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Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 07:28:43 GMT
The RAC warns of "carmageddon" as heavy traffic is expected during the Easter getaway.
Match ID: 0 Score: 35.00 source: www.bbc.co.uk age: 0 days
qualifiers: 35.00 travel(|ing)
Rightwing populists have many countries in their grip. Come to Poland: see how they can be pushed back | Anne McElvoy
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 07:00:27 GMT
Donald Tusk is working hard and fast on a great transformation, but travel the country and it’s clear what a difficult task that is
My formative journalistic years were spent reporting on the final freeze of the cold war – days of hard times and soft currencies. When I return to those countries now, I test myself on how well I guessed what would follow in the three decades since. On Poland in particular, I would have been hard pressed to predict the giddy zigzag of power still featuring a generation who marched to topple communism, but whose protagonists feud bitterly about how to govern the country in the 21st century.
We talk a lot about places that have recently bought a one-way ticket towards authoritarian politics – Russia and Turkey for the full-fat versions, and Hungary’s democratic backsliding and stifling of independent institutions.
Continue reading...The scenery – and delicacies – get better and better for our slow travel expert as she takes a local train through Canton Fribourg to a beautiful medieval village
It was a handpainted sign on a wooden barn that piqued my interest in Gruyères. I was travelling from Emmental to Montreux last year, following the wonderful Golden Pass rail route. Our train paused at Montbovon, the start of a steep climb up to the line’s final dramatic mountain pass. There was the prospect of stunning views of Lake Geneva ahead. To the right of the railway, I spotted the bold sign: “La Gruyère vous salue” (the cheese lacks the village’s final “s”).
With time to spare earlier this month, I returned to Montbovon to explore the branch railway that runs from there down the Sarine valley to Gruyères and beyond. This time I arrive on one of the new Golden Pass trains which now run through from Montreux to Interlaken, relying on some technical magic to slip from narrow-gauge to standard-gauge tracks along the way. The tourists in the posh prestige class are tucking into platters of charcuterie accompanied by Swiss wine. The climb up from Montreux is as magical as ever, twisting and turning up into the hills with Lake Geneva far below. Forty minutes out from Montreux, the train makes its first scheduled stop. This is Montbovon, a village that my old Baedeker guide advises is “noted for good cherry brandy”. I am the sole passenger alighting from the train, which after a brief stop is on its way again, now following the Sarine valley upstream towards Gstaad.
Continue reading...We were forced to cancel when the host wanted thousands extra, but were still charged a fee
My daughter used my credit card to book a five-month stay using Airbnb after taking up an internship in Toronto. After the host accepted the booking, she got an email saying the price for the overall stay had increased by £4,000 – a further 39%.
Panicked, and unable to afford the extra sum, she cancelled. Airbnb has taken a £1,962 fee, plus a further £682 for cleaning and taxes. As my daughter cancelled immediately, it is extremely unlikely that a booking was lost.
Continue reading...Haiti has erupted into violence after gangs laid waste to the capital and forced the prime minister to resign. But Haitians are wary from bitter experience of outside forces intervening to find a solution to the crisis
A few weeks ago, two of the main criminal gangs in Haiti joined forces, staging a full-scale insurrection while the prime minister, Ariel Henry, was travelling abroad. Thousands of gang members took over government buildings, police stations and hospitals and broke into prisons, where they released thousands more gang members into their ranks. Before long, it was clear that the Haitian government and the police had lost control of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Widlore Mérancourt, the editor-in-chief of Haiti’s Ayibo Post, tells Michael Safi that for the first time he fears for his life while reporting from Port-au-Prince, such is the violent chaos there.
Continue reading...Two bodies recovered from water beneath Francis Scott Key Bridge as authorities in Maryland continue their investigation
Authorities are continuing their investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after the Singaporean-flagged container ship Dali crashed into it on early Tuesday morning.
Here’s where things stand:
Six members of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge who were missing following the incident are now presumed dead.
