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North Carolina GOP Hides Redistricting Process From State Public Records Law
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 21:34:54 +0000
The change, snuck into the state budget at the last minute, will shield lawmakers from scrutiny in a state with a history of partisan gerrymandering.
The post North Carolina GOP Hides Redistricting Process From State Public Records Law appeared first on The Intercept.
The article about Susanna Gibson, a Democrat running in a crucial legislative district, bore the telltale signs of an opposition research dump.
The post Washington Post Completely Botches Chaturbate Rules in Virginia Candidate Takedown appeared first on The Intercept.
Biden on the picket line and Republicans in disarray. A tale of two parties.
The post House Republicans Are Hurtling Toward the Most Pointless Shutdown Ever appeared first on The Intercept.
Judge ordered cancellation of certificates that let Trump businesses operate in New York; Detroit visit comes just ahead of Republican debate
US soldier Travis King, who fled to North Korea in July, is in American custody after being expelled by Pyongyang into China, according to US officials.
North Korea’s KCNA state news agency said King had been expelled after he confessed to illegally entering the country. It said the soldier harboured ill feelings over inhumane treatment and racial discrimination within the US army.
This is genuinely new – I don’t think it’s ever happened before, a president on a picket line. Candidates do it frequently and prominent senators, but not a president.
Continue reading...Republican presidential debate is being held at the 40th president’s library, but some say Reagan’s party is no longer recognizable
Tourists posed for photos beside the presidential seal, peered inside the cockpit, studied the nuclear football and gazed at a desk where a “Ronald Reagan” jacket slung over the chair, page of handwritten notes and jelly bean jar made it appear as if the 40th US president could saunter back at any moment.
Air Force One is the star attraction at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. But on Wednesday it is competing for attention with a curving Starship Enterprise-style stage set featuring seven lecterns and microphones for the second Republican presidential primary debate.
Continue reading...Two weeks into the largest auto strike in U.S. history, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis face a falling approval rating from consumers, a new survey shows.
The post Big Three Automakers’ Reputations Plummet as UAW Strike Rages appeared first on The Intercept.
Labour says HS2 costs almost trebled while Sunak was chief secretary to the Treasury, chancellor and then PM.
Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for London mayor, has said she did not intend to cause any offence when she liked tweets praising Enoch Powell.
Speaking on her LBC phone-in this morning, she said:
If you’re a serial tweeter, you tend to go through liking all sorts of things. If anybody is offended, then obviously I would apologise.
It really doesn’t bother me at all. Talking at conference to Conservatives isn’t going to get me more votes in London.
Yesterday you wrote about comments made about Suella Braverman’s speech “before we’d seen the text”. I’ve looked at gov.uk since 16:00 yesterday, and haven’t found the text of her speech. Is it available online?
Continue reading...Casting the Lib Dems as the party of the NHS is bold but credible – given a Liberal can claim to have invented it
Sir Ed Davey did not pull his punches on Tuesday as he wrapped up the Liberal Democrats’ conference. The party leader made it clear that the Tories would be the Lib Dems’ main opponent at the next general election. Corrupt, chaotic and careless were among the nicer things he called Conservative leaders. He drew laughter by claiming that a party member, who is a clown, had a point when he complained that it was unfair on his profession for the Lib Dem leader to keep comparing the Tories to his colleagues. However, there was no disguising his seriousness about getting rid of the current ruling “shambles”.
The Lib Dems won’t form the next government, but they can help oust the Tories. Sir Ed is building a social base in the so-called “blue wall” seats in south-east England of Conservative-leaning voters put off by ministerial incompetence and shabby public services. The party’s endorsement of proportional representation to ensure every vote counts has the advantage of increasing the present distance from both the main parties for potential electoral advantage. The Lib Dem strategy to peel off Tories in marginal seats has been working so far. When Sir Ed took over in 2020 the party had 11 MPs. Today it has 15 after a string of stunning byelection victories.
Continue reading...AIPAC has given at least $3.6 million to the CBC’s old guard since last year, while members of the Squad draw the Israel lobby’s ire.
The post AIPAC Targets Black Democrats — While the Congressional Black Caucus Stays Silent appeared first on The Intercept.
