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Cash is king — for now: China signals it will slow transition to cashless society
Mon, 29 Apr 2024 00:26:53 GMT
With tourists struggling to access the two primary digital payment apps, Alipay and WeChat pay, Beijing has put measures in place to make cash payments easier
For 18 years, Liu Yau-li has been bringing tourists to China. In that time she’s seen the full evolution of China’s digital payment system. Twenty years ago, she says, everyone used cash. But today it’s not unusual to find places that can’t or won’t accept cash at all, particularly after the pandemic when much of the world grew wary of handling shared items.
If visitors want to enjoy convenient travel, she says, they’re better off downloading one of the major payment apps and hoping it works for them.
Continue reading...US secretary of state to discuss avoiding regional conflict
Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia to try to restart fraught ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, as a delegation from Hamas, expected in Cairo in parallel to the US secretary of state’s visit, said they would provide a response to an Israeli proposal focused on an initial hostage release.
Pressure on international mediators has mounted to secure a swift deal, amid fears of a looming Israeli ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, where over a million people are now believed to be sheltering. The move risks sounding the death knell on talks to free hostages or find a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.
Continue reading...Pope Francis, 87, met inmates, staff and volunteers at Giudecca jail during first trip outside Rome for months
The pope has met female prisoners in Venice who are stars of the Vatican’s pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art show, and urged the women to rebuild their lives in the first ever papal visit to one of the world’s biggest art gatherings.
Pope Francis, 87, arrived by helicopter in the courtyard of the women’s prison on the island of Giudecca, amid concerns over his health. He has not travelled outside Rome since visiting the French city of Marseille in September.
Continue reading...Burnley FC says it was informed about ‘offensive footage’ on social media from some of its supporters
A football fan has been charged with causing harassment, alarm or distress over alleged tragedy chanting during a Premier League match between Manchester United and Burnley.
Burnley FC said it was informed about “offensive footage” on social media from some of its travelling supporters at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Continue reading...But first there’s that long drive to Holyhead
‘We should really check that,’ I say to my wife about our son’s passport, which we’d suddenly remembered might be going out of date soon. With a sharp dart of sweating horror, I grab it from the drawer and discover it has indeed expired, just two days earlier – and we are due to fly to Dublin in six days. We decide our only option is to book ourselves on to a later ferry instead.
The problem with the ferry is it means six hours of driving through England and Wales. (And if you’re wondering whether our kids were sick during this trip, you’ll be delighted to know that our daughter vomited twice before we’d even reached the M25. Our son, perhaps affected by the miasma, or maybe sensing a deficit in attention, caught up and was himself sick three times, before his sister chimed in with one last spew 20 minutes before we reached the boat, to make it a creditable 3-3 draw.)
Continue reading...For years, the political establishment opportunistically railed against sex trafficking. Then came Pizzagate.
The post QAnon Was Born Out of the Sex Ad Moral Panic That Took Down Backpage.com appeared first on The Intercept.
Two-year-old calf one step closer to reuniting with family group after tragic accident that left her stranded in remote lagoon
An orca calf, trapped for weeks in a remote lagoon in western Canada, has freed herself and is travelling towards open waters, hailed as “incredible news” by a growing body of human supporters.
The move puts her one step closer to reuniting with her family one month after a tragic accident left her stranded.
Continue reading...A measure passed by the House seeks to block Americans from traveling to Iran on U.S. passports.
The post House Responds to Israeli-Iranian Missile Exchange by Taking Rights Away From Americans appeared first on The Intercept.
The web has become so interwoven with everyday life that it is easy to forget what an extraordinary accomplishment and treasure it is. In just a few decades, much of human knowledge has been collectively written up and made available to anyone with an internet connection.
But all of this is coming to an end. The advent of AI threatens to destroy the complex online ecosystem that allows writers, artists, and other creators to reach human audiences.
To understand why, you must understand publishing. Its core task is to connect writers to an audience. Publishers work as gatekeepers, filtering candidates and then amplifying the chosen ones. Hoping to be selected, writers shape their work in various ways. This article might be written very differently in an academic publication, for example, and publishing it here entailed pitching an editor, revising multiple drafts for style and focus, and so on...
