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From face-plants to flying across the lagoon: how I learned to kitesurf in Sicily
Tue, 25 Jun 2024 06:00:07 GMT
The coastline near Marsala is the perfect spot to practise your Superman moves on a residential kitesurfing course
There’s no escaping it: kitesurfing is a daunting sport for beginners. Don’t be fooled by the name – it is nothing like flying a kite in a park. On the first day of a week-long kitesurfing course in Sicily, I found myself in the sea attached to an enormous polyester wing that was powerful enough to lift me clear of the water and send me hurtling through the air.
Despite my nerves, I could see that the Stagnone Lagoon near Marsala, western Sicily, is a great place to learn. The lagoon is shallow enough to stand up in, has no waves and is protected by four islands – Isola Grande, San Pantaleo, Santa Maria and La Schola – that create a natural wind tunnel; there is a consistent breeze from spring to the end of October. The area is popular with kitesurf schools, including mine, UCPA Planète, but doesn’t feel overcrowded.
Continue reading...
Heavy rainfall in Guangdong causes flooding, landslides and mudslides, while northern China gripped by heatwave
Guangdong province in southern China has once more experienced severe flooding, two months after the late April floods and landslides led to more than 50 deaths.
On Sunday 16 June, heavy rainfall affected the area, with an average of 199mm falling in Pingyuan county. The town of Sishui experienced the highest rainfall totals of 367mm, with three others in the area recording more than 300mm.
Continue reading...The defiant Russia-North Korea friendship pact raises big questions for Washington and Seoul – but also for Beijing
A quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin flew to Pyongyang to sign a “friendship treaty” with Kim Jong-il that helped revive Russia’s relations with North Korea without obliging the two sides to come to each other’s aid in case of a military attack.
With his visit last week, Putin has in effect gone further into the past, signing a deal with Kim Jong-un reminiscent of the 1961 security pact that existed under the Soviet Union during the cold war. But today Russia is engaged in a hot war in Ukraine that Putin has made his foreign policy priority, and a nuclear North Korea has become a crucial lifeline of munitions for his military.
Continue reading...Beijing ramps up pressure over ‘crime of secession’ while Taipei says China has no jurisdiction over Taiwan and urges its people not to be intimidated
China has threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for “diehard” Taiwan independence separatists, a ratcheting up of pressure even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the democratically governed island.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has made no secret of its dislike of President Lai Ching-te, who took office last month, saying he is a “separatist”, and staged war games shortly after his inauguration.
Continue reading...Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique species
Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.
Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closest to disappearing.
Continue reading...From inter-dimensional battles at Piccadilly Circus to a grime and drill soundtrack, the team behind Rapman’s epic sci-fi series Supacell talk about a fantasy saga like nothing before
This is a superhero origin story. That is, the story of Andrew “Rapman” Onwubolu’s triumphant round-trip from south London to Hollywood and back again. Supacell, Rapman’s epic sci-fi fantasy series, which lands on Netflix this week is something subtly different: “I call it a superpower story,” says Rapman – “Raps” to his friends – with a relaxed grin. “Everyone is out for themselves. They’re very much flawed, ordinary individuals. No one’s got capes on. No one’s trying to save the world.”
Like Rapman’s 2019 box office breakthrough, Blue Story – Lewisham’s answer to West Side Story – or the irresistibly soapy tale of badman betrayal that is 2018 YouTube series Shiro’s Story, Supacell has a Black-majority cast and a south-east London setting. Unlike those previous hits, this series forgoes the film-maker’s trademark rap narration and features characters who can do things like teleport. Or turn invisible. Or move objects with their minds. Even so, realism of a kind was important: “If me or you get powers, would the first thing we’d do be to stop a bridge falling in China? Probably not. We’re probably going to figure out how to use this to advance ourselves and our families.”
