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Searching for Justice and the Missing in the New Syria
Thu, 09 Jan 2025 12:30:00 +0000
The prisons are open, the secret files are unlocked. Now Syrians are trying to figure out how to hold war criminals accountable.
The post Searching for Justice and the Missing in the New Syria appeared first on The Intercept.
Her most important qualification is being a longtime Trump loyalist — and she’ll carry out his vision to gut the Department of Education.
The post Linda McMahon Has No Education Experience Except Wanting to Defund Public Schools appeared first on The Intercept.
A job listing for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show offers $12 per hour — part of a long pattern of host-city residents getting the short shrift.
The post Super Bowl Halftime Show Is Recruiting Workers for Less Pay Than Fast-Food Servers appeared first on The Intercept.
A negroni-style premix that you can prep ahead so it’s ready to rustle up on a Friday night
This premix is brilliant for a crowd, and it’s also a celebration of every right-thinking bartender’s favourite garnish: the glorious maraschino cherry. Fabbri makes the best, but if you can’t find those, Luxardo is a good alternative.
Max and Noel Venning, Three Sheets, London W1
Continue reading...Fiscal crisis, corruption claims, shenanigans and legal threats. This feels like the week old-style politics sat on a grenade
The worst-timed foreign visit by a politician this week was LA mayor Karen Bass deciding to attend the inauguration of the president of Ghana. The second worst might be Rachel Reeves’s decision to push ahead with her China bridge-building trip against a backdrop of market turmoil, soaring UK borrowing costs and the inevitability of rising food prices. But look, maybe have no fear. The chancellor has apparently told all her cabinet colleagues to “cease anti-growth measures” – amazing – and also to come up with specific plans to boost economic activity. I am already picturing her opening the bits of paper from the hat. “Right, I’ve got 20 for ‘build an effing time machine’ and one that just says ‘Pass’. Sorry, Lammy – this isn’t Celebrity Mastermind.”
As for auto-satirical lowlights further down the ministerial ladder, do keep your eye on anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq. The very regrettable lesson of the past few years in UK politics is that no matter how bad things seem, they can always take on a rosy glow in light of what comes after. The premiership of David Cameron seemed less foolhardy once we were living through the premiership of Theresa May. The premiership of Theresa May seemed less chaotic once we were living through the premiership of Boris Johnson. The premiership of Boris Johnson – well, lettuce not be too hasty. But contemplating the Siddiq situation, was it really so bad that Chris Grayling once gave a ferry contract to a firm with no ferries, considering that these days the anti-corruption minister could have three London properties she’s tied to investigated by the National Crime Agency’s international corruption unit? Siddiq has distanced herself from her deposed aunt’s authoritarian regime in Bangladesh – but not, it seems, from the properties given or made available to her by people with close links to that regime. Either way, we are asked to have full confidence in Keir Starmer’s assertion that he has full confidence in her.
Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...The chances are you’ve already got most of the ingredients for these sweet treats in the kitchen cupboard, so you’re ready to get baking
The start of a new year feels like a good time to have a proper clear-out of my kitchen cupboards. After a frantic festive season, I like to take stock of what I’ve got and get creative with my store-cupboard staples. I had two large opened bags of oats and even more bottles of golden syrup, so naturally a batch of flapjacks was the only answer. You very possibly have all these items in your cupboards already, so have a rummage and give them a go.
Continue reading...With so much variety and character on offer, why are Alsace wines so undervalued in the UK?
When you’re on a wine press trip, you can spend your day drinking a lot of the same style of wine, and scribble something down only when something truly stands out. In Alsace recently, however, I made notes on nearly every single wine I tasted.
The character, imagination and sheer variety of Alsace wine is undeniable, but I often feel that it’s a little under-loved in the UK compared with the other French regions. It’s a middle child, caught somewhere between the overachieving eldest (Bordeaux and Burgundy) and the exciting, trendy youngest (Auvergne and Corsica). It doesn’t help that 74% of the region’s total output is consumed in France itself.
Continue reading...As Tesco reports high sales of its ‘egg protein pot’ other retailers also reveal unlikely success of repackaged snack
It was news to make even the most hard-boiled crisp manufacturer shudder: when Tesco released a list of the most-bought meal deal items for 2024, McCoy’s flame grilled steak grab bags had fallen off their perch as its shoppers’ favourite snack.
Instead, nestled between the chicken club sandwich as a main and a bottle of Coca-Cola to drink, was an “egg protein pot”.
Continue reading...The interior is beautiful and the cooking ingenious but don’t be daunted – it’s fun too
AngloThai, as the name suggests, has neatly entwined Thai and British roots. There are proudly British ingredients – Hebridean hogget, Cornish monkfish and crown prince pumpkin. And they’re cooked with Thai expertise in a kitchen led by John Chantarasak, who was brought up in Wales and trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok, where his father was born, and who, alongside his wife, sommelier and co-owner Desiree, has been beloved by the London food scene for several years now. Many new restaurants are said to be “much anticipated”, but in AngloThai’s case it has been anticipated for so many years now that many had given up hope of it ever becoming a reality.
But you realise almost the moment you walk through the door where all that time went, because creating something as beautiful as this takes money and a great deal of planning. You need an interior created by Thai-American designer May Redding, complete with strategically placed Lampang Province ceramics to help attract a clientele who’ll be happy to stump up the £30 supplement to add Brixham crab, caviar and coconut crackers to their tasting menu. This isn’t Soho or Shoreditch; this is a smart restaurant close to Edgware Road where Anglo and Thai influences collide with the requisite levels of pomp and fire.
Continue reading...Never trust a hippy selling pine-flavoured butter. Plus, a watch that finally explains it all
The AFSCA (Belgium’s federal agency for ensuring food supply chain safety – but of course you knew that) has been forced to issue a warning to the good people of Poirot’s homeland not to eat their Christmas trees. This is after the city of Ghent – an environmentalism hotspot in northern Flanders – posted tips on how to recycle their obsolete festive conifers into food, including using them to make pine-flavoured butter.
Continue reading...Whether you’re making comforting curries, casseroles or chilli con carne, we’ve tested the top slow cookers for serving up winter warmers
• The best blenders to blitz like a pro, tried and tested, from Ninja to Nutribullet
As January beds in and our craving for cosiness increases, you may be minded to dig out the slow cooker. Coming home to a warm, bubbling meal – with very little effort – is a real treat in the cold and dark. Plus, slow cooking can be an economical method of cooking.
If you have yet to experience the comfort and joy of a slow cooker, or if your ancient model has finally died a death, it could be time to treat yourself to a season of stews, casseroles, curries and more. I’ve spent weeks testing slow cookers to compile a shortlist of the most functional, useful and well-designed recommendations to transform your dinner time.
