more rollbacks than were completed in Trump’s entire first term as US president.
Trump’s blitzkrieg has hit almost every major policy to shield Americans from toxic pollution, curb the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and protect landscapes, oceans, forests and imperiled wildlife.
Continue reading...Pittsburgh residents, workers and business owners react to the increasingly fraught trading reality now upending supply chains and hitting prices
“In a lot of ways it feels like Covid 2.0. So many things are getting disrupted so quickly.” Like so many businesses across Donald Trump’s America, Matt Katase’s craft brewery, Brew Gentlemen, is having to contend with a bafflingly uncertain trading environment.
The brewery’s chief operating officer, Alaina Webber, says: “For the first time, as a company in operation going on 15 years, we’ve started to get explicit emails that say: ‘On this existing order, you are now going to see a 30%, then to a 130% increase.’”
Continue reading...Temu and Shein among fast-fashion sites affected by drop in first three months of this year but sales in rise to EU
Exports to the US from Chinese online shops such as Temu and Shein have plunged in the face of Donald Trump’s trade war, as shipping from China to the EU has increased.
Official Chinese data showed its total e-commerce shipping to the US dropped 65% by volume in the first three months of the year, but rose by 28% in Europe.
Continue reading...Index of activity drops to lowest reading since December 2023 as a result of ‘sharp changes’ in international trading
China’s factory activity slowed in April, with Beijing blaming “sharp changes” in the global economy as it fights a widening trade war with the US.
Punishing tariffs introduced by Donald Trump that reached 145% on many Chinese products came into force in April, and Beijing responded with 125% duties on imports from the US. Chinese exports soared more than 12% last month as businesses rushed to get ahead of the punishing tariffs.
Continue reading...Critics warn a new bill clamping down on ethnic studies classes over antisemitism concerns goes too far.
The post Dems Push for “Educational Gag Order” Over Palestine Lessons in California appeared first on The Intercept.
Rubio wants to dismantle the only internal sounding board for critics of Israel — and the only place those criticisms might’ve had any teeth.
The post Marco Rubio Silences Every Last Little Criticism of Israel at State Department appeared first on The Intercept.
Comments by Chuck Schumer come as sources tell the Guardian Waltz is leaving post but that Trump opted not to fire him to avoid media backlash
The Trump administration is seeking to strip collective bargaining rights from large swaths of federal employees in a test case union leaders argue is part of a broader attack on US labor unions that could land before the US Supreme Court.
A Trump win would deliver a severe blow to labor unions in the US. Some 29.9% of all federal workers were represented by labor unions in 2024 compared to 11.1% for all US workers.
Continue reading...Donald Trump signed 141 executive orders since returning to the presidency in January, including enacting steep tariffs, ending birthright citizenship, curbing DEI and “gender radicalism” in the military, and pardoning January 6 rioters.
The US president promised in his inaugural speech that these orders would amount to a “complete restoration of America”.
Continue reading...In ‘comprehensive’ 409-page report, department claims medical care should be avoided though harms are ‘sparse’
The federal health department released what it described as a “comprehensive review” of pediatric gender dysphoria – advocating for therapy instead of medical care for youth whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex.
The 409-page report claimed that while the harms of such medical treatment are “sparse”, medical treatment should be avoided in favor of therapy for youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Continue reading...Fast-food company reports 3.6% fall in sales and carmaker says tariffs could cost it as much as $5bn in 2025
McDonald’s and General Motors have warned that uncertainty around Donald Trump’s tariff policy is hurting business, hitting sales and knocking profits.
The fast-food chain reported a 3.6% fall in sales in its US home market during the first quarter, driven mainly by lower customer numbers as consumers reined in their spending in the face of an unpredictable economic outlook.
Continue reading...Tens of thousands expected at protests taking place in nearly 1,000 cities against Trump and his administration
Protesters are rallying nationwide on Thursday with a focus on workers’ and immigrants’ rights in the latest round of demonstrations against Donald Trump and his administration.