Continue reading...Team Asobi’s Nicolas Doucet on creating PlayStation 5’s next big game – and, he hopes, its next big mascot
It’s the PlayStation 5’s next big game, and Sony is in its DNA – but nonetheless there’s something very Nintendo about Astro Bot. It’s in the way that the game is designed so perfectly around the controller that you play with, taking advantage of all the DualSense controller’s bells and whistles. The spacey aesthetic, where different planets represent different colourful worlds to jump into, recalls Super Mario Galaxy. And there’s also the sense of pure joy that you feel when you play it. On a console whose most famous hits are rather self-serious – think God of War and The Last of Us – Astro Bot prioritises playfulness.
“I think Sony has the mindset of coolness in its product design, but there is also playfulness,” says Nicolas Doucet, the studio director at Team Asobi, the Japanese studio behind Astro Bot. “They’re not mutually exclusive, or seen as antagonistic… The [PlayStation] hardware team really liked it, nobody was being precious. These are products that are highly crafted, so you could imagine their designers wouldn’t want them to be tampered with – and there we were sticking eyes on a PSVR and turning it into a mothership.”
Continue reading...Re-entry capsule containing precious cargo from mission has parachuted into Inner Mongolia
China has become the first country to gather samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth in a landmark achievement for the Beijing space programme.
A re-entry capsule containing the precious cargo parachuted into a landing zone in the rural Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday after being released into Earth’s orbit by the uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe.
Continue reading...GeoGPT developed as part of Chinese-funded earth sciences programme aimed at researchers in global south
Geologists have raised concerns about potential Chinese censorship and bias in a chatbot being developed with the backing of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), one of the world’s largest scientific organisations and a Unesco partner.
The GeoGPT chatbot is aimed at geoscientists and researchers, particularly in the global south, to help them develop their understanding of earth sciences by drawing on swaths of data and research on billions of years of the planet’s history.
Continue reading...My poems were written in anger after Tiananmen Square. But what motivates most prison writing is a fear of forgetting. Today I am free, but the regime has never stopped its war on words. By Liao Yiwu
Continue reading...Robert O’Brien explains his outline to sever US-China economic ties would only be to send in ‘fighting force’
Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Robert O’Brien – tipped to play a leading role if the ex-president returns to the White House – backtracked on parts of his proposal to sever US-China economic ties, an aspect of which called for sending the entire US Marine Corps to Asia.
O’Brien, who recently submitted a 5,000-word article outlining his thinking to Foreign Affairs, explained on Sunday that instead of the “entire US Marine Corps”, it would be only the “fighting force”. And he said some Marines would still be stationed at bases like California’s Camp Pendleton and North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune.
Continue reading...Beverley Bathija and Paula McEwan respond to Adrian Chiles’s article about his father’s watch
Adrian Chiles’s article resonated with me (My dad has died but his watch ticks on. Why does that feel so heartless?, 19 June). Last week I travelled from Kenya to a small town in India for the fourth time in nine months, where I was summoned as my mother’s end was near.
Each time I visit, I try to find some way to soothe what is left of her days, and seek to understand what still holds her attention amid the pain and loss of independence.
Continue reading...Zambia’s Mubita Nawa, who is on shortlist for top job, is accused of involvement in an attempted extortion in 2022
A candidate to be the next head of Interpol has been accused of involvement in the kidnap, detention, assault and attempted extortion of two Indian businessmen.
Lawyers for Vinod and Uddit Sadhu have written to Interpol saying the allegations against Mubita Nawa, a deputy commissioner of police in Zambia, suggest he is “plainly unsuitable” to be its next secretary general.
Continue reading...Over 200 signatories urge government to reverse decision enabling action against writer under anti-terrorism law
More than 200 Indian academics, activists and journalists have published an open letter urging the Indian government to withdraw last week’s decision sanctioning the prosecution of the Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy under the country’s stringent anti-terrorism law.
“We … deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation,” the group said in the letter.
Continue reading...As Republicans thirst for restarting federal executions, Absolute Standards told Connecticut lawmakers it hasn’t made or sold pentobarbital since December 2020.
The post Company Linked to Federal Execution Spree Says It Will No Longer Produce Key Drug appeared first on The Intercept.
Project 2025 — a road map for the next Trump White House — urges overturning Supreme Court precedent, and a trickle of bills may tee up challenges.
