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‘Inside an oven’: sweltering heat ravages crops and takes lives in south-east Asia
Sat, 04 May 2024 16:03:16 GMT
Governments issue health warnings as schools shut and crops fail, with fears that worse is to come as heatwave tightens grip
Extreme heat has gripped much of south and south-east Asia over recent weeks, killing dozens of people, forcing millions of students to miss school and destroying crops.
Both the Philippines and Bangladesh shut schools due to the unbearable heat last month, while governments across the region have issued health warnings. In Thailand, at least 30 people have died from heatstroke since the start of the year.
Continue reading...University faculty have put their bodies and livelihoods on the line amid a brutal, violent response to student protests for Gaza.
The post From UCLA to Columbia, Professors Nationwide Defend Students as Politicians and Police Attack appeared first on The Intercept.
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As China launches its Chang’e-6 mission to the far side of the moon, US officials have expressed alarm at the pace of its advancements
The worsening rivalry between the world’s two most powerful countries that has in recent years spread across the world, has now extended beyond the terrestrial, into the realms of the celestial.
As China has become deeply enmeshed in strategic competition with the US – while edging towards outright hostilities with other regional neighbours – Washington’s alarm at the pace of its advancement in space is growing ever-louder.
Continue reading...The bipartisan duo also praised schools that brought in police to violently quell protests and connected the demonstrations to the TikTok ban.
The post In No Labels Call, Josh Gottheimer, Mike Lawler, and University Trustees Agree: FBI Should Investigate Campus Protests appeared first on The Intercept.
Covid vaccines, chemtrails, the Great Reset … Why do people invent false conspiracies when there are so many real ones to worry about? There’s only one way to find out: ask a believer
I am a conspiracy theorist. I believe that groups of people conspire secretly against our interests to line their pockets, cover their backs or achieve political goals. By this definition I suspect you are, too. We see evidence of these conspiracies every day. We see them in the Horizon scandal, in which the Post Office kept prosecuting innocent operators. We see them in the government’s use of a “VIP” lane for procuring PPE from friends and donors at extortionate prices. We see them in the Windrush scandal, in which people were denied their legal rights and unlawfully deported by the UK government. In the Cambridge Analytica scandal: a secretive micro-targeting campaign likely to have influenced the Brexit vote. In the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers, showing how the ultra-rich hide their money from taxes and legal scrutiny.
All these are conspiracies in the true sense: hidden machinations that advance particular interests while causing harm to others. A theory is a rational explanation, subject to disproof. If you accept these scandals are the result of hidden machinations, which they evidently are, you are a conspiracy theorist.
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Four women tell of the rise and fall of a notorious real-life mobster in this evocative second novel from the Costa prize winner
In the late 1940s and early 50s, notorious gangster turned pirate Boysie Singh terrorised Port of Spain and the Gulf of Paria. Boysie and his gang transported human cargo from Trinidad and Tobago to Venezuela, robbing their victims and dumping their bodies in the sea. He was hanged for murder in 1957.
Four female characters narrate Ingrid Persaud’s evocative novel about the rise and fall of the Indian mobster. Mana Lala, Boysie’s childhood sweetheart, bears him a son, and waits, hopelessly, for him to marry her. Popo, a prostitute, helps him launch his gambling house career and dares to cross him. Doris is the Catholic beauty (and social climber) Boysie marries, while Rosie, his first friend, owns a local rum shop and bar.
The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh by Ingrid Persaud is published by Faber (£18.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
Continue reading...Congress party’s Arun Reddy held over fake video of interior minister Amit Shah
Indian police have said they have arrested the social media chief of the country’s main opposition party over a doctored video widely shared during the ongoing national election.
Arun Reddy of the Congress party was detained late on Friday in connection with the edited footage, which falsely shows India’s powerful interior minister, Amit Shah, vowing in a campaign speech to end affirmative action policies for millions of poor and low-caste Indians.
Continue reading...Inadvertent poisoning of scavengers across Indian subcontinent is forcing some communities to give up ancient custom
Traditional Zoroastrian burial rites are becoming increasingly impossible to perform because of the precipitous decline of vultures in India, Iran and Pakistan.