Germany is more resilient to populism than its neighbours. But parties such as Alternative für Deutschland are testing it to the limit
The Germans have a term for what holds them together: Wehrhafte Demokratie. It roughly translates as fortified democracy, but that does not fully render its meaning. In essence, it refers to the idea that the state has the right to act against those who threaten the liberal democratic order.
Another guarantor of German stability was the postwar constitutional settlement that founded three Volksparteien, big-tent “citizens’ parties” operating along carefully regulated parameters, encompassing centre-left, centre and centre-right. None would enjoy absolute power, which required coalitions, compromise and consensus at national and regional levels. As a further safety net, parties with less than 5% of the vote couldn’t join parliament, excluding fringe groups.
John Kampfner is the author of In Search of Berlin, published by Atlantic Books on 5 October.
Continue reading...Victims’ relatives are fighting to hold Khalifa Hifter accountable for war crimes. Last week, a top Pentagon official held court with him.
The post U.S. General Met Notorious Libyan Warlord appeared first on The Intercept.
The FBI visits took on a new urgency after Canada alleged Indian government involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.
The post FBI Warned Sikhs in the U.S. About Death Threats After Killing of Canadian Activist appeared first on The Intercept.
Senator Menendez was indicted on a set of explosive charges of corruptly aiding the government in Cairo
The indictment of Senator Bob Menendez on charges of corruptly aiding the Egyptian government has set the stage for a week of renewed pressure on US lawmakers to withhold military aid to Egypt.
Menendez stepped town temporarily from his position as head of the Senate foreign relations committee on Friday after he was indicted by New York’s southern district court on a set of explosive and detailed charges.
Continue reading...Marty Baron says Trump’s son-in-law leaned on Post publisher to withdraw support of Russia election interference investigation
Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner, tried to persuade the publisher of the Washington Post to fire its editor over coverage of the Russia investigation, that editor, Marty Baron, writes in a new book.
“With no delay and without pause during his four years as president,” Baron writes, “Trump and his team would go after the Post and everyone else in the media who didn’t bend to his wishes.
Continue reading...Press freedom campaigners call for draft proposal to approve use of spyware on phones to be axed
The European parliament is expected to fight off attempts by France and other EU member states to introduce controversial laws that would allow spyware to be inserted on journalists’ phones on the grounds of national security.
If passed, the laws would threaten the confidential sources of thousands of journalists working in the EU and foreign correspondents from the UK, the US and beyond who are based in Europe.
Continue reading...We would like to speak to people for whom zero-hours contracts have become a long-term way of life
Since 2013, zero-hours contracts have become a mainstay of the retail, social care, hospitality, and education sectors, despite efforts from trade unions to ban what they feel is an exploitative labour practice. The Labour Party has now committed to abolishing zero hours contracts were they to be elected in a general election.
Have you been on a zero-hours contract, or multiple zero-hours contracts, for the last decade or more? How has it affected your ability to budget, plan, and juggle childcare and other caring responsibilities? Has being on a zero-hours contract been beneficial in terms of flexibility, or would you welcome the Labour party’s move to abolish the practice?
Continue reading...Operation Dudula changes tactics from evictions and violence, with plans to fight elections on platform of expelling foreigners
An anti-migrant vigilante organisation in South Africa has registered as a political party and plans to contest seats in next year’s general elections.
Operation Dudula, whose name means “to force out” in Zulu, wants all foreign nationals who are in the country unofficially to be deported.
Continue reading...Save the Children, representing 11 women and their 20 children, argues the government has the power, and an obligation, to bring them home
Thirty-one Australian women and children forcibly held for four years in a Syrian detention camp have told the federal government to prove it cannot bring them home, or “bring their bodies to the court” in Australia.
In filings before the federal court, Save the Children Australia – representing 11 Australian women and their 20 children – has argued the Australians are being unlawfully detained and their government has the power, and an obligation, to remove them and repatriate them to Australia.
Continue reading...Google had been in contact with the Republican National Committee about Rumble’s exclusive rights, emails show.
The post Rumble Had Exclusive Rights to Stream Republican Debate — Yet Was Buried in Google Search appeared first on The Intercept.
