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Leonard Leo Built the Conservative Court. Now He’s Funneling Dark Money Into Law Schools.
Wed, 29 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000
The megadonor’s plan for a $25 million research center at Cornell fell apart. So he took his money to Texas A&M.
The post Leonard Leo Built the Conservative Court. Now He’s Funneling Dark Money Into Law Schools. appeared first on The Intercept.
Researchers tested for bias in Facebook’s algorithm by purchasing ads promoting for-profit colleges and studying who saw them.
The post Facebook’s Ad Algorithm Pushes Black Users to For-Profit Colleges appeared first on The Intercept.
The narrative that took hold ignored inland campuses, like in the Rust Belt and into Appalachia, where students formed their own encampments.
The post Not Just Coastal Elites: Here’s How Three Rust Belt Colleges Protested Israel’s War in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
“It’s hard to see this wildly disproportionate response as anything other than an attempt to chill speech on this issue.”
The post Columbia Coincidentally Rewrites Disciplinary Rules Just in Time to Screw Over Student Protesters appeared first on The Intercept.
Is this what the “pro-life” movement wanted?
The post Sterilization, Murders, Suicides: Bans Haven’t Slowed Abortions, and They’re Costing Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
Firms that employ millions in manufacturing, hospitality and construction already struggling to plugs gaps after Brexit
The battle between the Conservatives and Labour to show they are tough on migration risks damaging sectors that are vital to the economy, industry figures have warned.
Rishi Sunak unveiled a Conservative pledge to cap visas awarded to migrant workers on Monday, promising “bold action to reduce immigration” amid pressure from a Reform party reinvigorated by the return of Nigel Farage as leader.
Continue reading...They laid floors, installed piping, hung ceilings and erected frames – and that was just the easy bit. Our writer reports on a miraculous 15-year self-build that promises capped-price housing for ever
Kareem Dayes’s story will be familiar to many millennials. Moving between rented house shares, with stints in leaky warehouses and spells back home with the parents, Dayes led a precarious existence – going from one temporary set-up to the next, continually subject to evictions and rent hikes, with little hope of ever finding an affordable, stable place. “I thought I’d have to move out of London,” says Dayes, “or even out of the country. There were no options left.”
A few years later, there has been an unlikely twist. He hasn’t won the lottery – but he now lives in a four-bedroom flat in Lewisham, in leafy Ladywell, where his two children enjoy the run of a big communal garden and play area. Dayes and his neighbours grow food together and organise the daily life of a place they collectively own and manage, in homes that will remain affordable to people in the surrounding area for ever.
Continue reading...Billie Eilish is the latest artist to sing frankly about sex between women – without it being titillation for men. Artists from King Princess to Girli explain why it’s taken so long
‘I could eat that girl for lunch / yeah she dances on my tongue, tastes like she might be the one.” So runs the chorus to one of the biggest pop songs of the year, Billie Eilish’s Lunch – the latest star to join a host of others singing about lesbian love, with lyrics full of tongues, touches, thighs and taste.
St Vincent also has an appetite on her new song Flea – “I’m just like a hungry little flea / Jumping on somebody’s warm body … I look at you and all I see is meat” – while lesbian trap star Young Miko plays with emoji-friendly food imagery on Princess Peach: “With a peach like that / who can be mad at you?” At Coachella this year, bisexual R&B singer Victoria Monét positioned her microphone like a strap-on (having previously sung praises to them) during a mouthwateringly sensual set, while Ludmilla’s viral performance featured a tender kiss with her wife at the close of raunchy love song Maldivas (“I can play all night and you can ask me for a replay”). Reneé Rapp’s set was introduced by the cast of lesbian drama The L Word, and Chappell Roan had thousands singing the chorus to Casual – “knee deep in the passenger seat, and you’re eating me out” – while clad in a T-shirt reading “Eat Me”.
Continue reading...Freeze raw pastry odds and ends for emergency patching, creating cheesy snacks or making all sorts of pop-in-the-mouth treats
Is there any use for cooked pastry offcuts?
Chances are we’re talking about trimmings from a blind baked tart case, so the first port of call is to stay on theme. “If you’re already baking a tart, add more texture by sprinkling those lovely, crunchy pastry offcuts over the top,” says Ruby Bhogal, author of One Bake Two Ways. Otherwise, break them down (you still want “a nice chunk”, Bhogal says), brush with melted butter, sprinkle with demerara sugar, and return to the oven to crisp up further. “That’s a really nice snack with a cup of tea,” she says, adding that you could also deploy them in trifles or to top cakes.
Offcuts also play well with chocolate, so in theory you could do “a fridge-cake situation”, suggests Nicola Lamb, pastry chef and author of Sift (although you might need to save offcuts in the freezer until you have sufficient quantities). That said, Lamb and Verena Lochmuller, development chef at the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, both agree that the more sensible path would be to blitz those pastry bits into a cheesecake base. “You could also put the blitzed pastry anywhere you would a crumble, such as the bottom of a posset pot,” Lamb adds.
Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com
Continue reading...H7N3 detected at farm in state’s south-west, sparking a safety alert for all bird owners including households with backyard chickens
Tens of thousands of hens will be culled, threatening the supply of eggs in shops as a deadly bird flu strain spreads to a third Victorian poultry farm.
Avian influenza strain H7N3 has been detected at a Lethbridge farm owned by Farm Pride in the state’s south-west, sparking a safety alert for all bird owners including farmers and households with back yard chickens.
Continue reading...Scientists are tagging sharks to map Pacific migration routes in a bid to expand marine reserves before more of these endangered species fall prey to illegal industrial fishing
It’s a three-person job to land a 2-metre shark: two to wrap ropes around its thrashing tail and midriff, a third to clamp shut its powerful jaws. Hanging over the side of the Sea Quest fishing skiff, the crew work quickly to minimise any distress to the animal, a female silky shark. Once onboard, a hose attached to a saltwater pump is placed in her mouth, to irrigate her gills.
Catching and tagging sharks is contentious among some researchers, who say it is harmful. But for Alex Hearn, a professor of biology at Quito’s Universidad de San Francisco in Ecuador, who has studied sharks for two decades, it is critical to understanding behaviour that could better protect one of the most endangered group of vertebrates on the planet.
Continue reading...Technology was once simply a tool—and a small one at that—used to amplify human intent and capacity. That was the story of the industrial revolution: we could control nature and build large, complex human societies, and the more we employed and mastered technology, the better things got. We don’t live in that world anymore. Not only has technology become entangled with the structure of society, but we also can no longer see the world around us without it. The separation is gone, and the control we thought we once had has revealed itself as a mirage. We’re in a transitional period of history right now...
You might be able to stand the heat, but does your spice knowledge live up to your tolerance level? Answer these questions to find out …
Find out more about Encona’s hot sauces at enconasauces.co.uk
Continue reading...Michelle Roach bought a used ice-cream van in order to bring cheap, affordable food to Liverpool's struggling communities. She wanted a vehicle with freezers built in for frozen food, and also something cheerful that was able to break down stigmas around food poverty. Using a '10 items for £5' model, Michelle sources discount food from supermarket surplus and donations.
The Guardian's Christopher Cherry follows Michelle and the van on its rounds, with the service struggling to meet overwhelming demand as the cost of living crisis deepens, and the UK's general election fast approaches.
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...Khaled Al Serr, a young surgeon, vanished from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis two months ago. He hasn’t been heard from since.
The post Hundreds of Palestinian Doctors Disappeared Into Israeli Detention appeared first on The Intercept.
South Africa's case against Israel over allegations of genocide before the international court of justice has raised a central question of international law: what is genocide and how do you prove it? It is one of three genocide cases being considered by the UN's world court, but since the genocide convention was approved in 1948, only three instances have been legally recognised as genocide. Josh Toussaint-Strauss looks back on these historical cases to find out why the crime is so much harder to prove than other atrocities, and what bearing this has on South Africa's case against Israel and future cases
What is the genocide convention and how might it apply to the UK and Israel?