We would like to hear about your favourite, most useful everyday utensil
What’s your favourite, most useful everyday gadget? It could be a much-used kitchen gizmo, a tool for your daily beauty routine that you can’t live without, or a piece of kit that makes your day-to-day life easier: anything small, genuinely useful, and inexpensive to buy (nothing over £20).
Continue reading...The White House brushes off accusations of hypocrisy, courting TikTok while seeking to ban it.
The post As Biden Cheers TikTok Ban, White House Embraces TikTok Influencers appeared first on The Intercept.
The state says EMTALA, a law barring discrimination in emergency medical care, interferes with its abortion ban.
The post Idaho Goes to the Supreme Court to Argue That Pregnant People Are Second-Class Citizens appeared first on The Intercept.
With stunning sunsets, one of the most beautiful beaches in the Mediterranean and must-see medieval cities, Croatia’s coast and islands are nothing short of spectacular
Once seen, never forgotten. Croatia’s fabulously beautiful coast and islands (1,246 to be precise) – with their rocky coves, iconic beaches, historic towns and gorgeous sunsets, all surrounded by some of the most breathtakingly blue waters imaginable – are places that stay in the mind, and they have a habit of luring you back.
Rovinj in Istria is one of the most instantly recognisable towns on the Croatian coast, its narrow streets and colourful facades climbing upwards to a soaring bell tower, modelled on that of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Travel north just a little and you’ll reach Poreč, home to Unesco-listed Byzantine mosaics to rival those in Ravenna or Istanbul – or south to Pula, with its magnificently preserved Roman amphitheatre. For a peaceful oasis set among some of the country’s finest vineyards, head just five miles inland from the sea walls of Novigrad to Brtonigla.
Continue reading...Do you enjoy exploring the cobbled streets of historic towns, or is spending long days stretched out on the beach more your thing? Answer these questions to find out your Croatian holiday persona
Find out more by visiting croatia.hr
Continue reading...Cruising is booming – 2023 ticket sales have surpassed historic levels and 2024 has seen the launch of the largest cruise ship ever built. But as cruise tourism's popularity has increased, so have the pollution problems it brings. To customers, it may not be evident that any problems exist, since some cruise line companies claim to be becoming more climate-friendly. But the truth can be quite different. Josh Toussaint-Strauss interrogates what impact the world's biggest ships are having on the planet
‘Biggest, baddest’ – but is it the cleanest? World’s largest cruise ship sets sail
‘A good cruise is one that doesn’t come’: Europe’s ports bear brunt of ship pollution
Shipping’s dirty secret: how ‘scrubbers’ clean the air – while contaminating the sea
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.
You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays.
Continue reading... submitted by /u/Saltedline [link] [comments] |
Warnings of dangerous temperatures across parts of Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and India as hottest months of the year are made worse by El Niño
Millions of people across South and Southeast Asia are facing sweltering temperatures, with unusually hot weather forcing schools to close and threatening public health.
Thousands of schools across the Philippines, including in the capital region Metro Manila, have suspended in-person classes. Half of the country’s 82 provinces are experiencing drought, and nearly 31 others are facing dry spells or dry conditions, according to the UN, which has called for greater support to help the country prepare for similar weather events in the future. The country’s upcoming harvest will probably be below average, the UN said.
Continue reading...End of secretary of state Antony Blinken’s three-day visit marks upsurge in military activity after period of relative calm
Taiwan has reported that a dozen Chinese warplanes flew sorties close to the island on Saturday, in a sudden surge of military activity just hours after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, left Beijing following talks with President Xi Jinping and top Chinese officials.
Before Blinken’s three-day visit to China, US officials had pointed to a period of relative calm in the Taiwan strait over the past few months, after years of aggressive Chinese military manoeuvres and threats, as a factor in improving US-Chinese relations since Joe Biden held a summit meeting with Xi in November.