Best overall slow cooker:
GreenPan slow cooker
£200 at GreenPan
Best basic slow cooker:
ProCook digital slow cooker
£49 at ProCook
Best multi-cooker:
Ninja Foodi 8-in-1 PossibleCooker
£120 at Argos
Best pressure-cooking slow cooker:
Sage Fast Slow Pro
£179.95 at Sage Appliances
Hi Reddit! We’re a team of tech journalists from MIT Technology Review, excited to answer all of your questions about emerging tech in 2025 and beyond.
We are:
We just published our annual list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies. Every year, our reporters and editors look for promising technologies poised to have a real impact on the world. We consider dozens of advances across the fields of AI, biotech, computing, and climate. We can’t see the future, but we expect these ten breakthroughs to affect our world in a big way, for decades to come.
Here are the ten items on this year’s list:
Ask us anything! (We’ll be here responding to your questions this Friday, January 10 at 12 p.m. EST, but feel free to get 'em in early.) Proof pics here.
Marauding gangs and political unrest since October’s polls have driven thousands of Mozambicans across the border into Malawi, despite its drought, food and fuel shortages
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Manase Madia, 50, shows his Mozambican identity card. Once a sign of pride, he does not know what to believe in any more. Over the past few weeks he has seen houses being burned down, and shops and businesses looted, including his own. He now fears for his family, which has scattered.
At a community ground where officials are processing new arrivals before being transferred to a shelter, Madia is one of about 13,000 people who have crossed into Malawi in the past two months, seeking refuge from post-election violence in Mozambique. The arrival of the refugees, albeit in smaller numbers, is reminiscent for people here of the civil war when almost a million Mozambicans sought refuge in the neighbouring southern African nation in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Continue reading...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...Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is one of six medical workers with the Chicago-based organization MedGlobal who remain in Israeli custody.
The post The Scramble to Find the Gaza Doctor in the White Coat appeared first on The Intercept.
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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Critics worry that a sweeping ban based on predictions rather than more concrete proof of TikTok’s security risks sets a precedent in line with repressive regimes.
The post To Ban TikTok, Supreme Court Would Rank “National Security” Before First Amendment appeared first on The Intercept.
President-elect claims historic case was ‘despicable charade’; judge says ‘unconditional discharge’ does not ‘reduce the seriousness of the crime’
The prosecution team has entered judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom, along with Emil Bove, a lawyer for Donald Trump.
Bove has taken a seat at the defense table.
Continue reading...The judgment has been welcomed as an important shift in perceptions by human rights and mental health groups
A Kenyan judge has declared as unconstitutional sections of the country’s laws that criminalise attempted suicide. In a landmark ruling on Thursday, Judge Lawrence Mugambi of the country’s high court stated that section 226 of the penal code contradicts the constitution by punishing those with mental health issues over which they may have little or no control.
While the constitution says in article 43 that a person has the right to the “highest attainable standard of health”, criminal law states that “any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour and is subject to imprisonment of up to two years, a fine, or both”, with the minimum age of prosecution for the offence set at eight years old.
Continue reading...Fernanda’s pooch, Roo, has been banned from the home after an altercation with Vivienne’s cat. You decide if Roo should be let out of the doghouse
If Fernanda’s dog moves in, my cat will get stressed and not come home. That would break my heart
I’ve put in more effort to adjust to Vivienne’s life than she has to mine. Roo just needs training
Continue reading...The prisons are open, the secret files are unlocked. Now Syrians are trying to figure out how to hold war criminals accountable.
The post Searching for Justice and the Missing in the New Syria appeared first on The Intercept.
US authorities charged Takeshi Ebisawa with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar for expected use by Iran in nuclear weapons
A member of the Japanese criminal underworld has pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal, US authorities have said.
Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and a co-defendant had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offences, and both were remanded.
Continue reading...Israeli military’s new rules intended to protect reservists travelling overseas from facing allegations of war crimes
The Israeli military has placed new restrictions on media coverage of soldiers on active combat duty because of growing concern about the risk of legal action against reservists travelling abroad over allegations of involvement in war crimes in Gaza.
The move came after an Israeli reservist vacationing in Brazil left the country abruptly when a Brazilian judge ordered federal police to open an investigation following allegations from a pro-Palestinian group that he had committed war crimes while serving in Gaza.
Continue reading...Whether it’s banning articles on X or killing fact checks on Meta, the only constant is that it benefits the powerful.
The post My Ban From X Is About One Simple Thing: Elon Musk Controlling the Flow of Information appeared first on The Intercept.
Share a tip on a less-known carnival in Europe – the best wins £200 towards a Coolstays break
With its masked balls, extravagant costumes and colourful parades, the Venice carnival is famous throughout the world. But across Europe, less-known events offer just as much fun for visitors, with their own celebrations and traditions bringing the streets to life. We’d love to hear about alternative carnivals you’ve experienced on your travels – tell us where it was and why it was great for the chance to win a Coolstays voucher.
If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.
Continue reading...Biden signed a law banning the app in January – if parent firm ByteDance fails to block it, here’s what could happen
The US supreme court will hear arguments on Friday from TikTok and its China-based owner ByteDance, which is seeking to block a law signed by Joe Biden that will ban the short-form video app beginning on 19 January unless it is divested from ByteDance. TikTok has said divestment is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally” and requested an injunction to pause the ban during the legal process.
More than 170 million Americans use TikTok. Lawyers for the company contend that banning the app violates the first amendment rights of those tens of millions of users; the argument did not sway a federal appeals court, which upheld the ban-or-sale bill in December. Congress passed the legislation with a bipartisan majority in April. US legislators fear that China will spread propaganda through the app, though they have produced no documentation of such manipulation. Donald Trump, who first championed banning the app in 2020, now opposes it after finding a large audience there during the presidential election. He has filed a brief on TikTok’s behalf to stay the ban until he takes office on 20 January.
Continue reading...Under Meta’s relaxed hate speech rules, users can now post “I’m a proud racist” or “Black people are more violent than whites.”
The post Leaked Meta Rules: Users Are Free to Post “Mexican Immigrants Are Trash!” or “Trans People Are Immoral” appeared first on The Intercept.
Conservatives have been hyperfixated on TikTok content that’s sympathetic with Gaza — and accused the company of algorithmic bias against Israel.
The post The TikTok Ban Is Also About Hiding Pro-Palestinian Content. Republicans Said So Themselves. appeared first on The Intercept.
New leader Alcide Ponga says people want a ‘signal of hope’ after turmoil in the French Pacific territory
Weeks after its first ever pro-independence government collapsed, New Caledonia has named a French loyalist as its new president as the territory seeks to rebuild from deadly riots and destruction that battered the economy.