The post Can Conservatives Expand the Death Penalty Using the “Trigger Law” Playbook? appeared first on The Intercept.
Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto discusses Venezuela’s bid to join the BRICS alliance, the impacts of U.S. sanctions, and the battle over Citgo.
The post The Venezuelan Perspective appeared first on The Intercept.
UAVs continually kill civilians, but the U.S. military wants to expand its arsenal with an army of new, mass-produced kamikaze AI drones.
The post Cheap and Lethal: The Pentagon’s Plan for the Next Drone War appeared first on The Intercept.
The Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib has found himself at the centre of controversy following his side’s historic progress to a T20 World Cup semi-final after commentators accused him of faking – or at least exaggerating – an injury during the dramatic rain-affected match.
Gulbadin and his teammates needed to overcome Bangladesh in St Vincent to secure their spot and a final-four clash with South Africa at Australia’s expense – but their narrow eight-run victory, via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, has come under scrutiny following the incident when Gulbadin indicated he had cramp.
Continue reading...‘Unfair’ rejection rates of up to 70% harm cultural diversity and create a ‘global apartheid’, say promoters and musicians
Musicians, authors, producers and festival managers have hit out at “humiliating” and costly visa-rejection rates for African and Asian artists visiting Britain and European Union countries, saying it is having a chilling impact on cultural diversity.
Analysis shows the UK last year raised £44m in fees for visa applications that were then rejected, mainly coming from low- and middle-income countries. The EU made €130m (£110m).
Continue reading...Increasing use of fans, air coolers and air conditioners is placing ‘serious’ strain on grid in north of country
Engineers in India have warned of the possibility of prolonged power outages in the north, where a heatwave has brought misery for millions of people.
Demand for electricity has soared due to fans, air coolers and air conditioners being run constantly, placing a strain on the grid in Delhi and elsewhere in the north. Manufacturers of air conditioners and air coolers report sales rising by 40-50% compared with last summer.
Continue reading...Nikhil Gupta accused of plotting to kill US resident who has advocated for sovereign Sikh state in northern India
An Indian man suspected by the US of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil has pleaded not guilty to murder-for-hire conspiracy charges in a federal court in Manhattan.
Nikhil Gupta, 52, has been accused by US federal prosecutors of plotting with an Indian government official to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US resident who has advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.
Continue reading...Kuo Chiu, known as KC to his friends, teaches urban design at Tunghai University in Taiwan. He’s also one of many of the country's citizens who practises rifle skills in his spare time, in case of a Chinese invasion.
The population of Taiwan has long grown familiar with Beijing’s pledge to one day ‘unify’ what it claims is a breakaway province. But recently, there has been a significant increase in aggressive and intimidatory acts.
Taiwan’s 160,000 active military personnel are vastly outnumbered by China’s 2 million-member armed forces, leading many civilians to turn to voluntary medical and combat training to protect themselves.
The Guardian's video team spent time with KC to see how he is preparing
Continue reading...Culture is increasingly mediated through algorithms. These algorithms have splintered the organization of culture, a result of states and tech companies vying for influence over mass audiences. One byproduct of this splintering is a shift from imperfect but broad cultural narratives to a proliferation of niche groups, who are defined by ideology or aesthetics instead of nationality or geography. This change reflects a material shift in the relationship between collective identity and power, and illustrates how states no longer have exclusive domain over either. Today, both power and culture are increasingly corporate...
For the second time, the IFC is bucking recommendations to offer money as reparations to people hurt at a chain of schools it invested in, Bridge International Academies.
The post World Bank Financing Arm Rejects Calls to Directly Compensate Victims of Harm at Kenya Schools appeared first on The Intercept.
Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
We know turbulence is a common part of flying – but are some routes more prone? And where is it the worst? Turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries to crew and passengers and after the fatal Singapore Airlines incident and injuries to passengers above Turkey on a Qatar Airways flight, you might be wondering if flights are about to get bumpier. Incidents of severe turbulence are on the rise – increasing by 55% between 1979 and 2020 – and the climate crisis is thought to be a responsible factor
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Continue reading...Ban Khun Samut Chin, a coastal village in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, has been slowly swallowed by the sea over the past few decades. This has led to the relocation of the school and many homes, resulting in a dwindling population. Currently, there are only four students attending the school, often leaving just one in each classroom. The village has experienced severe coastal erosion, causing 1.1-2km (0.5-1.2 miles) of shoreline to disappear since the mid-1950s
Continue reading...Assange is reportedly travelling to a US plea deal hearing on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands
The plea agreement comes months after the US president, Joe Biden, said he was considering a request from Australia to drop the US push to prosecute Assange.
Assange was indicted during the former president Donald Trump’s administration over WikiLeaks’ mass release of secret US documents, which were leaked by Chelsea Manning, a former US military intelligence analyst who was also prosecuted under the Espionage Act.
Continue reading...Looking for ethical and delicious seafood? Here’s our pick of shacks, cafés and shops selling shellfish, seaweed and fish
At Pam Brunton and Rob Latimer’s restaurant, they want a direct, traceable connection to the sea – they have a fish-purchasing policy that they send to suppliers. “We buy nothing knowingly from dredgers and trawlers,” Pam says, instead taking fin fish from smaller boats that fish off the English shore. Shellfish comes from a local, Mary, who coordinates a few small boats, all of which use traditional creel methods, and hand-dive for scallops, while oysters are bought from Judith at Caledonian Oysters on Loch Creran. Pam’s innovative food is served with a view of the loch outside – in summer, diners may even spot the mackerel for the next day’s menu being caught by a neighbour.
Strathlachlan PA27 8BU; inverrestaurant.co.uk
WikiLeaks founder reportedly travelling to US plea deal hearing in Northern Mariana Islands. Plus, how fashion entered its ‘ugly’ decade
Good morning.
Julian Assange has struck a deal with the US justice department, freeing him from a UK prison, and is expected to plead guilty to breaching US espionage law in a deal that would allow him to return home to Australia.
Will he face more jail time? Probably not. Under the deal, which must be signed off by a judge, he will probably be credited for the five years he has already served and face no further prison time.
How long was he held at Belmarsh prison? 1,901 days.
How would a ceasefire be worked out? It would be based on prevailing battle lines during peace talks, according to Kellogg and Fred Fleitz.
Continue reading...Supporters come together in host cities despite most of them not having tickets for the games
“European champions – you’ll never sing that.” It’s about three hours before England are due to face Denmark in their second game of Euro 2024 and we find ourselves surrounded by thousands of red shirts in the salubrious surroundings of Frankfurt’s Opernplatz. The Denmark fans, overlooked by the magnificent Alte Oper house that was rebuilt in the 1970s after being destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944, have clearly been working on the impressive repertoire of songs referencing previous English failures that would be repeated throughout the day.
On this occasion, they are being aimed in our direction. Which is probably no surprise given we are possibly the only three England supporters who decided to soak up the pre-match atmosphere in this part of town after making last-minute arrangements to meet some old Danish friends who had travelled to Germany for the game.
Continue reading...The coastline near Marsala is the perfect spot to practise your Superman moves on a residential kitesurfing course
There’s no escaping it: kitesurfing is a daunting sport for beginners. Don’t be fooled by the name – it is nothing like flying a kite in a park. On the first day of a week-long kitesurfing course in Sicily, I found myself in the sea attached to an enormous polyester wing that was powerful enough to lift me clear of the water and send me hurtling through the air.
Despite my nerves, I could see that the Stagnone Lagoon near Marsala, western Sicily, is a great place to learn. The lagoon is shallow enough to stand up in, has no waves and is protected by four islands – Isola Grande, San Pantaleo, Santa Maria and La Schola – that create a natural wind tunnel; there is a consistent breeze from spring to the end of October. The area is popular with kitesurf schools, including mine, UCPA Planète, but doesn’t feel overcrowded.
Continue reading...In April, President Joe Biden said he was “considering” dropping charges against the WikiLeaks founder.
The post Julian Assange Strikes Plea Deal, Will Return to Australia appeared first on The Intercept.
