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Movano Evie Ring Review: Running Out of Time
Tue, 14 May 2024 13:00:00 +0000
For tracking women’s health, the Evie ring is still underbaked. Competitors like Samsung, Oura, and Apple may already have you covered.
Match ID: 0 Score: 35.00 source: www.wired.com age: 1 day
qualifiers: 35.00 fitness
3 Best Smart Scales (2024): Luxe, Budget, and All App-Connected
Sat, 11 May 2024 15:00:00 +0000
If you’re ready to start tracking your weight, BMI, and other critical health data on your phone, we’ve weighed in on some great options.
Match ID: 1 Score: 25.00 source: www.wired.com age: 4 days
qualifiers: 25.00 fitness
Cash incentives may help men lose weight, research finds
Wed, 15 May 2024 07:30:16 GMT
Men with obesity offered incentives and sent healthy-eating tips in Game of Stones trial found to have lost most weight
Financial incentives of up to £400 alongside text messages could encourage men living with obesity to lose weight, research has found.
The research, known as Game of Stones and presented at the European Congress of Obesity, involved a year-long trial involving 585 men living with obesity from Belfast, Bristol and Glasgow.
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The secret to a blondie’s fudgy texture is not to overmix the dough – our resident perfectionist reveals all in a few simple steps
Blondie – by which I mean the bake, not the band, though I’m a fan of both – is to brownie as hamburg steaks are to burgers; the original, now far eclipsed by the popularity of its more famous child. Dense, fudgy brownie recipes date from the late 19th century, but it wasn’t until 1906 that cocoa first put in an appearance; until then, all brownies were buttery blondies.
Prep 15 min
Cook 25 min
Makes 1 x 20cm tray
Crunchy potatoes with a punchy pepper cream and a popular Balkan egg-and-cheese filo pie
Gibanica (pronounced “geebanitsa”) is the very reason I have a business and a book today – it’s the pie that started it all. It was lovingly made on repeat by my maternal grandmother, recreated by me and now, through my shop Mystic Burek, has many variations. The original “recipe”, if you can call it that (it’s more a scribble in a notebook that was passed down to me), is a testament to skilled hands: just like my mum and my aunties, she felt food between her fingers, with no measurements, no timers – just natural, ancestral cooking. After many tests, this version is the closest I have come to honouring her and all those other women before me.
Continue reading...US secretary of state warned of ‘vacuum’ and ‘chaos’ in Gaza; Netanyahu claims no ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ has ‘materialised’ in southern Gaza despite charity and UN reports
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has said it faces “significant disruptions” to its humanitarian operations due to Israel’s recent ground operations in Rafah.
In a statement, the organisation said “the closure of the Rafah crossing and a blockade on entry of humanitarian workers and aid, including fuel, [is] critically hindering our ability to deliver essential services and aid to those in desperate need.”
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister acknowledges split with Washington but says he will act to ‘protest the life of our nation’
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has said it faces “significant disruptions” to its humanitarian operations due to Israel’s recent ground operations in Rafah.
In a statement, the organisation said “the closure of the Rafah crossing and a blockade on entry of humanitarian workers and aid, including fuel, [is] critically hindering our ability to deliver essential services and aid to those in desperate need.”
Continue reading...Read more from the DIY Climate Changers, a new series on everyday people’s creative solutions to the climate crisis
Beverly Lofton’s home in south Los Angeles used to have a water-guzzling grass lawn. Today, it’s a verdant microfarm that uses solar power and recycled water to grow carrots, beets, potatoes and more, with the bounty distributed to her neighbors. The 67-year-old’s switch was a bold move in a city ruled by cars and concrete, and where the impact of extreme heat and water shortages are acutely felt. It’s also a powerful rebuttal to food insecurity and big agriculture, in a neighborhood considered a “food desert”.
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Continue reading...Philippines coast guard and navy watch as wooden boats head to Scarborough shoal to place buoys and hand food packs to local fishers
A flotilla of about 100 mostly small fishing boats led by Filipino activists has set sail for a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s coast guard and suspected militia ships have used powerful water cannon to ward off what they regard as intruders.
The Philippine coast guard and navy deployed one patrol ship each to keep watch from a distance on the activists and fishers, who set off on wooden boats with bamboo outriggers on Wednesday to assert Manila’s sovereignty over the Scarborough shoal. Dozens of journalists joined the three-day voyage.
Continue reading...Lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers held up by new checks, with retailers rejecting some orders
Lorries carrying perishable food and plants from the EU are being held for up to 20 hours at the UK’s busiest Brexit border post as failures with the government’s IT systems delay imports entering Britain.
Businesses have described the government’s new border control checks as a “disaster” after IT outages led to lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers being held for long periods, reducing the shelf life of their goods and prompting retailers to reject some orders.
Continue reading...After inquiries from The Intercept, Duane Kees stepped down from his ethics panel position.
The post This U.S. Attorney Resigned Amid an Ethics Investigation. Yet He Wound Up Overseeing Judges’ Ethics. appeared first on The Intercept.
Netiporn Sanae-sangkhom, 28, faced seven court cases including two for criticising Thailand’s monarchy
A political activist charged with insulting the king of Thailand has died in pre-trial detention after spending 65 days on hunger strike calling for an end to the imprisonment of political dissidents.
Netiporn Sanae-sangkhom, 28, had been detained since 26 January and maintained a hunger strike until the end of April, refusing food and water, according to her lawyers. The corrections department said she had experienced cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning and was unresponsive to treatment.
Continue reading...“We’re continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel and with the government of Egypt to work on this issue,” the State Department said.
The post American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration as Population Clings to Life appeared first on The Intercept.
Survivors pick through debris-littered streets and damaged buildings as rescue workers dispatched amid warning some areas cut off by flooding
More than 300 people were killed in flash floods that ripped through multiple provinces in Afghanistan, the UN’s World Food Programme said, as authorities declared a state of emergency and rushed to rescue the injured.
Many people remained missing after heavy rains on Friday sent roaring rivers of water and mud crashing through villages and across agricultural land in several provinces, causing what one aid group described as a “major humanitarian emergency”.
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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
At least seven schools have reached an agreement with students around investment transparency and exploring divestment from Israel.
The post Some Universities Chose Violence. Others Responded to Protests by Considering Student Demands. appeared first on The Intercept.
“The reality for kids living there is shocking, honestly,” said an official who recently returned from Gaza. “People are living in really squalid conditions.”