Alcide Ponga, from the Le Rassemblement party, was elected president by the newly installed executive in Congress on Wednesday. Ponga’s party is affiliated with French right-wing party LR, Les Républicains. The loyalists are in favour of keeping New Caledonia within France.
Continue reading...And why those that do aren’t just trading in meme coins for the lulz.
The post Congress Loves Crypto. So Why Do So Few Members Buy It? appeared first on The Intercept.
Billionaires gonna billionaire — and lick the boots of whoever will bring them more riches and impunity.
The post Facebook Fact Checks Were Never Going to Save Us. They Just Made Liberals Feel Better. appeared first on The Intercept.
Rep. Sara Jacobs is trying to raise the alarm about the key U.S. ally’s conduct after the Christmas strike killed 10 civilians.
The post Nigeria’s Military Gets Billions in U.S. Aid. On Christmas Day, It Bombed Its Own Civilians Again. appeared first on The Intercept.
The Louisiana Republican blamed “wokeness” in part for police’s failure to stop the New Orleans attack that left 15 dead.
The post Steve Scalise Knows Exactly What Led to the Bourbon Street Attack: DEI Initiatives appeared first on The Intercept.
A banner 2024 whet the appetites of banks and crypto bros. Now the largest companies are salivating over Trump’s economic policies.
The post Trump’s Tariffs Will Create a Hunger Games Landscape Where the Little Guy Is Guaranteed to Lose appeared first on The Intercept.
Tax experts say IRS whistleblower Charles Littlejohn’s leaks provided a public service — and fear Trump will take retribution.
The post He Leaked Trump’s Tax Returns. Will Biden Protect Him? appeared first on The Intercept.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is one of six medical workers with the Chicago-based organization MedGlobal who remain in Israeli custody.
The post The Scramble to Find the Gaza Doctor in the White Coat appeared first on The Intercept.
Her most important qualification is being a longtime Trump loyalist — and she’ll carry out his vision to gut the Department of Education.
The post Linda McMahon Has No Education Experience Except Wanting to Defund Public Schools appeared first on The Intercept.
And why those that do aren’t just trading in meme coins for the lulz.
The post Congress Loves Crypto. So Why Do So Few Members Buy It? appeared first on The Intercept.
A banner 2024 whet the appetites of banks and crypto bros. Now the largest companies are salivating over Trump’s economic policies.
The post Trump’s Tariffs Will Create a Hunger Games Landscape Where the Little Guy Is Guaranteed to Lose appeared first on The Intercept.
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Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
In the rapidly advancing landscape of AI technology and innovation, LimeWire emerges as a unique platform in the realm of generative AI tools. This platform not only stands out from the multitude of existing AI tools but also brings a fresh approach to content generation. LimeWire not only empowers users to create AI content but also provides creators with creative ways to share and monetize their creations.
As we explore LimeWire, our aim is to uncover its features, benefits for creators, and the exciting possibilities it offers for AI content generation. This platform presents an opportunity for users to harness the power of AI in image creation, all while enjoying the advantages of a free and accessible service.
Let's unravel the distinctive features that set LimeWire apart in the dynamic landscape of AI-powered tools, understanding how creators can leverage its capabilities to craft unique and engaging AI-generated images.
This revamped LimeWire invites users to register and unleash their creativity by crafting original AI content, which can then be shared and showcased on the LimeWire Studio. Notably, even acclaimed artists and musicians, such as Deadmau5, Soulja Boy, and Sean Kingston, have embraced this platform to publish their content in the form of NFT music, videos, and images.
Beyond providing a space for content creation and sharing, LimeWire introduces monetization models to empower users to earn revenue from their creations. This includes avenues such as earning ad revenue and participating in the burgeoning market of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). As we delve further, we'll explore these monetization strategies in more detail to provide a comprehensive understanding of LimeWire's innovative approach to content creation and distribution.
LimeWire Studio welcomes content creators into its fold, providing a space to craft personalized AI-focused content for sharing with fans and followers. Within this creative hub, every piece of content generated becomes not just a creation but a unique asset—ownable and tradable. Fans have the opportunity to subscribe to creators' pages, immersing themselves in the creative journey and gaining ownership of digital collectibles that hold tradeable value within the LimeWire community. Notably, creators earn a 2.5% royalty each time their content is traded, adding a rewarding element to the creative process.
The platform's flexibility is evident in its content publication options. Creators can choose to share their work freely with the public or opt for a premium subscription model, granting exclusive access to specialized content for subscribers.
As of the present moment, LimeWire focuses on AI Image Generation, offering a spectrum of creative possibilities to its user base. The platform, however, has ambitious plans on the horizon, aiming to broaden its offerings by introducing AI music and video generation tools in the near future. This strategic expansion promises creators even more avenues for expression and engagement with their audience, positioning LimeWire Studio as a dynamic and evolving platform within the realm of AI-powered content creation.
The LimeWire AI image generation tool presents a versatile platform for both the creation and editing of images. Supporting advanced models such as Stable Diffusion 2.1, Stable Diffusion XL, and DALL-E 2, LimeWire offers a sophisticated toolkit for users to delve into the realm of generative AI art.
Much like other tools in the generative AI landscape, LimeWire provides a range of options catering to various levels of complexity in image creation. Users can initiate the creative process with prompts as simple as a few words or opt for more intricate instructions, tailoring the output to their artistic vision.
What sets LimeWire apart is its seamless integration of different AI models and design styles. Users have the flexibility to effortlessly switch between various AI models, exploring diverse design styles such as cinematic, digital art, pixel art, anime, analog film, and more. Each style imparts a distinctive visual identity to the generated AI art, enabling users to explore a broad spectrum of creative possibilities.
The platform also offers additional features, including samplers, allowing users to fine-tune the quality and detail levels of their creations. Customization options and prompt guidance further enhance the user experience, providing a user-friendly interface for both novice and experienced creators.
Excitingly, LimeWire is actively developing its proprietary AI model, signaling ongoing innovation and enhancements to its image generation capabilities. This upcoming addition holds the promise of further expanding the creative horizons for LimeWire users, making it an evolving and dynamic platform within the landscape of AI-driven art and image creation.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
Upon completing your creative endeavor on LimeWire, the platform allows you the option to publish your content. An intriguing feature follows this step: LimeWire automates the process of minting your creation as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), utilizing either the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. This transformative step imbues your artwork with a unique digital signature, securing its authenticity and ownership in the decentralized realm.
Creators on LimeWire hold the power to decide the accessibility of their NFT creations. By opting for a public release, the content becomes discoverable by anyone, fostering a space for engagement and interaction. Furthermore, this choice opens the avenue for enthusiasts to trade the NFTs, adding a layer of community involvement to the artistic journey.