For millennia, Parsi communities have traditionally disposed of their dead in structures called dakhma, or “towers of silence”. These circular, elevated edifices are designed to prevent the soil, and the sacred elements of earth, fire and water, from being contaminated by corpses.
Continue reading...Prime minister said there were ‘credible allegations’ that India was behind killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Canadian police have charged three members of an alleged hit team for their role in the assassination of the Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the first arrests in a high-profile killing that officials believe was masterminded by India.
The arrests come nearly a year after the prominent activist was killed in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh gurdwara on the evening of 18 June in the city of Surrey, British Columbia. In what investigators previously described as a carefully orchestrated operation, two assailants fired about 50 bullets at Nijjar and escaped the area in a grey car.
Continue reading...Former NSW premier’s threat to sue comes amid debate about whether New Zealand should join pillar two of Aukus pact
Australia’s former foreign minister and New South Wales premier, Bob Carr, says he intends to sue New Zealand’s deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, for allegations made about Carr’s closeness to China as debate about Aukus ramps up.
Peters called Carr “nothing more than a Chinese puppet” on the national broadcaster RNZ on Thursday morning.
Continue reading...Move seen as continuation of Pacific country’s policy of growing closer to Beijing
Solomon Islands lawmakers have elected as their new prime minister Jeremiah Manele, a former foreign minister who has pledged to continue the Pacific country’s policy of embracing China.
Manele said outside parliament on Thursday “the people have spoken” and called for calm.
Continue reading...Freedom to Write index says there are 107 people in prison for published content in China, with many accused of ‘picking quarrels’
The number of writers jailed in China has surpassed 100, with nearly half imprisoned for online expression.
The grim milestone is revealed in the 2023 Freedom to Write index, a report compiled by Pen America, published on Wednesday.
Continue reading...The famed scholar on why reducing Hamas to a terrorist label sanctions Israel’s war on Palestinians.
The post Judith Butler Will Not Co-Sign Israel’s Alibi for Genocide appeared first on The Intercept.
Officials say a landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday after torrential rain pounded the area
A flood and a landslide have hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 people, according to officials.
The landslide hit Luwu regency in South Sulawesi on Friday just after 1am local time, Abdul Muhari, spokesperson of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a statement.
Continue reading...Meta has threatened to pull WhatsApp out of India if the courts try to force it to break its end-to-end encryption.
The mistakes made at one point in time have an eerie way of re-emerging as memories fade
I’ve been spending the last several weeks trying to find out what’s really going on with the campus protests.
I’ve met with students at Berkeley, where I teach. I’ve visited with faculty at Columbia University. I’ve spoken by phone with young people and professors at many other universities.
Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His newest book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
Continue reading...Rutan, known for smooth flying style, survived having to eject twice from planes and being stranded at north pole
Burt Rutan was alarmed to see that the plane he had designed was so loaded with fuel that the wingtips dragged along the ground as it taxied down the runway. He grabbed the radio to warn the pilot, his older brother Dick Rutan. But Dick never heard the message.
Nine days and three minutes later, Dick, along with co-pilot Jeana Yeager, completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling.
Continue reading...After a long spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and foundations at Pantabangan
Ruins of a centuries-old town have emerged at a dam parched by drought in the northern Philippines.
After a prolonged spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels in the dam have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and the foundations of structures from the 300-year-old town in Nueva Ecija province.
Continue reading...When police attacked student protesters, a lone trash can was the only damaged property I saw around City College of New York.
The post I’ve Covered Violent Crackdowns on Protests for 15 Years. This Police Overreaction Was Unhinged. appeared first on The Intercept.
Warnings of dangerous temperatures across parts of Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and India as hottest months of the year are made worse by El Niño
Millions of people across South and Southeast Asia are facing sweltering temperatures, with unusually hot weather forcing schools to close and threatening public health.
Thousands of schools across the Philippines, including in the capital region Metro Manila, have suspended in-person classes. Half of the country’s 82 provinces are experiencing drought, and nearly 31 others are facing dry spells or dry conditions, according to the UN, which has called for greater support to help the country prepare for similar weather events in the future. The country’s upcoming harvest will probably be below average, the UN said.
Continue reading...The White House brushes off accusations of hypocrisy, courting TikTok while seeking to ban it.
The post As Biden Cheers TikTok Ban, White House Embraces TikTok Influencers appeared first on The Intercept.