May Day, commemorated as international workers’ day, comes after two massive days of protests in April – 5 April’s hands off rallies and 19 April’s day of action – drew millions to the streets across the country.
Continue reading...Waltz’s deputy will also be leaving after losing confidence of officials, according to two people familiar with the matter
Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, will be leaving their posts after they lost the confidence of other administration officials and found themselves without allies at the White House, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The exit of Waltz and Wong marked the conclusion of a fraught tenure. In March, Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, to a Signal group chat that shared sensitive information about US missile strikes in Yemen before they took place.
Continue reading...The US justice department says it did not fire a former pardon attorney, Liz Oyer, after she refused to recommend reinstating Mel Gibson’s gun rights.
But Oyer tells Jonathan Freedland a different story, one she believes points to a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on the rule of law in America
Archive: ABC News, Face the Nation, CBS News, CNN, PBS, NBC News, Fox News, WHAS11
Continue reading...Retailer pulls all job postings from its website after attack as experts try to restore services
Marks & Spencer is unable to hire new workers as the retailer continues to suffer disruption to its operations caused by a cyber-attack.
The company confirmed on Thursday that it had pulled all online job postings from its website as tech experts tried to resolve problems on its platforms.
Continue reading...He suggests drugmakers would get ‘a lot of time’ to repatriate manufacturing before facing levies
Donald Trump has hinted at a tariff reprieve for pharmaceutical companies, which are braced for fresh sector-specific import taxes as early as next week.
He reiterated at a meeting of pharma, tech and industry bosses in the White House that if companies moved their operations to plants in the US they would face no tariffs, but he suggested that they would get “a lot of time” to make the switch before facing levies.
Continue reading...Guardian reporters map out how Trump is eviscerating efforts to protect the natural world – from ‘drill, baby, drill’ to mass firings
Donald Trump has never been mistaken for an environmentalist, having long called the climate crisis a “giant hoax” and repeatedly lauding the supposed virtues of fossil fuels.
But the US president’s onslaught upon the natural world in this administration’s first 100 days has surprised even those who closely charted his first term, in which he rolled back environmental rules and tore the US from the Paris climate agreement.
Taken more than 140 actions to roll back environmental rules and push for greater use of fossil fuels.
Set about rewriting regulations that limit pollution from cars, trucks and power plants.
Officially reconsidering whether greenhouse gases actually cause harm to public health.
Legally targeted states that have their own laws on tackling the climate crisis.
Speeded up environmental reviews of drilling projects, from years to just a few weeks.
Winding back water efficiency standards for showers and toilets and halting a phase-out of plastic straws
Continue reading...From mass firings to unprecedented influence, Musk has left little of the federal government untouched in Doge role
One hundred days after Elon Musk entered the White House as Donald Trump’s senior adviser and the de facto leader of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), the Tesla CEO has left little of the federal government unscathed. Over the course of just a few months, he has gutted agencies and public services that took decades to build while accumulating immense political power.
Musk’s role in the Trump administration is without modern precedent. Never before has the world’s richest person been deputized by the US president to cull the very agencies that oversee his businesses. Musk’s attempts to radically dismantle government bureaus have won him sprawling influence. His team has embedded its members in key roles across federal agencies, gained access to personal data on millions of Americans and fired tens of thousands of workers. SpaceX, where he is CEO, is now poised to take over potential government contracts worth billions. He has left a trail of chaos while seeding the government with his allies, who will likely help him profit and preserve his newfound power.
Continue reading...Administration in touch with Nayib Bukele over detention of wrongly deported man, according to two people
The Trump administration has been in touch directly with the Salvadorian president Nayib Bukele in recent days about the detention of Kilmar Ábrego García, the man wrongly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The nature of the discussion and its purpose was not clear because multiple Trump officials have said the administration was not interested in his coming back to the US despite the US supreme court ordering it to “facilitate” Ábrego García’s release.
Continue reading...Harvard released dueling reports on antisemitism and anti-Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim bias. Guess which one the Times emphasized?