‘Famine is setting in’: UN court orders Israel to unblock Gaza food aid
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On the last day of his Huginn mission, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen takes us on a tour of the place he called home for 6 months: the International Space Station. From the beautiful views of Cupola to the kitchen in Node 1 filled with food and friends and all the way to the science of Columbus, the Space Station is the work and living place for astronauts as they help push science forward.
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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Claudia Sheinbaum aims to continue the pursuit of social justice – her predecessor’s most outstanding quality – without his charisma
Claudia Sheinbaum made history this week by winning a landslide election to become Mexico’s first female president. A leftwing climate scientist, Ms Sheinbaum appears a technocrat with progressive views, everything her presidential predecessor, the folksy populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as Amlo, was not.
Yet the differences may be more about style than substance. Ms Sheinbaum has been by Mr López Obrador’s side for two decades, and has a deserved reputation for hard work, fidelity to her mentor and a thirst for social justice. One of the big questions for the new president is whether her win will translate into more political rights and protections for women, 11 of whom are murdered a day.
Continue reading...The former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud on Tuesday and admitted to stealing nearly $17m from the Japanese baseball player to pay off sports betting debts.
Ippei Mizuhara’s crimes stunned the baseball world, shattering his image as Ohtani’s shadow at ballparks around the US. He entered his guilty plea Tuesday in federal court in Santa Ana, California.
Continue reading...  | submitted by /u/chrisdh79 [link] [comments] |
Lumberjack the Monster, the Japanese director’s long-awaited return to out-and-out horror, is a huge event. So why has it been noiselessly launched into oblivion?
Last weekend, something fairly momentous happened. Lumberjack the Monster, the new film by Takashi Miike, arrived on Netflix. Lumberjack the Monster is a significant release, because it represents the first out-and-out horror movie that Miike has made in a decade, having spent the intervening years dabbling in other genres. For a certain type of fan, it’s like Scorsese coming back from the wilderness of the 1980s with Goodfellas. Even if his films are too violent and perverse for you, you still have to admit that a new Takashi Miike horror movie is a big deal.
Unless you’re Netflix, of course. Because Netflix released Lumberjack the Monster with minimal – perhaps even non-existent – promotion. I only knew about it because I saw a tweet from a guy who had discovered it by accident and couldn’t understand why Netflix hadn’t made more noise about it.
Continue reading...Uncrewed Chang’e-6 lander is carrying rock and soil samples in ‘very important achievement’ after lunar liftoff
China’s uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe is on its way back to Earth carrying the first samples from the far side of the moon, in a major achievement for Beijing’s space programme.
The probe landed on the lunar surface on Sunday, within one of the oldest craters on the moon – the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin – then spent two days gathering rock and soil samples using its drill and robotic arm.
Continue reading...Sanmu Chen appeared to write the date of massacre in the air as anniversary becomes increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong
Hong Kong police detained an artist on Monday night after he appeared to write “8964” in the air with his hand, a reference to the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre, hours before Tuesday’s 35th anniversary.
Public acknowledgment of the events of 4 June 1989, when Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people – is banned in mainland China and increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
Events marking 35 years since troops ended peaceful protest with deadly violence are banned in China and Hong Kong
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have arrested or put under surveillance several dissidents before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre this week, according to human rights groups.
On 4 June it will be 35 years since Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people.
Continue reading...Spacecraft to collect samples from rarely explored area after landing heralded as ‘enormous technical achievement’
China has landed its uncrewed Chang’e-6 lunar probe on the far side of the moon, marking an important step in the country’s 53-day mission to retrieve rock and soil samples from the “dark” lunar hemisphere, in what would be a world first.
The landing elevates China’s space power status in a global rush to the moon, where countries including the US are hoping to exploit lunar minerals to sustain long-term astronaut missions and moon bases within the next decade.
Continue reading...I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to predict that artificial intelligence will affect every aspect of our society. Not by doing new things. But mostly by doing things that are already being done by humans, perfectly competently.
Replacing humans with AIs isn’t necessarily interesting. But when an AI takes over a human task, the task changes.
In particular, there are potential changes over four dimensions: Speed, scale, scope and sophistication. The problem with AIs trading stocks isn’t that they’re better than humans—it’s that they’re faster. But computers are better at chess and Go because they use more sophisticated strategies than humans. We’re worried about AI-controlled social media accounts because they operate on a superhuman scale...
Narendra Modi says India has placed its faith in the ruling coalition ‘for a third consecutive time’, as figures show his BJP party unlikely to secure an overall majority
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance, the NDA bloc, is enjoying an early lead as votes are counted, pulling ahead in 154 seats of the total 543 in the lower house of parliament.
Early trends show the opposition INDIA alliance leading in 120 seats.
The first votes counted are postal ballots, which are paper ballots, mostly cast by troops serving outside their home constituencies or officials away from home on election duty.
This year, postal votes were also offered to voters over 85 years of age and people with disabilities to allow them to vote from home.
According to some exit polls, Modi and the BJP could be headed for a two-thirds majority in parliament, giving them an even stronger victory than in the 2019 elections.
Continue reading...The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
Continue reading...Early results indicate prime minister’s BJP party unlikely to win two-thirds majority predicted by exit polls
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party looked set to lose its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to prime minister Narendra Modi and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.
Though not all votes had been counted, by Tuesday evening it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in the exit polls would not materialise and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country.
Continue reading...Modi’s ruling BJP may gain a two-thirds majority, amid allegations of intimidation of opposition candidates and Muslim voter suppression
Voting has come to a close in India’s mammoth elections, as exit polls widely predicted prime minister Narendra Modi would win a historic third term in proceedings marred by allegations of irregularities.
The election, the longest and largest in India’s history with almost a billion eligible voters, began in mid-April. As it progressed over seven phases until 1 June, a deadly heatwave gripped the country, with temperatures almost touching 50C in areas, leading to deaths of dozens of voters and polling officials.
Continue reading...Prime minister claims victory but opposition dismisses poll results as fixed and unscientific
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)-led alliance is projected to win a big majority in the general election that concluded on Saturday, TV exit polls said, suggesting it would do better than expected by most analysts.
Most exit polls projected the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could win a two-thirds majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament, where 272 is needed for a simple majority. A two-thirds majority will allow the government to usher in far-reaching amendments to the constitution.
Continue reading...Meteorologists found 52.9C reading to be false, though new record does appear to have been set
A record temperature registered this week for the Indian capital of 52.9C (127.22F) was too high by 3C, the Indian government has said.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had investigated Wednesday’s reading by the weather station at Mungeshpur, a densely packed corner of New Delhi, “and found a 3C sensor error”, the earth sciences minister, Kiren Rijiju, said.
Continue reading...Found guilty on 34 counts by a New York jury, Trump might find himself campaigning behind bars.
The post These Convictions Thwart Trump’s Plan to Pardon Himself appeared first on The Intercept.
“It’s hard to see this wildly disproportionate response as anything other than an attempt to chill speech on this issue.”
The post Columbia Coincidentally Rewrites Disciplinary Rules Just in Time to Screw Over Student Protesters appeared first on The Intercept.
Bring some Caribbean heat to this veggie dish that works great as a standout main or flavour-packed side
Aubergines roasted over fire, glazed with umami-rich miso and the fruity heat of Encona West Indian Original Hot Pepper Sauce – yum! Encona has done a lot of the work already – the sauce has heat and fruitiness from scotch bonnets and tang from vinegar – so you’re building flavour from a really delicious, complex base. Cook a load of these to pile high as a side for guests to feast on, or have them as a quick and tasty midweek dinner.
This recipe is veggie (and can easily be made plant based by replacing the honey with maple syrup or agave nectar), and has loads of flavour, which makes for a deeply satisfying meal.
Continue reading...All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
The post The Little-Known Reason Counties Keep Building Bigger Jails: Architecture Firms appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden's plan to cozy up to Arab dictators is right out of Donald Trump's playbook — but even worse.
The post Joe Biden’s Terrible Israel Policy Is Really About Getting in Bed With Saudi Arabia appeared first on The Intercept.
CEO Jensen Huang tells packed stadium in Taipei ‘next Industrial Revolution has begun’
Nvidia has unveiled new products and plans to accelerate the advance of artificial intelligence, with the AI hardware company’s chief executive telling a packed stadium in Taipei on Sunday that “the next Industrial Revolution has begun”.