Parties clash over communal issues in increasingly charged campaign amid concerns unseasonably hot weather affecting voter numbers
India has held the second phase of the world’s biggest election, with prime minister Narendra Modi and his rivals hurling accusations of religious discrimination and threats to democracy amid flagging voter turnout.
Almost 1 billion people are eligible to vote in the seven-phase general election that began on 19 April and concludes on 1 June, with votes set to be counted on 4 June.
Continue reading...Evidence points to Absolute Standards as the source of a lethal drug the Trump administration used to restart federal executions after 17 years.
The post “Little Home Market”: The Connecticut Company Accused of Fueling an Execution Spree appeared first on The Intercept.
Supporters worry Khan’s life is in danger and with good reason: The military has a long history of killing deposed leaders.
The post Chuck Schumer Privately Warns Pakistan: Don’t Kill Imran Khan in Prison appeared first on The Intercept.
Despite eventual visa backflip by authorities, ABC’s south-Asia correspondent Avani Dias left after being made to ‘feel so uncomfortable’
The south-Asia correspondent for Australia’s national broadcaster, Avani Dias, has been forced out of India after her reporting fell foul of the Indian government, in a sign of the increasing pressure on journalists in the country under Narendra Modi.
Dias, who has been based in Delhi for the ABC since January 2022, said she felt the government had made it “too difficult” for her to continue to do her job, claiming it blocked her from accessing events, issued takedown notices to YouTube for her news stories, and then refused her a standard visa renewal.
Continue reading...Berkshire Hathaway’s billionaire CEO, 93, steels shareholders for new era at the annual meeting known as ‘Woodstock for Capitalists’
As dawn broke on Saturday, thousands had gathered outside Omaha’s CHI Health Center Arena. Some arrived before 3.30am, standing for hours in the drizzle.
This is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, said Larry Blivas, 70, near the front of the line. The realtor traveled from Los Angeles to see “an icon”, he explained.
Continue reading...I travelled the UK interviewing teenage boys. I found openness, thoughtfulness, honesty and vulnerability on topics from sex to pornography, feelings and isolation
It was two separate conversations that made me think properly about what life might be like as a boy these days. The first was about a 13-year-old, the son of a friend, who said he had been rounded on for making a small (and, he thought, complimentary) comment about a girl’s haircut.
He told his mother that the girl’s friends were outraged: “Oh my God, you can’t say that about someone’s appearance. That’s so bad. You can’t talk about a girl like that!”
Continue reading...There’s a great restaurant and bar scene in this surf mecca, plus birdlife and snorkelling on peaceful islands a short ride away
It was the small and enigmatic Berlengas archipelago that drew us to Peniche harbour. Peniche, 60 miles north of Lisbon, is famous for its surfing beaches, but the islands off its coast often get overlooked. Every morning a couple of hardy passenger boats bounce over eight miles of waves from the peninsula of Peniche to Berlenga Grande. We took our seats on deck between sacks of onions and oranges and, flecked with sea-spray and followed by flocks of screaming gulls, we watched green hills emerge from blue waves ahead. At the port, the goods are unloaded with gulls wheeling and cawing overhead.
Seabirds nest everywhere: in the island’s grass, its sea caves and its hidden coves. Keeping out of nesting areas, we followed a footpath to a pair of sandy beaches. The sea is warmer here than at the more open mainland stretches and, at Praia da Berlenga, it is as still and clear as sea-green stained glass and offers fantastic diving.
Continue reading...With a famed pie maker on board, the new ‘British brasserie’ in Paris ought to be glorious. Instead, it’s a huge disappointment
Public House, 21 rue Daunou, 75002 Paris, France (+33 1 77 37 87 93; publichouseparis.fr). Starters €8.50-€19.50; mains €19.50-€36.50; desserts €9-€15; wines from €28
It was a simple plan: hop on the Eurostar to Paris and go for dinner at Public House, a new and audacious restaurant in the 9th arrondissement by pie king Calum Franklin, formerly of the Holborn Dining Room. Its mission: to bring scotch eggs, sausage rolls and the best, most golden, flaky pastry creations to the French. I could then write a sweet observational piece about the bourgeoisie of the Louboutin-shod opera district swooning over steak and ale pies, and adjusting both their corsets and their gastronomic perspective. Behold, the gravy-slicked anglais showing us how to eat. “Donney-moi une autre pie” etc. Because if anybody could do it, if anybody could finally make the French understand the quality and depth of modern British restaurant food, it had to be Franklin. He’s a gifted chef. He’s a lovely man. He literally wrote the book on pies. Go Calum, go.
