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Biden Has “Pardoned” Eight Turkeys. Will He Spare the Lives of 40 Human Beings?
Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:27:50 +0000
With Trump returning to the White House, only mass commutations will stop another federal execution spree.
The post Biden Has “Pardoned” Eight Turkeys. Will He Spare the Lives of 40 Human Beings? appeared first on The Intercept.
Draconian new laws allow mass incarceration of women and children forced to beg because of work ban
Destitute Afghan women arrested for begging under draconian new Taliban laws have spoken of “brutal” rapes and beatings in detention.
Over the past few months, many women said they had been targeted by Taliban officials and detained under anti-begging laws passed this year. While in prison, they claim they were subjected to sexual abuse, torture and forced labour, and witnessed children being beaten and abused.
Continue reading...Hoax threats come days after similar threats to Republicans set to fill roles in incoming Trump administration
American lawmakers are on edge after a wave of hoax bomb threats targeted figures across the political spectrum and prompted the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives to demand that Congress take action to provide “maximum protection”.
Over Thanksgiving nearly the entire Connecticut congressional delegation of Democrats faced bomb threats that apparently were signed “Maga” – shorthand for Donald Trump’s “Make America great again” political movement.
Continue reading...Elon Musk seems to have abandoned his many children to hang out with Trump’s family and JD Vance is … just bizarre
Melania Trump has made it clear that her second stint at being first lady will be conducted entirely on her own terms. It’s been reported that she’s unlikely to move back to the White House and will spend a lot of the next four years flitting between New York and Florida. Maybe she’ll write another coffee table book. Maybe she’ll develop another caviar-infused skincare line. Who knows. But whatever she does, it’ll be in the service of her own interest, rather than the country’s.
Continue reading...Warnings that genuine products are bulked out with cheaper sugar syrup prompt international congress to withdraw prizes
The World Beekeeping Awards will not award a prize for honey next year after warnings of widespread fraud in the global supply chain.
Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, says it will showcase honey from around the world at its congress in Denmark, but for the first time make no awards for the product.
Continue reading...Climate Justice Alliance was the only program grantee to speak out on Palestine — and the only one whose funding is delayed.
The post Biden Makes His Own Attack on Nonprofit Over Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
After 250 years of armed attacks, forced relocations, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Native Americans, the U.S. military wants to celebrate.
The post Happy Native American Heritage Month From the Army That Brought You the Trail of Tears appeared first on The Intercept.
Local police across New York state regularly work with ICE. Before Trump can start rounding up immigrants, advocates are pushing for change.
The post The Fight to Stop New York Cops From Conspiring With ICE appeared first on The Intercept.
The PRESS Act, a federal reporter shield bill, already passed the House unanimously. Trump wants it dead.
The post Congress Could Protect Journalists From Surveillance. Trump Is Lobbying to Stop Them. appeared first on The Intercept.
The OSHA heat regulation was one of the few to have broad public support, but Democrats can’t ever seem to get their act together.
The post Biden Made “Record Time” on Worker Protections for Heat. Trump Could Quickly Stamp Them Out. appeared first on The Intercept.
The U.S. has a long tradition of shielding Israel (and itself) from war crime allegations — and threatening The Hague.
The post War Crimes Have Never Stopped the U.S. Before appeared first on The Intercept.
The Intercept’s lawsuit argues that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prevents OpenAI from stripping a story’s title or byline.
The post The Intercept’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Advances on Claim It Removed Reporters’ Bylines appeared first on The Intercept.
Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., discusses Biden’s lame-duck session and erecting barriers to Trump’s agenda on The Intercept Briefing podcast.
The post Rep. Summer Lee on the Fight of Our Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
Democratic support for the bill dwindled as critics warned it would let Donald Trump crack down on political foes.
The post The House Just Blessed Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook by Passing Nonprofit-Killer Bill appeared first on The Intercept.
Sanders’s resolutions to block arms sales to Israel gained momentum, but ran headlong into White House opposition.
The post Bernie Sanders Lost Vote to Block Arms for Israel, Says U.S. Is “Funding the Starvation of Children in Gaza” appeared first on The Intercept.
A joint resolution from Sen. Bernie Sanders would block arms sales to Israel. The challenge is convincing Democrats to act.
The post Senators Have a Chance to Halt Weapons Sales to Israel. Will They Take It? appeared first on The Intercept.
ESA and Thales Alenia Space have signed a contract amendment today at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan to extend the Lunar View refuelling module for the lunar Gateway.
Riding on a TikTok tide of Putin propaganda, the Romanian nationalist typifies a swing on the continent that is raising the spectre of the 1930s
Politics in Romania can be a bloody business, especially on the right. The excesses of the Iron Guard, an insurrectionary, violently antisemitic, ultranationalist 1930s political-religious militia, stood out even at a time when fascist parties were wreaking havoc in Germany, Italy and Spain. Given what is happening in Europe today, the events of that period are instructive.
Iron Guard founder Corneliu Codreanu, a ruthless assassin who was himself assassinated in 1938, and his ally turned enemy, the pro-Nazi general Ion Antonescu, who was executed for war crimes in 1946, are back in the news of late. That’s because both men have been lauded as national heroes by Călin Georgescu, shock winner of last weekend’s first round of Romania’s presidential election.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk
Continue reading...President-elect Donald Trump wants the author of the book ‘Government Gangsters’ to bring the FBI ‘to heel’
Donald Trump has tapped Kashyap “Kash” Patel to be FBI director, nominating a loyalist and “deep state” critic to lead the federal law enforcement agency that the president-elect has long slammed as corrupt.
Patel, 44, has worked as a federal prosecutor and a public defender but rose to prominence in Trump circles after expressing outrage over the agency’s investigation into whether Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. He has called for the FBI leadership to be fired as part of a drive to bring federal law enforcement “to heel.”
Continue reading...Prime minister becomes first G7 leader to visit president-elect amid concerns over tariff threat
Donald Trump said he had a “productive” meeting with Justin Trudeau after the Canadian prime minister paid a surprise trip to his Mar-a-Lago estate amid fears about Trump’s promised tariffs.
Trudeau became the first G7 leader to meet with Trump before his second term amid widespread fears in Canada and many other parts of the world that Trump’s trade policy will cause widespread economic chaos.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled Saturday to his country’s border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect progress in the construction of military fortifications along the eastern frontier, calling it “an investment in peace.”
“The better the Polish border is guarded, the more difficult it is to access for those with bad intentions,” Tusk said at a news conference near the village of Dabrowka as he stood in front of concrete anti-tank barriers.
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Climate Justice Alliance was the only program grantee to speak out on Palestine — and the only one whose funding is delayed.
The post Biden Makes His Own Attack on Nonprofit Over Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
Sightings over three airbases in East Anglia could relate to foreign powers’ concerns about possible nuclear weapons
A British former UFO hunter has said he does not “rule out” recent drone incursions over RAF bases in England being connected to Russia and China and nuclear weapons.