Jensen Huang is in Taiwan for the island’s leading tech expo, Computex, along with the CEOs of some of the world’s biggest semiconductor companies – including AMD, Intel and Qualcomm – and their plans for a tech industry dominated by AI are top of the agenda.
Continue reading...Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
Deterrence policy against asylum seeker boats is under strain, with three vessels arriving in a week in May
The number of asylum seekers on Nauru appears to have topped 100, with a further two groups of 37 people sent to the Pacific Island.
The people, classified as “unauthorised maritime arrivals”, include 33 Bangladeshis who were found on Christmas Island on 9 May, one of who is a woman. Their boat was destroyed by bad weather.
Continue reading...We know turbulence is a common part of flying – but are some routes more prone? And where is it the worst? Turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries to crew and passengers and after the fatal Singapore Airlines incident and injuries to passengers above Turkey on a Qatar Airways flight, you might be wondering if flights are about to get bumpier. Incidents of severe turbulence are on the rise – increasing by 55% between 1979 and 2020 – and the climate crisis is thought to be a responsible factor
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Continue reading...Kuo Chiu, known as KC to his friends, teaches urban design at Tunghai University in Taiwan. He’s also one of many of the country's citizens who practises rifle skills in his spare time, in case of a Chinese invasion.
The population of Taiwan has long grown familiar with Beijing’s pledge to one day ‘unify’ what it claims is a breakaway province. But recently, there has been a significant increase in aggressive and intimidatory acts.
Taiwan’s 160,000 active military personnel are vastly outnumbered by China’s 2 million-member armed forces, leading many civilians to turn to voluntary medical and combat training to protect themselves.
The Guardian's video team spent time with KC to see how he is preparing
Continue reading...He tells the world he intends to be an authoritarian. So why won’t journalists repeat it?
The post The Media Still Doesn’t Grasp the Danger of Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
Khaled Al Serr, a young surgeon, vanished from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis two months ago. He hasn’t been heard from since.
The post Hundreds of Palestinian Doctors Disappeared Into Israeli Detention appeared first on The Intercept.
Ban Khun Samut Chin, a coastal village in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, has been slowly swallowed by the sea over the past few decades. This has led to the relocation of the school and many homes, resulting in a dwindling population. Currently, there are only four students attending the school, often leaving just one in each classroom. The village has experienced severe coastal erosion, causing 1.1-2km (0.5-1.2 miles) of shoreline to disappear since the mid-1950s
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Why you shouldn’t expect fireworks from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer tonight – and how Nigel Farage got covered in milkshake
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Good afternoon. If you’ve felt bereft of opportunities to watch Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer bothering members of the public over the last few days, that’s probably because they’ve been spending most of their time squirrelled away in preparation for tonight’s debate on ITV.
This is already being billed as Sunak’s last chance to save his campaign – which is both depressing for the Conservatives, and touchingly optimistic: as the joke goes, so you’re telling me there’s a chance?!
Migration | The Tories said they plan to cap the number of visas issued each year to reduce migration. Nigel Farage said he believed net migration should be zero. Experts cast doubt on the plausibility of these commitments.
Social care | The Liberal Democrats promised free social care for older or disabled people at home, and said they would raise care workers’ pay. More below.
Labour | Faiza Shaheen resigned from the Labour party after being blocked as a candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green. In Barking, Darren Rodwell was removed from the party’s approved list after being accused of sexual harassment last month. He has denied the allegations.
Continue reading...There has been no defining message so far. As a political strategist, I see the event as a huge opportunity for both men
Giles Kenningham was director of communications for the Conservatives’ 2015 election campaign
In the wall of general election noise and multiple news cycles a day, TV debates provide the moment of maximum jeopardy. For many of the public, this first head-to-head may be the moment they start paying attention. For the leaders, it will be the culmination of hours locked in preparation, gaming out every scenario. Keir Starmer has everything to lose. Rishi Sunak has nothing to lose.
The debates have the potential to electrify the campaign. In US political history they have provided some defining moments. Ronald Reagan, the oldest sitting US president at the time, stole the show and shut down questions about his age during the 1984 presidential debate with his Democratic opponent, Walter Mondale, delivering the line: “I want you to know I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” In 2010 Nick Clegg hit David Cameron and Gordon Brown with the zinger: “The more they attack each other the more they sound like one another.” And Cleggmania was born.
Giles Kenningham was director of communications for the Conservative party’s general election campaign in 2015. He is founder of the consultancy Trafalgar Strategy
Continue reading...The Israeli PM’s invitation comes amid deep differences with the Biden administration
Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become the first foreign leader to address a joint session of the US Congress four times, despite deep differences with the Biden administration.
The Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement that a date for his address to Congress had yet to be set, but that it would not take place on 13 June as had been reported, due to a Jewish holiday.
Continue reading...Claudia Sheinbaum aims to continue the pursuit of social justice – her predecessor’s most outstanding quality – without his charisma
Claudia Sheinbaum made history this week by winning a landslide election to become Mexico’s first female president. A leftwing climate scientist, Ms Sheinbaum appears a technocrat with progressive views, everything her presidential predecessor, the folksy populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as Amlo, was not.
Yet the differences may be more about style than substance. Ms Sheinbaum has been by Mr López Obrador’s side for two decades, and has a deserved reputation for hard work, fidelity to her mentor and a thirst for social justice. One of the big questions for the new president is whether her win will translate into more political rights and protections for women, 11 of whom are murdered a day.
Continue reading...Prime minister and Labour leader set for first TV debate of election campaign on ITV at 9pm BST
The Guardian’s visuals team has produced an interactive boundary map for the UK general election which shows you if your constituency has been altered because of boundary changes. You can check it out here:
Ed Davey has been speaking about his party’s plan to provide free personal care for adults. The Liberal Democrats leader said he wants carers to have a special, higher minimum wage.
Continue reading...Trump fans say his conviction is an overreach. But a close look at another recent fraud trial shows his case was run-of-the-mill.
The post To Understand the Trump Verdict, Look at the Case Against Shukhratjon Mirsaidov appeared first on The Intercept.
The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss how Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak will be preparing for the first big leaders’ debate on Tuesday. Plus can Keir Starmer recover from the internal politics plaguing his last week of campaigning?
Continue reading...Comparisons between the ex-president and the 20th-century Nazi leader are controversial but a new book says they resemble each other as political performance artists
When Donald Trump shared a video that dreamed of a “unified reich” if he wins the US presidential election, and took nearly a full day to remove it, the most shocking thing was how unshocking it was.
Trump has reportedly said before that Adolf Hitler did “some good things”, echoed the Nazi dictator by calling his political opponents “vermin” and saying immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”, and responded to a white supremacist march in Charlottesville by claiming that there were “very fine people on both sides”.
Continue reading...I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to predict that artificial intelligence will affect every aspect of our society. Not by doing new things. But mostly by doing things that are already being done by humans, perfectly competently.
Replacing humans with AIs isn’t necessarily interesting. But when an AI takes over a human task, the task changes.
In particular, there are potential changes over four dimensions: Speed, scale, scope and sophistication. The problem with AIs trading stocks isn’t that they’re better than humans—it’s that they’re faster. But computers are better at chess and Go because they use more sophisticated strategies than humans. We’re worried about AI-controlled social media accounts because they operate on a superhuman scale...
Firms that employ millions in manufacturing, hospitality and construction already struggling to plugs gaps after Brexit
The battle between the Conservatives and Labour to show they are tough on migration risks damaging sectors that are vital to the economy, industry figures have warned.
Rishi Sunak unveiled a Conservative pledge to cap visas awarded to migrant workers on Monday, promising “bold action to reduce immigration” amid pressure from a Reform party reinvigorated by the return of Nigel Farage as leader.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head with Keir Starmer tonight in their first televised leaders’ debate of the campaign. Archie Bland reports
Continue reading...Labour and the Conservatives want to reduce national debt, but Resolution Foundation says promises ‘detached from reality’
Britain’s next government will need to fill a shortfall of up to £33bn in the public finances unless it is prepared to push through a fresh round of severe austerity measures, a thinktank has warned.