Continue reading...Siblings Callum and Jake Robinson and US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad were travelling on a surfing holiday when they were reported missing
Three people have been arrested on charges of kidnapping after three bodies were found in an area of northern Mexico where two Australian brothers and an American friend went missing.
Perth siblings Callum and Jake Robinson, both in their 30s, were travelling in the region on a surfing holiday, with their friend Jack Carter Rhoad, a US citizen. The trio was reported missing when they failed to check into pre-arranged accommodation near the city of Ensenada last weekend.
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Palestinian restauranteur speaks from Bethlehem, where food stalls are sparse as farmlands are under attack
Fadi Kattan looked forlornly at the stalls inside the Bethlehem vegetable market bearing small quantities of oranges, watermelons and cauliflowers. “This stall should be heaped with products, he said. “And over there should be piles of aubergines and courgettes.”
The watermelons from Jenin looked too small for the season, while he wasn’t sure where the boxes of oranges were from. They would normally be from Gaza. At Um Nabil’s stall in the West Bank market where Kattan is a regular customer, she told him she could no longer afford to bring in the best small local cucumbers or piles of green cherries from her village of Artas.
Continue reading...Nahla Al-Arian lost more than 200 relatives in Israel's attacks on Gaza. Then Eric Adams said she was the reason police raided Columbia.
The post NYC Mayor Smeared a Grandmother as an “Outside Agitator” to Justify NYPD Assault on Columbia appeared first on The Intercept.
We would like to hear from people who have been affected by postponements and cancellations at the Co-op Live arena
The Co-op Live arena has postponed or cancelled several of its music and comedy shows in recent weeks due to technical problems at the venue. Olivia Rodrigo, Peter Kay and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie are among the performers whose gigs have been disrupted.
We would like to hear from people who have been affected by the disruptions at the Co-op Live arena. Had you planned to travel to see the show? Will you make it to a rescheduled show?
Continue reading...The far right are on the march in Germany and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany has become the most popular party in several states. Immigration and a sense of being economically left behind have been driving factors in the rise in popularity but the Green party and the federal government’s climate policies have also borne the brunt of public anger. The Guardian travelled to Görlitz, on the German border with Poland, to find out to what extent Germany’s green policies are fuelling the far right
• How climate policies are becoming focus for far-right attacks in Germany
Continue reading...For years, the political establishment opportunistically railed against sex trafficking. Then came Pizzagate.
The post QAnon Was Born Out of the Sex Ad Moral Panic That Took Down Backpage.com appeared first on The Intercept.
A measure passed by the House seeks to block Americans from traveling to Iran on U.S. passports.
The post House Responds to Israeli-Iranian Missile Exchange by Taking Rights Away From Americans appeared first on The Intercept.
The web has become so interwoven with everyday life that it is easy to forget what an extraordinary accomplishment and treasure it is. In just a few decades, much of human knowledge has been collectively written up and made available to anyone with an internet connection.
But all of this is coming to an end. The advent of AI threatens to destroy the complex online ecosystem that allows writers, artists, and other creators to reach human audiences.
To understand why, you must understand publishing. Its core task is to connect writers to an audience. Publishers work as gatekeepers, filtering candidates and then amplifying the chosen ones. Hoping to be selected, writers shape their work in various ways. This article might be written very differently in an academic publication, for example, and publishing it here entailed pitching an editor, revising multiple drafts for style and focus, and so on...
The White House brushes off accusations of hypocrisy, courting TikTok while seeking to ban it.