Unidentified drones were spotted in November over three airbases in the east of England that are used by the US air force (USAF).
Continue reading...Edan Alexander, who was taken prisoner on 7 Oct, asked Donald Trump to secure his freedom in a Hamas video condemned by the White House
The White House has condemned a Hamas-issued propaganda video of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander urging president-elect Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a deal to free remaining hostages in Gaza, calling it “a cruel reminder of Hamas’s terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own”.
In the video, titled “Soon … Time is running out” and posted on Saturday on the Telegram channel of Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, Alexander calls on Trump to use his “influence and the full power of the United States to negotiate for our freedom”.
Continue reading...Judd Trump reeled off six frames in succession to beat Kyren Wilson 6-2 and secure his place in the final of the UK Championship for the first time since 2020. The world No 1 capitalised on mistakes from his misfiring opponent to exact some measure of revenge for defeats in finals in Xian and Belfast this season.
While Trump produced nothing like the form he showed when he swept aside Zhang Anda in the last eight, it proved more than enough to line him up for another shot at the prestigious trophy he lifted in 2011.
Continue reading...Businessman pleaded guilty to illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering in 2005
Donald Trump has nominated Charles Kushner, a businessman who is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, to serve as US ambassador to France, the president-elect said on Saturday.
Kushner, whose job requires Senate confirmation, is the latest of Trump’s picks to have close ties with the incoming president. Kushner’s son, Jared Kushner, is married to Ivanka Trump, and was a close advisor to Trump during his first presidency.
Continue reading...Email from mother, published in the New York Times, said he mistreated women and displayed a lack of character
The family dynamics of Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, have burst out into the open after an email from his mother criticizing her son over his treatment of women and calling him an “abuser of women” was leaked to a newspaper.
A 2018 email from Penelope Hegseth accused her son of routinely mistreating women and displaying a lack of character.
Continue reading...Hoax threats come days after similar threats to Republicans set to fill roles in incoming Trump administration
American lawmakers are on edge after a wave of hoax bomb threats targeted figures across the political spectrum and prompted the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives to demand that Congress take action to provide “maximum protection”.
Over Thanksgiving nearly the entire Connecticut congressional delegation of Democrats faced bomb threats that apparently were signed “Maga” – shorthand for Donald Trump’s “Make America great again” political movement.
Continue reading...Elon Musk seems to have abandoned his many children to hang out with Trump’s family and JD Vance is … just bizarre
Melania Trump has made it clear that her second stint at being first lady will be conducted entirely on her own terms. It’s been reported that she’s unlikely to move back to the White House and will spend a lot of the next four years flitting between New York and Florida. Maybe she’ll write another coffee table book. Maybe she’ll develop another caviar-infused skincare line. Who knows. But whatever she does, it’ll be in the service of her own interest, rather than the country’s.
Continue reading...The Dutch policy director and former MEP on the unprecedented reach of big tech, the need for confident governments, and why the election of Trump changes everything
Marietje Schaake is a former Dutch member of the European parliament. She is now the international policy director at Stanford University Cyber Policy Center and international policy fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence. Her new book is entitled The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley.
In terms of power and political influence, what are the main differences between big tech and previous incarnations of big business?
The difference is the role that these tech companies play in so many aspects of people’s lives: in the state, the economy, geopolitics. So while previous monopolists amassed a lot of capital and significant positions, they were usually in one sector, like oil or car production. These tech companies are like octopuses with tentacles in so many different directions. They have so much data, location data, search, communications, critical infrastructure, and now AI can be built on top of all that assembled power, which makes these companies very different animals to what we’ve seen in the past.
The Tech Coup by Marietje Schaake is published by Princeton University Press (£22). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
Continue reading...Some in the US are reconsidering children, with fears over reproductive healthcare and the climate crisis front of mind
Chris Peterson wasn’t surprised that Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. But he was surprised by how quickly he and his wife started asking one another: should we try to have another baby before a possible nationwide abortion ban takes effect? Or should we give up on having a second child?
Peterson and his wife, who live in North Carolina, are thousands of dollars in debt because their first child needed to spend weeks in the hospital after being born prematurely. They had wanted to pay off that debt and wait a few years before having a second baby. But now, reproductive rights are again in the balance – Trump has said he would veto a nationwide abortion ban, but his allies are emboldened to push through more restrictions.
Continue reading...Political analysts say president-elect ‘cannot resist chaos’ as he preps administration across ideological spectrum
During Donald Trump’s first administration, his vice-president became the target of an angry mob amid calls for him to be hanged. His top diplomat was fired via Twitter and branded “dumb as a rock”. His first attorney general was given his marching orders and called “very weak” and “disgraceful”.
Despite it all, Trump has had no trouble recruiting a team eager to serve when he returns to the White House in January, even if his initial pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, was forced to back out amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Continue reading...Trump, Farage and Hancock have done it. Now, the ex-Conservative minister joins the list seeking to reinvent himself via reality TV – is it really ok, though?
We have to start by getting all of the Jacob Rees-Mogg caveats out of the way: Jacob Rees-Mogg is staunchly anti-abortion, even in cases of incest and rape; Jacob Rees-Mogg is still, amazingly, pro-Brexit; Jacob Rees-Mogg admires the political machinations of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump; Jacob Rees-Mogg once slouched down in Parliament in a way that made Caroline Lucas get mad at him. Then we have to cover the “MPs on television” caveats: Matt Hancock shouldn’t have been allowed to reform his image on I’m a Celebrity, Farage shouldn’t have been either, and while I’m at it I don’t like Ed Balls on Good Morning Britain. Now all the caveats are out of the way, a fun one just for me: Jacob Rees-Mogg looks like an umbrella Dracula threw away so he wouldn’t have to take too much baggage on to the ship Demeter. There. Now we can get going.
All that is to say, Jacob Rees-Mogg this week launches a reality show on Discovery+ (from Monday). It’s one of those statements that makes you feel you perhaps made the wrong sandwich choice once in 2014, leapt on to an alternative timeline as a direct result, and now we’re here. But no: ham and cheese was correct, this is really happening. His wife Helena is in it, his various children are in it, his castle is in it, his SW1 townhouse is in it, his nanny is in it, a man called Sean who buffs his vintage Bentley is in it, his mother – whom he calls “Lady Rees-Mogg”! – is in it, the buildup to the 2024 general election is in it. There’s a lot of idle playing with cricket balls, dressing too formally for dinner at home, actually saying “yah”, and a big coordinated two-car drive to Boris Johnson’s birthday party. It has to-camera confessionals and scenes of unbelievably familiar domesticity and a few snatched glances of moments you can very much tell they would have preferred had not been captured in full HD by a crew. It is, by any measure you’ve got, fairly impeccable reality TV show-making.