The post 600,000 Palestinian Kids in Rafah Can’t “Evacuate” Safely, UNICEF Official Says appeared first on The Intercept.
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas
Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.
Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email.
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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
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Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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The powerful lobbying group is going against a Capitol Police officer who fended off January 6 insurrectionists.
The post Neither Candidate Has Much to Say About Israel. So Why Is AIPAC Pouring Money Into This Race? appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden announces he is willing to debate Trump at CNN-hosted event after predecessor says he agrees to debates
Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has started selling T-shirts that read “Free on Wednesdays”.
It’s a reference to the day when Donald Trump’s business fraud trial typically takes a break, which the president mentioned in his video announcing his willingness to debate Trump:
Continue reading...Proposal bucks tradition of three debates organized by bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates
The Biden-Harris re-election campaign has proposed two TV debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, in June and September, ahead of November’s presidential vote.
The proposal bucks a tradition of three debates, typically in the fall, that are organized by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Democratic party officials said that moving the timing up, reducing the number of debates, and ending them sooner reflected changes in the “structure of our elections and the interests of voters”.
Continue reading...A donor to Dexter in the Portland congressional race tells The Intercept: “I give all my contributions through AIPAC.”
The post AIPAC and Republican Donors Raising Big Money for Maxine Dexter Against Susheela Jayapal in Oregon appeared first on The Intercept.
State’s governor, Jim Justice, clinched the Republican nomination and is expected to trounce Democratic opponent in election
Republicans’ chances of retaking the US Senate were boosted on Tuesday when the governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, cruised to victory in that state’s primary, the highest-profile result on a night of such votes.
Justice is overwhelming favoured to beat his Democratic challenger, Glenn Elliott, and fill the US Senate seat now held by Joe Manchin, the only Democrat in statewide elected office.
Continue reading...Sir Graham Watson says rise of far right has led him to stand for Matteo Renzi’s liberal party Stati Uniti d’Europa
A former British MEP is hoping to stage a return to the European parliament in June after being invited to run in Italy by the party led by the country’s former prime minister Matteo Renzi.
Sir Graham Watson, a Liberal Democrat, used to represent South West England between 1994 and 2014 and is running with the pro-European coalition Stati Uniti d’Europa (United States of Europe).
Continue reading...Keir Starmer calls early release scheme a ‘get-out-of-jail’ card for dangerous prisoners as Labour calls PM’s claims ‘factually inaccurate’
Labour says the Ministry of Justice’s decision to delay court hearings because of prison overcrowing (see 10.39am) shows that people are “less safe” under the Tories. That’s a very convenient retort to Rishi Sunak, because only two days ago he gave a major speech arguing that security was a key reason why his party deserved to win the election.
In a statement, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said:
The Tories continue to make major and unprecedented changes to the justice system without so much as a word to the public. It’s completely unacceptable and the public will be alarmed at this latest panic measures.
The government is stalling justice and leaving victims in limbo because of the mess they have created. This comes days after they hid from the public that they’re now letting criminals out of jail earlier than ever before.
The government is completely failing [on knife crime]. We’ve had an 80% increase since 2015 and rises all around the country. That’s the first point.
On stop and search, that is intelligence lead and evidence-based and is a really important tool. We’ve had, for example, the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent organisation, looking at this saying that what’s essential is that it is done in that targeted way.
Continue reading...The Tories’ record in office undermines their claim at the last election to be the party of the NHS
In 2010, the Commons health select committee warned the new Conservative-led government that the NHS in England was facing cuts rather than the promised real-terms increases. The message could not be easily dismissed, as the committee was then chaired by a former Tory cabinet minister. Now, eight health secretaries later, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said this week that day-to-day NHS spending had grown by 2.7% a year during the current parliament, well short of the 3.3% annual increases pledged by Boris Johnson in 2019.
The Tories claimed at the last election to be the party of the NHS, seeking to capitalise on Brexit’s unfounded claim to be good for the health service. Voters don’t buy that today. Long waiting lists at hospitals for elective operations and frustration over the lack of access to GPs have led to public satisfaction with the health service plummeting to an all-time low. An estimated 250 patients are dying unnecessarily every week in England because of the queues for emergency care. Both the government and NHS England blame industrial action for waiting lists not falling fast enough. But, as the Nuffield Trust health thinktank pointed out last year, it is “unlikely that the lost activity would have been enough to enable waiting lists to come down”.
Continue reading...The Guardian’s Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey talk about Rishi Sunak’s big speech on security and how he hopes to draw a dividing line between the Conservatives and Labour. And Keir Starmer will meet union bosses on Tuesday but anger is brewing over Natalie Elphicke and rumours about Labour’s plan to water down pledges on workers’ rights
Continue reading...Deadly clashes have erupted over move to increase number of French nationals eligible to vote in Pacific territory
Deadly violence has erupted in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific, after lawmakers in Paris approved a constitutional amendment to allow recent arrivals to the territory to vote in provincial elections.
The amendment, which some local leaders fear will dilute the vote of the Indigenous Kanak people, is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long tussle over France’s role in the island.
Continue reading...This isn’t “politics by other means,” it’s never-ending conflict.
The post Israel Wants Endless War Without the Politics. Biden’s Going Along for the Doomed Ride. appeared first on The Intercept.
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On campus, inside the Capitol, and in court, there’s an all-out assault on American democracy in the name of Israel.
The post They Used to Say Arabs Can’t Have Democracy Because It’d Be Bad for Israel. Now the U.S. Can’t Have It Either. appeared first on The Intercept.
Antony Blinken’s report identifies “incidents that raise concerns,” but says Israel is not blocking humanitarian aid.
The post Israel “Likely” Used U.S.-Supplied Weapons in Violation of International Law. That’s OK, Though, State Department Says. appeared first on The Intercept.
Four lawsuits alleging Hamas ties against Students for Justice in Palestine, the AP, UNRWA, and a cryptocurrency exchange share many of the same plaintiffs.
The post October 7 Survivors Sue Campus Protesters, Say Students Are “Hamas’s Propaganda Division” appeared first on The Intercept.
As this difficult era nears its endgame, we are guided by a belief in good governance – and buoyed up by public support
The end-of-season finale is almost here. As the country slides inexorably and eagerly down the greased abattoir chute towards the end of what might be the worst-ever parliamentary session, you might ask if civil servants have become paralysed – either by chronic depression or pathological levels of schadenfreude – due to the spectacle of our leaders’ insistence on prioritising political theatre, the now-doomed Rwanda policy and the war on “diversity and inclusion” over doing the actual day job.