The post As Biden Cheers TikTok Ban, White House Embraces TikTok Influencers appeared first on The Intercept.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
Continue reading...Growing up on set put Oscar-winning actor Jennifer Connelly on the fast track to Hollywood fame. But despite her success, one of her lasting regrets was not finishing college – and, she says, it’s still on her to-do list…
Jennifer Connelly is on a Zoom call from her home in Brooklyn, jetlagged after attending Louis Vuitton’s pre-fall 2024 show in Shanghai, which does not bode well: she is known to have been reticent in past interviews, and sometimes while working. When she made A Beautiful Mind, the 2001 movie for which she won an Oscar for playing the wife of schizophrenic mathematician John Nash, the co-producer Brian Grazer was unnerved by her reserve. “It was hard for me to get to know her on the set because I’m so emotional,” he told a writer in 2001. “She’s very serious. She’s not silly. She doesn’t have that buoyancy.”
It is a relief, then, to find Connelly to be thoughtful and lovely and erudite, happy enough to discuss her life and career. I ask if Grazer’s description is one she’d recognise.
Continue reading...Rose Glass’s follow-up to her acclaimed Saint Maud is a scorchingly sexy, darkly violent tale of a gym manager’s love affair with a bodybuilder
This may seem an unexpected point to make about an actor who is arguably one of the coolest people on the planet, but the key to Kristen Stewart’s mesmerising screen presence is her ordinariness. I don’t mean her looks, although as Lou, the manager of a bodybuilding gym in an insalubrious New Mexico backwater, Stewart’s natural magnetism is somewhat muted behind a whey powder pallor, an air of defeated weariness and hair that looks as if it’s been deep-fried rather than washed.
Rather, it’s the unstudied, naturalistic quality of her performances, which are seeded with little glitchy details and gestures – the way she rakes her fingers through her fringe; the moment when she nervously wipes her nose on the sleeve of her T-shirt. Small things, perhaps, but these seemingly unconscious tics humanise her characters. They are recognisable, relatable moments of social awkwardness that anchor her in (or at least near) the real world. It’s a quality that adds to all her performances, but which is particularly invaluable in British director Rose Glass’s second picture, the deliciously lurid and thrillingly degenerate outlaw romance Love Lies Bleeding. When the rest of the movie launches itself headlong into outlandish, almost cartoonish excess, Lou is plausibly three-dimensional and grounded. The rooted realism that underpins Stewart’s performance offers a necessary balance to some of the more untrammelled impulses in Glass’s follow-up to her impressive debut feature, Saint Maud (2020).
Continue reading...Formerly best known as The Crown’s Prince Charles, the British actor is starring as a cocky US tennis pro in Guadagnino’s new hit film. But, he says, he was happiest living off grid in a van for his next film, La Chimera
What makes a movie star? Josh O’Connor, the 33-year-old British actor best known until, well, last week as the thin-skinned, tight-lipped Prince Charles in seasons three and four of The Crown, has been mulling over this question of late. Earlier this year he completed a drama set in the first world war called The History of Sound, with Paul Mescal. “Paul’s a friend, and to watch him work was amazing,” says O’Connor. “I really can’t underplay how brilliant he is. Paul has that movie-star quality, whatever that is. I wish I could articulate it, but he’s just graceful about it all.”
Zendaya is another one. O’Connor is currently in cinemas alongside her in Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s critically acclaimed psychosexual tennis romp, which topped the box offices in both the UK and US last weekend. They play two sides of a lascivious love triangle, with Mike Faist as the third, but it is clear that Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan is the one pulling the strings. “I’ve never done premieres like I’ve done with Challengers,” says O’Connor. “So that’s alien to me anyway, but to see how she breezes through them with such class and generosity. I’m a nervous wreck, I don’t think I’m helpful to anyone. And Mike as well, we’re both a bit like: ‘What the fuck? This is mad!’ But she’s just on the nail.
Continue reading...Nahla Al-Arian lost more than 200 relatives in Israel's attacks on Gaza. Then Eric Adams said she was the reason police raided Columbia.
The post NYC Mayor Smeared a Grandmother as an “Outside Agitator” to Justify NYPD Assault on Columbia appeared first on The Intercept.
For years, the political establishment opportunistically railed against sex trafficking. Then came Pizzagate.
The post QAnon Was Born Out of the Sex Ad Moral Panic That Took Down Backpage.com appeared first on The Intercept.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
No bars and only two ingredients… yet this dark chocolate is intensely good
I have something very special this week. A while ago, Bobbie of L’Esterre chocolate contacted me wanting to know if I would try her chocolate. She had recently taken over the family cocoa business – started by her grandfather in 1949 – as she had found herself ‘stranded’ in Grenada, where the cocoa farm is, over the pandemic.