The post How the New York Times Distorts the Antisemitism Debate on College Campuses appeared first on The Intercept.
In key victories for students, judges ruled to release Mohsen Mahdawi and allow Mahmoud Khalil’s case to advance in federal court.
The post Students Are Winning in Court Against Trump’s Deportation Regime appeared first on The Intercept.
A Wall Street auto analyst says the Big Three American carmakers are unlikely to benefit much, while Musk’s Tesla gets a leg up for now.
The post Trump’s Auto Tariff Relief “Helps Tesla a Lot” — Leaving Other Carmakers Behind appeared first on The Intercept.
The deal with Javier Milei shows how America-first dealmaking is bending global finance to serve authoritarian and extractive ends
It is famed for hard-nosed bargaining with crisis-hit countries, so why did the International Monetary Fund throw a $20bn lifeline to the serial defaulter Argentina – despite alarm on its board? The answer is that the country’s rightwing leader, Javier Milei, is Donald Trump’s “favourite president”. Amid unease over handing a third of the IMF’s global lending to its largest debtor, the deal passed with $12bn upfront. The IMF has long been intellectually compromised – promoting stability while enforcing neoliberal orthodoxy. Under Mr Trump, it is ethically compromised too.
Mr Milei’s bailout marks the second Trump-era rescue for Argentina. In 2018, the fund handed Buenos Aires a record $57bn – but cut it off when its then president, Mauricio Macri, a Trump family friend, was not re-elected. That deal now looks nakedly political. With the US holding an effective board veto, the fund’s independence was always fragile. It’s now completely subordinated. A US takeover of the IMF threatens deeper instability than any Argentinian default.
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Continue reading...US homeland security secretary said Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador ‘not under our control’
Kristi Noem, the US homeland security secretary, said that if Kilmar Ábrego García was sent back to the US, the Donald Trump administration “would immediately deport him again”.
Noem repeated White House assertions about Ábrego García, a Salvadorian man who the Trump administration has admitted was mistakenly deported from Maryland last month, in a new interview with CBS.
Continue reading...Men at Bluebonnet fear deportation to El Salvador under wartime law despite maintaining they do not have gang ties
Detainees at the Bluebonnet immigrant detention center in the small city of Anson, Texas, sent the outside world a message this week: SOS.
With a Reuters drone flying nearby, 31 men formed the letters in the dirt yard of the facility on Monday.
Continue reading...After deploying AI tools in Israel and on the U.S. border, American tech companies are now powering domestic repression.
The post U.S. Companies Honed Their Surveillance Tech in Israel. Now It’s Coming Home. appeared first on The Intercept.
RAF jets target buildings used to make drones, officials say, in Britain’s first involvement since Trump took office
British fighter jets joined their US counterparts in airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels overnight, the first military action authorised by the Labour government and the first UK participation in an aggressive American bombing campaign against the group.
RAF Typhoons, refuelled by Voyager air tankers, targeted a cluster of buildings 15 miles south of the capital, Sana’a, which the UK said were used by the Houthis to manufacture drones that had targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Continue reading...Thousands of South Africans are hoping to move to the US to escape crime – and what they say is discrimination against white people
Kyle believed God was looking out for him when he survived a violent farm robbery in South Africa eight years ago with only a black eye and broken ribs. The robbers failed to get the kettle and iron working, so were unable to burn anyone. Then the gun trigger jammed when they tried to shoot Kyle in the spine.
“They specifically said they were coming back for this farm … [that] it was their land,” said the 43-year-old, who did not want to use his full name. “Only afterwards, we found out that the guy that stays on the plot was actually killed … the farmhand … I don’t know what his name was.”
Continue reading...President touts ‘most successful 100 days of any administration’ at rally in Warren, Michigan. This blog is now closed.
Trump has posted on Truth Social about the first 100 days of his second term, calling them “100 very special days”.
100 VERY SPECIAL DAYS. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!Danielle Alvarez of the RNC, and Paul Perez of Border Patrol, were GREAT on Fox & Friends (First). Thank you both! DJT
Continue reading...Senate Democrats had a legislative path to shield journalists and their sources from surveillance and subpoenas. They didn’t act.