The short answer: it’ll take more than that. Yes, civil service staff turnover is worryingly high, and morale has been declining fast. We’ve been persistently attacked for being “remoaning” obstructionists, “activist” saboteurs and Brexit crybabies. We’ve been castigated for showing that working from home actually works, and for daring to raise questions about the legality of arms sales to Israel. This month, we’ve even – for the first time – had to mount a legal challenge over the constitutional jeopardy that ministers have put civil servants in by ramming through their unworkable Rwanda scheme. Last but not least, we’ve had to weather another virtuosic blizzard of “common sense” from Esther McVey about banning “diversity and inclusion” jobs. McVey doesn’t seem to realise that listening to the Tory party sermonise about the perils of diversity and inclusion has the same level of credibility as Dr Crippen giving a Ted talk.
The author works for the UK civil service
Continue reading...Conservatives criticised over plans to ban sex and relationship lessons for children under nine in England
School leaders have accused the government of using children as “a political football” over its proposals to restrict sex education lessons by age in England.
The guidance, to be announced on Thursday, would outline what topics could be taught to specific age groups, as well as allowing parents access to teaching materials used and further restrict how teachers address gender and sexuality, including transgender and non-binary status, after pressure from Conservative MPs.
Continue reading...Cross-party group of 50 calls on prime minister to appoint climate envoy and back Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance
A cross-party group of MPs and peers has urged Rishi Sunak to make a U-turn on his oil and gas extraction plans as part of a broader plea to increase efforts to address the climate crisis.
The 50 politicians, including three Conservatives, wrote to the prime minister calling for the UK to regain its international leadership on the crisis by ending the licensing of new oil and gas fields, appointing a climate envoy, and backing the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.
Continue reading...John Crawley, Paul Karakusevic, Alan Gardiner, David Felton and Warren Brown respond to John Harris’s article on the growing opposition to right to buy
My thanks to John Harris for raising this most emblematic Thatcherite policy question (Something is stirring in England: right to buy looks imperilled, and not a moment too soon, 12 May). But he missed three important points. First, in proposing that a replacement policy would devolve decisions to local authorities, he omitted to say that they always had discretionary power to adopt a voluntary sales policy (with any capital cost falling within their housing revenue account). Right to buy nationalised the policy and devolved the costs, financial and social. Labour should go for local empowerment.
Second, it was only charitable housing associations that were excluded from right to buy; the stock of all other associations was treated the same as council housing.
Continue reading...Opposition say ruling party undermining democracy by using police to harass candidates into not contesting in elections
When the people of Gujarat cast their votes last week in India’s six-week-long election, there was one constituency in the state that stood silent. There were no polling stations or impatient queues of people, and no one with the tell-tale inky finger. In Surat, no voting was necessary – the outcome was already decided.
Mukesh Dalal, from the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), won the seat by default after every other candidate was either disqualified or dropped out of the race. It was the first time in 73 years that Surat’s candidate was appointed, not elected.
Continue reading...A new anti-terrorism bill would allow the government to take away vital tax exemptions from nonprofit news outlets.
The post Criticizing Israel? Nonprofit Media Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Without Due Process appeared first on The Intercept.
An open letter from government attorneys questions the legal cover for arms transfers to Israel.
The post Even Biden’s Lawyers Are Urging the White House to Change Course on Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
We asked Jewish students at US universities what they think about pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Our panel responds
I was in California for Passover when the encampment first came up. I was excited because I want to see an end to what Human Rights Watch calls a system of apartheid, which refers to the fact that there are over 65 laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel, roads in the West Bank are segregated, Israelis have civil law while Palestinians have military law, water allotment is unequal and so much more.
Theo Goldstine is an undergraduate at New York University studying international politics and computer science
Benjamin Kersten is a PhD candidate in art history at UCLA, a fellow at the Leve Center for Jewish Studies and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at UCLA
Continue reading...The government is preventing refugee families being reunited, but adopting one simple proposal could change that
When I was a child, I had to leave my mother behind as I fled the Nazis on the Kindertransport. I still remember the moment my father met me at Liverpool Street station in London. My mother had been refused an exit permit, but at the last minute she managed to escape and joined my father and me in the city. Only then, all together, were we able to start rebuilding our lives.
Sadly, many refugee children are torn from their families as they flee war or persecution, or are separated on long and dangerous journeys to safety. Between 2015 and 2019, refugee family reunion was a safe route for families to be reunited in the UK: more than 29,000 people were granted visas, 90% of which were for women and children. But more recently, the government’s immigration rules have been failing refugee children who were previously able to rely on this system to enable them to join family members.
Alf Dubs is a member of the House of Lords and patron of the Refugee Council
Continue reading...Exclusive: Elderly woman was allowed to run up debts in ‘disturbing’ case, the latest to emerge in Guardian investigation
Government ministers have formally apologised and repaid £7,000 to a 93-year-old woman whom they held responsible for running up benefits overpayment debts even though they were told she had dementia and was unable to manage her affairs.
The case, which the minister for disability, Mims Davies, admitted was “disturbing”, was brought to light by the Guardian as part of its investigation into carer’s allowance overpayments.
Continue reading...Fifa has announced a new four-year women’s international match calendar which will come in from 2026 but was accused undermining domestic leagues andf faced criticism for not including mandatory rest periods.
The new international match calendar, which the global governing body said has a “player-centric focus” and “is backed by extensive research, analysis and consultation” includes a welcome reduction in the number of international windows from six to five. These windows will be placed in February-March, April, May-June, October, and November-December, removing the heavily criticised July and September windows – the former falling well after domestic seasons have ended and the latter disrupting pre-season preparations, for those leagues operating across the winter.
Continue reading...Labour MP says privatisation is a failure and industry incapable of building infrastructure to deal with effects of climate breakdown
The privatisation of the water industry has failed and it should be brought into public ownership, the Labour MP Clive Lewis has said.
In an early day motion laid before parliament, Lewis said the industry had proved it was not capable of building the infrastructure required to deal with the impact of climate breakdown, including increased flooding and droughts.