This is not an unusual request and I’m always happy to try new chocolate. Thing is, I didn’t expect it to be quite so good.
Continue reading...The traditional British weekend lunch is being revamped with more exotic ingredients by chefs with worldwide influences
The ingredients of a traditional Sunday roast are often passionately debated: does a yorkshire pudding belong if the meat is not beef? Is cauliflower cheese an acceptable side?
Now a growing number of pubs and restaurants are adding even more unusual contenders into the mix, adapting the beloved meal with global additions.
Continue reading...There’s a great restaurant and bar scene in this surf mecca, plus birdlife and snorkelling on peaceful islands a short ride away
It was the small and enigmatic Berlengas archipelago that drew us to Peniche harbour. Peniche, 60 miles north of Lisbon, is famous for its surfing beaches, but the islands off its coast often get overlooked. Every morning a couple of hardy passenger boats bounce over eight miles of waves from the peninsula of Peniche to Berlenga Grande. We took our seats on deck between sacks of onions and oranges and, flecked with sea-spray and followed by flocks of screaming gulls, we watched green hills emerge from blue waves ahead. At the port, the goods are unloaded with gulls wheeling and cawing overhead.
Seabirds nest everywhere: in the island’s grass, its sea caves and its hidden coves. Keeping out of nesting areas, we followed a footpath to a pair of sandy beaches. The sea is warmer here than at the more open mainland stretches and, at Praia da Berlenga, it is as still and clear as sea-green stained glass and offers fantastic diving.
Continue reading...With a famed pie maker on board, the new ‘British brasserie’ in Paris ought to be glorious. Instead, it’s a huge disappointment
Public House, 21 rue Daunou, 75002 Paris, France (+33 1 77 37 87 93; publichouseparis.fr). Starters €8.50-€19.50; mains €19.50-€36.50; desserts €9-€15; wines from €28
It was a simple plan: hop on the Eurostar to Paris and go for dinner at Public House, a new and audacious restaurant in the 9th arrondissement by pie king Calum Franklin, formerly of the Holborn Dining Room. Its mission: to bring scotch eggs, sausage rolls and the best, most golden, flaky pastry creations to the French. I could then write a sweet observational piece about the bourgeoisie of the Louboutin-shod opera district swooning over steak and ale pies, and adjusting both their corsets and their gastronomic perspective. Behold, the gravy-slicked anglais showing us how to eat. “Donney-moi une autre pie” etc. Because if anybody could do it, if anybody could finally make the French understand the quality and depth of modern British restaurant food, it had to be Franklin. He’s a gifted chef. He’s a lovely man. He literally wrote the book on pies. Go Calum, go.
Continue reading...In the right hands, there’s diversity and much to love about grüner veltliner, the signature Austrian white grape, and other local drops
Funkstille Grüner Veltliner, Niederösterreich, Austria 2023 (from £12.49, Hay Wines) It’s taken a while, but it does seem as if Austrian wine, a long-neglected part of the classical European vinous repertoire, is finally getting something like its due attention in British wine shops and supermarkets. The country’s wines have, in fact, long been sommelier favourites, thanks, I think, to their ability to combine freshness and ripeness. Certainly, when it comes to Austria’s signature white grape variety, grüner veltliner, there’s no lack of aromatic fleshy fruit flavour of the sort that drinkers reared on, say, New Zealand sauvignon blanc, might enjoy. But there’s a natural briskness, too, plus a range of intriguing spicier flavours, notably white pepper and something green and savoury I think of as celery salt. There are some very attractive own-label bottlings at M&S, Waitrose and Morrisons around the £8-9 mark, but if you can it’s worth shelling out a few quid more for the extra level of concentrated ripe pear, peach and pithy, zippy lime and orange in the exuberantly youthful new vintage from Funkstille.