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Canada’s PM to dine with US president-elect at Mar-a-Lago resort, news reports say, days after Trump threatens 25% tariff on Canadian imports
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, ahead of a meeting Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, according to media reports, days after the US president-elect threatened the US’s neighbour with import tariffs once he takes office.
The Canadian prime minister’s public itinerary does not list a scheduled visit to Florida. Neither Trudeau’s office nor Trump’s representatives immediately responded to requests for comment.
Continue reading...The electric car brand was once a liberal favourite – but the CEO’s embrace of Trump has led to an angry backlash
As Elon Musk has embraced Donald Trump and various far-right conspiracy theories, he has left behind an aghast cohort of Tesla owners who suddenly feel embarrassed by their own cars. Many of them are now publicly displaying their dismay at Musk on their vehicles.
Sales of anti-Musk stickers have boomed since the world’s richest man declared his support for Trump and helped propel him to victory in the US presidential election, as owners of Teslas, the car brand headed by Musk, try to distance themselves from the South African-born multibillionaire.
Continue reading...Sheinbaum says she had cooperative talks with president-elect who threatened 25% tariff against Mexico on Tuesday
Claudia Sheinbaum has said her “very kind” phone conversation with Donald Trump, in which they discussed immigration and fentanyl, means “there will not be a potential tariff war” between the US and Mexico.
The president of Mexico spoke to reporters on Thursday following Trump’s threat earlier in the week to apply a 25% tariff against Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff against China, when he takes office in January if the countries did not stop all illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into the US.
Continue reading...On The Intercept Briefing, we discuss college crackdowns on Palestine solidarity protests and the chilling effect on free speech.
The post The “Palestine Exception” appeared first on The Intercept.
With Trump returning to the White House, only mass commutations will stop another federal execution spree.
The post Biden Has “Pardoned” Eight Turkeys. Will He Spare the Lives of 40 Human Beings? appeared first on The Intercept.
Palestinians from Gaza feel relief for the people of Lebanon. We are also heartbroken that we are still being slaughtered.
The post There’s a Ceasefire in Lebanon, but Israel Keeps Gaslighting Palestinians About Ending the Assault on Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Rescue operation under way, Zelenskyy says, after more than a dozen also wounded in Dnipropetrovsk region. What we know on day 1,012
A Russian missile strike on a town in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday killed at least four people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. More than a dozen others were wounded, including a child, while a residential building and shop were damaged, according to officials. Zelenskyy said a rescue operation was under way. Tsarychanka is about 50km (30 miles) north of Dnipro, the region’s capital.
Former UK ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton has said Zelenskyy is “playing a very sophisticated game” in calling for Ukrainian-controlled territories to come under the “Nato umbrella”. But he added that the Ukrainian president had made “quite a major concession” in stating he was prepared to see a ceasefire and then negotiate the return of Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine over the long term. Zelenskyy earlier suggested that Ukrainian territory under his control should be taken under the Nato umbrella to try to stop the “hot stage” of the war with Russia. He told Sky News that such a proposal has “never been considered” by Ukraine because it has never “officially” been offered.
Ukraine came under attack from 10 Russian drones, of which eight were shot down over the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions, the air force said on Saturday. One drone returned to Russian-occupied territory, while the final drone disappeared from radar, often a sign of the use of electronic defences.
Eleven Ukrainian drones had been shot down by Russia’s air defences, its defence ministry said. The mayor of Sochi, Andrey Proshunin, and the head of Russia’s Dagestan region, Sergey Melikov, both in Russia’s south-west, said drones had been destroyed in their regions overnight to Saturday. No casualties were reported.
Ukraine has asked Latin American parliamentarians and diplomats to assist in its defence in the war with Russia. Representatives of Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru and Costa Rica came to Kyiv for a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Police in North Macedonia arrested a Macedonian national suspected of intending to join the Russian army and fight in Ukraine, according to the country’s interior ministry. It is the first case of a Macedonian national facing the specific charge. The man, identified only as JK, faces a minimum three-year sentence if convicted. The ministry said the suspect had been in online contact with a person who had introduced himself as tasked by the Russian army to recruit soldiers for a compensation of €3,000 ($3,175). The suspect flew to Moscow in October and on returning to North Macedonia a week later was interrogated at Skopje airport.
Continue reading...Surprise offensive by rebels marks biggest challenge to Bashar al-Assad’s control in years
Islamist rebels once exiled to a mountainous pocket of the Syrian countryside now roam the streets of central Aleppo, taking pictures below its ancient citadel and tearing down symbols of President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
The surprise offensive in which insurgents seized territory across north-western Syria appears to have dramatically shifted the balance of power in Aleppo, the country’s second largest city, and marks the most serious challenge to Assad’s control in years.
Continue reading...Jamal Musiala ran away patting his head in wonderment but, even if nodded equalisers are hardly his stock-in-trade, there was little to feel surprised about. Bayern Munich had been knocking on the door all half against opponents who never looked secure and eventually they did as they have all season, averting defeat and fending off any breathless predictions of a revived Bundesliga title race. Of course it was Musiala, who had already won them two games in November, rising above the mean on Germany’s highest stage.
The tale of how Musiala was lost to England is well told by now. So the real story here was about someone who may shine in his stead; a player whose first senior call-up is surely a matter of time. Jamie Gittens illuminated this fixture, a modern-era classic in name and nature, by scoring a sensational goal just before the half-hour and tormenting Bayern all night from his perch on the left. If he lies on the periphery of public consciousness back home, perhaps now is the moment to remember his name. While a flagging Dortmund could not complain about being pegged back, their 20-year-old winger deserved to be on the winning side.
Continue reading...Despite defeat against Ireland, recent progress shows what is possible – and that the Wallabies have the right coach
The last time Australia won in Dublin, in November 2013, Joe Schmidt was sitting in the other coaching box having just taken control of an Ireland team in disarray. Declan Kidney had presided over a fifth-place finish in the Six Nations, Ireland’s worst result since the competition was expanded to include Italy. Having steered Leinster to back-to-back Heineken Cup wins, Schmidt was tasked with converting domestic dominance into global supremacy.
His first assignment against tier-one opposition was the visit of the Wallabies. After a “performance without spirit, urgency, or accuracy,” as the Observer’s Eddie Butler concluded, Ireland were spanked 32-15. But Schmidt had a plan and a year later he claimed his first of three Six Nations titles and would leave the post after a win rate of 72% from 76 Tests, a grand slam in 2018 and World Rugby’s coach of the year award for catapulting Ireland to the top of the world rankings for the first time.
Continue reading...Cristina Pittalis urges mystery woman to come forward to help find son Michael, last seen in July
The anguished mother of a British man who vanished in Sardinia this summer has urged a woman from Jersey, who he was with in the days before he disappeared, to come forward and assist with the police investigation.
Michael Frison, 25, from Chard in Somerset, went missing in mysterious circumstances from a farm in Luras, a remote, barren area in the north-east of the Italian island on 13 July, the day he was due to return home from a holiday visiting his grandparents.