Alternatively, LimeWire acknowledges the importance of exclusivity. Creators can choose to share their posts exclusively with their premium subscribers. In doing so, the content remains a special offering solely for dedicated fans, creating an intimate and personalized experience within the LimeWire community. This flexibility in sharing options emphasizes LimeWire's commitment to empowering creators with choices in how they connect with their audience and distribute their digital creations.
After creating your content, you can choose to publish the content. It will automatically mint your creation as an NFT on the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. You can also choose whether to make it public or subscriber-only.
If you make it public, anyone can discover your content and even trade the NFTs. If you choose to share the post only with your premium subscribers, it will be exclusive only to your fans.
Additionally, you can earn ad revenue from your content creations as well.
When you publish content on LimeWire, you will receive 70% of all ad revenue from other users who view your images, music, and videos on the platform.
This revenue model will be much more beneficial to designers. You can experiment with the AI image and content generation tools and share your creations while earning a small income on the side.
The revenue you earn from your creations will come in the form of LMWR tokens, LimeWire’s own cryptocurrency.
Your earnings will be paid every month in LMWR, which you can then trade on many popular crypto exchange platforms like Kraken, ByBit, and UniSwap.
You can also use your LMWR tokens to pay for prompts when using LimeWire generative AI tools.
You can sign up to LimeWire to use its AI tools for free. You will receive 10 credits to use and generate up to 20 AI images per day. You will also receive 50% of the ad revenue share. However, you will get more benefits with premium plans.
For $9.99 per month, you will get 1,000 credits per month, up to 2 ,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 50% ad revenue share
For $29 per month, you will get 3750 credits per month, up to 7500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 60% ad revenue share
For $49 per month, you will get 5,000 credits per month, up to 10,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
For $99 per month, you will get 11,250 credits per month, up to 2 2,500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share
With all premium plans, you will receive a Pro profile badge, full creation history, faster image generation, and no ads.
Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits
In conclusion, LimeWire emerges as a democratizing force in the creative landscape, providing an inclusive platform where anyone can unleash their artistic potential and effortlessly share their work. With the integration of AI, LimeWire eliminates traditional barriers, empowering designers, musicians, and artists to publish their creations and earn revenue with just a few clicks.
The ongoing commitment of LimeWire to innovation is evident in its plans to enhance generative AI tools with new features and models. The upcoming expansion to include music and video generation tools holds the promise of unlocking even more possibilities for creators. It sparks anticipation about the diverse and innovative ways in which artists will leverage these tools to produce and publish their own unique creations.
For those eager to explore, LimeWire's AI tools are readily accessible for free, providing an opportunity to experiment and delve into the world of generative art. As LimeWire continues to evolve, creators are encouraged to stay tuned for the launch of its forthcoming AI music and video generation tools, promising a future brimming with creative potential and endless artistic exploration
Challenges of hitting net zero emissions are often discussed, but little focus is given to the gains of living in a low-carbon world
The challenges of reaching net zero emissions are often discussed, but little attention is given to the gains from living in a low-carbon future. Less fossil-fuel combustion means less air pollution, and if the changes are done correctly, net zero could result in homes that are easier to keep warm and a healthier population from walking and cycling every day.
A study has looked at air pollution and the health benefits from net zero changes to our homes, our vehicles and the ways we travel.
Continue reading...Hi Reddit! We’re a team of tech journalists from MIT Technology Review, excited to answer all of your questions about emerging tech in 2025 and beyond.
We are:
We just published our annual list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies. Every year, our reporters and editors look for promising technologies poised to have a real impact on the world. We consider dozens of advances across the fields of AI, biotech, computing, and climate. We can’t see the future, but we expect these ten breakthroughs to affect our world in a big way, for decades to come.
Here are the ten items on this year’s list:
Ask us anything! (We’ll be here responding to your questions this Friday, January 10 at 12 p.m. EST, but feel free to get 'em in early.) Proof pics here.
Norwegian capital’s sites were 98% free of fossil fuels last year, and it aims to increase use of electric machinery
Tafseer Ali felt no need to raise his voice as the pair of diggers lumbered past him, their treads weighing heavy on the rock and asphalt.
Quiet electric machines like these make it easy to work in the city centre, the construction manager said – and keep the neighbours happy. “If they have less noise, we get fewer complaints.”
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Nine people in hospital in Hobart after suspected carbon monoxide exposure
Nine people have been hospitalised after a hazardous material incident at a business in Hobart yesterday.
I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was, I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, very high level of lead and mercury.
Continue reading...Highest recorded temperatures supercharged extreme weather – with worse to come, EU data shows
Climate breakdown drove the annual global temperature above the internationally agreed 1.5C target for the first time last year, supercharging extreme weather and causing “misery to millions of people”.
The average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows. That is a jump of 0.1C from 2023, which was also a record hot year and represents levels of heat never experienced by modern humans.
Continue reading...Emissions caused by wealthiest 1% so far this year would take someone from poorest 50% three years to create
The world’s richest 1% have already used up their fair share of the global carbon budget for 2025, just 10 days into the year.
In less than a week and a half, the consumption habits of an individual from this monied elite had already caused, on average, 2.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, according to analysis by Oxfam GB. It would take someone from the poorest 50% of humanity three years to create the same amount of pollution.
Continue reading...“The consistent defunding of other city programs in order to give the LAPD billions a year has consequences,” said a local activist.
The post LA Gave More Money to Cops While Cutting Fire Budgets. Now It’s Burning. 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.
Measures targeting Russian energy sector attempt to leverage peace deal for Ukraine in Trump administration
The Biden administration on Friday imposed its broadest package of sanctions yet targeting Russia’s oil and gas revenues in an attempt to give Kyiv and the incoming administration of Donald Trump leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine. The move is meant to cut Russia‘s oil revenues for the war that started in February 2022, and has killed or wounded tens of thousands and reduced cities to rubble.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the timing of the was chosen because “oil markets are in a fundamentally better place” and the US economy is better positioned to absorb any market disruption.
Continue reading...Billionaires gonna billionaire — and lick the boots of whoever will bring them more riches and impunity.
The post Facebook Fact Checks Were Never Going to Save Us. They Just Made Liberals Feel Better. appeared first on The Intercept.
And why those that do aren’t just trading in meme coins for the lulz.
The post Congress Loves Crypto. So Why Do So Few Members Buy It? appeared first on The Intercept.
The prisons are open, the secret files are unlocked. Now Syrians are trying to figure out how to hold war criminals accountable.
The post Searching for Justice and the Missing in the New Syria appeared first on The Intercept.
Whether it’s banning articles on X or killing fact checks on Meta, the only constant is that it benefits the powerful.
The post My Ban From X Is About One Simple Thing: Elon Musk Controlling the Flow of Information appeared first on The Intercept.