Judge refuses to dismiss a lawsuit accusing former US president of illegally inflating assets and net worth, as his lawyers say they’ll appeal
Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House, a New York judge ruled on Tuesday in a strongly worded rejection of the former president’s bid to throw out a civil lawsuit against him.
Judge Arthur Engoron found that Trump and executives from his company, including his sons Eric and Donald Jr, routinely and repeatedly deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork.
Continue reading...UNHCR defends 1951 convention after UK home secretary’s speech on ‘uncontrolled and illegal migration’
The UN’s refugee agency has rebuked Suella Braverman after she claimed that world leaders had failed to make wholesale reform of human rights laws because of fears of being branded “racist or illiberal”.
The UNHCR issued a highly unusual statement on Tuesday defending the 1951 refugee convention and highlighting the UK’s record asylum claim backlog.
Continue reading...A system built purely for speed ignores the needs of the populations it’s trying to connect, says Andrew Gore. Plus letters from David Watts, Allan Whittow and Jonathan Leeming
The rail industry always knew that the key issues for its future were capacity and connectivity, but thought that only the glamour of very high speed trains would persuade politicians (Gold-plated HS2 looks dead. So let’s run the numbers on a bronze-plated design, 22 September). Very high speed trains require complex engineering solutions, greater construction, rolling stock and signalling costs, and have a much greater environmental impact.
The real justification for new capacity was admitted belatedly, but the design of HS2 from London to Birmingham demonstrates the deficiencies of a system built essentially for pure speed: Milton Keynes and Northampton with populations of over 250,000 ignored, no interchange with East West Rail, not even a travelator link to Birmingham New Street station – and far more damaging to the environment than merely higher speeds.
Continue reading...Readers on the colouring book that cartoonists created for refugees
I was heartened to read Harriet Sherwood’s article on the production of a colouring book by the Professional Cartoonists Organisation (Cartoonists create colouring book for refugees in rebuff to UK government, 22 September). This is a counter to the mean-spirited actions of Robert Jenrick, who had a mural of cartoon characters at a migrants’ reception centre painted over as he considered it too welcoming for children. I share the outrage of the cartoonist Guy Venables, but took some small comfort in the fact that I thought it was impossible for the actions of a government minister to sink any lower. How wrong I was. Diane Taylor’s article on the same day (Fear of X-ray age tests in UK ‘may force child asylum seekers to flee’, 22 September) describes Ministry of Justice and Home Office proposals to carry out medical tests involving X-rays and MRI scans to determine the ages of young asylum seekers.
It is no exaggeration to say that these proposals plumb new depths of abhorrence, even for the most depraved members of this government. The notion of using any medical tests for non-medical purposes is unethical at the very least, and violates the human rights of any children who refuse to be subjected to such tests. In addition, the use of such medical equipment restricts their use for medical purposes and requires medically trained staff to operate them. I fervently hope that all medical staff will refuse to do so.
Alan Beamish
Thirlby, North Yorkshire
IEA’s Fatih Birol says uptake of solar power and EVs is in line with net zero goal but rich countries must hasten their broader plans
The prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world’s energy watchdog has said.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world’s foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging.
Continue reading...Progressive Slovakia polls at 18% against controversial former prime minister Robert Fico’s Smer party at 17.7%
The American ambassador in Bratislava, Gautam Rana, said this week that he has “been very clear” with Robert Fico about the importance of continuing support for Ukraine.
In an interview with Peter Dlhopolec, the editor-in-chief of the Slovak Spectator, the American diplomat said: “Fico as prime minister took his role as a NATO ally seriously, and maintained a relationship with the EU.”
Continue reading...Opposition politicians and activists arrested since President Emmerson Mnangagwa won second term
Barely a week after being sworn in as an opposition MP following elections in Zimbabwe last month, Gift Siziba found himself in police custody facing several charges, including inciting violence at a football match and defacing posters of an opponent in Bulawayo.
While other legislators debate in parliament, Siziba, from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has been in and out of court defending his innocence.
Continue reading...Tim Gurner, the viral Australian multimillionaire who wants more workers to be unemployed, was debunked by an economist in 1943.
The post The Secret History of How the Super-Rich Have Kept the Working Class Out of Work appeared first on The Intercept.
Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted Friday for taking bribes to approve arms sales to Egyptian strongman Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The post Menendez “Appreciated” Meeting With Egypt Dictator Amid Alleged Bribes for Arms Sales appeared first on The Intercept.
Ukraine has said it will not play in tournaments involving Russian teams after Uefa announced plans to reinstate Russia’s under-17 sides to European competitions.
In a statement the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) urged Uefa to reconsider its decision and urged other countries not to play against Russian teams.
Continue reading...The Tories’ tactics are failing as asylum seekers continue to risk their lives in huge numbers. Our solution will address that
The prime minister’s pledge to “stop the boats” has become an easy target for ridicule. Small boats continue to cross the English Channel in near record numbers. More than 20,000 people have arrived on Britain’s shores this year, with up to 500 people (sometimes more) arriving on any given day. In fact, the only boat that has been stopped is the Bibby Stockholm barge, commissioned to house asylum seekers, after legionella was found in its water system – a perfect symbol for the disastrous handling of this crisis.
It couldn’t be clearer that the government’s plans aren’t working. Only weeks after saying the Illegal Immigration Act will stop the boats, the home secretary, Suella Braverman, claimed yesterday that the United Nations refugee convention needs to be rewritten for the asylum system to work.
Continue reading...Reliance on oil won’t slash our bills: this is a climate crime that will leave our economy more vulnerable
“This is just the start,” said Rishi Sunak last week in his climate-wrecking speech from Downing Street. It certainly was just the start, because today, the government has sanctioned drilling in Rosebank, the biggest undeveloped oilfield in the North Sea.
This just 14 months after the UK’s hottest day, in July 2022. In that same month, the high court ruled the government’s net zero strategy unlawful, and ministers were ordered to redo their homework.
Caroline Lucas is the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion
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Andrews’ handling of pandemic ‘a legacy of his strength’, Bill Shorten says
NDIS minister and former Labor leader Bill Shorten has spoken highly of outgoing Victorian premier Daniel Andrews while speaking to ABC RN this morning.
I think the pandemic was the most unusual period in Victoria … and I think that we were learning a lot as we went along during that.
When I think back to those first few days, in March 2020, I think the aim was to ensure that we had enough hospital space to be able to treat people if they got very sick, and that required, I think, a high degree of central leadership.
Police will continue to monitor the situation as there are a large number of batteries on site … Nearby residents are urged to monitor [social media] and be prepared for police to door-knock homes in the area if the situation worsens.
Continue reading...Home Office officials rejecting Ranjit Singh’s application confused him with others of same name
The Home Office is facing fresh charges of incompetence after officials seeking to deport an Indian asylum seeker from the UK managed to confuse him in its paperwork with at least three other refugees.
Ranjit Singh, 38, who has a large tattoo of his wife on his back, was “surprised” to have been variously recorded as being the dependant of a student, an applicant for British citizenship, a successful candidate for temporary leave to remain and a partner of a man he had never met.
Continue reading...Unite says extra £750 secured for Tower Hamlets striking workers after rubbish left on streets for nearly two weeks
A strike by refuse workers in the east London borough of Tower Hamlets, which resulted in huge piles of rubbish being left on the streets for almost two weeks, has come to an end after a pay deal with the council was reached.
Unite, the union representing the refuse workers, announced on Tuesday that a pay deal with Tower Hamlets council had been reached. Earlier this month, more than 200 refuse and street cleaners working for the council had rejected an offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925. The union said this would amount to a real-terms pay cut due to the rising cost of living. Strike action began on 18 September.
Continue reading...The author has returned to the Murdoch empire for his latest book, after a bestselling trilogy on Trump. He discusses power, politics, the media and why a person can be a moron and a genius
Immediately before Michael Wolff published The Fall: The End of the Murdoch Empire, the emperor himself, driver of its expansion and its bitter divisions, stepped aside. Last week, Rupert Murdoch announced he was anointing his eldest son, Lachlan, as his successor, which per Wolff’s narrative will have been a bitter blow to everyone, including Lachlan.