The Resolution Foundation said the debate between Labour and the Conservatives over the funding of specific pledges was “detached from reality”, with election promises based on cuts that would be hard to deliver.
Continue reading...Darren Rodwell will not be on party’s 650-strong list of candidates after series of allegations about his behaviour
Darren Rodwell, the controversial leader of Barking and Dagenham council, will not be confirmed by Labour on Tuesday as the party’s local parliamentary candidate after a series of allegations about his behaviour.
The decision came as Faiza Shaheen, who was ousted as Labour’s candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green, said she had quit the party and said she would set out her “next steps” on Wednesday, leaving the door open to run as an independent.
Continue reading...Reform leader rules out electoral pact with Conservatives and repeats plans for ‘reverse takeover’ of party
Nigel Farage has said the Tory “brand is ruined” and that a Labour government would be “out of control” without a strong showing for his party, Reform UK.
Farage, who announced on Monday he would be standing in Clacton having previously said he would not fight the general election, said he felt “betrayed” by the Conservative party.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage has announced that he will stand in Clacton for the Reform UK party in the general election, his eighth attempt to become an MP after seven previous failures as a Ukip candidate. Farage, who recently said he would not stand in the election, told a press conference that he had a ‘terrible sense of guilt’ for not putting himself forward after speaking to people during the campaign, saying he felt he was ‘letting them down’
Continue reading...After years of broken Tory promises, Sir Ed Davey’s policy of free home visits is a step forward
Good for the Liberal Democrats. Sir Ed Davey’s campaign pledge that his party would, if elected, fund free social care at home is the most significant policy announcement so far in a crucial area. The past 14 years have not been short of social policy failures. But the Conservatives’ lack of action on care is one of the most egregious. This is an issue they should have taken a lead on. Instead they have made promises, only to break them.
Sir Ed has a lifetime of caring behind him: for his mother, who died of cancer when he was a teenager, and later his grandmother and disabled son. His proposal is to raise £2.7bn by reversing a tax cut to banks. This, the party says, would be enough to pay for free personal care, including washing and medication, for everyone in England who is living at home and needs it (social care is devolved, and the Lib Dem proposals resemble the Scottish system). Care workers would also benefit from a new minimum wage £2 higher than the national minimum wage. The costs of residential care would not be covered.
Continue reading...As Biden launches the strictest border crackdown of his presidency, five asylum seekers share their battles to secure protection in the US
On Tuesday, Joe Biden unveiled the most restrictive immigration policy of his presidency with an executive order enabling the mass rejection of asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border when crossings reach certain levels.
The order would allow the US government to temporarily shut down the border when the number of people seeking entry exceeds a daily threshold, empowering authorities to automatically block migrants from presenting their asylum cases. The policy, which would significantly erode the rights of asylum seekers, appears to be one of the harshest immigration crackdowns pushed by any modern Democrat and mirrors the Trump administration’s efforts to broadly limit entries en masse.
Continue reading...Attorney general Mark Dreyfus is appealing an FOI court ruling that said the practice could be criminal and must stop
The federal government is fighting for the right to destroy documents when it loses office, after a judge warned the practice of shredding paperwork to keep it from incoming opponents is possibly criminal and must stop.
The attorney general Mark Dreyfus is appealing a federal court ruling in a freedom of information case that a minister must preserve a predecessor’s documents if an FOI access application remains unresolved when the minister leaves office. It found this applies whether the job changes hands through an internal ministerial reshuffle or an election.
Continue reading...The megadonor’s plan for a $25 million research center at Cornell fell apart. So he took his money to Texas A&M.
The post Leonard Leo Built the Conservative Court. Now He’s Funneling Dark Money Into Law Schools. appeared first on The Intercept.
Prime minister claims victory but opposition dismisses poll results as fixed and unscientific
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)-led alliance is projected to win a big majority in the general election that concluded on Saturday, TV exit polls said, suggesting it would do better than expected by most analysts.
Most exit polls projected the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could win a two-thirds majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament, where 272 is needed for a simple majority. A two-thirds majority will allow the government to usher in far-reaching amendments to the constitution.
Continue reading...Found guilty on 34 counts by a New York jury, Trump might find himself campaigning behind bars.
The post These Convictions Thwart Trump’s Plan to Pardon Himself appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden's plan to cozy up to Arab dictators is right out of Donald Trump's playbook — but even worse.
The post Joe Biden’s Terrible Israel Policy Is Really About Getting in Bed With Saudi Arabia appeared first on The Intercept.
Police arrest 25-year-old after Reform UK leader, whose entry into election race has alarmed Tories, drenched in drink in Clacton
Nigel Farage had a milkshake thrown over him on his first day of campaigning in Clacton, the Essex constituency where he is making his eighth attempt to become an MP.
A woman, 25, was arrested on suspicion of assault after the incident, in which the Reform UK leader was drenched with a banana milkshake as he came out of a pub following a rally on Clacton’s beachfront.
Continue reading...President also likens his predecessor’s rejection of the court verdict against him to his refusal to accept he lost 2020 election
Joe Biden has called Donald Trump “reckless and dangerous” over the former president’s claim that the trial leading to last week’s felony conviction in a Manhattan court was rigged.
In his sharpest criticism yet of his predecessor’s drive to undermine the legal integrity of the prosecution against him, the president also said a second Trump presidency would be a much greater threat to American democracy than his first. He likened Trump’s rejection of the court verdict against him to his refusal to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election.
Continue reading...While their huge egos have rubbed each other the wrong way in the past, they may have found common ground
What happens when two of the most influential and insufferable people in the universe join forces? Looks like we’re about to find out. Rumour has it that Elon Musk is cosying up to convicted felon, adjudicated fraudster and presidential hopeful Donald Trump, in the hopes of securing a job in the White House.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the pair speak on the phone several times a month, and have discussed a possible advisory role for Musk if Trump is elected president again. It’s not clear what political pies Musk wants to stick his little fingers in: “The role hasn’t been fully hammered out,” the WSJ said. But, according to “people familiar with the talks”, Musk might get a position advising on border security and the economy.
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...Maria Guzenina, Finnish Social Democratic party candidate, says ‘it would be a mistake’ to bring Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy into the centre. This live blog is closed
Robert Biedroń, a member of the European parliament from Poland’s New Left, said in an email that “if I should describe our goal in just one word, it would definitely be mobilisation and invitations of young voters to participate in the elections.”
“They must understand the power of change they possess,” he said.
In face of rising populism the whole EU, the European parliament campaign is taking an exceptional significance.
The choice made on 9 of June will not only shape the new European parliament but also the future of the EU.
Continue reading...In the Essex seaside town synonymous with Brexit, locals tell me their focus is reversing decline, not protest against the EU
So once more unto the breach, Nigel. Where else but Clacton, a place that has, like Essex itself, become a byword for the leave vote. The seaside town that last year BBC Question Time visited to mark the seventh anniversary of the 2016 EU referendum. Clacton didn’t top the table – Boston in Lincolnshire had the highest leave vote – but it has become synonymous with the project after Ukip’s most successful MP, Douglas Carswell, proclaimed Clacton was the “deliverer of Brexit”.
Brexit is often offered up as a kind of direct and potent message from something politicians like to call “the people”, a guttural demand from the id of the body politic. But, over years of talking to people in Essex, I have less often heard people speak about it in those terms than got the reply: “I’m not really that into politics.” In a sense, Brexit was proof of the apathy of British democracy, but also voters’ innate knowledge that something was wrong in the UK.
In Essex, I think, it is possible to see the roots of such apathy in the geography itself. Just get on a bus from affluent suburbia, passing souped-up cars on lit-up driveways in front of houses perfected by a thousand improvements, into a decaying urban centre, with empty lots affected by the high rents demanded by absentee landlords. The downside of the Thatcher boom is that its effects seemed to prove her maxim that there was no such thing as society. Brexit then fed off the disappointment many people have felt in their material surroundings ever since.