Continue reading... submitted by /u/Maxie445 [link] [comments] |
submitted by /u/lurker_bee [link] [comments] |
At least 33 people were left injured and factories damaged after a tornado in the capital of Guangdong province
At least five people were killed and 33 injured after a tornado struck the Chinese city of Guangzhou over the weekend, state media reported, in the latest bout of extreme weather to hit the country’s industrial heartland.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said that the tornado hit the Guangdong province capital, in the country’s south on Saturday. About 140 factories were damaged, but there were no reports of collapsed houses.
Continue reading... submitted by /u/Puginator [link] [comments] |
With tourists struggling to access the two primary digital payment apps, Alipay and WeChat pay, Beijing has put measures in place to make cash payments easier
For 18 years, Liu Yau-li has been bringing tourists to China. In that time she’s seen the full evolution of China’s digital payment system. Twenty years ago, she says, everyone used cash. But today it’s not unusual to find places that can’t or won’t accept cash at all, particularly after the pandemic when much of the world grew wary of handling shared items.
If visitors want to enjoy convenient travel, she says, they’re better off downloading one of the major payment apps and hoping it works for them.
Continue reading...Tim Loughton had sanctions imposed on him in 2021 by Beijing, which has close ties to east African country
A former government minister who has had sanctions imposed on him by China has said he was detained and deported by Djibouti as a “direct consequence” of the east African country’s close ties with Beijing.
Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham since 1997, said he was held for more than seven hours at the airport earlier this month, barred entry to Djibouti, and told he was being removed on the next available flight.
Continue reading...Tesla boss reportedly meets Premier Li Qiang in visit aimed at sealing rollout of Autopilot software and transferring data overseas
The Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, arrived on an unannounced visit to Beijing on Sunday where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of full self-driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Chinese state media reported that he held talks with the country’s premier, Li Qiang, during which Li told Musk that Tesla’s development in China could be seen as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation.
Continue reading...Girl of between 12 and 16 was making her first appearance at Evo Japan as contests previously finished past her bedtime
A girl scored a win at one of Japan’s top fighting video game contests, in a competitive puzzle game released before she was born.
The girl, known as “Money Idol-chan” after the game she competed in, has grown up playing competitive video games. Since 2022, her parents have run Anegasaki Shooting Star, a tiny arcade on the east side of Tokyo Bay. Her name has not been released and her age has been given only as between 12 and 16.
Continue reading... submitted by /u/json_946 [link] [comments] |
Despite talk of a Nobel peace prize, Japan’s leader is facing a backlash among voters as key byelection approaches
In the past fortnight Fumio Kishida has been mentioned as a possible recipient of the Nobel peace prize and praised for a speech to congress in which he urged the US not to retreat into isolation.
But since his return to Tokyo after a successful summit with Joe Biden, Japan’s prime minister has been buffeted by domestic political headwinds that this weekend could spell the beginning of the end of his administration.
Continue reading...Parties clash over communal issues in increasingly charged campaign amid concerns unseasonably hot weather affecting voter numbers
India has held the second phase of the world’s biggest election, with prime minister Narendra Modi and his rivals hurling accusations of religious discrimination and threats to democracy amid flagging voter turnout.
Almost 1 billion people are eligible to vote in the seven-phase general election that began on 19 April and concludes on 1 June, with votes set to be counted on 4 June.
Continue reading...Like countless other hostilities, the stealthy Israeli missile and drone strike on Iran doesn’t risk war. It is war.
The post Israel Attack on Iran Is What World War III Looks Like appeared first on The Intercept.
The photographer documents daily life at Sunda Kelapa harbour in North Jakarta, Indonesia, including the schoolchildren who turn it into their playground
After school, many of the children local to the Sunda Kelapa harbour, in North Jakarta, Indonesia, go down to the water to swim and play. Jelly Febrian enjoys shooting the daily activities there whenever the weather is good. Always prepared for the right moment, he carries his phone with him to capture crews loading their boats, people fishing, and boys and girls jumping from the boats, as pictured.