Continue reading...The ceasefire in Lebanon, the aftermath of floods in Valencia, Russian airstrikes in Kyiv and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
Continue reading...‘Important shift’ made in global attempts to address plastic pollution though final treaty text yet to be agreed
Pressure from an increasingly large bloc of countries has offered hope that a breakthrough at critical international plastic treaty talks could be in sight at last, after two years of deadlock. But some warned that fragile progress could disappear again in the last stages of negotiations over the weekend.
For some time, the talks have been split over demands for the treaty to include plans to reduce the amount of plastic that is being produced – a production cap. A draft text for a final deal published on Friday included language for a global target to reduce the amount of plastic made. But it also included another option for no text – meaning no action would be taken to reduce plastic production worldwide. The final text, which may use either of those options, will hopefully be decided this weekend.
Continue reading...Local police across New York state regularly work with ICE. Before Trump can start rounding up immigrants, advocates are pushing for change.
The post The Fight to Stop New York Cops From Conspiring With ICE appeared first on The Intercept.
As election looms, Albanese government will be hoping the national electricity market does not buckle and black out in next three months
It was telling Australia’s energy market operator delayed its “summer readiness” media statement last week because its managers were busy ensuring the New South Wales grid got through spring without mass blackouts.
Politicians had left it until noon on Wednesday to plead with people to throttle their air-conditioners to 26C and delay washing clothes or dishes for five hours, to “help maintain a reliable [power] supply for NSW consumers”.
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The OSHA heat regulation was one of the few to have broad public support, but Democrats can’t ever seem to get their act together.
The post Biden Made “Record Time” on Worker Protections for Heat. Trump Could Quickly Stamp Them Out. appeared first on The Intercept.
The U.S. has a long tradition of shielding Israel (and itself) from war crime allegations — and threatening The Hague.
The post War Crimes Have Never Stopped the U.S. Before appeared first on The Intercept.
Democratic support for the bill dwindled as critics warned it would let Donald Trump crack down on political foes.
The post The House Just Blessed Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook by Passing Nonprofit-Killer Bill appeared first on The Intercept.
Pam Bondi has replaced Matt Gaetz in Trump’s attorney general slot. Her lobbying clients include the GEO Group, among many others.
The post Pam Bondi, Trump’s New AG Pick, Lobbied for Private Prisons and Amazon appeared first on The Intercept.
Interesting analysis:
We introduce and explore a little-known threat to digital equality and freedomwebsites geoblocking users in response to political risks from sanctions. U.S. policy prioritizes internet freedom and access to information in repressive regimes. Clarifying distinctions between free and paid websites, allowing trunk cables to repressive states, enforcing transparency in geoblocking, and removing ambiguity about sanctions compliance are concrete steps the U.S. can take to ensure it does not undermine its own aims.
The paper: “...
Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., discusses Biden’s lame-duck session and erecting barriers to Trump’s agenda on The Intercept Briefing podcast.
The post Rep. Summer Lee on the Fight of Our Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
The PRESS Act, a federal reporter shield bill, already passed the House unanimously. Trump wants it dead.
The post Congress Could Protect Journalists From Surveillance. Trump Is Lobbying to Stop Them. appeared first on The Intercept.
A joint resolution from Sen. Bernie Sanders would block arms sales to Israel. The challenge is convincing Democrats to act.
The post Senators Have a Chance to Halt Weapons Sales to Israel. Will They Take It? appeared first on The Intercept.
The letter urges President Joe Biden to follow through on an ultimatum his administration issued to Israel over humanitarian aid.
The post White House Staffers to Biden: “You Are Running Out of Time” on Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Trump campaigned on mass deportations. Now he’s threatening to use the U.S. military to carry them out.
The post “Absolutely Insane”: Pentagon Officials on Trump’s Military Deportation Plan appeared first on The Intercept.
Sanders’s resolutions to block arms sales to Israel gained momentum, but ran headlong into White House opposition.
The post Bernie Sanders Lost Vote to Block Arms for Israel, Says U.S. Is “Funding the Starvation of Children in Gaza” appeared first on The Intercept.
Interesting analysis:
Although much attention is given to sophisticated, zero-click spyware developed by companies like Israel’s NSO Group, the Italian spyware marketplace has been able to operate relatively under the radar by specializing in cheaper tools. According to an Italian Ministry of Justice document, as of December 2022 law enforcement in the country could rent spyware for €150 a day, regardless of which vendor they used, and without the large acquisition costs which would normally be prohibitive.
As a result, thousands of spyware operations have been carried out by Italian authorities in recent years, according to a ...
Climate Justice Alliance was the only program grantee to speak out on Palestine — and the only one whose funding is delayed.
The post Biden Makes His Own Attack on Nonprofit Over Palestine appeared first on The Intercept.
Findings highlight how built environment in low-income neighborhoods presents multiple PFAS exposure routes
New research aimed at identifying which US neighborhoods face increased exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found those living near “superfund” sites and other major industrial polluters, or in areas with limited access to fresh food, generally have higher levels of the dangerous compounds in their blood.
The study looked at hundreds of people living in southern California and found those who do not live within a half mile of a grocery store have 14% higher levels of PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS compounds – in their blood than those who do.
Continue reading...The idea of children being abused within their family is too upsetting for adults to contemplate. But we must
‘I wanted them all to notice.” This is the title of a new report on protecting children from sexual abuse within the family, taken from an interview with a child who was sexually abused and failed by the agencies that should have protected them. The report by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (CSPRP) reviewed 136 cases of serious child sexual abuse from between 2018 and 2023, including the way in which children’s services responded. It sets out the horrific extent to which children are so often abandoned by the system and denied the safeguarding and support they desperately need.
Child sexual abuse is far more common than many people realise. At least one in 10 children will be sexually abused before the age of 16, with survey data suggesting girls are three times as likely to experience it, and disabled children twice as likely as non-disabled children. In the cases reviewed by the panel, 98% of the abusers were men.
Continue reading...A ‘covalent organic framework’ can be used to capture carbon to store it or convert it for industrial use
An innocuous yellow powder, created in a lab, could be a new way to combat the climate crisis by absorbing carbon from the air.
Just half a pound of the stuff may remove as much carbon dioxide as a tree can, according to early tests. Once the carbon is absorbed by the powder, it can be released into safe storage or be used in industrial processes, like carbonizing drinks.
This article was amended on 30 November 2024 to clarify Farzan Kazemifar’s job title.
Continue reading...Satellite data analysis suggests algal blooms could be behind mass die-off in Botswana that sparked flurry of theories in 2020
More than 350 elephants that died in mysterious circumstances probably drank toxic water, according to a new paper that warns of an “alarming trend” in climate-induced poisoning.