Premier of most populous province says rhetoric clouds trade relationship worth hundreds of billions of dollars
The United States will “feel pain” if Donald Trump doesn’t back down from his threat to impose steep tariffs on its northern neighbour, the leader of Canada’s most populous province has warned.
After a tumultuous week that left Canadian leaders flailing for a coherent national response to Trump’s provocations – including the suggestion that the US would annex its closest ally – the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told the Guardian: “We will never be for sale.”
Continue reading...It’s all very well to talk of ‘smashing’ the gangs. But until there are other routes, the dangerous crossings will keep happening
Another day, another pledge from the government to smash the people-smuggling gangs. The foreign secretary, David Lammy, has lined up alongside the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, to promise stronger measures to get rid of those who continue to bring desperate people across the Channel in flimsy dinghies. Lammy’s latest policy is a new sanctions regime against the smugglers, the first of its kind in the world. A week ago, Cooper announced phone bans, social media blocks and travel restrictions in new interim orders to stop smugglers in their tracks.
The sincerity of ministers’ commitment to smash the gangs is not in doubt. There has been a flurry of similar announcements since Labour came to power, and the government is going about its mission with a zeal bordering on the evangelical. The previous government made the same commitment with a slightly different slogan – “stop the boats”. Now, like then, it is doubtful the policy will work.
Diane Taylor writes on human rights, racism and civil liberties
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Geir Pedersen tells security council the HTS administration has great opportunities but also risks making missteps
A credible process leading to a new transitional government involving all strands of Syrian society is the best way for the country’s caretaker administration to secure a smooth lifting of sanctions, the UN special envoy Geir Pedersen has told the UN security council.
Giving his assessment of how the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was meeting its commitment to inclusiveness, Pedersen said it had tremendous opportunities but also risked making missteps.
Continue reading...Blinken details pattern of ethnic violence in which RSF has killed civilians and blocked access to supplies
The United States has formally declared that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces have committed genocide during the country’s ongoing civil war, marking the second time in less than 30 years that genocide has been perpetrated in Sudan.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, announced the determination on Tuesday while imposing sanctions on the RSF commander Mohammad Hamdan Daglo – known as Hemedti – for his role in what he described as “systematic atrocities”, many perpetrated in west Darfur.
Continue reading...From the Washington Post:
The sanctions target Beijing Integrity Technology Group, which U.S. officials say employed workers responsible for the Flax Typhoon attacks which compromised devices including routers and internet-enabled cameras to infiltrate government and industrial targets in the United States, Taiwan, Europe and elsewhere.
President-elect claims historic case was ‘despicable charade’; judge says ‘unconditional discharge’ does not ‘reduce the seriousness of the crime’
The prosecution team has entered judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom, along with Emil Bove, a lawyer for Donald Trump.
Bove has taken a seat at the defense table.
Continue reading...So-called department of government efficiency charged by Trump to help effect radical government shake-up
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have already dispatched emissaries across the US government ahead of their mission to slash public spending as joint heads of Doge (the department of government efficiency), a non-governmental body body ordered by Donald Trump to help realize his goal of a radical government shake-up.
The two tech billionaires have already sent aides to more than a dozen federal agencies as they look to identify possible cuts, according to the Washington Post.
Continue reading...Trump and Maga allies are using the fires to attack leaders like Newsom – possibly foretelling power struggles ahead
If ever a situation cried out for elevating national unity over political divisions, the dystopian scenes emanating from the Los Angeles fires surely qualified.
The catastrophe that has left at least 10 people dead as of Friday morning, more than 1,000 structures destroyed and forced thousands fleeing their homes would – in an ideal and less polarised America – spur humane empathy and solidarity in place of tribal partisanship.
Continue reading...Economy adds 256,000 jobs in December, with Biden boasting of 16.6m jobs created during presidency
The US labor market expanded strongly in the last jobs report of the Biden administration, according to new data released on Friday.
The number of new jobs added to the economy accelerated to 256,000 in December, up from 227,000 in November, soaring past expectations. The labor market last month was bolstered by new jobs in healthcare, retail and government.
Continue reading...The president-elect’s hostility towards other democracies is already clear. There will be no special relationship with him: we should look to Europe
Flood the zone with shit. So advised Steve Bannon, onetime chief strategist for Donald Trump, who understood long ago that if you want to get away with an outrageous act, follow it with another and then another. That way, the media will be sure to move on to the newest horror, so forgetting the one before.
Trump continues to live by that rule, making it hard to keep up with everything he and his circle do and say – and he’s not even back in office yet. It therefore requires a conscious effort to take a step back and see what’s happening. That might be easier this week than others because the most egregious outrages form a pattern, one that poses a severe and direct challenge to Britain and its neighbours.
Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...Sadly, the Amazon-Melania deal has much the same flavor as the rest of Trump appeasement moves – not just by Bezos but by others of his ilk
The language in a New York Times article was extremely restrained as it described Jeff Bezos’s evolving stance regarding Donald Trump.
The Amazon founder and the president-elect had had a rocky relationship in the past, “but in recent months, Amazon and Mr. Bezos have taken steps to repair it”.
Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist
Continue reading...Biden signed a law banning the app in January – if parent firm ByteDance fails to block it, here’s what could happen
The US supreme court will hear arguments on Friday from TikTok and its China-based owner ByteDance, which is seeking to block a law signed by Joe Biden that will ban the short-form video app beginning on 19 January unless it is divested from ByteDance. TikTok has said divestment is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally” and requested an injunction to pause the ban during the legal process.
More than 170 million Americans use TikTok. Lawyers for the company contend that banning the app violates the first amendment rights of those tens of millions of users; the argument did not sway a federal appeals court, which upheld the ban-or-sale bill in December. Congress passed the legislation with a bipartisan majority in April. US legislators fear that China will spread propaganda through the app, though they have produced no documentation of such manipulation. Donald Trump, who first championed banning the app in 2020, now opposes it after finding a large audience there during the presidential election. He has filed a brief on TikTok’s behalf to stay the ban until he takes office on 20 January.
Continue reading...Though few welcome idea of being acquired by the US, status quo as part of Denmark is not universally popular
Greenland’s prime minister has called for unity and calm after Donald Trump reheated his global row with Nato allies on Tuesday, when the US president-elect said he was prepared to use tariffs or military force to seize control of Greenland.
The comments led the Greenlandic prime minister, Múte Egede, to say: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.” The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said on Thursday that the US seizure of Greenland is “not going to happen”, while Germany and France have warned Trump over annexation.