Beverley Bathija and Paula McEwan respond to Adrian Chiles’s article about his father’s watch
Adrian Chiles’s article resonated with me (My dad has died but his watch ticks on. Why does that feel so heartless?, 19 June). Last week I travelled from Kenya to a small town in India for the fourth time in nine months, where I was summoned as my mother’s end was near.
Each time I visit, I try to find some way to soothe what is left of her days, and seek to understand what still holds her attention amid the pain and loss of independence.
Continue reading...Whether you want to volunteer or just get up close to marine life, here are some of the best places to visit for a fresh view of your shores
• Get stuck into some slimy stuff with the year-long Big Seaweed Search and help to monitor seaweed biodiversity along UK coastlines, a key indicator of ocean health. Just download the seaweed guide and recording forms and submit your results to
bigseaweedsearch.org.
If the Biden administration is serious about protecting press freedoms, officials from Washington might want to have a stern talk with federal prosecutors in Detroit.
The post Federal Prosecutors Attacked Me for My Reporting — and They’re Doing It to Hide Info From the Public appeared first on The Intercept.
There is a lot written about technology’s threats to democracy. Polarization. Artificial intelligence. The concentration of wealth and power. I have a more general story: The political and economic systems of governance that were created in the mid-18th century are poorly suited for the 21st century. They don’t align incentives well. And they are being hacked too effectively.
At the same time, the cost of these hacked systems has never been greater, across all human history. We have become too powerful as a species. And our systems cannot keep up with fast-changing disruptive technologies...
“I felt helpless watching my family dying and not able to help them. It is a nightmare that I will never wake up from.”
The post These “Tent Massacre” Survivors Couldn’t Afford to Leave Rafah. The Next Israeli Attack Nearly Wiped Their Family Out. appeared first on The Intercept.
Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
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...Project 2025 — a road map for the next Trump White House — urges overturning Supreme Court precedent, and a trickle of bills may tee up challenges.
The post Can Conservatives Expand the Death Penalty Using the “Trigger Law” Playbook? appeared first on The Intercept.
This case is nothing to be proud of. As politicians stood by, he suffered within a chaotic system they have done little to fix
Finally. After more than five years locked inside HMP Belmarsh, Britain’s most secure prison, and seven years confined to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Julian Assange can breathe some fresh, free air. It is certainly a day to celebrate, but also one to demand answers. Why – why, for heaven’s sake – has it taken so long? And what about all the others who languish in crazily overcrowded British jails?
It seems appropriate that Assange’s release, on the basis of a deal that gives the US government the fig leaf of a guilty plea, occurred in the very week before a general election, in the country where he was detained for all those years. Voters seem likely to dispose of a government whose feeble home secretaries, from Priti Patel onwards, bowed the knee to the US on its extradition request when they could have easily followed the brave path that Theresa May took when she was home secretary in 2012, declining to allow the removal to the US of the hacker Gary McKinnon. But what lessons have any of our politicians – or our judges – learned?
Continue reading...Metropolitan police says five more officers being investigated as Conservative party no longer backing Craig Williams and Laura Saunders
All along the course of the Thames, turning north, meandering south, passing through locks, historic landmarks, Richmond and Kew, swelling beneath the House of Commons with the turning tide, and on to Docklands and beyond – concern for the health of the Thames has led many other ordinary people, who live, work or play on the water, to take up the fight for the health of the river.
The last 15 years of decline in rivers suggests they have much to do. In 2009, a year before the Conservatives first took power in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, a quarter of English rivers were judged as being of good ecological standard, a marker which examines the flow, habitat and biological quality; by 2022 not one river was in a healthy state.
Continue reading...WikiLeaks founder reportedly travelling to US plea deal hearing in Northern Mariana Islands. Plus, how fashion entered its ‘ugly’ decade
Good morning.
Julian Assange has struck a deal with the US justice department, freeing him from a UK prison, and is expected to plead guilty to breaching US espionage law in a deal that would allow him to return home to Australia.
Will he face more jail time? Probably not. Under the deal, which must be signed off by a judge, he will probably be credited for the five years he has already served and face no further prison time.
How long was he held at Belmarsh prison? 1,901 days.