Continue reading...By moving Sergei Shoigu and promoting key allies, Russia’s leader is shoring up the military-industrial complex that justifies his survival
When the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, was removed from his post and appointed head of the security council this week, there were two big questions on everyone’s mind. What would his successor, Andrei Belousov, bring to the table, and what would happen to the former head of the security council, Nikolai Patrushev – reputed to be the second most powerful man in Russia and seen by many as a potential successor to Vladimir Putin?
The second question has a straightforward answer. Patrushev, it seems, is being sidelined. Yesterday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Patrushev had been appointed to the grand position of presidential aide for shipbuilding – barring any further surprise moves, this is a considerable downgrade in role.
Samantha de Bendern is an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House and a political commentator on LCI television in France
Continue reading...Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art, at the Arcola in London, tackles freedom of expression – with particular focus on Gaza
Arts Council England unleashed fury in February when an update to its policies warned arts companies, and those who work for them, against making “overtly political or activist” statements. Here was confirmation of what many in the arts already knew, which is that – whether by scrutineers from the left or the right – limits are being erected around what we can say and do in our work. This week, the Arcola theatre in Dalston, east London, addresses this phenomenon on stage, with Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art, a collection of short plays (written in a month, rehearsed in a fortnight) in response to warnings that artists shouldn’t be political.
In practice, that response takes two forms. I expected the evening’s focus to be, as billed, on freedom of speech and the artist’s right (obligation?) to be political. Sure enough, that’s the focus of some of the evening’s vignettes. There’s a farcical sketch, spliced between the short plays, about a frantic theatre manager (Joel Samuels) chasing politics off his stage. Two plays show cautious programmers rejecting too-hot-to-handle scripts (“Send me the play: we might have a one-day reading in the basement”).
Continue reading...WA senator says ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ – a phrase Anthony Albanese argues is counter to two-state solution
The Labor senator Fatima Payman has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has questioned how many deaths would prompt the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to declare “enough”.
In a significant rupture with the Labor party position, Payman called for sanctions and divestment from Israel and declared “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a politically charged phrase that Albanese has criticised.
Continue reading...Violent messages left by Justin Stein after he is accused of shooting nine-year-old dead played to murder trial
The man accused of murdering schoolgirl Charlise Mutten sent a string of violent voicemails to her mother threatening to kill her if she didn’t return his car to him.
Justin Laurens Stein, 33, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Charlise on or about 12 January 2022 at Mount Wilson, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Continue reading...Report suggests time taxpayers spent on phone waiting to speak to adviser has more than doubled
The annual total amount of time taxpayers spent on the phone waiting to speak to a HM Revenue and Customs adviser has more than doubled to the equivalent of almost 800 years, according to a report by Whitehall’s spending watchdog.
The National Audit Office (NAO) found that average call waiting times at HMRC have soared by more than 350% in five years, with increasing numbers of people not getting through in the first place or having their calls terminated, according to an official report that says the public is being “let down”.
Continue reading...Lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers held up by new checks, with retailers rejecting some orders
Lorries carrying perishable food and plants from the EU are being held for up to 20 hours at the UK’s busiest Brexit border post as failures with the government’s IT systems delay imports entering Britain.
Businesses have described the government’s new border control checks as a “disaster” after IT outages led to lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers being held for long periods, reducing the shelf life of their goods and prompting retailers to reject some orders.
Continue reading...Significant advances by Vladimir Putin’s forces in the Kharkiv region must concentrate minds in the west at a critical moment
Antony Blinken’s unannounced visit to Kyiv on Tuesday was a welcome and timely show of support. It was the US secretary of state’s first trip to Ukraine since America belatedly signed off on a $61bn aid package last month, allowing a desperately needed supply of new arms to finally flow to troops in the east. As Mr Blinken met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the capital, events continued to underline how urgently such assistance – and much more of the same – is required.
The ultimate scope of Russia’s significant offensive in the Kharkiv region is yet to become clear. In part it may be intended to create a buffer zone, protecting Russian territory close to the north-east border. But as thousands of residents are once more displaced, and the prospect looms of a huge artillery assault on the city of Kharkiv, the incursions are also diverting threadbare Ukrainian resources from the eastern front. That may facilitate new Russian breakthroughs in the Donbas region.
Continue reading...Jim Fleming notes that the European Space Agency can wake up a satellite but his power supplier cannot wake up his smart meters. Plus letters from Andrew Warren and David Redshaw
Re your article (British Gas boss says all UK households should be forced to fit smart meters, 8 May), after being harassed by email, text, telephone, letters and finally doorstepping, and being told that we had to get smart meters for safety reasons, we relented and spent a fun day at home with the fitter. The smart meters don’t work; they never worked. Apparently they don’t work in our type of house.
The European Space Agency might be able to wake up the satellite Rosetta 673m kilometres away, but our power supplier cannot wake up our smart meters. Sorry, I have to rush, they want another meter reading. You see, they are experiencing a high level of calls so no one can answer the phone.
Jim Fleming
Edinburgh
Conflicts in Gaza, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have led to a total of 68m IDPs across the world
Conflict has forced more than 68 million people to leave their homes as of the end of 2023 – the highest figure since data became available 15 years ago.
Natural disasters made a further 7.7 million people homeless, pushing the total number of internally displaced people (IDPs) to a record 75.9 million, according to figures published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre on Tuesday.
Continue reading...In talking points reviewed by The Intercept, the pro-Israel lobby argues that Israel has “no other option” but to invade Rafah.
The post As Biden Warns Against Rafah Invasion, AIPAC Pushes Congress to Support Israel’s Operation appeared first on The Intercept.
At least seven schools have reached an agreement with students around investment transparency and exploring divestment from Israel.
The post Some Universities Chose Violence. Others Responded to Protests by Considering Student Demands. appeared first on The Intercept.
Supreme court judges order Arvind Kejriwal’s release until 1 June and question timing of his arrest on corruption charges
One of India’s best-known opposition leaders, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has been granted bail by the country’s supreme court to allow him to take part in general election campaigningafter being kept behind bars for almost two months.
Kejriwal, who heads the Aam Aadmi party (AAP), has been held in jail since March when he was arrested on money-laundering charges. He has maintained that his arrest and detention was politically motivated to prevent him taking part in the election, which began in April and will continue until June.
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...The last big protests cost $150 million in NYPD overtime — with tens of millions more in lawsuit settlements.
The post How Much Money Did the NYPD Waste Quashing Student Protests? We Tallied It Up. appeared first on The Intercept.