Continue reading...This week we learned that Meta is dropping third-party fact-checking, the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, spiked a cartoon that made fun of him and other tech leaders kneeling before a statue of Donald Trump, and just about all the big Silicon Valley companies are donating $1m to Trump’s inauguration fund. Jonathan Freedland and Blake Montgomery look at who will hold the power between big tech and the White House over the next four years
Archive: ITV, CBS, PBS Newshour, News Nation, CNN, Fox Business, Bloomberg Television, CNBC, BBC
Continue reading...Under Meta’s relaxed hate speech rules, users can now post “I’m a proud racist” or “Black people are more violent than whites.”
The post Leaked Meta Rules: Users Are Free to Post “Mexican Immigrants Are Trash!” or “Trans People Are Immoral” appeared first on The Intercept.
Miguel Martinez Lucio, Dominic Crossley and Matthew Campbell respond to an article about the owner of X turning on Nigel Farage
Your article (Elon Musk turns on Nigel Farage and calls for new leader of Reform, 5 January) raises fascinating insights as to how international interests play an ever more direct role in the British political system. Discretion is not assured. What is becoming clear is that the likes of Nigel Farage seem to have dispensed with the illusion that Brexit was about political independence. Instead, the need to comply with far-right US agendas, the infantile inconsistencies of rogue James-Bond-type billionaires, and to accept millions of pounds in overseas income are openly accepted.
The positioning of Reform UK’s development in relation to overseas interests is at odds with the earlier rhetoric of national sovereignty. If ever there were a moment of amnesia in British politics, it is now. Given this focusing on the idiosyncratic turns of overseas business people, perhaps the government can seize the moment and complete an aspect of Brexit’s failed project that did have one moral feature: ensuring that it was the British people who should finance British politics.
Continue reading...In a speech to Israel’s parliament, Jonathan Greenblatt admits the ADL’s battle against antisemitism is losing — but blows it on what to do.
The post ADL Chief Invokes Pager Attack as Inspiration for Taking on Internet Trolls appeared first on The Intercept.
Conservatives have been hyperfixated on TikTok content that’s sympathetic with Gaza — and accused the company of algorithmic bias against Israel.
The post The TikTok Ban Is Also About Hiding Pro-Palestinian Content. Republicans Said So Themselves. appeared first on The Intercept.
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Exclusive: SDF leader says removal of 2,000-strong force would leave door open for Islamic State resurgence
The leader of the Kurdish forces that control north-eastern Syria has called on Donald Trump to maintain a US military presence in the region, warning that a retreat would risk a resurgence of Islamic State in the country.
Gen Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said IS had increased its strength in the desert after seizing arms from the collapsed Assad regime, while the Kurdish forces were coming under increased pressure from Turkey and its Syrian proxies.
Continue reading...Sebastian Gorka says letting people in prison camps return to Britain would benefit the ‘special relationship’ with US
British nationals being held in Syrian prison camps for fighting on behalf of Islamic State should be allowed to return to the UK, Donald Trump’s incoming counter-terrorism chief has said.
Any country that wants to be a “serious ally” to the United States should commit to the international fight against the extremist group by repatriating its citizens, according to Sebastian Gorka.
Continue reading...Critics worry that a sweeping ban based on predictions rather than more concrete proof of TikTok’s security risks sets a precedent in line with repressive regimes.
The post To Ban TikTok, Supreme Court Would Rank “National Security” Before First Amendment appeared first on The Intercept.
World’s largest aircraft lessors and insurance firms battle over compensation for jets stranded after Ukraine invasion
Sitting in a nondescript building near the high court in Dublin, about 40 cloaked barristers have gathered almost daily since June last year. At stake is €2.5bn (£2.1bn) worth of aircraft stranded in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
Behind multiple screens and a mountain of warehouse boxes they are fighting to determine who should pay for the losses – the aircraft lessors or the several insurance companies, including Lloyd’s, AIG and Chubb.
Continue reading...In March 2022, the largest theatre in Mariupol – while in use as a bomb shelter for 1,000 people – was hit by a Russian air strike. A re-enactment based on survivors’ testimonies has been moving audiences to tears
The play opens with the usual pre-show request for audiences to switch off their mobile phones before the curtain rises, but along with this come warnings – and instructions for how the audience should evacuate the auditorium in the event of an air raid.
That is because Mariupol Drama, a play based on the real experiences of a Ukrainian theatre company during the Russian invasion of the titular city, was written and staged in the midst of war. It re-enacts the horrifying moment on 16 March 2022 when their theatre was bombed by Russian forces, even though it had by then been turned into an evacuation shelter for almost 1,000 people.
Continue reading...Gusty conditions have enabled fires to take hold and spread at great speed. Plus, a cold snap grips South Korea
The rapid spread of one of the most destructive wildfires in the history of Los Angeles is believed to have been fuelled by strong Santa Ana winds and months of drought.
Santa Ana winds occur between September and May, when high pressure over the deserts of the south-western US and low pressure off the coast of California allow winds to flow east to west, through mountain passages in California towards the ocean. This week, a strong Santa Ana event brought gusts of 100mph (160km/h) to Los Angeles.
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Conflict has forced a fifth of the country’s schools to close. One teacher, determined to keep working despite threats from marauding Islamist militias, shares their testimony
Teaching in Burkina Faso is a dangerous commitment. Thousands of schools are closed and teachers forced out of the profession because of the risks they face, mostly from Islamist militants attacking schools.
Jihadist violence first broke out in 2015 but the conflict has intensified in the past few years, driven by militants who have seized up to 40% of the country. It is estimated that as many as 6.3 million people – a quarter of the population – were in need of humanitarian aid in 2024, with the country named as the world’s most neglected displacement crisis for the second year in a row.
Continue reading...Bacoli mayor says his administration wants to buy Punta Pennata and turn it into an ‘open-air museum’
An Italian mayor has vowed to do everything in his power to stop Punta Pennata – a slice of island paradise close to the heart of Naples, from where a fleet departed to rescue survivors of the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius – being sold to a wealthy speculator.
Located within the pristine waters of Bacoli, a fishing town located in the vast volcanic area of the Campi Flegrei, and described as a “historical and natural gem”, the strip of land was put up for sale to the highest bidder this week.
Continue reading...Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist?
Fiction has a habit of coming to life in Russia. On the evening of 2 April 2023, the military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky appeared at an event in St Petersburg organised by Cyber Front Z, a group of semi-professional keyboard warriors who boost Kremlin war propaganda online. With more than half a million followers, Tatarsky was a mid-tier celebrity on Telegram, the social media app that has become a hub of Russian news and political debate.
As guests mingled, a young woman with long, salon-waved blond hair approached Tatarsky. She presented him with an unusual gift: a gold-painted statue of himself. About two minutes later, the statue exploded, killing Tatarsky and injuring 42 people. The blond woman – 26-year-old St Petersburg native Darya Trepova – was arrested the next day. She said she had believed the statue contained a listening device, not a bomb, and that she had acted on orders from a man in Ukraine she knew only as “Gestalt”.