The deaths in Botswana’s Okavango delta were described by scientists as a “conservation disaster”. Elephants of all ages were seen walking in circles before collapsing and dying. Carcasses were first spotted in north-eastern Botswana in May and June 2020, with many theories circulating about the cause of death, including cyanide poisoning or an unknown disease.
Continue reading...Oh, Christmas trees, how lovely are your branches and are you going to cost the Earth? Our writer demystifies buying the perfect tree, whether real, potted, rental or artificial
• The best Christmas baubles and decorations: 28 trinkets to deck the halls
Few things signal the beginning of Christmas like a beautifully dressed tree. But as more of us try to make sustainable choices, the idea of discarding a real tree come January can feel wasteful. The alternative – artificial trees – presents both a solution and a problem.
Each type of tree – real, potted, rented or fake – has its benefits and drawbacks, while the right fit for each household will come down to various factors, including space, cost, care and lifestyle. As the Carbon Trust puts it: “The most sustainable choice will depend on the tree, your plans for reuse, then options for disposal.”
Continue reading...The OSHA heat regulation was one of the few to have broad public support, but Democrats can’t ever seem to get their act together.
The post Biden Made “Record Time” on Worker Protections for Heat. Trump Could Quickly Stamp Them Out. appeared first on The Intercept.
SEMrush and Ahrefs are among
the most popular tools in the SEO industry. Both companies have been in
business for years and have thousands of customers per month.
If you're a professional SEO or trying to do digital
marketing on your own, at some point you'll likely consider using a tool to
help with your efforts. Ahrefs and SEMrush are two names that will likely
appear on your shortlist.
In this guide, I'm going to help you learn more about these SEO tools and how to choose the one that's best for your purposes.
What is SEMrush?
SEMrush is a popular SEO tool with a wide range of
features—it's the leading competitor research service for online marketers.
SEMrush's SEO Keyword Magic tool offers over 20 billion Google-approved
keywords, which are constantly updated and it's the largest keyword database.
The program was developed in 2007 as SeoQuake is a
small Firefox extension
Features
Ahrefs is a leading SEO platform that offers a set of
tools to grow your search traffic, research your competitors, and monitor your
niche. The company was founded in 2010, and it has become a popular choice
among SEO tools. Ahrefs has a keyword index of over 10.3 billion keywords and
offers accurate and extensive backlink data updated every 15-30 minutes and it
is the world's most extensive backlink index database.
Features
Direct Comparisons: Ahrefs vs SEMrush
Now that you know a little more about each tool, let's
take a look at how they compare. I'll analyze each tool to see how they differ
in interfaces, keyword research resources, rank tracking, and competitor
analysis.
User Interface
Ahrefs and SEMrush both offer comprehensive information
and quick metrics regarding your website's SEO performance. However, Ahrefs
takes a bit more of a hands-on approach to getting your account fully set up,
whereas SEMrush's simpler dashboard can give you access to the data you need
quickly.
In this section, we provide a brief overview of the elements
found on each dashboard and highlight the ease with which you can complete
tasks.
AHREFS
The Ahrefs dashboard is less cluttered than that of
SEMrush, and its primary menu is at the very top of the page, with a search bar
designed only for entering URLs.
Additional features of the Ahrefs platform include:
SEMRUSH
When you log into the SEMrush Tool, you will find four
main modules. These include information about your domains, organic keyword
analysis, ad keyword, and site traffic.
You'll also find some other options like
Both Ahrefs and SEMrush have user-friendly dashboards,
but Ahrefs is less cluttered and easier to navigate. On the other hand, SEMrush
offers dozens of extra tools, including access to customer support resources.
When deciding on which dashboard to use, consider what
you value in the user interface, and test out both.
If you're looking to track your website's search engine
ranking, rank tracking features can help. You can also use them to monitor your
competitors.
Let's take a look at Ahrefs vs. SEMrush to see which
tool does a better job.
The Ahrefs Rank Tracker is simpler to use. Just type in
the domain name and keywords you want to analyze, and it spits out a report
showing you the search engine results page (SERP) ranking for each keyword you
enter.
Rank Tracker looks at the ranking performance of
keywords and compares them with the top rankings for those keywords. Ahrefs
also offers:
You'll see metrics that help you understand your
visibility, traffic, average position, and keyword difficulty.
It gives you an idea of whether a keyword would be
profitable to target or not.
SEMRush offers a tool called Position Tracking. This
tool is a project tool—you must set it up as a new project. Below are a few of
the most popular features of the SEMrush Position Tracking tool:
All subscribers are given regular data updates and
mobile search rankings upon subscribing
The platform provides opportunities to track several
SERP features, including Local tracking.
Intuitive reports allow you to track statistics for the
pages on your website, as well as the keywords used in those pages.
Identify pages that may be competing with each other
using the Cannibalization report.
Ahrefs is a more user-friendly option. It takes seconds
to enter a domain name and keywords. From there, you can quickly decide whether
to proceed with that keyword or figure out how to rank better for other
keywords.
SEMrush allows you to check your mobile rankings and
ranking updates daily, which is something Ahrefs does not offer. SEMrush also
offers social media rankings, a tool you won't find within the Ahrefs platform.
Both are good which one do you like let me know in the comment.
Keyword research is closely related to rank tracking,
but it's used for deciding which keywords you plan on using for future content
rather than those you use now.
When it comes to SEO, keyword research is the most
important thing to consider when comparing the two platforms.
The Ahrefs Keyword Explorer provides you with thousands
of keyword ideas and filters search results based on the chosen search engine.
Ahrefs supports several features, including:
SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool has over 20 billion
keywords for Google. You can type in any keyword you want, and a list of
suggested keywords will appear.
The Keyword Magic Tool also lets you to:
Both of these tools offer keyword research features and
allow users to break down complicated tasks into something that can be
understood by beginners and advanced users alike.
If you're interested in keyword suggestions, SEMrush
appears to have more keyword suggestions than Ahrefs does. It also continues to
add new features, like the Keyword Gap tool and SERP Questions recommendations.
Both platforms offer competitor analysis tools,
eliminating the need to come up with keywords off the top of your head. Each
tool is useful for finding keywords that will be useful for your competition so
you know they will be valuable to you.
Ahrefs' domain comparison tool lets you compare up to five websites (your website and four competitors) side-by-side.it also shows you how your site is ranked against others with metrics such as backlinks, domain ratings, and more.
Use the Competing Domains section to see a list of your
most direct competitors, and explore how many keywords matches your competitors
have.
To find more information about your competitor, you can
look at the Site Explorer and Content Explorer tools and type in their URL
instead of yours.
SEMrush provides a variety of insights into your
competitors' marketing tactics. The platform enables you to research your
competitors effectively. It also offers several resources for competitor
analysis including:
Traffic Analytics helps you identify where your
audience comes from, how they engage with your site, what devices visitors use
to view your site, and how your audiences overlap with other websites.