The bodies of two men were recovered on Wednesday morning when their submerged pickup truck was found in the waters under the collapsed structure. Authorities identified the men as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, a 35-year-old originally from Mexico who was living in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, who was from Guatemala and was living in Dundalk, Maryland.
Other named victims include 49-year-old Miguel Luna from El Salvador, a husband and father of three who lived in Maryland for over 19 years, and 38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, originally from Azacualpa in Honduras, a married father of two who had lived in the US for 18 years and launched his own maintenance business.
The foreign affairs ministry of Guatemala confirmed that two of the workers were nationals, though it did not name them. The ministry said the two people were 26 and 35, originally from San Luis, Petén, and Camotán, Chiquimula, respectively.
Three Mexican nationals were working on the bridge when it collapsed, Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Wednesday. One was rescued while two others remain missing, he said. The two Mexican nationals who remain missing were originally from the states of Veracruz and Michoacán, Mexico’s foreign affairs ministry has said. A third who was rescued on Tuesday is also originally from Michoacán.
Two construction workers were rescued on Tuesday. One was hospitalized at the Cowley Shock Trauma center in Baltimore before being later discharged.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will examine whether “dirty fuel” played a role in the giant cargo vessel losing power and crashing into the span. The Dali had lost power and issued a distress call moments before the crash, just after it began heading out from Baltimore to its destination of Sri Lanka. One reason for the blackout is contaminated fuel that can create problems with the ship’s main power generators, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, said it was “imperative” to get the port of Baltimore up and running as quickly as possible. Moore warned at a Wednesday briefing that the economic consequences of the bridge collapse “cannot be overstated and not just for the state of Maryland … we’re talking about what this means for the entire country”.
The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, urged bipartisan support for federal funding to rebuild the bridge and reopen the port. At a news conference on Wednesday, Buttigieg said it was too soon to say how long it will take to reopen the Port of Baltimore or replace the destroyed bridge. Officials were focused on reopening the port, dealing with supply chain issues, rebuilding the bridge and addressing surface transportation, he said.
The Coast Guard vice-admiral, Peter Gautier, said there is no threat to the public from any materials on board the Dali ship. Gautier, at a White House briefing on Wednesday, said the vessel is holding over 1.5m gallons of fuel, and that more than 50 of the cargo containers on board contain hazardous material, but that the ship is stable and that authorities have determined there is no safety risk.
Lawmakers in Maryland drafted an emergency bill to cover the salaries of workers who have been affected by the shutdown of the port. Details about the bill have not been disclosed yet. Bill Ferguson, the state senate president, said more 15,000 people in the region rely on daily port operations “to put food on the table”.
Singaporean officials announced that they will lead their own investigation on the Key Bridge collapse. The Dali ship was a Singapore-flagged ship traveling to Sri Lanka.
Continue reading...This joyous show sees the TV chef overflowing with warmth and knowledge as she tours the UK to throw genuinely cool parties for deserving Brits. It’s utterly heartwarming
If you had to choose a TV chef to throw you a huge party, who would it be? Let’s face it, there’s only one answer. (OK, two because it is a truth universally acknowledged that no one sets a table like Nigella.) I’m talking about a chef and restaurateur for whom everything is soul food. Someone whose background includes singing in a punk band and throwing legendary warehouse parties in the 1980s, neither of which can be said of Gregg Wallace or Marcus Wareing. A presenter who put the great into Great British Menu, a series that wasn’t otherwise known for its big heart and high glamour. It is, of course … Andi Oliver!
As a premise, Andi Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts is about as heartwarming as a Guyanese pepper pot cooked in a Cornish community cafe by a graduate of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen. All of which feature in episode one of this joyous six-part series in which Oliver travels the length and breadth of Britain, throwing genuinely cool parties for folk who deserve it. Not only is she as warm as a summer’s day in St Ives, she really knows her onions. “You make your own cassareep?” she asks chef Ben Arthur, renowned in Cornwall for his Caribbean hot sauces. That’s the thing about Oliver: she exudes warmth and expert knowledge, a rare combination in her field. I now know that cassareep is a molasses made from cassava root. Plus, I’ve got Oliver’s recipe for green seasoning, for which Fabulous Feasts is worth watching alone.