How would a ceasefire be worked out? It would be based on prevailing battle lines during peace talks, according to Kellogg and Fred Fleitz.
Continue reading...Heart-lifting adaptation of Doyle’s children’s novel follows cheeky 12-year-old Mia as she faces the loss of her beloved granny
Roddy Doyle’s novel for kids, about childhood grief, has been turned into a gorgeous family animation with a big heart, charming without being too sugary. It’s a gentle introduction to death with its non-religious message that in the end, when someone dear to us dies, what we are left with is their love, and what they have shown us about how to love.
A cheeky, flame-haired 12-year-old Dublin girl called Mary, voiced by Mia O’Connor, wants to be a famous chef when she grows up. The movie opens with Mary competing for the summer camp at an elite catering school. When the snooty judges criticise her tarte tartin, Mary’s grandmother Emer (Rosaleen Linehan) lets rips at “the eejits with the clipboards”. Back at home, granny Emer falls ill and is rushed to hospital. The news is not good and, what with her granny being sick, plus hormones, Mary is raging. There’s real warmth in the scenes at home: her exhausted, worried mum Scarlett (Sharon Horgan) doesn’t cook (“this spag bol is about as Italian as Bono”), dad is cheerful taxi driver Paddy (Brendan Gleeson), and there’s two galumphing brothers; everyone drinks endless cups of tea.
Continue reading...Decision threatens Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government with collapse as Gaza conflict drags on
Israel’s supreme court has ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must be drafted into military service, a politically explosive decision that threatens the stability of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.
The unanimous ruling on Tuesday, from an expanded panel of nine judges, upheld an interim decision last month that the state had no authority to offer the current exemption for ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, men. It found that yeshivas – Orthodox seminaries for Torah study – should be ineligible for state subsidies unless students enlisted in the military.
Continue reading...In April, President Joe Biden said he was “considering” dropping charges against the WikiLeaks founder.
The post Julian Assange Strikes Plea Deal, Will Return to Australia appeared first on The Intercept.
If there were any doubts in voters’ minds about Rishi Sunak’s lack of leadership they have been wiped away by this sorry episode
Two weeks ago the Guardian revealed that Craig Williams, the prime minister’s parliamentary private secretary, had placed a £100 bet on a July election three days before Rishi Sunak named the date. Mr Williams, the Conservative candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, admitted to having “a flutter” on the timing of the general election, which he said was a “huge error of judgment”. But he has refused to answer questions about whether he was privy to inside information before placing the bet.
Instead of suspending Mr Williams’s campaign, Mr Sunak professed that it was “disappointing” and hid behind the Gambling Commission’s inquiry into the bet. It’s possible that Mr Williams did not know the date of the election and was having a punt. Like Nero, Mr Sunak is fiddling while Rome burns.
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...If the Biden administration is serious about protecting press freedoms, officials from Washington might want to have a stern talk with federal prosecutors in Detroit.
The post Federal Prosecutors Attacked Me for My Reporting — and They’re Doing It to Hide Info From the Public appeared first on The Intercept.
Jamaal Bowman may be the first member of the Squad group of progressive Democrats to be ousted from office
Who is the opposite of Jamaal Bowman? A good case could be made for that person being Lauren Boebert, a far-right Republican congresswoman from Colorado who is on the other side of pretty much every issue from the progressive New Yorker.
But there’s one thing they have in common: both will be fighting to return to Congress in today’s primaries, though Boebert appears to have a better shot than her Democratic counterpart.
Colorado’s primary elections on Tuesday will choose the winners in several bitter intraparty fights between the state’s Republicans, including in two competitive House districts that could help determine control of Congress in November.
Despite a series of personal scandals, Lauren Boebert, a hard-right Republican who narrowly avoided defeat in 2022, is favored to win out over a crowded field of other Republican primary candidates in Ken Buck’s former congressional district, the fourth, which leans more heavily Republican.
Continue reading...Lauren Boebert is favored to win her contest, although bitter intraparty fights within GOP have divided the party
Colorado’s primary elections on Tuesday will choose the winners in several bitter intraparty fights between the state’s Republicans, including in two competitive House districts that could help determine control of Congress in November.