Wolff’s latest book joins an oeuvre that is remarkable for its access: in 2008, he wrote a biography of Murdoch, The Man Who Owns the News, for which the mogul gave him 50 hours of interviews. Never mind that it’s the longest Murdoch has ever spoken to a journalist, it’s probably the longest he’s ever spoken to a friend. “We really got along. He’s inexhaustible on the subject of the media, and I, too, am inexhaustible on that subject. We had a very good time,” says Wolff. So long as they were doing business or gossip, that is. “He’s very hard to talk to personally; he can’t reflect on his own past and his own experience. He can talk about his family; he was weirdly transparent about his children. But about himself, what he might be feeling, no.”
Continue reading...‘Blight on the landscape’ in Greenwich lacks promised gardens, children’s play areas and accessibility for wheelchair users
Buildings rarely look as good as the airbrushed architects’ visualisations produced to persuade planners to grant permission. Extra sharp highlights, implausibly blue skies and deeper colours are all part of the dark arts of the computer-generated rendering.
But the gulf between what was proposed for an apartment complex rising 23 storeys above the Thames in south-east London and what was actually built has finally proved too much.
Continue reading...The protest over the charging of a marksman in the Chris Kaba case was damaging to British policing
There were many reactions this week when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) made known its decision to charge a police firearms officer with the murder of Chris Kaba a year ago. Mine was: why has it taken so long?
I was thinking of the pain and suffering the family had gone through waiting for the decision. And about the officer, and the anxiety he must have gone through waiting for a disproportionate amount of time to see what would happen next. I knew there would be an outcry by his colleagues in the various armed response units across the Met. That was right.
Leroy Logan is a former superintendent in the Metropolitan police and a former chair of the Black Police Association. He is the author of Closing Ranks: My Life As a Cop
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Continue reading...Campaigners including Greta Thunberg had called for halt to Rosebank project involving Oslo-listed Equinor
Britain has given the go-ahead to develop the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield off Shetland, sparking outrage from environmental campaigners.
The UK oil and gas regulator’s decision to grant the Oslo-listed Equinor and the British firm Ithaca Energy permission to develop the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea was condemned by the Green party MP Caroline Lucas as “the greatest act of environmental vandalism in my lifetime”.
Continue reading...Qantas bosses face inquiry after Qatar Airways says it was ‘surprised and shocked’ Albanese government blocked requests for more flights
Embattled Qantas chairman Richard Goyder has dismissed calls to step down, as the airline’s CEO Vanessa Hudson claimed it was “an important part of democracy” that its plea to the government to block extra air rights for Qatar Airways be kept private.
Appearing before a Senate inquiry on Wednesday, Hudson also reiterated former Qantas boss Alan Joyce’s claims that Qatar Airways’ proposed expansion would have distorted the aviation market when it was requested in October 2022.
Continue reading...Former British PM calls for 3% levy on oil and gas export revenues of biggest producers to generate $25bn a year for global south
Petrostates should pay a small percentage of their soaring oil and gas revenues to help poor countries cope with the climate crisis, the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has urged.
Countries with large oil and gas deposits have enjoyed a record bonanza in the last two years, amounting to about $4tn (£3.3tn) last year for the industry globally. Levying a 3% windfall tax on the oil and gas export revenues of the biggest-producing countries would yield about $25bn a year.
Continue reading...Codenamed GAMECHANGER, an AI program helps the military make sense of its own “byzantine” and “tedious” bureaucracy.
The post Pentagon’s Budget Is So Bloated That It Needs an AI Program to Navigate It appeared first on The Intercept.
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Giorgia Meloni sets sights on foreigners who lie about their age to benefit from protection scheme for unaccompanied minors
Foreigners who lie about their age to benefit from a protection scheme reserved for unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy will be deported under a security decree expected to be approved by Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet on Wednesday as part of her far-right government’s crackdown on irregular immigration.
The draft decree, parts of which were published by the Italian press, includes a measure stipulating that foreigners living legally in Italy will be deported if they are considered to be a threat to public order or national security.
Continue reading...‘Cult-like, racist’ Artgemeinschaft network accused of trying to spread Nazi ideology to children
Police have carried out raids across Germany as ministers announced a ban on a far-right group described as a “cult-like, deeply racist and antisemitic association” that sought to indoctrinate children with Nazi ideology.
Officers stormed 26 apartments belonging to 39 members of the Artgemeinschaft network in 12 states including Bavaria, Baden-Wüerttemberg and Brandenburg.