Continue reading...‘I’d had too much to smoke and was lying down with my Leica when I saw the Bubbleman. The bubble burst just as I pressed the shutter’
I only have two of my pictures up at home – and this one lives in the bathroom. It was commissioned by The Face and was among the first documentary photographs I had published. In the 1990s, everyone wanted to work for The Face. My first assignment was shooting neo-Nazis in Rome. It only took 15 years of work for me to become an overnight success. After that, I suggested a story on travellers.
It was 1992 and the Tories’ Criminal Justice Bill was due to give police new powers to stop the movement of travellers, taking away some of their rights to authorised sites. Myself and the writer Amy Raphael went off in search of travellers – and ended up at Glastonbury, where this photograph was taken. I’d had too much to smoke and was lying on the ground with my Leica when I saw the Bubbleman – and a naked bloke who came along and started playing with the bubbles. As I pressed the shutter, the bubble burst and I thought: “Shit, I didn’t get it!” But when I saw the contact sheet, there it was, the very last frame – with the material covering his willy.
Continue reading...Famous for its repression and torture, Teodoro Obiang’s Equatorial Guinea got an aid delivery from U.S. Special Operations forces.
The post Squeezed by African Coups, Biden Cozies Up to the World’s Worst Dictator appeared first on The Intercept.
“I saw scenes that were horrific and I never want to see again,” said Yasser Khan, a surgeon from Toronto.
The post “Man-Made Hell On Earth”: A Canadian Doctor on His Medical Mission to Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Anger over the civilian carnage in Gaza has galvanized some veterans who experienced disastrous U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan up close.
The post Anti-War Veterans Groups Echo Aaron Bushnell’s Demand for a Ceasefire in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Go at the right time of year, and these destinations promise alfresco adventure and cultural immersion – without stifling temperatures
In the height of summer, the Mediterranean positively sizzles, but choose a trip in the “shoulder seasons” of spring and autumn and you’ll find the region transformed.
Visit these eight spots and you can still enjoy endless sun and blue skies, along with local festivals, perfect hiking temperatures and fabulous floral displays.
Continue reading...With its remarkable culinary heritage, every region of Italy has unique specialities to savour
When it comes to great food and wines, few places match the sheer pleasure of travelling in Italy. The country’s delicious regional cuisine is based firmly on a Mediterranean diet, making the most of fresh, seasonal vegetables, plentiful seafood, local cheeses and charcuterie, exquisite dolci and amazingly good olive oil – accompanied by wonderful Italian wines. You’ll never be far from a truly unforgettable meal in this delightful country.
Continue reading...European cities are traditionally the travel trend for couples, but they make the perfect playground for children too
Family travel in Europe is enormously rewarding, and the sheer breadth of experiences on offer is pretty much inexhaustible. It’s often the places that might not seem like obvious family destinations that will surprise you the most: from Unesco-listed old towns and iconic historical sites to fantastic areas for family hiking and cycling, fairytale castles and palaces that evoke a genuine sense of wonder, and beautiful beaches, there’s plenty to discover. Here are some of the best places to enjoy a family holiday in Europe that you might not have thought of yet.
Continue reading...Rosemary Coogan, one of ESA’s five astronaut candidates currently undergoing basic astronaut training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, shares her journey from studying the stars to training for space travel. Join us as we discuss her experiences in astronaut training, her favorite lessons, and her excitement for the future of space exploration.
This is Episode 4 of our ESA Explores podcast series introducing the ESA astronaut class of 2022, recorded in November 2023.
Music and audio editing by Denzel Lorge. Cover art by Gaël Nadaud.
Access all ESA Explores podcasts.