SEMrush's Organic Research examines your website's
major competitors and shows their organic search rankings, keywords they are
ranking for, and even if they are ranking for any (SERP) features and more.
The Market Explorer search field allows you to type in
a domain and lists websites or articles similar to what you entered. Market
Explorer also allows users to perform in-depth data analytics on These
companies and markets.
SEMrush wins here because it has more tools dedicated to
competitor analysis than Ahrefs. However, Ahrefs offers a lot of functionality
in this area, too. It takes a combination of both tools to gain an advantage
over your competition.
When it comes to keyword data research, you will become
confused about which one to choose.
Consider choosing Ahrefs if you
Consider SEMrush if you:
Both tools are great. Choose the one which meets your
requirements and if you have any experience using either Ahrefs or SEMrush let
me know in the comment section which works well for you.
An alternative festive spread: a starter to make ahead in minutes, a showstopping vegetarian main, Scandi-inspired spuds and salty-sweet ice-cream doused in boozy caramel
Christmas is here! Well, nearly, and it’s never too early to commit to memory some keys to festive feasting. Embrace the shortcut, and buy some shop-bought ingredients that you’d otherwise make yourself. Make sure you have lined up a good few dishes that can be made in advance. Indulge the “Ta-da!” moment when it comes to presentation, so let the main course sit centre and proud. And never, ever underestimate the crowdpleasing presence of a dish full of potatoes.
Continue reading...The supermarkets also heavily promote unhealthy foods, often displaying them prominently, Guardian analysis shows
Health and beauty products are the most frequently promoted products at major supermarkets, a new Guardian Australia analysis shows, with shampoos and conditioners among the items that are almost permanently on sale at Coles and Woolworths.
The big grocery retailers also heavily promote unhealthy foods, which are often displayed prominently near checkouts and at the end of aisles, despite an anticipated government clampdown on such selling tactics.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Harry Seager's unique sweet treat provoked interest from thousands of members of the Dull Men’s Club
A man who became an internet sensation after sharing his Mars bar without the ripple was handed £2 in compensation.
Harry Seager’s picture of his smooth Mars confectionery bar inspired interest from thousands of members of the Dull Men’s Club Facebook page.
Continue reading...Findings highlight how built environment in low-income neighborhoods presents multiple PFAS exposure routes
New research aimed at identifying which US neighborhoods face increased exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found those living near “superfund” sites and other major industrial polluters, or in areas with limited access to fresh food, generally have higher levels of the dangerous compounds in their blood.
The study looked at hundreds of people living in southern California and found those who do not live within a half mile of a grocery store have 14% higher levels of PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS compounds – in their blood than those who do.
Continue reading...Woman who complained about MasterChef presenter says lack of action shows there is ‘no satisfactory means of reporting sexual harassment and bullying within the TV industry’
A letter containing multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace was sent to the BBC in 2022, but did not prompt further investigation at the time, the Observer can reveal.
The letter described a “pattern of behaviour” by the MasterChef presenter that “clearly fails to meet the sexual harassment and bullying standards that prohibit unwelcome sexual advances and sexual innuendo”.
Continue reading...The ‘pirate of pastry’ says he is unfazed about his newfound sex-symbol status and still has a lot to learn
It’s only fitting that the pirate of pastry should plunder fans from across the ocean. Dylan Bachelet, the breakout star of this year’s Great British Bake Off, has found fame on both sides of the Atlantic, and went viral when the New York Times dubbed him “the Captain Jack Sparrow of baking”.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” the 20-year-old from Buckinghamshire said. “The weirdest part was that it wasn’t in the food section, it was in the fashion pages … A lot of coverage has been about my appearance but people seem to like it, so that’s all good.”
Continue reading...As a Waitrose report reveals that high-end, beautifully packaged groceries are the must-have gift, a food-lover heartily applauds the new trend
Food trends can be as fickle as fashion ones. There was a point earlier this year when, thanks to a TikTok video, there was such a craze for cucumber salad that farmers in Iceland struggled to keep up with the soaring demand.
These fads burn bright and fast and are forgotten about almost as quickly as they begin. But there are other changes in consumer behaviour that are more widespread and enduring, particularly when it comes to our eating habits.
Continue reading...Warnings that genuine products are bulked out with cheaper sugar syrup prompt international congress to withdraw prizes
The World Beekeeping Awards will not award a prize for honey next year after warnings of widespread fraud in the global supply chain.
Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, says it will showcase honey from around the world at its congress in Denmark, but for the first time make no awards for the product.
Continue reading...From actor Stephen Graham on his childhood heroes to the best Christmas gifts for foodies: the best original photographs from the Observer commissioned in November 2024
Continue reading...From alcohol-free prosecco to dealcoholised wine, here are our top picks for no-booze bubbles with plenty of sparkle
Party season is around the corner, but that doesn’t have to mean overdoing the booze until we try to undo the excesses in Dry January.
If you’re avoiding alcohol, there are plenty of good alternatives to sparkling wine that still feel celebratory and make that great sound when you pop the cork. And, for once, we can toast to “our good health” and actually mean it.
Continue reading...No amount of joining the Christmas supermarket scrum will recreate the sight of my mam’s hands on the trolley
My partner, Charles, being of French stock, has campaigned for a swankier Sud de la France yuletide for some years. Or, to be precise, ever since he ate his first spoon of Paxo sage and onion stuffing and gasped: “Qu’est-ce que c’est?!” Truth be told, it was a tough question to answer. Flavoured gravel that reminds me of Santa bringing a Sindy caravan set? The taste of Silent Night played on a recorder?
Certainly, it was the taste of Christmas when my parents were both still alive, but since they left, I’ve felt increasingly like Miss Havisham each Christmas season. You will recall her in Great Expectations, in her tattered gown, by a dusty wedding buffet, suspended in time and waiting for a party that will never happen. That’s me, but in novelty antlers with a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, and trying to keep the dream alive. Look, I’ve bought Bailey’s and a marzipan stollen, and I’m putting a layer of swiss roll in the sherry trifle. If I go through the motions of putting rum butter in the fridge and Quality Street on the sideboard, then it’s business as usual, isn’t it?
Continue reading...Conceptual work created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold at auction in New York last week
The cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun has fulfilled a promise he made after spending $6.2m (£4.88m) on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall – by eating the fruit.
At one of Hong Kong’s priciest hotels, Sun, 34, chomped down on the banana in front of dozens of journalists and influencers after giving a speech hailing the work as “iconic” and drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency.
Continue reading...Draconian new laws allow mass incarceration of women and children forced to beg because of work ban
Destitute Afghan women arrested for begging under draconian new Taliban laws have spoken of “brutal” rapes and beatings in detention.
Over the past few months, many women said they had been targeted by Taliban officials and detained under anti-begging laws passed this year. While in prison, they claim they were subjected to sexual abuse, torture and forced labour, and witnessed children being beaten and abused.