Despite a series of personal scandals, Lauren Boebert, a hard-right Republican who narrowly avoided defeat in 2022, is favored to win out over a crowded field of other Republican primary candidates in Ken Buck’s former congressional district, the fourth, which leans more heavily Republican.
Continue reading...The administration says the “Azov Brigade” is separate from the old, Nazi-linked “Azov Battalion.” The unit itself says they’re the same.
The post The U.S. Says a Far-Right Ukrainian Army Unit Can Now Get Aid. A Photo Shows Training Was Already Happening. appeared first on The Intercept.
The donation, one of the largest in the school’s history, was made as right-wing megadonor Leo shopped a new law school center.
The post Texas A&M Wants to Keep Emails About Leonard Leo’s $15 Million Gift Secret appeared first on The Intercept.
From the jump, the lawsuit challenging the legality of mifepristone was a cynical, propagandistic endeavor. In a 9-0 opinion, the Supreme Court threw it out.
The post GOP States Double Down on Fighting Medication Abortion After Supreme Court Keeps It Legal appeared first on The Intercept.
There is a lot written about technology’s threats to democracy. Polarization. Artificial intelligence. The concentration of wealth and power. I have a more general story: The political and economic systems of governance that were created in the mid-18th century are poorly suited for the 21st century. They don’t align incentives well. And they are being hacked too effectively.
At the same time, the cost of these hacked systems has never been greater, across all human history. We have become too powerful as a species. And our systems cannot keep up with fast-changing disruptive technologies...
“I don’t want to be working on something that can turn around and be used to slaughter innocent people.”
The post “Utterly Dismayed”: Air Force Engineer Resigns as Dissent Against Gaza War Slowly Spreads Within Military appeared first on The Intercept.
The task force revealed its plans not in a communiqué to faculty and students — but instead in an Israeli newspaper article.
The post Columbia Task Force for Dealing With Campus Protests Declares That Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism appeared first on The Intercept.
UAVs continually kill civilians, but the U.S. military wants to expand its arsenal with an army of new, mass-produced kamikaze AI drones.
The post Cheap and Lethal: The Pentagon’s Plan for the Next Drone War appeared first on The Intercept.
“They attacked in the middle of the day. People were going to the market. They gave no warning.”
The post Medical Aid Worker Describes the Bloody Aftermath of Israel’s Hostage Rescue appeared first on The Intercept.
The Republican amendment to the annual defense budget is just one of several proposals to restrict humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The post House Votes to Block U.S. Funding to Rebuild Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, revealed the tactics and traits that help him face the daily frustrations of leading a country at war for more than two years.
Within a ceremonial room inside Kyiv’s presidential compound, Zelenskiy spoke for nearly an hour with a Guardian team, including the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner. The interview took place during perhaps the toughest time for Ukraine since the early days of the war. Russia is on the offensive in Kharkiv, an advance that follows months of delay in the US Congress over the passing of a major support package, limiting Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities
Continue reading...Gerard Gorman faced unimaginable horror as an 11-year-old boarder in County Armagh. The pain haunted him for decades – then he took on the church
It was November 1970 and Northern Ireland was sliding into the Troubles, but for Gerard Gorman, a new pupil at St Colman’s College, the horror of that era began when Fr Malachy Finegan summoned him into a room, closed the door and told him to sit on a sofa.
Gorman was 11 years old and small for his age, with big blue eyes. Two months earlier, he had started as a boarder at the Catholic boys’ school in Newry, County Armagh. Staff tended to be aloof or intimidating, except Finegan, the religious education teacher, who was solicitous and avuncular.
Continue reading...“I don’t want to be working on something that can turn around and be used to slaughter innocent people.”
The post “Utterly Dismayed”: Air Force Engineer Resigns as Dissent Against Gaza War Slowly Spreads Within Military appeared first on The Intercept.
The task force revealed its plans not in a communiqué to faculty and students — but instead in an Israeli newspaper article.
The post Columbia Task Force for Dealing With Campus Protests Declares That Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism appeared first on The Intercept.
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