The hypercapitalist defenders of the politics that foreshadowed this period of creeping inertia found easy targets of blame, from immigrants to the EU. Essex has always been a blank canvas to project new political ideas on to, from the formation of the new towns to the rise of right to buy. The architects of Brexit, such as Farage, utilised the apathy of post-millenium politics to project promises and conjure fears in a fit of political carnivalesque. Brexit got people pumped up in a way they didn’t so much during first-past-the-post elections. This was win or lose, all or nothing. Fight night, but with consequences.
Tim Burrows is a writer and author of The Invention of Essex
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...What she has been through would sink most people. But the woman at the white-hot centre of Donald Trump’s 34 felony convictions was always going to hold her nerve
In the opening scene of Stormy, the documentary about Stormy Daniels’ life, she says: “I have just been tormented for the last five years or so. And here I am, I’m still here.” Probably the worst of the torment has been from Donald Trump’s supporters, though they’ve never got together to explain what they’re angry about. Is it that Daniels claims she had sex with Trump, in 2006? That she accepted $130,000 to keep quiet about it? Surely, if he’s the richest and most virile man America ever produced, you’d think that was no big deal for him, and nice for her?
Instead, as she described on the stand, giving evidence against Trump, the Maga lot have made her life a misery. Death threats layered with lurid threats of sexual violence, enough that she was constantly worried for the safety of her family, have poured in since 2018, when the Wall Street Journal first broke the story.
Continue reading...The Guardian is reporting from the constituency of Clacton to find out what issues people there care about most – and we want your help
The Guardian will be reporting from Clacton ahead of the general election, where Nigel Farage said he would stand as an MP and take over as leader of Reform UK, after changing his mind while spending time on the campaign trail.
This will be part of a series of pieces from across the country focused on finding out what matters most to the people who live there.
Continue reading...There is little data to support fears of a ‘greenlash’ – instead voters may have other priorities such as inflation or the Ukraine war
Voters may deal Green parties a blow that costs them up to one-third of their seats, if polls before this week’s European elections prove correct, in a shift that could lead to a rollback of climate policies with the effects rippling far beyond the continent.
At first glance, the projected slump in support – which follows months of protests from farmers against environmental rules – reads like a backlash against climate policies set by politicians who tried to move too far, too fast.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer once promised to lead a ‘broad church’ Labour party. After a week in which Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen have complained about their treatment, does that still hold true? Aletha Adu and Aditya Chakrabortty report
It’s been a torrid week for Labour. Back in April 2023, Diane Abbott, the first black woman to be elected to the UK parliament, was suspended from the party in a row over antisemitism. In the last few days a furore over whether she would or wouldn’t be reinstated, and would or wouldn’t be allowed to stand for re-election, reached boiling point.
At the same time, Faiza Shaheen, who had already started campaigning in Chingford and Woodford Green, was told she had been deselected. She said she had apologised for liking a tweet that played into an antisemitic trope, and believed she had done it mistakenly, but had been told her candidacy was being blocked. Helen Pidd hears how the pair are far from the only left-leaning MPs worried about their political future.
Continue reading...Commission chief is not running in MEP elections but is doing all she can to boost increasingly shaky bid for second term
She has inspected a drone factory in Latvia, laid flowers at a monument to the late Pope John Paul II in Poland and posed with a shaggy dog in Luxembourg. From Copenhagen to Split, Maastricht to Plovdiv, she has given speeches, shaken hands, signed T-shirts and posed for a lot of selfies. It has been a busy few weeks for Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking a second five-year term as head of the European Commission, one of the most powerful jobs in European politics.
With cheering activists and campaign “merch” – as team Von der Leyen refers to its royal purple branded mugs and hoodies – it looks like any other drive to get the vote out. There is even a video of the commission president striding purposefully along a lane near her countryside home to dramatic orchestral music. “Campaigning is one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life,” the German politician said at a recent debate with rival candidates.
Continue reading...The leader of the Morena party could pass legislation and budgets unopposed through congress
Claudia Sheinbaum seems poised to cement her historic victory as Mexico’s first female president with a supermajority in congress that would let her party pass legislation and budgets unopposed – and perhaps even change the constitution without need for compromise.
Sheinbaum, a 61-year-old climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency with 59.5% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority.
Continue reading...Twelve jurors in New York have presented their fellow Americans with a simple question: are you willing to elect a convicted criminal to the White House?
On Thursday, Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The verdict makes him the first president, current or former, to be found guilty of felony crimes in the US's near 250-year history. Regardless, the conviction does not disqualify Trump as a presidential candidate or bar him from again sitting in the Oval Office.
Trump, who opted not to take the stand during the trial, has denied wrongdoing, railed against the proceedings and ahead of the verdict compared himself to a saint: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. The charges are rigged,” he said on Wednesday. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is expected to appeal the verdict.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine has been in court over the last several weeks covering all the developments – here are three testimonies he found most memorable.
Could Trump go to prison? Here’s what happens next after the guilty verdict
After 30 years in power, the African National Congress, which took 40.2% of the vote, must engage in tricky coalition talks with rivals
The African National Congress’s (ANC) three decades of political dominance in South Africa has come to an end after it was announced that it had won just 40.2% of the vote in last week’s general election.
The ANC’s dramatic decline – the first time it has failed to win a majority of the votes since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic election in 1994 – will lead to a chaotic round of coalition negotiations, with all of its potential partners posing difficulties.
Continue reading...Kenneth Chesebro, Jim Troupis and Michael Roman each charged with one felony count of forgery, according to court documents
Wisconsin’s attorney general, Josh Kaul, filed felony charges on Tuesday against three men who played a key role in the effort to appoint fake electors in the state as part of Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.
Kenneth Chesebro, Jim Troupis, and Michael Roman were each charged with one felony count of forgery, according to court documents. The crime is a class H felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to six years in prison.
Continue reading...The new defence body would be one of just a handful of committees with special interrogatory powers
Anthony Albanese has left room to appoint an independent to a powerful new defence committee otherwise restricted to Labor and Liberal members, in a move aimed at ensuring he has leverage in future crossbench negotiations, including regarding minority government.
Parliament is debating legislation to establish the committee, which will scrutinise defence strategy, funding, procurement and operations. It is modelled on the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security (PJCIS) that oversees the intelligence community and has access to classified information.
Continue reading...Richard Tice made some eye-opening statements on the climate, and the manifesto is packed with even more falsehoods
Despite 40C record heat in 2022 and the wettest 18 months on record this winter, this general election seems set to test the UK’s political consensus on climate change like never before.
Reform UK, the rightwing party that describes itself as offering “commonsense” policies on immigration and energy, has eschewed the consensus in favour of outright climate scepticism. So what exactly does the party have to say about global heating and the UK’s net zero target?
Continue reading...Early results indicate prime minister’s BJP party unlikely to win two-thirds majority predicted by exit polls
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party looked set to lose its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to prime minister Narendra Modi and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power.
Though not all votes had been counted, by Tuesday evening it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in the exit polls would not materialise and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Yvette Cooper says a Labour government would instruct new enforcement body to act over alleged exploitation of workers
Labour will launch an investigation into the treatment of migrant workers in the British social care sector if it wins the election, the party has announced, after dozens of cases of alleged exploitation were uncovered.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called the allegations revealed by the Guardian “a disgrace”, accusing the government of turning a blind eye to the problem.
Continue reading...When she was sworn in, aged 20, she was the youngest MP to be appointed since 1832. Now the SNP’s deputy leader at Westminster, she looks back on 10 years of hard work and ‘hellish’ travel
For some MPs, the general election announcement came as a shock; for others, a starting pistol. But for Mhairi Black it was the end of “a sort of purgatory”, as she prepared to step down as MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, a position she has held for almost a decade. She will turn 30 in September. “I’m about to be exactly where I was 10 years ago, asking: ‘What am I going to do with my life?’”
The Scottish National party’s deputy leader at Westminster announced last summer that she intended to leave the Commons, a place she has variously described as “defunct”, “depressing”, “sexist”, “poisonous” and “one of the most unhealthy workplaces that you could ever be in”.
Continue reading...Party will have to pick coalition partners and then try to reform itself in response to declining support
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has lost its three-decade electoral majority in devastating fashion. As the former liberation movement faces the task of building a coalition government, it remains to be seen how it will respond to the message sent to it by voters.