Continue reading...Authorities now have access to cockpit dialogue from Azerbaijan Airlines plane that went down on Christmas Day
Brazil’s air force has extracted the data from two black box recorders belonging to a crashed Azerbaijan Airlines plane that Baku claims was downed by Russia on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
The Brazilian-made Embraer 190 crash-landed in Kazakhstan after being diverted from a scheduled landing in the Chechen capital, Grozny, in southern Russia. Azerbaijan believes the plane was shot down by Russian air defences, which Moscow says were operational in the area at the time.
Continue reading...Claims that power plants are gaming the system to charge huge sums to switch on in the UK’s cold weather
A rise in electricity costs this week has raised fears that officials operating Great Britain’s power market could be held to “ransom” by owners of gas power plants during cold, windless days in order to keep the lights on. Here, we look why costs have increased sharply, the trading rules for plants and the implications for Labour’s clean power ambitions.
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To solve the climate crisis, power must flow away from the billionaire class
When I feel uncertain, I find it’s helpful to write down things I know to be true. Fossil fuels are causing irreversible planetary overheating. Overheating threatens essentially all life on Earth. Oil and gas executives knew this but they chose to systematically lie and block a climate transition. They continue to make this choice.
I choose to focus my energy on the climate crisis because a habitable planet is a prerequisite for everything worth fighting for, and because the prospect of losing a planet feels horrific and sad to me in a primal way that I can’t express with words. I’m also simply in love with the Earth. But planetary overheating is really just the most geophysical symptom of extractive colonial capitalism – “billionairism” – a system designed to pump wealth from the poor to the rich, creating billionaires, the healthcare crisis, the housing crisis, genocide, hierarchies like racism and patriarchy, and a great deal of suffering.
Peter Kalmus is a climate scientist and author of Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution
Continue reading...Gen Z influencers spruik tan lines as summer’s ‘fav accessory’ to generation ‘obsessed’ with looks
In life, there are lots of pleasurable things that we know aren’t that good for us: simple carbs deep-fried in vegetable oil, drinking one or two wines over the recommended limit at dinner with friends, and sitting in the Australian sun.
But despite the risk of cancer and early death the latter poses, parts of the internet are now encouraging extensive time in the sun.
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Continue reading...Centrica says its inventories have fallen by half since early November amid winter cold snap
The UK has enough gas and electricity to meet demand this winter, the government has insisted, after the owner of the country’s largest gas stores said levels had become “concerningly low” amid the current cold snap.
Centrica, which also owns British Gas, said on Friday that its inventories had fallen by half since early November, to a quarter below where gas storage levels were at the same time last year when temperatures were milder than normal.
Continue reading...Heated airers claim to dry your clothes whatever the weather, without costing the earth in energy. From covered options to mini drying racks, we put 13 to the test to reveal the best
An energy crisis and perma-drizzle have conspired to keep the nation’s laundry damp, not least by making it such a turn-off to turn on the heating. No wonder heated clothes airers are having a moment. These modish appliances sell out within hours of reaching shops and inspire evangelistic fervour among owners, who call them “life-savers” and “gamechangers”.
Can a hot clothes horse really change your life, let alone dry your washing as fast as a tumble dryer for a fraction of the cost and with none of the noise? I needed to be convinced, so I put 13 bestsellers through their paces with my soggy washing to find out whether they’re the best thing in laundry since the clothes peg – or destined for the loft.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Nine people in hospital in Hobart after suspected carbon monoxide exposure
Nine people have been hospitalised after a hazardous material incident at a business in Hobart yesterday.
I had some discoveries when I came back to Serbia. I never told this to anybody publicly, but discoveries that I was, I had a really high level of heavy metal. Heavy metal. I had the lead, very high level of lead and mercury.
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A banner 2024 whet the appetites of banks and crypto bros. Now the largest companies are salivating over Trump’s economic policies.
The post Trump’s Tariffs Will Create a Hunger Games Landscape Where the Little Guy Is Guaranteed to Lose appeared first on The Intercept.
US authorities charged Takeshi Ebisawa with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar for expected use by Iran in nuclear weapons
A member of the Japanese criminal underworld has pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal, US authorities have said.
Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and a co-defendant had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offences, and both were remanded.
Continue reading...
As he prepares to retire from journalism, James Risen warns of press missteps in the Trump era.
The post Media’s Biggest Failures appeared first on The Intercept.
The Louisiana Republican blamed “wokeness” in part for police’s failure to stop the New Orleans attack that left 15 dead.
The post Steve Scalise Knows Exactly What Led to the Bourbon Street Attack: DEI Initiatives appeared first on The Intercept.
The mass murder in New Orleans and Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas fit a troubling pattern among U.S. vets, research says.
The post U.S. Military Service Is the Strongest Predictor of Carrying Out Extremist Violence appeared first on The Intercept.
Her most important qualification is being a longtime Trump loyalist — and she’ll carry out his vision to gut the Department of Education.
The post Linda McMahon Has No Education Experience Except Wanting to Defund Public Schools appeared first on The Intercept.
Tax experts say IRS whistleblower Charles Littlejohn’s leaks provided a public service — and fear Trump will take retribution.
The post He Leaked Trump’s Tax Returns. Will Biden Protect Him? appeared first on The Intercept.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is one of six medical workers with the Chicago-based organization MedGlobal who remain in Israeli custody.
The post The Scramble to Find the Gaza Doctor in the White Coat appeared first on The Intercept.
For the first group of ESA’s Astronaut Reserve, two intensive months of Astronaut Reserve Training (ART) have come to a close. During this initial training phase, members of the ESA Astronaut Reserve Sara García Alonso from Spain, Andrea Patassa from Italy, Arnaud Prost from France, Amelie Schoenenwald from Germany, and Aleš Svoboda from Czechia were introduced to essential skills required for future space exploration and scientific research.
In this week’s newsletter: From Spotify’s bland ghost artists to Netflix’s ‘will this do?’ roster of movies, have audiences succumbed to the age of distraction?
Over Christmas, two articles were released that felt like harbingers – if not full-on sirens – for the direction of travel of popular culture. There was Will Tavlin’s piece for n+1 about Netflix’s less-than-stellar film output, which was briefly touched on in last week’s newsletter. And in Harpers magazine, there was an extract from music journalist Liz Pelly’s new book on Spotify. It focuses on the streamer’s Perfect Fit Content (PFC) programme, which pays production companies to create cheap, generic music by “ghost artists” in order, Pelly alleges, to populate Spotify’s playlists and reduce royalty payouts to real artists. (In Pelly’s book Spotify acknowledges the existence of the Perfect Fit Content programme but denies that it is trying to increase the share of streams of Perfect Fit Content.) Both are eye-opening reads, depicting the two companies as industry disruptors with little or no care for the thing they’re disrupting, and making their respective industries worse in the process.