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...From his perch on a government commission, Jacob Helberg fearmongered about TikTok in Congress. He also works for a giant defense contractor.
The post Tech Official Pushing TikTok Ban Could Reap Windfall From U.S.–China Cold War appeared first on The Intercept.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says China’s duties on Australian bottled wine will come to an end from Friday
China has dropped tariffs on Australian wine, a long-awaited decision heralded by the Albanese government as validation of its “calm and consistent approach” with the superpower on a series of controversial trade disputes.
In a statement on Thursday the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, foreign minister, Penny Wong, and trade minister, Don Farrell, said they had been informed that from Friday, China’s duties on Australian bottled wine would come to an end. Australia would, in turn, discontinue its legal proceedings in the World Trade Organization, the government said.
Continue reading...In his last weeks of life, the Oscar-winning composer is filmed at the piano by his son. It is an almost wordless paean to a remarkable career
Short of presenting nothing more than music and a blank screen, this documentary about the late Japanese composer-performer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s last appearances is as stark and minimal as a concert film can get. And yet it’s a work suffused with emotional tones and shades, surprisingly not all of them sad even though the subject knew at the time of filming he had mere weeks left before he’d die of cancer.
There are moments when director Neo Sora, Sakamoto’s son, turns up the lighting for the more upbeat songs and we can see the master smile, pleased with his own performance, or the composition, or … we know not what, as there is almost no dialogue, no nattering about the life. We had all that in an earlier documentary, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda. In Opus it is the music, played by the man himself, that is completely sufficient to the moment and all that remains, with the occasional very human stumbles and missed notes. When he says he needs a break for a while, exhausted by a performance, the strain is painfully visible, audible, practically palpable.
Continue reading...New Zealand did not follow the US and UK in imposing financial restrictions after accusing Beijing of links to cyber-attacks
Politicians, journalists and critics of Beijing were among those targeted by cyber-attacks run by groups backed by China, western intelligence services said this week.
The separate cyber-attacks hit the US, UK and New Zealand – all members of the Five Eyes alliance. The network of five countries, which also includes Canada and Australia, share security related intelligence.
Continue reading... submitted by /u/etfvpu [link] [comments] |
submitted by /u/benh999 [link] [comments] |
More than half of the borrowed words relate to cooking, while Kintsugi, the increasingly popular art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer is also included
Katsu, donburi and onigiri are among 23 Japanese words added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its latest update.
More than half of the borrowed words relate to food or cooking. Santoku, a knife with a short, flat blade that curves down at the tip, and okonomiyaki, a type of savoury pancake, were both added. Okonomiyaki is derived from okonomi, meaning “what you like”, combined with yaki, meaning “to fry, to sear”.
Continue reading...The former star UBS and Citigroup trader was convicted of conspiracy to defraud by manipulating financial benchmark and served 5 1/2 years in prison
Britain’s financial regulator has identified shortcomings in how some motor insurance firms are valuing written-off or stolen vehicles.
A review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found evidence that suggests some firms are offering their customers less than their written-off or stolen vehicle is worth and, in some cases, are only increasing that offer when a customer complains.
Having your vehicle written off or stolen can be intensely stressful and we expect firms to offer the right support to help their customers.
We expect all motor insurers to take note of our findings and we are engaging directly with those that have issues that need to be addressed.
Continue reading... submitted by /u/College_Prestige [link] [comments] |
Cholesterol-lowering supplements containing ‘beni koji’ recalled by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical over possible link to kidney disease
A nationwide recall of a dietary supplement that lowers cholesterol has been issued in Japan amid concerns it could be linked to two deaths and more than 100 hospitalisations, according to news agency Kyodo.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, which sells over-the-counter drugs and dietary supplements, has issued a national recall of the product, and authorities are conducting emergency checks on thousands of products that advertise their health benefits, Kyodo reported.