Continue reading...Apps and booklets are offering advice on how to build a bunker, stockpile food and live without electricity in case the worst happens
Germany is developing an app to help people locate the nearest bunker in the event of attack. Sweden is distributing a 32-page pamphlet titled If Crisis or War Comes. Half a million Finns have already downloaded an emergency preparedness guide.
If the prospect of a broader conflict in Europe seems remote for many, some countries at least are taking it seriously – and, in the term used by Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, taking steps to get populations kriegstüchtig: war-capable.
Continue reading...Biden said that the truce could be a prelude to a ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu’s actions seem to indicate otherwise.
The post Israel Agrees to Stop Bombing Lebanon — So It Can Keep Bombing Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas
Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.
Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email.
Continue reading...Democratic support for the bill dwindled as critics warned it would let Donald Trump crack down on political foes.
The post The House Just Blessed Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook by Passing Nonprofit-Killer Bill appeared first on The Intercept.
Sanders’s resolutions to block arms sales to Israel gained momentum, but ran headlong into White House opposition.
The post Bernie Sanders Lost Vote to Block Arms for Israel, Says U.S. Is “Funding the Starvation of Children in Gaza” appeared first on The Intercept.
From spices to seeds, coffee to candles, we opened the doors of some of this year’s more inventive countdown-to-Christmas offerings – with varying results
Advent calendars filled with everything from beauty products to chocolate, Lego to tea, are as much a staple in the run-up to Christmas as drinking too much and listening to Last Christmas for the 1,237th time.
So, we’ve sniffed, tasted and drunk our way through 12 of them, rating them by their contents, value for money, sustainability and festive factor. And for those who want to swerve products altogether, we’ve rounded up the most beautiful, feelgood paper Advent calendars we could find.
Continue reading...Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every Thursday
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday
Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you
Continue reading... |
Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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Conceptual work created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold at auction in New York last week
The cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun has fulfilled a promise he made after spending $6.2m (£4.88m) on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall – by eating the fruit.
At one of Hong Kong’s priciest hotels, Sun, 34, chomped down on the banana in front of dozens of journalists and influencers after giving a speech hailing the work as “iconic” and drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency.
Continue reading... |
Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
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
Dong Yuyu was detained in 2022 after meeting Japanese diplomats named agents of ‘espionage organisation’
A veteran Chinese state media journalist has been sentenced by a Beijing court to seven years in prison on espionage charges, his family has said.
Dong Yuyu, a senior columnist at the Communist party newspaper Guangming Daily, was detained in February 2022 along with a Japanese diplomat at a Beijing restaurant.
Continue reading...Associates of former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina have spent millions buying up top-flight property assets in the UK
As Sheikh Hasina watched Dhaka fade from view, aboard a military helicopter, crowds were storming her palatial residence.
Far below, about 1,000 Bangladeshis lay dead and countless more injured, the toll of a brutal crackdown by her security forces on student-led protests, sometimes called the Monsoon Revolution. Hasina was soon in India, where she has remained in exile since August.
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Sightings over three airbases in East Anglia could relate to foreign powers’ concerns about possible nuclear weapons
A British former UFO hunter has said he does not “rule out” recent drone incursions over RAF bases in England being connected to Russia and China and nuclear weapons.
Unidentified drones were spotted in November over three airbases in the east of England that are used by the US air force (USAF).
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Trump, Farage and Hancock have done it. Now, the ex-Conservative minister joins the list seeking to reinvent himself via reality TV – is it really ok, though?
We have to start by getting all of the Jacob Rees-Mogg caveats out of the way: Jacob Rees-Mogg is staunchly anti-abortion, even in cases of incest and rape; Jacob Rees-Mogg is still, amazingly, pro-Brexit; Jacob Rees-Mogg admires the political machinations of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump; Jacob Rees-Mogg once slouched down in Parliament in a way that made Caroline Lucas get mad at him. Then we have to cover the “MPs on television” caveats: Matt Hancock shouldn’t have been allowed to reform his image on I’m a Celebrity, Farage shouldn’t have been either, and while I’m at it I don’t like Ed Balls on Good Morning Britain. Now all the caveats are out of the way, a fun one just for me: Jacob Rees-Mogg looks like an umbrella Dracula threw away so he wouldn’t have to take too much baggage on to the ship Demeter. There. Now we can get going.
All that is to say, Jacob Rees-Mogg this week launches a reality show on Discovery+ (from Monday). It’s one of those statements that makes you feel you perhaps made the wrong sandwich choice once in 2014, leapt on to an alternative timeline as a direct result, and now we’re here. But no: ham and cheese was correct, this is really happening. His wife Helena is in it, his various children are in it, his castle is in it, his SW1 townhouse is in it, his nanny is in it, a man called Sean who buffs his vintage Bentley is in it, his mother – whom he calls “Lady Rees-Mogg”! – is in it, the buildup to the 2024 general election is in it. There’s a lot of idle playing with cricket balls, dressing too formally for dinner at home, actually saying “yah”, and a big coordinated two-car drive to Boris Johnson’s birthday party. It has to-camera confessionals and scenes of unbelievably familiar domesticity and a few snatched glances of moments you can very much tell they would have preferred had not been captured in full HD by a crew. It is, by any measure you’ve got, fairly impeccable reality TV show-making.
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Malign influence exerted by negotiators for fossil-fuel lobby dramatised in production transferring to London
The anger, frustration and then triumph of reaching a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions was experienced for the first time 27 years ago in Kyoto in Japan.
Early in the morning on 11 December 1997, John Prescott, the then UK environment secretary who died last week, burst into the corridor where half the waiting journalists had fallen asleep, to announce that the rich developed countries had agreed to cut emissions for the first time. He was both elated and exhausted.
Continue reading...Sheinbaum says she had cooperative talks with president-elect who threatened 25% tariff against Mexico on Tuesday
Claudia Sheinbaum has said her “very kind” phone conversation with Donald Trump, in which they discussed immigration and fentanyl, means “there will not be a potential tariff war” between the US and Mexico.
The president of Mexico spoke to reporters on Thursday following Trump’s threat earlier in the week to apply a 25% tariff against Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tariff against China, when he takes office in January if the countries did not stop all illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling into the US.
Continue reading...Payal Kapadia’s poetic, everyday tale of three women who work at the same hospital is all the more remarkable for being her fiction feature debut
Mumbai is more than a city. It’s an ever-expanding universe. Night shots of the thronged streets in this exquisite, Cannes prize-winning drama by Mumbai-born documentary director turned fiction film-maker Payal Kapadia show the skyline as a shimmering constellation of lights. And behind each flickering window, inside every snaking commuter train, there is a whole world with its own myriad of stories. It’s an idea that Kapadia acknowledges with elegant simplicity at the film’s opening, using documentary techniques, a montage of street scenes and the voices of migrants from around the country drawn to the city for work.