The ANC’s vote share collapsed from 57.5% in 2019 to 40.2% in last week’s elections, amid chronic unemployment, degraded public services and high rates of violent crime.
Continue reading...Former Mexico City mayor’s Morena party also on track for possible two-thirds supermajority in Congress
Claudia Sheinbaum has won a landslide victory to become Mexico’s first female president, inheriting the project of her mentor and outgoing leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose popularity among the poor helped drive her triumph.
Sheinbaum, a leftwing climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency with between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample count by Mexico’s electoral authority.
Continue reading...ANC says demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa must step down is ‘no-go area’ as rival Jacob Zuma stokes fears of violence
Final results from Wednesday’s seismic South Africa elections have confirmed that the African National Congress (ANC) party has lost its majority for the first time in 30 years of full democracy, firing the starting gun on unprecedented coalition talks.
The ANC, which led the fight to free South Africa from apartheid, won just 159 seats in the 400-member national assembly on a vote share of just over 40%. High unemployment, power cuts, violent crime and crumbling infrastructure have contributed to a haemorrhaging of support for the former liberation movement.
Continue reading...Migrants seek redress for ‘immense distress’ from deportations now thrown into chaos by election announcement
Asylum seekers detained by the Home Office and threatened with deportation to Rwanda are set to take legal action against the government after Rishi Sunak admitted that no flights will take place before the general election.
The Home Office started raiding accommodation and detaining people who arrived at routine immigration-reporting appointments on 29 April in a nationwide push codenamed Operation Vector.
Continue reading...Collapse in support means ANC may not reach 50% vote share needed to rule alone. Which parties are contenders for coalition?
South Africa is facing the uncertain possibility of a coalition government after a collapse in support for the ruling African National Congress party in Wednesday’s election meant it probably will not reach the 50% vote share needed for it to rule on its own. Here is a guide to the three main contenders for coalition partners:
Continue reading...David Hinchliffe on how the party must learn from mistakes in the past to bring down waiting lists. Plus letters from Norman Edwards and Fawzi Ibrahim
While welcoming Labour’s pledge to clear the NHS waiting list backlog within five years (Report, 28 May), I wish the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, would be a little more explicit regarding the proposed use of the private sector in this task. The last Labour government – which did make use of private provision – was able to reduce waiting lists, but the longer-term consequence has been the greater institutionalisation of private practice by NHS staff. The deliberate running down of the NHS under the Conservatives has meant that going private is now the norm far more often, even for patients who can barely afford it.
The next Labour government must learn from the mistakes of the Blair/Brown era, when patients on lengthy waiting lists found themselves, in some instances, seen in the private sector by the same consultants who hadn’t the time to see them in the NHS. The NHS rewards doctors who moonlight in the private sector by awarding contracts to the companies they work for, to treat its patients. And they are paid at a significantly higher rate. The result is that we have a system that divests the NHS of key staff while at the same time costing considerably more for treatment. We are effectively incentivising these doctors to build up their NHS waiting lists.
Continue reading...Technology was once simply a tool—and a small one at that—used to amplify human intent and capacity. That was the story of the industrial revolution: we could control nature and build large, complex human societies, and the more we employed and mastered technology, the better things got. We don’t live in that world anymore. Not only has technology become entangled with the structure of society, but we also can no longer see the world around us without it. The separation is gone, and the control we thought we once had has revealed itself as a mirage. We’re in a transitional period of history right now...
Narendra Modi says India has placed its faith in the ruling coalition ‘for a third consecutive time’, as figures show his BJP party unlikely to secure an overall majority
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance, the NDA bloc, is enjoying an early lead as votes are counted, pulling ahead in 154 seats of the total 543 in the lower house of parliament.
Early trends show the opposition INDIA alliance leading in 120 seats.
The first votes counted are postal ballots, which are paper ballots, mostly cast by troops serving outside their home constituencies or officials away from home on election duty.
This year, postal votes were also offered to voters over 85 years of age and people with disabilities to allow them to vote from home.
According to some exit polls, Modi and the BJP could be headed for a two-thirds majority in parliament, giving them an even stronger victory than in the 2019 elections.
Continue reading...The charge of an illegitimate marriage is all that’s left after a court acquitted Khan over his handling of a classified cypher.
The post Imran Khan Remains Imprisoned Over His Wife’s Menstrual Cycles. State Department Says That’s “Something For the Pakistani Courts to Decide.” appeared first on The Intercept.
EU commissioner Vera Jourová says tech firms must hire staff versed in legal and historical context of free speech in Europe
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, lacks understanding of European concerns over the hatred and division that can result from the spread of disinformation, a senior EU commissioner has said.
Speaking just days before the European parliamentary elections, in which disinformation, particularly Russian-backed propaganda, has been a key issue, Věra Jourová criticised what she said was a clear deterioration in content moderation on X since Musk bought the platform in 2022.
Continue reading...EU officials anticipate ‘narratives questioning the legitimacy of the elections’ for weeks afterwards
Debunking, prebunking and factchecking; correcting lies, fake news and race hate – battling disinformation before this week’s European elections has become a high-stakes, full-time job for hundreds of staff across the continent.
EU leaders are so concerned over foreign interference in the polls, due to take place from Thursday to Sunday, that they have put rapid alert teams on notice to swing into action in the event of a serious incident. Officials say the quantity of disinformation has reached “tsunami levels” – but political leaders have been the slowest to catch on.
Continue reading...Modi’s ruling BJP may gain a two-thirds majority, amid allegations of intimidation of opposition candidates and Muslim voter suppression
Voting has come to a close in India’s mammoth elections, as exit polls widely predicted prime minister Narendra Modi would win a historic third term in proceedings marred by allegations of irregularities.
The election, the longest and largest in India’s history with almost a billion eligible voters, began in mid-April. As it progressed over seven phases until 1 June, a deadly heatwave gripped the country, with temperatures almost touching 50C in areas, leading to deaths of dozens of voters and polling officials.
Continue reading...Government prosecutors claimed they didn’t know a former detainee recanted his testimony in interviews with the government.
The post Guantánamo Prosecutors Accused of “Outrageous” Misconduct for Trying to Use Torture Testimony appeared first on The Intercept.
Allwyn parent company says deal to buy 3% stake in Czech gas facility will cut final link with Kremlin-controlled energy firm
The billionaire owner of Allwyn, the company that runs the national lottery, will sever his last remaining ties with Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom by the end of June, more than two years after winning the UK’s largest public sector contract.
The Czech tycoon Karel Komárek, who owns Allwyn via his Switzerland-based holding company KKCG, has faced scrutiny over his links to Russia since wresting control of the 10-year licence to operate the lottery from Camelot in 2022.
Continue reading...The SNP’s child payment policy covers all children, whereas Labour can’t even commit to abolishing the two-child benefit cap, writes Sue Hawthorne. However, Alex Gallagher and Mark Openshaw are less enthused about the SNP’s record
Dani Garavelli says the Scottish National party has not eradicated child poverty in Scotland (The SNP’s woes are a boost for Starmer. But he’s not promising the change Scotland wants, 27 May). Maybe not, but it has made great strides in this direction, within the budgetary constraints imposed by Westminster. The Scottish child payment is the policy of the SNP-led Holyrood government and is paid to all families on benefits in Scotland at £26.70 per week per child. And all children in primary 1 to 5, at schools run by their local council or funded by the Scottish government, can get free school lunches in term-time. Moreover, money has been invested into this to ensure that the meals are of good quality.
As Garavelli goes on to say, Keir Starmer will not even commit to abolishing the two-child benefit cap. Child poverty is a scandal in a rich country like the UK, but it is less of a scandal in Scotland than elsewhere. No one in Scotland who cares about this should vote Labour.
Sue Hawthorne
Haddington, East Lothian
Our catastrophes have wrought psychic devastation. It’s worth acknowledging that and trying to be kind to one another
Everything is weird and everyone is wrecked. This is maybe the biggest and least acknowledged truth of life in the United States and a lot of places beyond right now. It’s the pandemic; the eight years of Trumpism; the distortions, disruptions and corruptions Silicon Valley has promulgated and other looming menaces, including climate chaos. We all know this, because we’re living it, but maybe we should talk more about the fact that our political catastrophes are inseparable from widespread psychic devastation, that the public and private, political and personal, are entangled – or rather that the former has wrought havoc on the latter.