The post Democrats Had a Shot at Protecting Journalists From Trump. They Blew It. appeared first on The Intercept.
With council and mayoral seats up for grabs in local elections in England on 1 May, Nigel Farage has made Doncaster his prime target. But is it another high-profile roadshow or could his Reform UK party, which picked up five seats in the 2024 general election, take control of the council as the polls suggest? Guardian video producers Maeve Shearlaw and Bruno Rinvolucri spoke to party members, community champions, and prospective candidates from a range of parties to find out
This video was amended on 30 April 2025 to remove subtitling for a comment that was indistinct and contested
Continue reading...World now in era of repressive regimes’ impunity, climate inaction and unchecked corporate power, says report
The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency have “supercharged” a global rollback of human rights, pushing the world towards an authoritarian era defined by impunity and unchecked corporate power, Amnesty International warns today.
In its annual report on the state of human rights in 150 countries, the organisation said the immediate ramifications of Trump’s second term had been the undermining of decades of progress and the emboldening of authoritarian leaders.
Continue reading...Justice Democrats, the group that helped elect the Squad, is backing a primary against AIPAC-backed incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar.
The post Down Two Squad Members, Progressives Come for an AIPAC Democrat appeared first on The Intercept.
Ciro Pellegrino of Fanpage, who has been critical of Meloni government, says notification provoked ‘horrible feeling’
A second Italian journalist whose news organisation exposed young fascists within the prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party was targeted with sophisticated “mercenary spyware”, according to an Apple notification received by the reporter.
Ciro Pellegrino is the second reporter at the investigative news outlet Fanpage to fall victim to an alleged spyware attack, after his editor-in-chief, Francesco Cancellato.
Continue reading...Cybersecurity expert says group are ‘unusual but potently threatening’ coalition of ransomware hackers
If there is one noticeable difference between some members of the Scattered Spider hacking community and their ransomware peers, it will be the accent.
Scattered Spider has been linked to a cyber-attack on UK retailer Marks & Spencer. But unlike other ransomware assailants, its constituents appear to be native English speakers and are not from Russia or former Soviet states.
Continue reading...Russia is holding an estimated 16,000 civilians in arbitrary detention at 180 separate facilities. Taganrog was the most notorious.
Some weeks after being detained as she attempted to leave a Russian-occupied part of Ukraine in January 2023, Yelyzaveta Shylyk was given a polygraph test. As her interrogators attached the lie detector’s wires to her, they calmly issued a threat about what would happen if she failed the test: “You’ll go to a place where you’ll regret being born.”
That place, she would later find out, had a name: Sizo number 2, a pre-trial detention centre in the southern Russian city of Taganrog.
Continue reading...Thousands gather to see parade featuring marching troops and an air show of Russian-made fighter jets and helicopters
Thousands of Vietnamese people have celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, in what the country’s communist leader said was a “victory of justice over tyranny”.
Celebrations culminated in a grand parade in Ho Chi Minh City with thousands of marching troops and an airshow featuring Russian-made fighter jets and helicopters, as Vietnamese waved red flags and sang patriotic songs.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Countries are struggling to manage expensive loans, with much of debt transacted through London
Diplomats from eight southern and east African countries have signed a letter calling on the UK government to support a private member’s bill that aims to speed up debt restructurings, after economic crises meant countries were unable to pay back loans.
Poor countries’ economies have been hit by a series of global events in recent years, including the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced growth; the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which sent inflation soaring; and raised US interest rates, which have pushed up the cost of international loans to often unaffordable levels.
Continue reading...Reporters Matt Sledge and Jessica Washington discuss Trump’s growing crypto empire as he deregulates the industry.
The post Trump’s Very Stable Genius Coin appeared first on The Intercept.