Budget forecasts $14.4bn in savings from national disability insurance scheme, which minister says will come from changes to plan rules
Bill Shorten has said most of the federal government’s planned $14.4bn NDIS savings over the next four years will come from changes yet to pass parliament, as he promised to shut down a plan inflation “loophole” before it becomes a “gaping wound”.
The 2024-25 federal budget shows Labor is banking on a total of $27.9bn in savings to fund a number of measures. Of that total, $14.4bn is expected to be freed up by moderating the national disability insurance scheme’s expected growth of $15.9bn to just $1.5bn by 2027-28.
Continue reading...Tal Mitnick and Sofia Orr, who are in prison for refusing to serve in Israel’s military, are pleading with Biden to help stop the war on Gaza.
The post Israeli Military Refusers Appeal to Biden: “Stop Arming Israel’s War” appeared first on The Intercept.
Starry awards ceremony honours Andrés Anza as artisans notice increased interest in their work
On Tuesday night in Paris, a front row of Pharrell Williams, designers Rick Owens and Michèle Lamy, and Delphine Arnault, chief executive of Christian Dior, gave a standing ovation to a slightly dazed-looking young Mexican, an unknown ceramicist called Andrés Anza.
The sight of some of the most influential names in fashion applauding a craftsperson was an apt finale to the award ceremony of this year’s Loewe Foundation craft prize.
Continue reading...Erik ten Hag’s future at Manchester United is expected to be decided in the next fortnight, with the chances of the Dutchman keeping his job thought to be 50-50. United’s plan is to decide the manager’s fate after the FA Cup final on 25 May, when they face Manchester City at Wembley. It is understood his hope of remaining in the post are finely balanced.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the minority owner who now controls United’s football policy, his key lieutenant, Sir Dave Brailsford, Jean Claude-Blanc, the acting chief executive, and the technical director, Jason Wilcox, are leading the assessment of Ten Hag.
Continue reading...Macron holds crisis meeting amid unrest over plan to increase number of French nationals eligible to vote in Pacific territory
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will ask the cabinet to approve a state of emergency in New Caledonia after a second night of unrest over changes to voting rights in the overseas territory that has resulted in the deaths of at least four people.
Macron is expected to make the move during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The last time France took such a measure for the Pacific archipelago was in January 1985, during a peak of recurring violent conflicts between French authorities and a pro-independence movement that spanned most of the 1980s.
Continue reading...Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Robyn Cowen as Manchester City go top of the Premier League ahead of the final round of fixtures.
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; Manchester City beat Spurs to make sure winning the Premier League is in their hands – they are on the brink of their fourth consecutive title. Will the reserve goalkeeper Stefan Ortega be remembered as the man who got them there, saving one-on-one against a charging Son Heung-min?
Continue reading...We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.
This week, from 2023: Steve Albini was long synonymous with the indie underground, playing in revered bands and recording albums by the Pixies, PJ Harvey and Nirvana. He also often seemed determined to offend as many people as possible. What led him to reassess his past? By Jeremy Gordon
Continue reading...The bill requires any civil society organisation that receives more than 20% of its funds from abroad to register as being under foreign influence. Daniel Boffey reports
On the face of it the bill could sound innocuous: any civil society organisation that receives more than 20% of its funds from abroad must register as an organisation under foreign influence. Yet the new law Georgia’s parliament passed yesterday has sparked outrage and demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi.
Critics claim the bill is “Kremlin-inspired” as Putin passed a similar law in 2012, which they say has had a chilling effect on civil society. Demonstrators think it is a way to redirect Georgia towards Russia. The Guardian’s chief reporter, Daniel Boffey, has been speaking to young protesters – often schoolchildren – about why they are so incensed.
Continue reading...Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion joins Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack to discuss her team’s 4-0 FA Cup final win over Spurs and more
A big weekend of football calls for a star guest. This week, Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion to discuss her team’s 4-0 Wembley win over Tottenham. Then Chris Pauros joins Faye and Suzy to preview the final weekend in the WSL and the league’s record scorer, Vivianne Miedema, saying goodbye to Arsenal. They also look at the England squad announced by Sarina Weigman.
To sign up for our bi-weekly women’s football newsletter – all you need to do is search ‘Moving the Goalposts sign up’ or follow that link. Here’s an extract from the latest edition.
Continue reading...As AI systems have grown in sophistication, so has their capacity for deception, according to a new analysis from researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr Peter Park, an AI existential safety researcher at MIT and author of the research, tells Ian Sample about the different examples of deception he uncovered, and why they will be so difficult to tackle as long as AI remains a black box
Listen to the Guardian’s Black Box series all about humans and artificial intelligence
Read Hannah Devlin’s article about the MIT study
Continue reading...Rory Carroll, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, looks at what is fuelling anti-immigrant anger in the Republic of Ireland
Immigration has increasingly become a point of tension in Ireland. Recently, the Irish government said the threat of deportation to Rwanda had partly fuelled a surge in arrivals entering Ireland via the land border with Northern Ireland, a route that it says now accounts for more than 80% of asylum seekers in the republic. The Irish Refugee Council and other advocacy groups have questioned the figure. On Monday a judge in Belfast ruled that large parts of the UK government’s illegal migration act should not apply in Northern Ireland because they breach human rights laws; the UK government has said it will appeal the ruling.
Today in Focus host Hannah Moore talks to Rory Carroll, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, about immigration policy in Ireland. He tells Hannah that a changing population, a housing crisis and social and economic inequalities have led to rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Ireland. In November, riots broke out after a stabbing in Dublin. Social media commentators outed the alleged assailant as a foreigner – in fact, he was a naturalised Irish citizen, reportedly from Algeria – and a violent protest ensued. Hundreds of people rampaged through central Dublin, targeting property and police.
Continue reading...Ahead of the byelection in Blackpool South, the Guardian takes the temperature in the once prosperous northern coastal town, with many voters expressing complete apathy and disdain for the state of politics.
The area is going to the polls because the former Tory MP Scott Benton resigned after being found guilty of breaching standards rules in a lobbying scandal. Labour is hopeful of taking back the seat, which Benton won with a majority of 3,690 in 2019
Polls open in England’s local elections with Tories braced for heavy losse
Analysis: Will Tories dump Rishi Sunak if election results worse than expected?
The 71-year-old veteran peace activist discusses the war on Gaza, the Biden administration, and shaking up Congress.
The post Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin on Disrupting the U.S. War Machine appeared first on The Intercept.