The wisest people I know are aware that the stresses, atrocities, divisions and divergences from norms of recent years have made them (and everyone else) exhausted and brittle. The less wise but no less brittle either lash out with the sense that what’s wrong is definitely someone else or take refuge in cults and oversimplified versions in which they are at least in control of what it all means.
Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell’s Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility
Continue reading...Labor frontbenchers say speechwriter role would ‘absolutely not’ usually be paid $630,000 for a two-year period
Labor frontbenchers have claimed “labour shortages” and “market failures” are behind Bill Shorten’s speechwriter being given a $300,000-a-year contract.
On Monday afternoon, it was revealed in Senate estimates that Julianne Stewart, a former speechwriter to four prime ministers, had been hired in September 2022 for $620,000 for a two-year period to write speeches for Shorten’s office and mentor staff in Services Australia. Stewart has been paid $447,516, excluding GST, so far.
Continue reading...Deterrence policy against asylum seeker boats is under strain, with three vessels arriving in a week in May
The number of asylum seekers on Nauru appears to have topped 100, with a further two groups of 37 people sent to the Pacific Island.
The people, classified as “unauthorised maritime arrivals”, include 33 Bangladeshis who were found on Christmas Island on 9 May, one of who is a woman. Their boat was destroyed by bad weather.
Continue reading...I have watched as corporate lobbyists push to water down Labour’s pro-worker policies. We, the labour movement, must push back
Unite may be Labour’s biggest affiliate, but our job first and foremost is to defend workers. I make no apology for holding Labour’s feet to the fire on workers’ rights – no matter how uncomfortable it might make some or what criticism is laid at my door.
Of course I want a Labour government, but that doesn’t mean I will sit on the sidelines and applaud while it caves in to the business lobby and rows back on its commitments. The Labour leadership’s penchant for reneging on promises has been a theme of its time in opposition.
Sharon Graham is the general secretary of Unite
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A senior USAID adviser said he was pressured to resign days after the agency censored his presentation.
The post He Made a PowerPoint on Mothers Starving in Gaza. Then He Lost His Government Job. appeared first on The Intercept.
Clip on social media showed Jon Benjamin aiming assault rifle at colleague in region rife with drug gangs
The British ambassador to Mexico was quietly removed from his post earlier this year after he pointed an assault rifle at a local embassy employee, it emerged when footage of the incident was posted on social media.
The Financial Times reported that Jon Benjamin was on an official trip to Durango and Sinaloa, two states with strong organised crime groups, when he looked down the gun’s sights at a colleague, who gestures uncomfortably in the five-second clip.
Continue reading...About 80 candidates put names forward for vetting against backdrop of confrontation with west
About 80 candidates have registered to stand in Iran’s presidential election on 28 June, taking place against the backdrop of a growing confrontation with the west over Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme and UN access to its nuclear sites.
The winner will replace Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
Continue reading...The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
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The battalion has a dedicated U.S. nonprofit to support its operations — whose president is supporting AIPAC’s political agenda.
The post This AIPAC Donor Funnels Millions to an IDF Unit Accused of Violating Human Rights appeared first on The Intercept.
Ahead of the election in India, the Guardian’s video team travelled through the country to explore how fake news and censorship might shape the outcome.
Almost one billion people are registered to vote. The country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been in power for more than 10 years, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is seeking a third term.
But critics of Modi and the BJP say his government has become increasingly authoritarian, fracturing the country along religious lines and threatening India’s secular democracy. At the same time, the space for freedom of speech has been shrinking while disinformation and hate speech has exploded on social media.
The Guardian is reporting from the constituency of Burnley to find out what issues people there care about most – and we want your help
The Guardian will be reporting from Burnley ahead of the general election. This will be part of a series of pieces from across the country focused on finding out what matters most to the people who live there.
In 2019, the Lancashire town elected its first Conservative MP in more than a century. If you live in the constituency of Burnley, can you tell us what will decide your vote? We’d like to understand the big issues facing you and your family and which policies matter to you. How happy are you with the state of housing, work, community relations, policing and health services? What local issues should we be looking at?
Continue reading...Michelle Roach bought a used ice-cream van in order to bring cheap, affordable food to Liverpool's struggling communities. She wanted a vehicle with freezers built in for frozen food, and also something cheerful that was able to break down stigmas around food poverty. Using a '10 items for £5' model, Michelle sources discount food from supermarket surplus and donations.
The Guardian's Christopher Cherry follows Michelle and the van on its rounds, with the service struggling to meet overwhelming demand as the cost of living crisis deepens, and the UK's general election fast approaches.
Continue reading...President’s move comes amid voter dissatisfaction over migrant numbers as leftwing and Latino lawmakers express alarm
The White House on Tuesday announced an executive order that will temporarily shut down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers attempting to cross outside of lawful ports of entry, when a daily threshold of crossings is exceeded.
The order would take effect immediately, senior administration officials said on a press call. Those seeking asylum would be held to a much more rigorous standard for establishing credible fear of returning to their home country, although certain groups – including trafficking victims and unaccompanied children – would be excluded from the ban.
This article was amended on 4 June 2024 to show that Biden’s executive order will limit the number of asylum seekers crossing the border, not to prevent all of them from crossing it.
Continue reading...Attack is having a ‘major impact’ on Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust, and is understood to have also affected other hospitals
Major NHS hospitals in London have been hit by a cyber-attack, which is seriously disrupting their services, including blood tests and transfusions.
The ransomware attack is having a “major impact” on the care provided by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust, its chief executive has told staff in a letter.
Continue reading...Lender denies whistleblowers’ claim transactions worth $100bn were carried out in breach of sanctions
Whistleblowers have claimed Standard Chartered allegedly carried out billions of dollars of previously undetected transactions for Iran-linked entities and terrorist organisations, according to a New York court filing.
Two whistleblowers, who include a former executive at the British bank, filed a motion last week to set aside a judgment that dismissed an earlier lawsuit they filed, in an attempt to revive their efforts.
Continue reading...Some employers emboldened by ruling against FCA manager’s claim over working at home full-time
Lawyers and HR experts expect an increase in employment tribunal cases as companies increasingly clamp down on working from home and staff become resentful that the flexibility they have enjoyed since the Covid crisis is being slowly rolled back.
A number of companies are now advocating a full five-day return to the office, with others enforcing a minimum number of days in the workplace. Administrative staff at Boots, who previously worked in the office three days a week, will return to the office five days a week from September. Many US banks, such as Goldman Sachs, also expect senior staff to come in for the full week, and its chief executive, David Solomon, labelled remote working an “aberration”.
Continue reading...For a long time, western science and Indigenous knowledge have been seen as distinct ways of learning about the world. But as we plunge the planet deeper into environmental crises, it is becoming clear that it is time to pay attention to both. Bridging that gap has been the driving force behind the career of the botanist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer. She tells Madeleine Finlay what we can learn from the most ancient plants on Earth, why we need to cultivate gratitude for the natural world and what western science can learn from Indigenous knowledge
Continue reading...In the past 10 years the idea that trees communicate with and look after each other has gained widespread currency. But have these claims outstripped the evidence? By Daniel Immerwahr
Continue reading...We know more about extending our lifespans than ever before. After
decades spent drinking, eating and laughing at people with exercise regimes, what will it take for Phil Daoust to join the ranks of centenarians?
When he got to 60, Phil Daoust, the deputy editor of the Guardian’s G2 section, made a decision. He was happy, healthy and wanted to remain that way for as long as possible. As a young man he had been unconcerned with diet and exercise regimes, preferring long boozy lunches, pies and walking to the pub. Later, after a bout of depression, he began to get healthier, but he wanted more.
He realised he no longer feared old age and decided to try to live to be 100. He took inspiration from people nearing that age, such as John Starbuck, a 93-year-old who regularly spends his days at the gym and is a keen water polo player. With a strong community around him, he illustrates the importance of social connections in living longer.