The miracle of Bodo/Glimt might become the story of the 2024-25 season in European competition (well, that and some 17-year-old in Spain). It’s just a marvelous, splendid thing, bright, luminous and warming as the city’s summer sun (which from the last day of this month until 13 July won’t bother setting at all; at the other end of the scale on 20 December it is due to rise at 11.35am and set again 49 minutes later. Admittedly calling it warming might be going a bit far – temperatures normally dip into single digits most days even in high summer).
The population of Bodo is around 55,000, and the Guardian has dispatched Nick Ames to the town (more from him shortly), perhaps to see if he can find anyone yet to be interviewed about the club’s recent success. It is potentially transformative: In the build-up to this game the Reuters news agency spoke Troels Sandreid, who runs the airport in Bodo, to see what kind of impact it was having on visitor numbers. “Bodo/Glimt‘s journey in Europe has undoubtedly helped increase interest in Bodo, including traffic to and from the airport,” he said. “Avinor [the company that runs the airport] has seen a steady rise in passenger numbers at Bodo Airport in recent years. Although it’s difficult to isolate the cause, it’s natural to imagine that Bodo/Glimt‘s success is a contributing factor.”
How did an unheralded Norwegian team from a tiny town north of the Arctic Circle become one of the fairy-tale stories of European soccer?
For Bodø/Glimt, the transformation has been underpinned by a fighter pilot who developed mental techniques for his squadron before bombing missions in Libya.
Bjørn Mannsverk discovered a group of players exuding negative energy and prone to “a collective mental breakdown” when he was asked in early 2017 to join the backroom staff of a team that had just been relegated to Norway’s second tier.
His task as “mental coach” at Bodø/Glimt? To make players talk openly about their feelings, lower stress levels, change their attitudes and routines about things like preparation and nutrition, and remove the stigma around mental training.
Winning or losing no longer mattered. It was all about following a philosophy and culture established by Mannsverk, a former Royal Norwegian air force squadron leader whose military duties took him to Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and to Libya for a NATO-led intervention in 2011.
The results have been extraordinary.
After securing an immediate return to Norway’s top division, the team — based more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Oslo in a fishing town, Bodø, with a population of around 55,000 — has captured four of the country’s last five league titles.
An active air force pilot for more than 20 years, Mannsverk and others in his squadron were the subjects of a mental training project in 2010 where the focus was on meditation and “every day repeating boring stuff, but with 100% attention.”
It meant that when he was in Libya the following year, he had the mental capacity to handle the dangerous missions he was asked to perform. His squadron’s mantra — “train as you intend to fight” — worked.
“Even though I got strong feelings when my first bombs hit the target and it was in infernal flames and fragments and everything,” he said, “it was like, ’My training said that it’s OK, this is happening, recognize that, but know I have to return and do my job.’”
With Bodø until recently having a NATO air base, it was simply a happy coincidence that Bodø/Glimt’s leadership came across members of the squadron at the same time as it was seeking a “silver bullet” — as Mannsverk put it — to improve the team’s mental conditioning.
A project was born and fully embraced by manager Kjetil Knutsen following his appointment in 2018.
Bodø/Glimt has never looked back.
The Australian Institute for Progress’s ‘Can you afford the Greens?’ ads claim minor party’s housing policies would lead to increased rents
A Liberal-aligned thinktank running last-minute anti-Greens advertisements targeting young voters received more than $600,000 from the coal industry during last year’s Queensland election, disclosures show.
On Monday evening, the Australian Institute for Progress released a “Can you afford the Greens?” video advertisement pushing claims, based on its own commissioned research, that the Greens’ housing policies would lead to increased rents.
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Continue reading...Australia shipped 57m tonnes of coal for burning in overseas power plants between October and December last year, the most recorded for a three-month period
Labor and the Coalition have been accused of going to the election on a “unity ticket” ignoring Australia’s main contribution to the climate crisis after a report revealed thermal coal exports reached record levels in the final quarter last year.
Government data shows the country shipped a record amount – 57m tonnes – of coal for burning in overseas power plants between October and December. It is the highest recorded for a three-month period.