Continue reading...Advisers of detained Mohamed Bazoum say French withdrawal removes coup leaders’ pretext for power grab
Aides and supporters of Niger’s deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, have welcomed the decision of France to withdraw its diplomatic staff and military from the country, saying it will deny the military junta a “scapegoat” to disguise its failings.
Bazoum, a French ally whose election in 2021 had boosted hopes of stability in the unstable Sahel state, was detained on 26 July by members of his guard. Senior soldiers took power in the unstable Sahel state shortly afterwards.
Continue reading...UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack
Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.
The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.
Continue reading...JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM said Wednesday it won a competitive process to provide account validation services for the U.S. Treasury Department under a financial agency agreement for a minimum of five years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed in a statement by the bank. The U.S. Treasury disbursed about $5.3 trillion in payments in 2022 through nearly 1.4 billion payments including Social Security, Medicare payments, unemployment insurance, and tax refunds. Last year an estimated $247 billion in improper payments were logged by the government including overpayments, underpayments and payments that should not have been made. The contract includes verifying payment information for the federal government before payments are issued. JPMorgan Chase stock was up by 0.3% in premarket trades on Wednesday.
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Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesA potential U.S. government shutdown is looming in a matter of days and weighed on risk appetite in financial markets on Tuesday. Yet history shows that they’re relatively common, resolved quickly, and don’t tend to keep the S&P 500 index from advancing.That’s according to Brian Levitt, the New York-based global market strategist for Invesco, which managed almost $1.54 trillion as of June 30. His remarks came as the U.S. federal government is headed toward a partial shutdown Sunday morning, if lawmakers don’t act fast enough.The U.S. has experienced a total of 21 government shutdowns in its history, he said, citing the Treasury Department. On average, they’ve been resolved within eight days; five of them lasted only a day and the longest stretched on for 34 days. And during shutdowns, the S&P 500 SPX has posted positive returns during 12 of the 21 shutdowns, eking out a 0.1% average return, Levitt said in emailed comments distributed on Monday.This time around, however, there’s a lot of simultaneous risks that investors are grappling with — from rising interest rates to the possible revival of inflation amid expanded labor strikes, in addition to the resumption of student-loan payments that could sap spending. U.S. stocks DJIA SPX COMP remained on track for a losing September as of Tuesday, with long-term Treasury yields establishing fresh 16- and 12-year closing highs. Read:Stock investors face a wall of worry into year’s end, creating the need for protection “While unnerving, concerns about shutdowns shouldn’t change investors’ long-term investment plans,” Levitt wrote in his comments, which were also posted online earlier this month. “This isn’t the first government shutdown, and it’s likely not the last.”U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday amid ongoing worries about a shutdown, which Moody’s Investors Service said would be “credit negative” for the U.S. Dow industrials finished the day down by 388 points or 1.1%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended down by 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively.See also:U.S. government shutdown: Here’s how a partial closure could affect you and Government shutdown could leave thousands of federally backed mortgages in ‘limbo’On average, the S&P 500 has advanced in the aftermath of government shutdowns, by roughly 7% in the 100 days that follow, Levitt told MarketWatch on Tuesday. Volatility increased some — but not all — of the time, based on moves derived from returns on Dow industrials, he said.Source: Bloomberg as of Dec. 31, 2022. Volatility is measured by the standard deviation of price moves on returns in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
Thousands of pages of newly released documents detail CBP’s involvement in policing the 2020 racial justice protests.
The post Uninvited and Unaccountable: How CBP Policed George Floyd Protests appeared first on The Intercept.
“Telling workers they’ll be fired for striking is violating federal labor law, and that’s not something becoming of a senator.”
The post UAW Files Labor Complaint Against Sen. Tim Scott for Saying “You Strike, You’re Fired.” appeared first on The Intercept.
Striking autoworkers pulled off a major coup before their strike, baiting America’s largest auto manufacturers into self-sabotage.
The post Confused Automakers Braced for Strike at the Wrong Plants appeared first on The Intercept.
Chief’s exit in November will come about a year after acquisition by US private equity firm CD&R
David Potts, the retail veteran who steered the supermarket chain Morrisons into private equity ownership, is stepping down after nine years as chief executive.