But if Netflix and Spotify are cast as the villains of these stories, it is clear that we, the consumers, have a degree of complicity. Both streamers are, after all, simply adapting to, and profiting from, our viewing and listening habits. Two striking details from those articles underline this. Tavlin, in his piece, claims that screenwriters for Netflix movies are being asked by execs to include scenes where characters “announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the background can follow along”. Meanwhile, Pelly notes in her piece that Spotify’s “internal research showed that many users were not coming to the platform to listen to specific artists or albums; they just needed something to serve as a soundtrack for their days, like a study playlist or maybe a dinner soundtrack … listeners often weren’t even aware of what song or artist they were hearing.”
Continue reading...Brandon, 28, and Christine, 27, became close friends when they worked together at a Covid testing lab. Now they live in different countries, but make time to continue their friendship
When Brandon and his boyfriend moved to London from Wales in April 2021, there wasn’t much going on. With the city under lockdown, he took a job in a Covid lab at Gatwick Airport. “I was processing PCR tests for people who were travelling,” he says. “I didn’t know anyone in London except my boyfriend, but luckily the team I was working with were great.”
In June, they were joined by Christine, a biology graduate who lived in London and had transferred from the PCR testing lab at Heathrow. “When I arrived, they seemed like a tightknit team, so I was a bit anxious about fitting in,” she says. “But Brandon was super friendly and that drew me to him straight away. I really wanted to be his friend.”
Continue reading...Music on high-end sound systems takes centre stage in these Japanese-inspired spaces for audiophiles
Paul Noble was working as a radio producer and sound engineer when his frequent travels to Tokyo sparked the idea for a change of career.
“In Japan, there’s an amazing tradition of listening bars, where they have a deep, beautiful, reverential approach to listening to music,” he says. “It’s nothing to do with club culture. It could be a tiny bar, with six seats in it, and you’ll just sit and listen to music, usually in silence.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Seats on 11-hour Sydney-Melbourne service regularly sold out over holiday period, as one-way flights to Tullamarine average almost $500
The 11-hour Sydney-Melbourne train has become so popular services are selling out – even with extra carriages added – as travellers seek alternatives to an aviation duopoly that is stronger than ever, with carriers charging $900 for one-way economy tickets.
Ridership on the Sydney-Melbourne rail corridor has exploded in recent months, with 203,000 passenger journeys between July and December. Data for the 2023-24 financial year revealed 393,000 passenger journeys, a 14% increase on the previous year and just 7,000 shy of the annual record.
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Continue reading...Refugees tell of attacks on darker-skinned people and non-Arab groups by Rapid Support Forces and its allies in Darfur
Husna Ibrahim Arbab had already lost her son in the early days of Sudan’s civil war – burned to death in his tent after it was set on fire – when she was apprehended by militia aligned with the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group while fleeing west towards the border with Chad.
A bullet flew by close to her head, the 24-year-old said. Five male relatives were separated from the group she was travelling with, taken to a creek, and shot in the chest.
Continue reading...It’s all very well to talk of ‘smashing’ the gangs. But until there are other routes, the dangerous crossings will keep happening
Another day, another pledge from the government to smash the people-smuggling gangs. The foreign secretary, David Lammy, has lined up alongside the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, to promise stronger measures to get rid of those who continue to bring desperate people across the Channel in flimsy dinghies. Lammy’s latest policy is a new sanctions regime against the smugglers, the first of its kind in the world. A week ago, Cooper announced phone bans, social media blocks and travel restrictions in new interim orders to stop smugglers in their tracks.
The sincerity of ministers’ commitment to smash the gangs is not in doubt. There has been a flurry of similar announcements since Labour came to power, and the government is going about its mission with a zeal bordering on the evangelical. The previous government made the same commitment with a slightly different slogan – “stop the boats”. Now, like then, it is doubtful the policy will work.
Diane Taylor writes on human rights, racism and civil liberties
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...There are also fears electronic travel authorisation will threaten post-peace tourism sector in Northern Ireland
The UK Home Office’s already burdened immigration services could be overwhelmed this summer when a new visa-waiver system comes into force for European business travellers and tourists in April, a leading law firm has said.
There have also been fresh warnings that the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) requirements could threaten the post-peace tourism sector in Northern Ireland, with Americans and Europeans travelling to Dublin and beyond deciding not to bother crossing the border because of the red tape.
Continue reading...Challenges of hitting net zero emissions are often discussed, but little focus is given to the gains of living in a low-carbon world
The challenges of reaching net zero emissions are often discussed, but little attention is given to the gains from living in a low-carbon future. Less fossil-fuel combustion means less air pollution, and if the changes are done correctly, net zero could result in homes that are easier to keep warm and a healthier population from walking and cycling every day.
A study has looked at air pollution and the health benefits from net zero changes to our homes, our vehicles and the ways we travel.
Continue reading...“The consistent defunding of other city programs in order to give the LAPD billions a year has consequences,” said a local activist.
The post LA Gave More Money to Cops While Cutting Fire Budgets. Now It’s Burning. appeared first on The Intercept.
Israeli military’s new rules intended to protect reservists travelling overseas from facing allegations of war crimes
The Israeli military has placed new restrictions on media coverage of soldiers on active combat duty because of growing concern about the risk of legal action against reservists travelling abroad over allegations of involvement in war crimes in Gaza.
The move came after an Israeli reservist vacationing in Brazil left the country abruptly when a Brazilian judge ordered federal police to open an investigation following allegations from a pro-Palestinian group that he had committed war crimes while serving in Gaza.
Continue reading...Share a tip on a less-known carnival in Europe – the best wins £200 towards a Coolstays break
With its masked balls, extravagant costumes and colourful parades, the Venice carnival is famous throughout the world. But across Europe, less-known events offer just as much fun for visitors, with their own celebrations and traditions bringing the streets to life. We’d love to hear about alternative carnivals you’ve experienced on your travels – tell us where it was and why it was great for the chance to win a Coolstays voucher.
If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.
Continue reading...A new Syria is emerging from the shadow of the brutal Assad regime. The Guardian’s Bethan McKernan and Ayman Abu Ramouz meet people celebrating their hard-won freedom, but also those grappling with a traumatic past. The pair travel to the notorious Sednaya prison, where they meet a former prisoner who was liberated by his family just days before
Resistance was not a choice’: how Syria’s unlikely rebel alliance took Aleppo
'The Syrian regime hit us with chemical weapons: only now can we speak out' – video
Syria’s disappeared: one woman’s search for her missing father
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
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