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Continue reading...Between 10 and 20 protesters are forcibly removed after challenging the board about use of woody biomass
The owner of the Drax power station has abandoned its annual shareholder meeting after a confrontation with activists who staged a protest against burning trees to generate electricity.
The Guardian understands that between 10 and 20 activists were forcibly removed from the London venue after challenging the board of the FTSE 250 energy company on its use of woody biomass at its North Yorkshire facility.
Continue reading...I support the Climate Paradox report from the Tony Blair Institute, but his foreword risks compromising what must be achieved
I have always been proud of the progress the UK made between 2003 and 2007 in formulating a credible response to the climate change. Under Tony Blair’s leadership, the UK placed climate at the heart of global diplomacy. At the time, our understanding was based largely on scientific projections and models. Today, the crisis is in full view – faster and more devastating than many imagined. The world is now experiencing the daily impacts of climate breakdown, and our responses must reflect this escalating emergency. We need measured, strategic, sustained and, above all, urgent interventions to ensure a manageable future for humanity.
That is why I support much of the thrust of The Climate Paradox report from the Tony Blair Institute. It rightly recognised that the era of endless summits and slogans must give way to one of delivery and impact. But the comments I gave were prior to seeing the foreword, and while there has been some clear misinterpretation from elements of the media, I do believe it has removed the balance of the report in ways that risk undermining what still can – and must – be achieved.
Continue reading...Most countries have no fossil fuel reserves, but no country in the world is without renewable energy resources. For a country such as Iceland, the world leader in renewables, this statement is clear to see. The island nation has made good use of its volcanoes and glaciers, which help provide 100% of its electricity and almost all its heat energy. But what about other countries that don't have Iceland's unique geology to rely on. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out how the world has managed to reach the impressive milestone of more than 40% of global electricity demand coming from clean power sources, and how other countries such as the UK are making this energy transition happen, despite a distinct lack of volcanoes
Continue reading...Exclusive: Britain is key financial hub for destructive fossil fuel mega-projects, according to research
Banks in the City of London have poured more than $100bn (£75bn) into companies developing “carbon bombs” – huge oil, gas and coal projects that would drive the climate past internationally agreed temperature limits with catastrophic global consequences – according to a study.
Nine London-based banks, including HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds are involved in financing companies responsible for at least 117 carbon bomb projects in 28 countries between 2016 – the year after the landmark Paris agreement was signed – and 2023, according to the study.
Continue reading...Government to press ahead with net zero plans as Keir Starmer rejects Tony Blair’s criticisms of climate policy
Almost all new homes in England will be fitted with solar panels during construction within two years, the government will announce after Keir Starmer rejected Tony Blair’s criticism of net zero policies.
Housebuilders will be legally required to install solar panels on the roofs of new properties by 2027 under the plans.
Continue reading...Authorities are still trying to understand what triggered the massive power outage that left the majority of the Iberian Peninsula without electricity on Monday. To understand what might have been at play, and whether there’s any truth to claims that renewable energy sources were to blame, Ian Sample hears from Guardian energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose. And Guardian European community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam explains what it was like to experience the blackout and how people reacted
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Continue reading...Sir Tony Blair’s ill-conceived contribution to the climate debate was a political gift to Nigel Farage. But public support for the green transition remains strong
The Climate Change Committee’s latest report on the UK’s response to unprecedented environmental challenges makes for grim reading. Recalling the extreme weather swings of the last few years – which delivered both the wettest 18 months on record and the largest number of wildfires – the report’s authors deplore the current inadequacy of provision to protect the nation against risks which are now a lethal reality. The threat represented by flooding, said the chair of the committee’s adaptation group, Lady Brown, “is not tomorrow’s problem. It’s today’s problem. And if we don’t do something about it, it will become tomorrow’s disaster.”