He will leave in November, and be succeeded by the former head of the Carrefour France grocery chain, Rami Baitiéh.
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 2020: Aisha Wakil knew many of Boko Haram’s fighters as children. Now she uses those ties to broker peace deals, mediate hostage negotiations and convince militants to put down their weapons – but as the violence escalates, her task is becoming impossible
Continue reading...Rats, broken windows and overfilled cells are a daily reality for prisoners in England’s crumbling jails. Helen Pidd reports
When the 21-year-old terror suspect Daniel Khalife managed to escape from Wandsworth prison earlier this month, apparently on the underside of a van, it turned the spotlight on to what was really going on in England’s jails.
The Guardian’s north of England editor, Helen Pidd, has been investigating the state of prisons and tells Nosheen Iqbal she found in some cases a system close to breaking point. There’s chronic overcrowding, appalling conditions and a decimated workforce. Among it all are stories of staff struggling to cope and prisoners’ rehabilitation often more theory than practice.
Continue reading...Peloton Interactive Inc. PTON said late Tuesday it appointed Nick Caldwell to become chief product officer, effective Nov. 1. Caldwell succeeds Peloton’s co-founder, Tom Cortese, and will report to Chief Executive Barry McCarthy. Shares of Peloton declined 0.2% after hours, following a 4.8% rise to close Tuesday at $4.62. On Monday, Peloton shares closed down 1.1% at a record low of $4.41, after one Wall Street analyst slashed their price target in half.
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Shares of MillerKnoll Inc. MLKN jumped 14.1% after hours on Tuesday after the furniture maker raised its full-year profit outlook, despite a pressured housing market and shaky economies in China and Europe. Executives raised their full fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings per share forecast to a range of $1.85 to $2.15, compared with expectations for between $1.70 and $2.00 a share stated in July. The forecast on Tuesday came as the company’s fiscal first-quarter results beat expectations, helped by a return to offices following the pandemic and “significant profit improvement” in the Americas region. Miller Knoll reported first-quarter net income of $16.1 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $27.4 million, or 34 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Adjusted for amortization, integration and restructuring charges, MillerKnoll earned 37 cents a share. Revenue fell to $917.7 million from $1.08 billion in the prior-year quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expected MillerKnoll to report adjusted earnings per share of 21 cents, on sales of $896 million.
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Shares of TrueCar Inc. TRUE fell 4% in the extended session Tuesday after the online car platform named Oliver Foley as its new chief financial officer, replacing Teresa Luong. Foley will start at TrueCar on Oct. 30 and report to Chief Executive Jantoon Reigersman, the company said. Foley will be joining TrueCar from car-sharing company Flexcar LLC, TrueCar said.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc. SPWH said Tuesday it has appointed Paul Stone, former chief retail officer at Cabela’s Inc., as its chief executive, effective Nov. 1. Stone will replace Joseph P. Schneider, who will remain as independent chair until year-end, when he will retire and be replaced as chair by board director Rich McBee. Stone was most recently president and COO of Hertz Global Holdings Inc. HTZ. He has also done stints at Sam’s Club, a unit of Walmart Inc. Sportsman’s Warehouse shares rose 2.6% premarket, but are down 63% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 13%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini, Philippe Auclair and Sid Lowe for a round-up of the biggest stories in European football
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; Barcelona are top of La Liga and look favourites to be there come the end of the season, Real Madrid’s lack of depth is exposed by Atlético and 15 Las Palmas players miss their flight in search of a coffee.
Continue reading...Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Robyn Cowen and Sophie Downey round up the latest news across the women’s game and preview the WSL season
We’re back! Has anything happened since we were last with you?
Less than five weeks since the World Cup final and there’s so much to catch up on as we prepare for the 2023-24 Women’s Super League season.