Having captured the teeming collision of lives, she gently guides us to follow three of them. Nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) is a veteran at the busy urban hospital where all three work; her younger colleague Anu (Divya Prabha), newly arrived from the south of India, is caught up in the first thrill of romance with her Muslim boyfriend. And Pavarty (Chhaya Kadam), a cook in the hospital kitchen, is facing eviction from a home that is due to be demolished to sate the voracious appetite of gentrification. The women speak different languages – Prabha and Anu converse in Malayalam; Hindi and Marathi are also used. These are ordinary lives, with small sadnesses, twinging regrets and sparks of joy. But through Kapadia’s empathetic lens we realise that these women, like the city that never entirely feels like home for any of them, contain multitudes.
In UK and Irish cinemas
Continue reading...Two satellites in Proba-3 mission expected to be launched on Wednesday in India and will work in tandem to study sun’s corona
Final preparations have begun for a landmark space mission that will use satellites flying in close formation to create artificial solar eclipses high above the Earth.
The Proba-3 mission is the European Space Agency’s first attempt at precise formation flying in orbit and calls for two spacecraft to loop around the planet in an arrangement that never deviates by more than a millimetre, about the thickness of a human fingernail.
Continue reading...After 250 years of armed attacks, forced relocations, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Native Americans, the U.S. military wants to celebrate.
The post Happy Native American Heritage Month From the Army That Brought You the Trail of Tears appeared first on The Intercept.
The new Indonesian president – who came to office with a questionable human rights record – has emerged as an unlikely champion for a prisoner swap deal
In the dark of the early morning of 29 April 2015, two members of Australia’s so-called Bali Nine were each tied to a stake in a floodlit field on the Indonesian prison island of Nusakambangan.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran refused blindfolds, and sang as they stood before a firing squad of 12.
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Continue reading...‘Important shift’ made in global attempts to address plastic pollution though final treaty text yet to be agreed
Pressure from an increasingly large bloc of countries has offered hope that a breakthrough at critical international plastic treaty talks could be in sight at last, after two years of deadlock. But some warned that fragile progress could disappear again in the last stages of negotiations over the weekend.
For some time, the talks have been split over demands for the treaty to include plans to reduce the amount of plastic that is being produced – a production cap. A draft text for a final deal published on Friday included language for a global target to reduce the amount of plastic made. But it also included another option for no text – meaning no action would be taken to reduce plastic production worldwide. The final text, which may use either of those options, will hopefully be decided this weekend.
Continue reading...Rescuers in Sumatra search for people trapped in cars after landslide triggered by torrential rainfall
Last week, torrential rainfall across Indonesia’s largest island, Sumatra, triggered flash floods and landslides, causing widespread destruction. Twenty people died earlier this week in four areas in North Sumatra province amid flash floods and landslides. On Thursday morning, another devastating landslide claimed seven more lives. This landslide struck the main access route between Medan, the provincial capital, and surrounding regions, burying vehicles – including a tourist bus – in mud, rocks and trees. More than 10 people were injured and rushed to the nearest hospital in Medan. Rescue efforts are continuing, with several vehicles still trapped in the debris. North Sumatra’s traffic director estimated it may take up to two days to evacuate those affected.
Flash floods and landslides are a frequent occurrence in Indonesia owing to seasonal rainfall from October to March, caused by the Asia-Australia monsoon circulation system. This phenomenon causes wind to blow from Asia to Australia, bringing increased water vapour and consequential rainfall to Indonesia. Teleconnections such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation can also influence rainfall patterns, with the likely upcoming La Niña phase expected to bring further extreme weather by the end of the year, intensifying the risk of flooding and landslides as sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean drop below average and easterly trade winds strengthen, pushing additional moisture into the region.
Continue reading...With Trump returning to the White House, only mass commutations will stop another federal execution spree.
The post Biden Has “Pardoned” Eight Turkeys. Will He Spare the Lives of 40 Human Beings? appeared first on The Intercept.
The Israeli company NSO Group sells Pegasus spyware to countries around the world (including countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, Mexico, Morocco and Rwanda). We assumed that those countries use the spyware themselves. Now we’ve learned that that’s not true: that NSO Group employees operate the spyware on behalf of their customers.
Legal documents released in ongoing US litigation between NSO Group and WhatsApp have revealed for the first time that the Israeli cyberweapons maker and not its government customers is the party that “installs and extracts” information from mobile phones targeted by the company’s hacking software...
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The marketing of a new military tech tool powered by Meta’s artificial intelligence is “irresponsible” and “clumsy,” experts said.
The post Meta-Powered Military Chatbot Advertised Giving “Worthless” Advice on Airstrikes appeared first on The Intercept.
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Reported ban comes after two Australian teenagers, two Danish citizens, an American and a Briton became ill, and later died, after drinking in Vang Vieng
Laos has banned the sale and consumption of a local brand of whisky and vodka after the death of six tourists from a suspected mass methanol poisoning this month, Australian authorities have said.
According to Smartraveller, the Australian government’s travel advice website, the drinks Tiger vodka and Tiger whisky have been prohibited by the Laos government due to “concerns about these products being a health risk”.
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Continue reading...Min Aung Hlaing accused of crimes against humanity over deportation and persecution of Rohingya minority
The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, for crimes against humanity over the deadly crackdowns against the country’s Rohingya minority that drove hundreds of thousands to flee to Bangladesh.
Karim Khan said that “after an extensive, independent and impartial investigation” his office had concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe that the Myanmar junta chief “bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in Myanmar and in part in Bangladesh”.
Continue reading...Sanders’s resolutions to block arms sales to Israel gained momentum, but ran headlong into White House opposition.
The post Bernie Sanders Lost Vote to Block Arms for Israel, Says U.S. Is “Funding the Starvation of Children in Gaza” appeared first on The Intercept.
Lots of details that are beyond me.
Digital crusade by anti-woke warriors against a vapid film for teen girls should be sending a wake-up call to Hollywood
The “war on woke” has a new target and her name is the Wicked Witch of the West. If you’re a fan of the musical Wicked, you’ll also know her as Elphaba, the moniker imagined by Gregory Maguire in his 1995 prequel to L Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. As played by Margaret Hamilton in the 1939 movie, she was the nemesis of Judy Garland’s Dorothy; as played this year by the musical theatre star Cynthia Erivo, she has conservative men across Britain and America bursting their blood vessels.
Since Maguire came up with his novel – an extravagant piece of fan-fiction that suggests this “witch” might simply have been misunderstood – it has been reinterpreted as a stage musical and now as a movie in two parts. Wicked’s target market consists of teenage girls who see themselves in this backstory for Elphaba and her college-friend-turned-rival, Glinda the Good Witch. In the 21 years since Stephen Schwartz’s adaptation opened on Broadway, the show has been a cult phenomenon among young musical fans, blithely ignored by everyone else. Now the screen version has brought into mainstream conversation and the land of Oz has become a battleground in America’s culture war.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk
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
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