An assessment so scathing, from such a source, deserved to be at the centre of political discussion ahead of Thursday’s local elections. Instead, Wednesday’s front pages were dominated by a considerably less useful contribution to the climate debate. In a foreword to a report from his eponymous Tony Blair Institute (TBI), Sir Tony Blair suggested that governments should dial down efforts to limit the use of fossil fuels in the short term, or risk alienating voters allegedly put off by the “irrationality” and cost of green policies. Politicians’ focus, he insisted, should shift to investing speculatively in technologies for the future such as carbon capture and storage.
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Continue reading...In the absence of opposition party challenges and disempowered labor, courts are one of the few sites of meaningful pushback on Trump’s agenda.
The post Judges Are Slowing Down Trump’s Fascist Deportation Regime. Now He’s Arresting Them For It. appeared first on The Intercept.
Current and former Defense officials describe Pentagon unrest over accusations of leaks while their boss shares classified information.
The post Pentagon Insiders on Hegseth Leak Hypocrisy: “Full On Shit Show” appeared first on The Intercept.
On Tucker Carlson’s show, a MAGA loyalist ripped the Defense Policy Board. In short order, Pete Hegseth purged all its members.
The post Hegseth Purges Defense Advisory Board After MAGA Came For It appeared first on The Intercept.
Fearing retribution from Trump, major donors to progressive organizations are holding back at a time when they need it most.
The post Trump Doesn’t Need an Executive Order to Kill Progressive Nonprofits appeared first on The Intercept.
A fired aide to Pete Hegseth had laid into the Defense Policy Board, a political football dominated by hawkish establishment figures.
The post After Tucker Carlson Guest Attacked a Defense Advisory Board, the Pentagon Nuked Its Website appeared first on The Intercept.
Indian navy showcases its strike capability, while Pakistani minister says nuclear weapons ‘are targeted at you’
India’s navy test-fired missiles on Sunday, showcasing its ability to carry out “long-range, precision offensive” strikes, as tensions with Pakistan rise after last week’s terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 civilians.
“Indian Navy ships undertook successful multiple anti-ship firings to re-validate and demonstrate readiness of platforms, systems, and crew for long-range precision offensive strike,” the navy posted on X, as the prime minister, Narendra Modi, promised a “harsh response” to the attack at a tourist site, the deadliest against civilians in Kashmir in 25 years.
Continue reading...A bomb threat at Barnard College targeted the “terrorists/communists that are protesting.” But you wouldn’t know that from the school’s statements.
The post A Bomb Threat Targeted Student Protesters. So Why Did They Get Blamed for It? appeared first on The Intercept.
In Sudan, fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, appear to have filmed and posted online videos of themselves glorifying the burning of homes and the torture of prisoners. These videos could be used by international courts to pursue war crime prosecutions.
Kaamil Ahmed explains how the international legal system is adapting to social media, finding a way to use the digital material shared online to corroborate accounts of war crimes being committed in countries ranging from Ukraine to Sudan
Continue reading...Tensions between nuclear-armed countries escalate after attack killed 26 people in disputed territory
Indian and Pakistani troops have exchanged gunfire across the volatile frontier in Kashmir for a second day, amid growing tensions after a brazen attack that killed 26 people at a popular tourist resort.
The massacre has sent relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours into a dangerous downward spin. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is divided between them but claimed fully by both.
Continue reading...Why did a shadowy nonprofit make a six-figure gift to Trump’s inauguration committee? “It was mostly to meet people,” said a company official.
The post AI Firm Behind Mysterious Trump Donation Is Run by Alleged Election Overthrow Plotter appeared first on The Intercept.
By shipping immigrants to Nayib Bukele’s megaprison in El Salvador, Trump is using a far-right ally for his own ends.
The post The Long History of Lawlessness in U.S. Policy Toward Latin America appeared first on The Intercept.
Instead of tackling crashing markets, Congress is pushing a crypto sector that the Trump family is financially involved in.
The post Congress’s Biggest Financial Priority Is “Stablecoin.” What the Hell Is That? appeared first on The Intercept.