Continue reading...CEO Jensen Huang tells packed stadium in Taipei ‘next Industrial Revolution has begun’
Nvidia has unveiled new products and plans to accelerate the advance of artificial intelligence, with the AI hardware company’s chief executive telling a packed stadium in Taipei on Sunday that “the next Industrial Revolution has begun”.
Jensen Huang is in Taiwan for the island’s leading tech expo, Computex, along with the CEOs of some of the world’s biggest semiconductor companies – including AMD, Intel and Qualcomm – and their plans for a tech industry dominated by AI are top of the agenda.
Continue reading...Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson, Archie Rhind-Tutt and Jonathan Fadugba for the final pod of the domestic season
Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.
On the podcast today; Real Madrid are outplayed for large parts of the game as Borussia Dortmund miss chance after chance in the first half but none of that matters does it? Because Real Madrid always win.
Continue reading...All over the country, architecture firms make the case for bigger jails — then get hired to design them.
The post The Little-Known Reason Counties Keep Building Bigger Jails: Architecture Firms appeared first on The Intercept.
He tells the world he intends to be an authoritarian. So why won’t journalists repeat it?
The post The Media Still Doesn’t Grasp the Danger of Trump appeared first on The Intercept.
Is this what the “pro-life” movement wanted?
The post Sterilization, Murders, Suicides: Bans Haven’t Slowed Abortions, and They’re Costing Lives appeared first on The Intercept.
In Gainesville, Florida, children are on the front lines of the hazards long ignored by local and state government officials.
The post For Decades, Officials Knew a School Sat on a Former Dump — and Did Little to Clean Up the Toxins appeared first on The Intercept.
We’d like to hear from people under 30 in the UK about the things that will matter to them most when they go to the polls this July
We’re interested to hear from young people in the UK what matters to them the most when they think about voting in the 2024 general election.
If you are under 30 and live in the UK, tell us which issues are most important to you regarding the election, and whether you’re planning to vote on 4 July.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer appeared in Dover and Deal alongside the Labour party’s newest MP, the former Tory Natalie Elphicke, to announce the scrapping of the Rwanda deportation scheme if Labour is elected. The Guardian spoke to people in Dover to get their reaction
Continue reading...
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
The Intercept’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft shows how digital outlets are uniquely vulnerable.
The post Scarlett Johansson Isn’t Alone. The Intercept Is Getting Ripped Off by OpenAI Too. appeared first on The Intercept.
Are you looking for a new graphic design tool? Would you like to read a detailed review of Canva? As it's one of the tools I love using. I am also writing my first ebook using canva and publish it soon on my site you can download it is free. Let's start the review.
Canva has a web version and also a mobile app
Canva is a free graphic design web application that allows you to create invitations, business cards, flyers, lesson plans, banners, and more using professionally designed templates. You can upload your own photos from your computer or from Google Drive, and add them to Canva's templates using a simple drag-and-drop interface. It's like having a basic version of Photoshop that doesn't require Graphic designing knowledge to use. It’s best for nongraphic designers.
Canva is a great tool for small business owners, online entrepreneurs, and marketers who don’t have the time and want to edit quickly.
To create sophisticated graphics, a tool such as Photoshop can is ideal. To use it, you’ll need to learn its hundreds of features, get familiar with the software, and it’s best to have a good background in design, too.
Also running the latest version of Photoshop you need a high-end computer.
So here Canva takes place, with Canva you can do all that with drag-and-drop feature. It’s also easier to use and free. Also an even-more-affordable paid version is available for $12.95 per month.
The product is available in three plans: Free, Pro ($12.99/month per user or $119.99/year for up to 5 people), and Enterprise ($30 per user per month, minimum 25 people).
To get started on Canva, you will need to create an account by providing your email address, Google, Facebook or Apple credentials. You will then choose your account type between student, teacher, small business, large company, non-profit, or personal. Based on your choice of account type, templates will be recommended to you.
You can sign up for a free trial of Canva Pro, or you can start with the free version to get a sense of whether it’s the right graphic design tool for your needs.
When you sign up for an account, Canva will suggest different post types to choose from. Based on the type of account you set up you'll be able to see templates categorized by the following categories: social media posts, documents, presentations, marketing, events, ads, launch your business, build your online brand, etc.
Start by choosing a template for your post or searching for something more specific. Search by social network name to see a list of post types on each network.
Next, you can choose a template. Choose from hundreds of templates that are ready to go, with customizable photos, text, and other elements.
You can start your design by choosing from a variety of ready-made templates, searching for a template matching your needs, or working with a blank template.
Inside the Canva designer, the Elements tab gives you access to lines and shapes, graphics, photos, videos, audio, charts, photo frames, and photo grids.The search box on the Elements tab lets you search everything on Canva.
To begin with, Canva has a large library of elements to choose from. To find them, be specific in your search query. You may also want to search in the following tabs to see various elements separately:
The Photos tab lets you search for and choose from millions of professional stock photos for your templates.
You can replace the photos in our templates to create a new look. This can also make the template more suited to your industry.
You can find photos on other stock photography sites like pexel, pixabay and many more or simply upload your own photos.
When you choose an image, Canva’s photo editing features let you adjust the photo’s settings (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.), crop, or animate it.
When you subscribe to Canva Pro, you get access to a number of premium features, including the Background Remover. This feature allows you to remove the background from any stock photo in library or any image you upload.
The Text tab lets you add headings, normal text, and graphical text to your design.
When you click on text, you'll see options to adjust the font, font size, color, format, spacing, and text effects (like shadows).
Canva Pro subscribers can choose from a large library of fonts on the Brand Kit or the Styles tab. Enterprise-level controls ensure that visual content remains on-brand, no matter how many people are working on it.
Create an animated image or video by adding audio to capture user’s attention in social news feeds.
If you want to use audio from another stock site or your own audio tracks, you can upload them in the Uploads tab or from the more option.
Want to create your own videos? Choose from thousands of stock video clips. You’ll find videos that range upto 2 minutes
You can upload your own videos as well as videos from other stock sites in the Uploads tab.
Once you have chosen a video, you can use the editing features in Canva to trim the video, flip it, and adjust its transparency.
On the Background tab, you’ll find free stock photos to serve as backgrounds on your designs. Change out the background on a template to give it a more personal touch.
The Styles tab lets you quickly change the look and feel of your template with just a click. And if you have a Canva Pro subscription, you can upload your brand’s custom colors and fonts to ensure designs stay on brand.
If you have a Canva Pro subscription, you’ll have a Logos tab. Here, you can upload variations of your brand logo to use throughout your designs.
With Canva, you can also create your own logos. Note that you cannot trademark a logo with stock content in it.
With Canva, free users can download and share designs to multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack and Tumblr.
Canva Pro subscribers can create multiple post formats from one design. For example, you can start by designing an Instagram post, and Canva's Magic Resizer can resize it for other networks, Stories, Reels, and other formats.
Canva Pro subscribers can also use Canva’s Content Planner to post content on eight different accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack, and Tumblr.
Canva Pro allows you to work with your team on visual content. Designs can be created inside Canva, and then sent to your team members for approval. Everyone can make comments, edits, revisions, and keep track via the version history.
When it comes to printing your designs, Canva has you covered. With an extensive selection of printing options, they can turn your designs into anything from banners and wall art to mugs and t-shirts.
Canva Print is perfect for any business seeking to make a lasting impression. Create inspiring designs people will want to wear, keep, and share. Hand out custom business cards that leave a lasting impression on customers' minds.
The Canva app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Canva app has earned a 4.9 out of five star rating from over 946.3K Apple users and a 4.5 out of five star rating from over 6,996,708 Google users.
In addition to mobile apps, you can use Canva’s integration with other Internet services to add images and text from sources like Google Maps, Emojis, photos from Google Drive and Dropbox, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, Bitmojis, and other popular visual content elements.
In general, Canva is an excellent tool for those who need simple images for projects. If you are a graphic designer with experience, you will find Canva’s platform lacking in customization and advanced features – particularly vectors. But if you have little design experience, you will find Canva easier to use than advanced graphic design tools like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator for most projects. If you have any queries let me know in the comments section.
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