Continue reading...Oji Holdings said it would stop making children’s nappies in September amid a sharp decline in demand. Japan has a rapidly ageing society
A nappy manufacturer in Japan is to stop making the products for babies and instead raise production of adult diapers, in a reflection of the country’s rapidly ageing society.
Oji Holdings, which specialises in paper products, said it would stop making children’s nappies in September amid a sharp decline in demand. The firm has seen sales drop from a peak of about 700m in 2001 to 400m today.
Continue reading...Another federal government program to fight foreign disinformation falls flat.
The post Government-Made Comic Books Try to Fight Election Disinformation appeared first on The Intercept.
Famous for its repression and torture, Teodoro Obiang’s Equatorial Guinea got an aid delivery from U.S. Special Operations forces.
The post Squeezed by African Coups, Biden Cozies Up to the World’s Worst Dictator appeared first on The Intercept.
A bleak, brilliant moral maze of a novel about ethical dilemmas, from global poverty to the climate crisis
In the middle ages, morality would be transmitted in images. Churchgoers would commonly find above the altar a panel of three paintings relating a biblical parable or commandment. Such altarpieces could be found in Buddhist shrines, too, which might be adorned with three scenes from the path of enlightenment. A knack for envisioning moral precepts has seen the triptych translated across many cultures and now, with the UK-based Indian writer Neel Mukherjee’s formally daring new novel, even from image to text.
Composed of three narratives about 21st-century ethical and political dilemmas, Choice has been termed a triptych by its author and, like its visual forebears, the novel needles our moral impulses. The issues in question, from climate change to global poverty, are modern, but the novel’s interest in sin and virtue is redolent of the triptych’s medieval preoccupations. Where Choice differs is that, in its world, there are no unambiguous rights or wrongs. As one character observes of another: “No escape was offered by making what one thought was the correct moral choice.” This is a triptych for a secular age – without hope of salvation, however hard humans try.
Continue reading...Despite promises of reform, exploitation remains endemic in India’s sandstone industry, with children doing dangerous work for low pay – often to decorate driveways and gardens thousands of miles away
Sonu has one clear instruction from his boss: when you see an outsider, run. In the two years since he started working full time, he has had to run only twice. Sonu is eight years old. His mother, Anita, said that almost every time an outsider comes to their village of Budhpura, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, she receives a phone call telling her not to bring Sonu to work. “Only adults go to work on those days,” said the 40-year-old, cradling her youngest child, who is three.
Sonu and his mother work eight hours a day, usually six days a week, making small paving stones, many of which are exported to the UK, North America and Europe. Sonu began working after his father died of the lung disease silicosis in 2021. “First, he made five stones, then 10, and then he quit school to work full-time,” his mother said. The pair sit on a street close to their home, amid heaps of sandstone rubble, chiselling rocks into rough cubes of rugged stone. Sonu is paid one rupee – less than a penny – for each cobblestone he produces. These stones have a retail value of about £80 a square metre in the UK.
Continue reading...US called for fair legal process for opposition figure Arvind Kejriwal amid claims that challengers to Narendra Modi are being targeted ahead of national elections
India has summoned a top US diplomat after Washington warned it to ensure a “fair, transparent and timely legal process” for a senior opposition leader jailed just weeks ahead of parliamentary elections.
The US state department had said it was “closely watching” events after Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi, was arrested last week in connection with a long-running corruption investigation.
Continue reading...Two bodies recovered from water beneath Francis Scott Key Bridge as authorities in Maryland continue their investigation
Authorities are continuing their investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after the Singaporean-flagged container ship Dali crashed into it on early Tuesday morning.
Here’s where things stand:
Six members of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge who were missing following the incident are now presumed dead.
The bodies of two men were recovered on Wednesday morning when their submerged pickup truck was found in the waters under the collapsed structure. Authorities identified the men as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, a 35-year-old originally from Mexico who was living in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, who was from Guatemala and was living in Dundalk, Maryland.