We’d like to hear from small business owners in the UK and elsewhere about any impact of changing tariffs
China has raised tariffs on US imports to 125% in an escalation of the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
US tariffs on Chinese goods now total 145%, while most other countries, including the UK, have maintained a 10% tariff on goods following Donald Trump’s announcements on Wednesday pausing “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days.
Continue reading...Narendra Modi must weigh a response that balances domestic fury with strategic restraint
India’s furious response to the terrorist massacre of 26 men in a popular travel destination is being shaped by public rage at the deadliest civilian attack in Kashmir in a quarter-century.
The brutality of the assault in one of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s marquee tourist spots – and its national resonance – leaves Prime Minister Narendra Modi needing to signal strength, but without triggering uncontrolled escalation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, analysts say.
Continue reading...The school later told staff it had provided the Trump administration with personal contact information for faculty members.
The post Trump Administration Texted College Professors’ Personal Phones to Ask If They’re Jewish appeared first on The Intercept.
Interesting research: “Guillotine: Hypervisors for Isolating Malicious AIs.”
Abstract:As AI models become more embedded in critical sectors like finance, healthcare, and the military, their inscrutable behavior poses ever-greater risks to society. To mitigate this risk, we propose Guillotine, a hypervisor architecture for sandboxing powerful AI models—models that, by accident or malice, can generate existential threats to humanity. Although Guillotine borrows some well-known virtualization techniques, Guillotine must also introduce fundamentally new isolation mechanisms to handle the unique threat model posed by existential-risk AIs. For example, a rogue AI may try to introspect upon hypervisor software or the underlying hardware substrate to enable later subversion of that control plane; thus, a Guillotine hypervisor requires careful co-design of the hypervisor software and the CPUs, RAM, NIC, and storage devices that support the hypervisor software, to thwart side channel leakage and more generally eliminate mechanisms for AI to exploit reflection-based vulnerabilities. Beyond such isolation at the software, network, and microarchitectural layers, a Guillotine hypervisor must also provide physical fail-safes more commonly associated with nuclear power plants, avionic platforms, and other types of mission critical systems. Physical fail-safes, e.g., involving electromechanical disconnection of network cables, or the flooding of a datacenter which holds a rogue AI, provide defense in depth if software, network, and microarchitectural isolation is compromised and a rogue AI must be temporarily shut down or permanently destroyed. ...
The deal with Javier Milei shows how America-first dealmaking is bending global finance to serve authoritarian and extractive ends
It is famed for hard-nosed bargaining with crisis-hit countries, so why did the International Monetary Fund throw a $20bn lifeline to the serial defaulter Argentina – despite alarm on its board? The answer is that the country’s rightwing leader, Javier Milei, is Donald Trump’s “favourite president”. Amid unease over handing a third of the IMF’s global lending to its largest debtor, the deal passed with $12bn upfront. The IMF has long been intellectually compromised – promoting stability while enforcing neoliberal orthodoxy. Under Mr Trump, it is ethically compromised too.
Mr Milei’s bailout marks the second Trump-era rescue for Argentina. In 2018, the fund handed Buenos Aires a record $57bn – but cut it off when its then president, Mauricio Macri, a Trump family friend, was not re-elected. That deal now looks nakedly political. With the US holding an effective board veto, the fund’s independence was always fragile. It’s now completely subordinated. A US takeover of the IMF threatens deeper instability than any Argentinian default.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Justice Democrats, the group that helped elect the Squad, is backing a primary against AIPAC-backed incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar.
The post Down Two Squad Members, Progressives Come for an AIPAC Democrat appeared first on The Intercept.
Reporters Matt Sledge and Jessica Washington discuss Trump’s growing crypto empire as he deregulates the industry.
The post Trump’s Very Stable Genius Coin appeared first on The Intercept.
Long story of a $250 million cryptocurrency theft that, in a complicated chain events, resulted in a pretty brutal kidnapping.
Instead of tackling crashing markets, Congress is pushing a crypto sector that the Trump family is financially involved in.
The post Congress’s Biggest Financial Priority Is “Stablecoin.” What the Hell Is That? appeared first on The Intercept.
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Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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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
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
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