Continue reading...Cosying up with Grace to launch a new season of Comfort Eating is none other than the queen of baking and all our hearts – Nadiya Hussain. The Bake Off star, whose triumph in the tent launched a TV, writing and culinary career of which dreams are made, is dropping by Grace’s home to share her loves, her hates and her strategies for managing a house of teenagers. Over a plate of something so comforting you could curl up in it, Grace and Nadiya get down to brass tacks. Family, husbands, school and crisps – all the main bases – and there’s no shame allowed. Just get those elbows out and dig in
New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent are released every Tuesday
Continue reading...There’s a sensation many of us might have experienced: when something routine or recognisable suddenly feels strange and unfamiliar. It’s known as jamais vu, or ‘never seen’. Research into this odd feeling recently won an Ig Nobel prize, which is awarded to science that makes you laugh, then think. Ian Sample speaks to Ig Nobel recipient Dr Akira O’Connor about why he wanted to study jamais vu, what he thinks is happening in our brains, and what it could teach us about memory going right, and wrong
Read Nicola Davis’ report on the Ig Nobel prizes here
Continue reading...Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Kate Mason, and Nick Ames to discuss the Premier League action, including the north London derby
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: the panel discusses the significance of Newcastle putting eight past a hapless Sheffield United and asks if the jump from Championship to Premier League is too high for clubs.
Continue reading...Proposed law aims to improve representation in a parliament where women hold only a little over 13% of seats
India’s lower house of parliament has passed a bill to reserve a third of seats for women, almost triple the current number, in a move that could transform Indian politics.
More than 27 years after it was first proposed in parliament, the women’s reservation bill was given almost unanimous support by MPs in the lower house, with only two voting against it. Its passage through the upper house is expected to be smooth thanks to broad political support.
Continue reading...Cannabis stocks moved up Wednesday after the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs approved the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act, now known as the SAFER Banking Act of 2023. The bill to open up the financial system to legal cannabis companies now heads to the full Senate for a vote after earlier versions of it were initially introduced on Capitol Hill a decade ago. It has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives seven times and has yet to go to the full Senate for a vote. The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF MSOS was up 6% in trades shortly after the vote. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJ was up by 3.2%. Among individual cannabis names, Curaleaf Holdings Inc. CURLF was up by 5.4%, Green Thumb Industries Inc. GTBIF was up by 1%, Cresco Labs Inc. CRLBF was up by 1%, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TCNNF was up by 1%, Tilray Brands Inc. TLRY was up by 2.1%, Canopy Growth Corp. CGC was up by 5.1% and Verano Holdings Corp. VRNOF was up by 3.8%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
U.S. stocks opened lower Tuesday amid worries over a potential government shutdown and higher Treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was down 0.6% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 SPX shed 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP dropped 0.7%, according to FactSet data, at last check. Investors are watching for Congress to pass a budget by Saturday or risk a U.S. government shutdown. Moody’s has said that a shutdown “would demonstrate the significant constraints that intensifying political polarization put on fiscal policymaking at a time of declining fiscal strength, driven by widening fiscal deficits and deteriorating debt affordability.” Meanwhile, ten-year Treasury yields were down slightly on Tuesday at around 4.51%, after on Monday ending at the highest level since October 17, 2007.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
Exclusive: two PR professionals from national oil firm listed as providing ‘support’ to team running UN climate summit
Senior executives from the UAE’s national oil company are working with the Cop28 team as the country ramps up its PR campaign ahead of the major UN climate summit later this year, leaked internal records show.
Two PR professionals from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) are identified as providing “additional support” to the team running the summit, according to a Cop28 communications strategy document obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) and the Guardian. It adds to growing evidence of blurred lines between the UAE’s Cop28 team and its fossil fuel industry.
Continue reading...A college ballerina was raped and murdered in Oklahoma. DNA put Anthony Sanchez at the scene. But it did not tell the whole story.
The post DNA Evidence Sent Anthony Sanchez to Death Row. But Did It Actually Solve the Crime? appeared first on The Intercept.
We are advocates who support regulation of Big Tech but oppose the misguided Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), and similarly dangerous and unconstitutional bills like the EARN IT Act, Stop CSAM Act, Cooper Davis Act, and Protecting Kids On Social Media Act.
On Monday, September 18th starting at 3:00pm EST we’ll be hosting an AMA here on r/technology.
Come ask us anything about why these bills would do more harm than good, and what lawmakers and regulators can do instead to address the harm that Big Tech’s surveillance driven business model is doing to kids and our democracy without undermining human rights and free expression.
Learn more about these bills and write/call your legislators at BadInternetBills.com
Participants:
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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