Other named victims include 49-year-old Miguel Luna from El Salvador, a husband and father of three who lived in Maryland for over 19 years, and 38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, originally from Azacualpa in Honduras, a married father of two who had lived in the US for 18 years and launched his own maintenance business.
The foreign affairs ministry of Guatemala confirmed that two of the workers were nationals, though it did not name them. The ministry said the two people were 26 and 35, originally from San Luis, Petén, and Camotán, Chiquimula, respectively.
Three Mexican nationals were working on the bridge when it collapsed, Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Wednesday. One was rescued while two others remain missing, he said. The two Mexican nationals who remain missing were originally from the states of Veracruz and Michoacán, Mexico’s foreign affairs ministry has said. A third who was rescued on Tuesday is also originally from Michoacán.
Two construction workers were rescued on Tuesday. One was hospitalized at the Cowley Shock Trauma center in Baltimore before being later discharged.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will examine whether “dirty fuel” played a role in the giant cargo vessel losing power and crashing into the span. The Dali had lost power and issued a distress call moments before the crash, just after it began heading out from Baltimore to its destination of Sri Lanka. One reason for the blackout is contaminated fuel that can create problems with the ship’s main power generators, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, said it was “imperative” to get the port of Baltimore up and running as quickly as possible. Moore warned at a Wednesday briefing that the economic consequences of the bridge collapse “cannot be overstated and not just for the state of Maryland … we’re talking about what this means for the entire country”.
The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, urged bipartisan support for federal funding to rebuild the bridge and reopen the port. At a news conference on Wednesday, Buttigieg said it was too soon to say how long it will take to reopen the Port of Baltimore or replace the destroyed bridge. Officials were focused on reopening the port, dealing with supply chain issues, rebuilding the bridge and addressing surface transportation, he said.
The Coast Guard vice-admiral, Peter Gautier, said there is no threat to the public from any materials on board the Dali ship. Gautier, at a White House briefing on Wednesday, said the vessel is holding over 1.5m gallons of fuel, and that more than 50 of the cargo containers on board contain hazardous material, but that the ship is stable and that authorities have determined there is no safety risk.
Lawmakers in Maryland drafted an emergency bill to cover the salaries of workers who have been affected by the shutdown of the port. Details about the bill have not been disclosed yet. Bill Ferguson, the state senate president, said more 15,000 people in the region rely on daily port operations “to put food on the table”.
Singaporean officials announced that they will lead their own investigation on the Key Bridge collapse. The Dali ship was a Singapore-flagged ship traveling to Sri Lanka.
Continue reading...Records tumbled in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Indian Premier League victory over Mumbai Indians, which set a new mark for the highest-scoring T20 match in history.
The hosts set a new IPL record of 277-3, but Mumbai put up a fierce fight in their chase before ending up 31 runs short on 246-5.
Continue reading...Musk made hay of his legal battle against secret surveillance but continued selling X user data to a company that facilitates government monitoring.
The post Elon Musk Fought Government Surveillance — While Profiting Off Government Surveillance appeared first on The Intercept.
The Pentagon’s own program to minimize civilian harm is stalled, the Government Accountability Office’s audit says.
The post Biden Decries Civilian Deaths in Gaza as Pentagon Fails With Its Own Safeguards appeared first on The Intercept.
Holi is the Hindu festival of colours and is celebrated to mark the start of spring in India, Nepal, other South Asian countries and across the diaspora. Celebrants rejoice by throwing coloured powders at one another on the street.
Festivities also involve special holiday foods, music and dancing. Holi is seen as a time to welcome the good and let go of the negative, signifying a time of rebirth and rejuvenation
Continue reading...The World Nature Photography award winners have been announced from a pool of entries from all corners of the globe – including a baby elephant in Kenya and an owl-like plant in Thailand. The top award and cash prize of $1,000 went to Tracey Lund from the UK for her image of two gannets under the water off the coast of the Shetland Islands. Lund and her fellow winners were drawn from thousands of images
Continue reading...Lawmakers overwhelmingly vote to make country the first in south-east Asia to recognise same-sex unions
Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill that would make the country the first in south-east Asia to legalise equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.