“In the maritime villages near here there aren’t many fields, so the children mostly play around the pier. Every boat that docks here has a different owner and purpose, they load and unload basic necessities, and every week they sail to other Indonesian islands, such as Papua, Sumatra and Sulawesi.
Continue reading...Evidence points to Absolute Standards as the source of a lethal drug the Trump administration used to restart federal executions after 17 years.
The post “Little Home Market”: The Connecticut Company Accused of Fueling an Execution Spree appeared first on The Intercept.
The White House brushes off accusations of hypocrisy, courting TikTok while seeking to ban it.
The post As Biden Cheers TikTok Ban, White House Embraces TikTok Influencers appeared first on The Intercept.
For the first time, government military spending increased in all five geographical regions, Sipri thinktank finds
Global military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report.
The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in its 60-year history.
Continue reading...Four buildings destroyed in blast that also damaged homes in nearby villages
An ammunition explosion at a base in south-western Cambodia has killed 20 soldiers and wounded several others, the prime minister has said.
Hun Manet said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply shocked” when he received the news of Saturday afternoon’s blast at the base in Kampong Speu province. The cause was not immediately clear.
Continue reading...Supporters worry Khan’s life is in danger and with good reason: The military has a long history of killing deposed leaders.
The post Chuck Schumer Privately Warns Pakistan: Don’t Kill Imran Khan in Prison appeared first on The Intercept.
Despite eventual visa backflip by authorities, ABC’s south-Asia correspondent Avani Dias left after being made to ‘feel so uncomfortable’
The south-Asia correspondent for Australia’s national broadcaster, Avani Dias, has been forced out of India after her reporting fell foul of the Indian government, in a sign of the increasing pressure on journalists in the country under Narendra Modi.
Dias, who has been based in Delhi for the ABC since January 2022, said she felt the government had made it “too difficult” for her to continue to do her job, claiming it blocked her from accessing events, issued takedown notices to YouTube for her news stories, and then refused her a standard visa renewal.
Continue reading...Calls for divestment continue despite hundreds of arrests, with more demonstrations planned for Democratic national convention
Student protests on US university campuses over Israel’s war on Gaza showed little sign of letting up over the weekend, with protesters vowing to continue until their demands for US educational bodies to disentangle from companies profiting from the conflict are met.
In what is perhaps the most significant student movement since the anti-Vietnam campus protests of the late 1960s, the conflict between pro-Palestinian students and university administrators has revealed an entire subset of conflicts.
Continue reading...Joint UK-French investigation alleges group advertised small-boat crossings of Channel on social media
Four Vietnamese nationals have been arrested in London after an investigation into alleged people smugglers advertising small-boat crossings of the Channel on Facebook.
The joint UK-French investigation alleges the group shared posts aimed at the Vietnamese community and charged migrants thousands of pounds to make the crossing.
Continue reading...Opposition says prime minister targeting Muslim minority with ‘hate speech’ and violating election rules
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of hate speech during a campaign rally where he called Muslims “infiltrators” who had “many children” and claimed they would take people’s hard-earned money.
The opposition accused Modi of “blatantly targeting” India’s 200 million Muslim minority with comments made while addressing voters at a speech in Rajasthan on Sunday.
Continue reading...Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossing
Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.
Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on 11 April, a blow to a well-equipped military struggling to govern and facing a test of battlefield credibility.
Continue reading...The Department of Education is probing claims that the school discriminated against Palestinian and Arab students amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
The post “Kill All Arabs”: The Feds Are Investigating UMass Amherst for Anti-Palestinian Bias appeared first on The Intercept.
The blanket suspension of student protesters casts “serious doubt on the University’s respect for the rule-of-law values that we teach,” 54 law professors wrote.
The post Columbia Law School Faculty Condemn Administration for Mass Arrests and Suspensions appeared first on The Intercept.
The university suspended three students out of hundreds participating in an on-campus encampment to protest the Israeli government.
The post Columbia Suspends Ilhan Omar’s Daughter One Day After Omar Grilled School Administrators appeared first on The Intercept.
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