Men with obesity offered incentives and sent healthy-eating tips in Game of Stones trial found to have lost most weight
Financial incentives of up to £400 alongside text messages could encourage men living with obesity to lose weight, research has found.
The research, known as Game of Stones and presented at the European Congress of Obesity, involved a year-long trial involving 585 men living with obesity from Belfast, Bristol and Glasgow.
Continue reading...Package in congressional review process after Biden delayed shipment of bombs over fears they would be used to attack Rafah
The US state department has moved a $1bn package of weapons aid for Israel into the congressional review process, two US officials said on Tuesday.
The latest weapons package includes tank rounds, mortars and armored tactical vehicles, one of the officials told Reuters.
Continue reading...The 22-year-old woman and her child were civilian casualties of a U.S. drone strike, but the Pentagon won't return the family's messages.
The post Pentagon Compensated Zero Civilian Victims in 2022 — Despite Evidence That the U.S. Killed a Mom and Child in Somalia appeared first on The Intercept.
The movement to divest from Israel and the defense industry is gaining momentum on college campuses.
The post “A New Sense of World-Building”: Inside the Student Movement for Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Hundreds of protesters prevented an attempt to collect asylum seekers from a south London hotel and transfer them to the Bibby Stockholm barge. The Guardian witnessed crowds blocking the bus and the road outside the Best Western hotel in Peckham before police were able to move in and break up the protest. The bus eventually left the area after seven hours, with no asylum seekers onboard
London protesters block transfer of asylum seekers to Bibby Stockholm
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
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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Continue reading...This isn’t “politics by other means,” it’s never-ending conflict.
The post Israel Wants Endless War Without the Politics. Biden’s Going Along for the Doomed Ride. appeared first on The Intercept.
Loyalist economist who ‘thinks years ahead’ inherits Kremlin’s biggest challenge as it prepares for the long haul in Ukraine
In 2014, Russia’s bloc of economic strategists was panicked by Vladimir Putin’s decision to annex Crimea and foment a war in east Ukraine, a move that led to western condemnation and sanctions against Russia that were seen as potentially ruinous.
But his adviser Andrei Belousov was a rare economist who publicly stood by his side, calling the damage manageable and western sanctions “insignificant” in terms of the Russian economy.
Continue reading...WA senator says ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ – a phrase Anthony Albanese argues is counter to two-state solution
The Labor senator Fatima Payman has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has questioned how many deaths would prompt the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to declare “enough”.
In a significant rupture with the Labor party position, Payman called for sanctions and divestment from Israel and declared “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a politically charged phrase that Albanese has criticised.
Continue reading...Biden announces he is willing to debate Trump at CNN-hosted event after predecessor says he agrees to debates
Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has started selling T-shirts that read “Free on Wednesdays”.
It’s a reference to the day when Donald Trump’s business fraud trial typically takes a break, which the president mentioned in his video announcing his willingness to debate Trump:
Continue reading...Proposal bucks tradition of three debates organized by bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates
The Biden-Harris re-election campaign has proposed two TV debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, in June and September, ahead of November’s presidential vote.
The proposal bucks a tradition of three debates, typically in the fall, that are organized by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Democratic party officials said that moving the timing up, reducing the number of debates, and ending them sooner reflected changes in the “structure of our elections and the interests of voters”.
Continue reading...After inquiries from The Intercept, Duane Kees stepped down from his ethics panel position.
The post This U.S. Attorney Resigned Amid an Ethics Investigation. Yet He Wound Up Overseeing Judges’ Ethics. appeared first on The Intercept.
 | submitted by /u/Wagamaga [link] [comments] |
US secretary of state says ammunition, armoured vehicles and missiles will be rushed to frontline as Moscow says it has captured more territory
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires:
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed Russian president Vladimir Putin’s comments on possible negotiations over his war in Ukraine as “hypocritical” on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Populist nationalist leader was meeting crowd of supporters when he was struck in stomach after four shots were fired, reports say
Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, has been injured in a shooting and taken to hospital, the country’s deputy speaker confirmed during a session of parliament.
The incident occurred after a Slovakian government meeting at a location outside Bratislava, the news agency TASR reported on Wednesday.
Continue reading...US secretary of state took to stage with his guitar to perform Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World
It was an unexpected moment at the end of a long day in Kyiv for Antony Blinken, after numerous high-level meetings and serious pronouncements promising the speedy delivery of US military aid. The secretary of state picked up a guitar and performed a rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World with a Ukrainian rock band.
The images, quickly shared on social media, split opinion in Ukraine, with the performance one of the main topics of discussion in Kyiv on Wednesday. Some hailed Blinken’s turn as a welcome gesture of support, while others questioned the optics of performing in a bar while the situation at the front is so tense.
Continue reading...Sir Graham Watson says rise of far right has led him to stand for Matteo Renzi’s liberal party Stati Uniti d’Europa
A former British MEP is hoping to stage a return to the European parliament in June after being invited to run in Italy by the party led by the country’s former prime minister Matteo Renzi.
Sir Graham Watson, a Liberal Democrat, used to represent South West England between 1994 and 2014 and is running with the pro-European coalition Stati Uniti d’Europa (United States of Europe).
Continue reading...Roberto Rossellini’s 1945 neorealist drama is unsparing in its depiction of the heavy price of both resistance and collaboration with the Nazi occupation
Roberto Rossellini’s 1945 film is a blazingly urgent and painful bulletin from the frontline of Italy’s historical agony: the Axis power that had belatedly turned against the Mussolini fascists only to be humiliatingly occupied by Nazi Germany on whose orders the dictator was reinstalled in the northern Salò puppet state, resplendent in contemptible impotence and pathos, with Rome at its defeated and compromised centre. It was a film that used the so-recently-devastated real streets and people of Rome on location for a project on which Rossellini started script work well before the end of the war, building on ideas by screenwriter Sergio Amidei with dialogue contribution by the young Federico Fellini.