Four hundred of 415 lawmakers present voted for the bill on Wednesday and footage from inside parliament showed people standing and applauding afterwards.
Continue reading...Judge says Arvind Kejriwal can be held until next Thursday, as his party’s leaders condemn accusations as politically motivated
An Indian court has ruled that Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will be kept in custody for six days after his dramatic arrest on corruption charges.
Kejriwal, the top elected official for the Indian capital, was taken in by police on Thursday night as part of an investigation into an alleged scam involving kickbacks for alcohol licensing deals.
Continue reading...“I saw scenes that were horrific and I never want to see again,” said Yasser Khan, a surgeon from Toronto.
The post “Man-Made Hell On Earth”: A Canadian Doctor on His Medical Mission to Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
This mini-essay was my contribution to a round table on Power and Governance in the Age of AI. It’s nothing I haven’t said here before, but for anyone who hasn’t read my longer essays on the topic, it’s a shorter introduction.
The increasingly centralized control of AI is an ominous sign. When tech billionaires and corporations steer AI, we get AI that tends to reflect the interests of tech billionaires and corporations, instead of the public. Given how transformative this technology will be for the world, this is a problem.
To benefit society as a whole we need an ...
Aam Aadmi party leader Arvind Kejriwal is held as part of corruption case a month before elections
Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has been arrested in a corruption case, a move condemned by his party as a “conspiracy” by Narendra Modi’s government to target the opposition before next month’s elections.
Kejriwal, who is the leader of the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) and has been Delhi’s chief minister since 2015, was arrested at his home on Thursday night by a dozen officers from the enforcement directorate (ED), an investigating agency under central government control.
Continue reading...Oh, how the mighty have fallen. A decade ago, social media was celebrated for sparking democratic uprisings in the Arab world and beyond. Now front pages are splashed with stories of social platforms’ role in misinformation, business conspiracy, malfeasance, and risks to mental health. In a 2022 survey, Americans blamed social media for the coarsening of our political discourse, the spread of misinformation, and the increase in partisan polarization.
Today, tech’s darling is artificial intelligence. Like social media, it has the potential to change the world in many ways, some favorable to democracy. But at the same time, it has the potential to do incredible damage to society...
After the Honduran president repealed a law granting unfettered authority to outside investors, the cryptoquistadors took the dispute to a World Bank arbitration court.
The post Honduras Ratchets Up Battle With Crypto-Libertarian Investors, Rejects World Bank Court appeared first on The Intercept.
Fascinating analysis of the use of drones on a modern battlefield—that is, Ukraine—and the inability of the US Air Force to react to this change.
The F-35A certainly remains an important platform for high-intensity conventional warfare. But the Air Force is planning to buy 1,763 of the aircraft, which will remain in service through the year 2070. These jets, which are wholly unsuited for countering proliferated low-cost enemy drones in the air littoral, present enormous opportunity costs for the service as a whole. In a set of comments posted on LinkedIn...
Readers share their thoughts on maintaining the world of DVDs and Blu-rays after a feature looking exploring the phenomenon
At home we have been getting into the habit, when we identify (a knack in itself!) a show or movie we are confident we will want to re-watch, of ordering an inexpensive DVD copy.
Continue reading...George Hoyningen-Huene’s images of movie stars, exotic locations and fashion trends defined an era – as this first book on his work in decades shows
Continue reading...Congress passed a one-year ban on UNRWA funds even as several Western countries have resumed funding for the U.N. agency that aids Palestinians.
The post U.S. Doubles Down on Defunding UNRWA — Despite Flimsy Allegations appeared first on The Intercept.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.
A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.
The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.
One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.
As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.
NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?
Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations
When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.
The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.
In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.
Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.
Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.
There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.
To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.
The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.
You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.
That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below
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