Maria & Sepp Muster Gräfin, Steiermark, Austria 2020 (£41.60, Vinvm) Another outstanding grüner comes from a producer that has winemaking roots going back more than a millennium: the impeccable Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Langenlois, Kamptal 2022 (from £18, Hedonism, The Whisky Exchange) is an irresistibly stylish swish of luscious apricot fruit seasoned with that classic grüner white pepper and salt. Austria’s growers are also justly famous for their rieslings, for which there is a heritage every bit as rich and long as in Germany or Alsace: Domäne Wachau, a contender for the title of the world’s best co-operative producer, makes a number of superb examples, starting with the perfectly weighted mix of fleshy tropical fruit and lime ping and zing of Domäne Wachau Riesling Federspiel Terrassen 2022 (£19.40, Noble Grape). As well as the classics, Austria also has one of the world’s most vibrant and adventurous natural wine scenes, which is responsible for some truly extraordinary orange wines, such as Maria and Sepp Muster’s Gräfin, a soft, gently grippy but exceedingly complex wine with flavours that range from strawberry and Campari to ripe apple.
Continue reading...After this week’s terrible results for his party, the only honourable thing to do is let voters decide his fate
Rishi Sunak’s government began last week by triumphantly announcing that a man whose asylum claim had been rejected had volunteered to take up to £3,000 cash in exchange for agreeing to take a commercial flight to Rwanda – plus the provision of housing, food and healthcare there for five years at a cost of £150,000 to the taxpayer. Sunak bookended it with some of the worst-ever English local election results for the Conservatives, and the shock loss of the West Midlands mayoralty to the Labour party.
A direct line can be traced from this preposterous claim of success to electoral disaster. During 14 years in government, the Conservatives have eroded the welfare safety net, sabotaged the quality of public services through underfunding and neglect, and imposed a huge economic hit in the form of a hard Brexit. Child poverty has gone up, the NHS is blighted by record waiting lists and understaffing and social care services for the vulnerable have been adversely affected.
Continue reading...Firms said food and plant checks and Latin names causing costly delays with lorries waiting hours in first week of post-EU regime
Of all the effects of Brexit, probably the least anticipated was that flower exporters and customs officials would have to learn Latin.
But that is one of the problems that confronted British businesses in the first week after the government introduced physical checks on some food and plants from the EU.
Continue reading...Staff offer support to protesters as locals donate food, drink, bedding and books
The collection of 12 tents pitched in a soggy garden at the heart of Bristol university’s campus is on a much smaller scale than the Palestine solidarity encampments sweeping the US. But the outrage at what this new generation of student activists regard as the complicity of education institutions in Israel’s assault on Gaza is just as raw.
“It makes me feel sick to my stomach,” said Olivia [not her real name], a second-year student at the university, outside the camp on Friday. “I feel deeply disgusted and ashamed. This protest is absolutely the least I can do for someone studying at a university that is so complicit.” Like many of the students involved in the protest, she doesn’t want to share her name. “There could be academic repercussions [for students taking part]: anything from being banned from university buildings to suspensions and expulsions,” she said. “This has happened in the UK, but not at this university so far.”
Continue reading...Palestinian restauranteur speaks from Bethlehem, where food stalls are sparse as farmlands are under attack
Fadi Kattan looked forlornly at the stalls inside the Bethlehem vegetable market bearing small quantities of oranges, watermelons and cauliflowers. “This stall should be heaped with products, he said. “And over there should be piles of aubergines and courgettes.”
The watermelons from Jenin looked too small for the season, while he wasn’t sure where the boxes of oranges were from. They would normally be from Gaza. At Um Nabil’s stall in the West Bank market where Kattan is a regular customer, she told him she could no longer afford to bring in the best small local cucumbers or piles of green cherries from her village of Artas.
Continue reading...Sofie Hagen loves sex – so why has it been 3,089 days since she’s had any? (1m27s); A flat white can now set you back up to £5.19 – but should we swallow it? (25m13s); and psychotherapist and Observer columnist Philippa Perry addresses a reader’s personal problem (43m51s).
Continue reading...The population of El Fasher, which includes thousands of displaced people, is in ‘dire need of food, medicine and water’
Water, food and fuel supplies for people in the largest city in the Darfur region of Sudan are being choked off as fighting intensifies, according to reports.
El Fasher has been encircled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group over recent weeks, besieging the population as well as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied militias.
Continue reading...When police attacked student protesters, a lone trash can was the only damaged property I saw around City College of New York.
The post I’ve Covered Violent Crackdowns on Protests for 15 Years. This Police Overreaction Was Unhinged. appeared first on The Intercept.
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Continue reading...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.
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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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