Rome, Open City is revived as part of the BFI Southbank’s Chasing the Real season of Italian neorealism, along with the two other movies from his “war” trilogy: the episodic portmanteau film Paisà (1946) and Germany Year Zero (1948). This is the first time I have revisited the film since its rerelease 10 years ago, when the locations seemed as vivid and compelling as the Vienna of Carol Reed’s The Third Man or the (fabricated) Casablanca in Michael Curtiz’s Hollywood classic. Rome was “open” in the sense that that the Allies had agreed not to bomb it in deference to its historic and architectural importance and in return for the Italian authorities’ undertaking not to defend it militarily. In fact, Rome had been bombed before its “open” status was agreed on; one figure asks Anna Magnani’s character here if the Americans really exist, and she shruggingly gestures at the (genuine) bomb damage and says: “Looks like it.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Russian customs records suggest firm owned by major Tory donor kept supplying machines after ‘voluntary pause’
The British digger maker JCB, owned by the billionaire Bamford family, continued to build and supply equipment for the Russian market months after saying it had stopped exports because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian can reveal.
Russian customs records show that JCB, whose owners are major donors to the Conservative party, continued to make new products available for Russian dealers well after 2 March 2022, when the company publicly stated that it had “voluntarily paused exports” to Russia.
Continue reading...Owner of Dal Presidente and his wife among five arrested on suspicion of business being linked to Camorra’s Contini clan
A pizzeria in the heart of Naples that was founded by a man who made a pizza for Bill Clinton has been seized by police in a mafia-related investigation.
The owner of Dal Presidente and his wife are among five people arrested on suspicion of the business being linked to the Camorra’s Contini clan.
Continue reading...By moving Sergei Shoigu and promoting key allies, Russia’s leader is shoring up the military-industrial complex that justifies his survival
When the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, was removed from his post and appointed head of the security council this week, there were two big questions on everyone’s mind. What would his successor, Andrei Belousov, bring to the table, and what would happen to the former head of the security council, Nikolai Patrushev – reputed to be the second most powerful man in Russia and seen by many as a potential successor to Vladimir Putin?
The second question has a straightforward answer. Patrushev, it seems, is being sidelined. Yesterday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Patrushev had been appointed to the grand position of presidential aide for shipbuilding – barring any further surprise moves, this is a considerable downgrade in role.
Samantha de Bendern is an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House and a political commentator on LCI television in France
Continue reading...Salome Zurabishvili says protests in Tbilisi prove Georgians ‘will never return to Russian pressure’
Georgia is “returning to the past” through the new foreign agents law, the president of the former Soviet state has said, as EU ministers urge the government to “take a way out”.
Speaking at a press conference with the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Iceland, Salome Zurabishvili said the governing Georgian Dream party had diverted the country down a “very serious” road.
Continue reading...Gaia-24 explores human and environmental disaster caused by Russian attack on Kakhovka dam
Taking a casual glance at the elegant Kyivans queueing outside the lemon-yellow neoclassical theatre perched above Independence Square, an onlooker would have few hints that there was a war on.
But the opera that premiered at the International Centre of Culture and Arts last week is inextricably bound up with the deadly events of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...The bill requires any civil society organisation that receives more than 20% of its funds from abroad to register as being under foreign influence. Daniel Boffey reports
On the face of it the bill could sound innocuous: any civil society organisation that receives more than 20% of its funds from abroad must register as an organisation under foreign influence. Yet the new law Georgia’s parliament passed yesterday has sparked outrage and demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi.
Critics claim the bill is “Kremlin-inspired” as Putin passed a similar law in 2012, which they say has had a chilling effect on civil society. Demonstrators think it is a way to redirect Georgia towards Russia. The Guardian’s chief reporter, Daniel Boffey, has been speaking to young protesters – often schoolchildren – about why they are so incensed.
Continue reading...Russia, shunned from the world stage, and China, subject to new US tariffs, want to pivot further from the west
Having secured a mandate to extend his rule of Russia to three decades, Vladimir Putin is expected to travel to Beijing on Thursday on a state visit to meet Xi Jinping intended to shore up his most important international relationship.
The two men toasted their “no-limits” friendship in February 2022 – meant as a counterweight to the global influence of the US. That partnership has increasingly come under pressure as the Biden administration sought to isolate Russia from its Chinese lifeline after the full-scale invasion in Ukraine, which began later the same month.
Continue reading...Significant advances by Vladimir Putin’s forces in the Kharkiv region must concentrate minds in the west at a critical moment
Antony Blinken’s unannounced visit to Kyiv on Tuesday was a welcome and timely show of support. It was the US secretary of state’s first trip to Ukraine since America belatedly signed off on a $61bn aid package last month, allowing a desperately needed supply of new arms to finally flow to troops in the east. As Mr Blinken met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the capital, events continued to underline how urgently such assistance – and much more of the same – is required.
The ultimate scope of Russia’s significant offensive in the Kharkiv region is yet to become clear. In part it may be intended to create a buffer zone, protecting Russian territory close to the north-east border. But as thousands of residents are once more displaced, and the prospect looms of a huge artillery assault on the city of Kharkiv, the incursions are also diverting threadbare Ukrainian resources from the eastern front. That may facilitate new Russian breakthroughs in the Donbas region.
Continue reading...Georgian protesters opposed to a 'foreign influence' bill picketed the Georgian parliament amid a major police presence during the third, and final reading of the bill. Police attempted to disperse demonstrators and people were seen being detained. The 84-30 vote has cleared the way for the bill to become law. The draft now goes to the president, Salome Zourabichvili, who has said she will veto it, but her decision can be overridden by another vote in parliament, which is controlled by the ruling party and its allies. Government critics and western countries have criticised the new bill as authoritarian and Russian-inspired
Continue reading...The powerful lobbying group is going against a Capitol Police officer who fended off January 6 insurrectionists.
The post Neither Candidate Has Much to Say About Israel. So Why Is AIPAC Pouring Money Into This Race? appeared first on The Intercept.
Four lawsuits alleging Hamas ties against Students for Justice in Palestine, the AP, UNRWA, and a cryptocurrency exchange share many of the same plaintiffs.
The post October 7 Survivors Sue Campus Protesters, Say Students Are “Hamas’s Propaganda Division” appeared first on The Intercept.
New Křetínský bid creates headache for UK government amid growing scrutiny on foreign takeovers of critical infrastructure
The owner of Royal Mail has accepted a £3.5bn bid for the postal company from a Czech billionaire after he ramped up the value of the takeover, creating a political headache for the government.
Last month, Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS), rejected a preliminary offer worth 320p a share, or £3.1bn, from Daniel Křetínský, an energy tycoon whose company, EP Group, is its largest shareholder.
Continue reading...Cool, calm and confidently ribbing guests, Barnett will clearly bring a youthful energy to the BBC Radio 4 morning show – even if she did sound like she was on a royal visit to the studio rather than actually working there
Although called Today, the 6-9am slot on Radio 4 this morning was really about the network of tomorrow. A few years ago, a senior BBC manager told me that the “future” of the Today programme was Emma Barnett and Amol Rajan co-presenting, though neither at the time was on the programme. This morning, the prophecy was fulfilled.
Recent Today debuts have been shadowed. In 2015, Nick Robinson cut short his first week after a heavy cold compromised his voice. Rajan, in 2021, admitted to needing rum to soothe an insomniac “panic attack” before his first dawn.
Continue reading...Cross-party group of 50 calls on prime minister to appoint climate envoy and back Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance
A cross-party group of MPs and peers has urged Rishi Sunak to make a U-turn on his oil and gas extraction plans as part of a broader plea to increase efforts to address the climate crisis.
The 50 politicians, including three Conservatives, wrote to the prime minister calling for the UK to regain its international leadership on the crisis by ending the licensing of new oil and gas fields, appointing a climate envoy, and backing the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.
Continue reading...Forward has been criticised for not carrying his weight but against Spurs he did exactly what he was hired for
Well, that’s over anyway. How to describe the emotional energy of this game? For long periods this felt like all the things that football matches usually aren’t. Creepy. Awkward. Uptight. Even as an apparently endless second half stretched out there was a sense around the crowd of some necessary duty being discharged, football reimagined as a trip to Dignitas or a no-fault divorce.
There were still moments of drama. Tottenham played really well, and might have drawn the game if they had a sharper edge. The idea that Spurs would ever “chose” to lose to Manchester City’s annihilating title-bulldozer was always bizarre. When did choice ever have anything to do with this? But it was still a strange occasion, as though the banter-buildup, the endless chat about not helping Arsenal to win a league title had undermined the usual dynamic.
Continue reading...Jim Fleming notes that the European Space Agency can wake up a satellite but his power supplier cannot wake up his smart meters. Plus letters from Andrew Warren and David Redshaw
Re your article (British Gas boss says all UK households should be forced to fit smart meters, 8 May), after being harassed by email, text, telephone, letters and finally doorstepping, and being told that we had to get smart meters for safety reasons, we relented and spent a fun day at home with the fitter. The smart meters don’t work; they never worked. Apparently they don’t work in our type of house.
The European Space Agency might be able to wake up the satellite Rosetta 673m kilometres away, but our power supplier cannot wake up our smart meters. Sorry, I have to rush, they want another meter reading. You see, they are experiencing a high level of calls so no one can answer the phone.
Jim Fleming
Edinburgh
A new anti-terrorism bill would allow the government to take away vital tax exemptions from nonprofit news outlets.
The post Criticizing Israel? Nonprofit Media Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status Without Due Process appeared first on The Intercept.
On campus, inside the Capitol, and in court, there’s an all-out assault on American democracy in the name of Israel.
The post They Used to Say Arabs Can’t Have Democracy Because It’d Be Bad for Israel. Now the U.S. Can’t Have It Either. appeared first on The Intercept.
A former facility psychologist is suing the Bureau of Prisons over an Instagram account that joked about suicide at FCC Lompoc.
The post Who Ran This Derogatory Prison Meme Page? A Prison Guard. appeared first on The Intercept.
When it comes to heating our homes efficiently, the UK is lagging behind our European neighbours, however, there are ways in which we can better insulate and save money
Whether it’s squabbles over the office air conditioning or a family member telling you to put on another jumper, heating has always been a hot topic. However, with rising energy costs and the pressing climate crisis at the front of everyone’s mind, how we keep our homes warm is getting even more attention. While we might crave that satisfying feeling of nearly scalding our hand on a radiator when we crank up our central heating, we need to adopt a new mindset.
The UK is still very much reliant on fossil fuels for heating our homes. At the same time, reduction of fossil fuel usage is the number one priority when it comes to combating climate change, meaning the way we heat our homes is long overdue for an overhaul. In England, 90% of homes (pdf) have a boiler system with radiators as their main form of heating, while across the UK, 25m gas boilers are in use, which accounts to 16% of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions. To put it into perspective, for the UK to meet the government’s net zero target by 2050, about 8m buildings will need to switch from gas boilers to cleaner alternatives by 2035.
Continue reading...When you heat your home efficiently, you can stay cosy and warm without damaging your purse or the environment. However, knowing exactly how to heat your home is key, and here we bust some myths so you can reap the full benefits …
Myth 1: The ideal room temperature is 21C
We often keep our homes warmer than necessary. While a few degrees might not sound like much, it makes a big difference in terms of the overall energy output and cost. We might think we need our home to be set to around 21C, but in reality a little lower is more than sufficient. The World Health Organization suggests 18C is the ideal room temperature for healthy and appropriately dressed people, while The Sleep Charity recommends a bedtime temperature between 16C and 18C for optimum sleep.
Myth 2: Boilers are the most efficient way to heat your home
While in the UK many of us have relied on traditional gas boilers for generations, our European neighbours have been switching to heat pumps. These home heating devices are a modern, low-carbon and economical solution for creating a cosy home. Working much like a fridge or air conditioning unit, they use evaporation and condensation to create heat energy without the need for any fossil fuels.
They’re often described as fridges in reverse … but what exactly is a heat pump?
We all want to live in a cosy home but, during the cold winter months, keeping our houses warm can be a challenge. This proves even harder in the cost of living crisis, with many of us hit by higher-than-normal heating bills. Simultaneously, lots of us are thinking more about how our homes and lifestyle are affecting the ever-warming climate.
Heat pumps are a clever piece of innovation that can help with both problems – warming our homes while saving money and being better for the environment. An alternative to a traditional boiler, heat pumps keep houses at a comfortable temperature via a process that doesn’t require gas or oil, only electricity, which can be provided by renewable sources. In fact, recent research from the University of Oxford and the Regulatory Assistance Project, an independent, NGO advancing energy policy innovation, found that even at temperatures as cold as -30C, heat pumps outperformed oil and gas heating systems.
Continue reading...Do you keep the entire house at a permanent 30C, or are you a Bear Grylls wannabe with an ‘extreme survival’ approach to turning the heating on? There are many ways to heat our homes and lots of us are doing it totally wrong. Take our quiz and find out if you need to adopt a smarter approach to central heating
From heat pumps to insulation, solar panels and more, explore ways the government can support you at gov.uk/energy-efficient-home.
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