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Software Testing Day
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The 50 Best Shows on Disney+ Right Now
Tue, 07 May 2024 19:00:00 +0000
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, X-Men '97, and a new season of Doctor Who are just a few of the shows you should be watching on Disney+ this month.
Match ID: 0 Score: 35.00 source: www.wired.com age: 1 day
qualifiers: 35.00 (best|good|great) (show|movie)
New York court to weigh extradition of Harvey Weinstein to California
Thu, 09 May 2024 14:39:55 GMT
As prosecutors prepare to retry the ex-movie mogul, court will consider California’s request over 2022 rape conviction
Harvey Weinstein was expected in a New York City courtroom on Thursday as authorities consider California’s extradition request to serve his pending sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.
The 16-year sentence Weinstein received in 2023 for raping a woman at a 2013 Los Angeles film festival had been on ice while he served time behind bars in New York after being found guilty of rape in Manhattan in 2020. But the Empire state conviction was overturned late last month, negating its 23-year sentence.
Continue reading...Hunt for Gollum to be first in a new set of films due to release in 2026, and will be directed by and star Serkis, who ‘has unfinished business with that stinker – Gollum!’
Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis are working on a new Lord of the Rings film due to release in 2026, it has been announced.
In a statement, Warner Bros said that the first of a new set of Lord of the Rings films, The Hunt for Gollum, will be directed by and star Serkis, and be produced by Jackson.
Continue reading...Generations have now grown up with games, but they have long been linked to science fiction and are now the subject of histories, too. Here are five of the best
There is a lingering misconception about video games that they exist entirely in their own sealed subculture, utterly untranslatable to books or movies. But this has never been the case: in the 80s and 90s, games (and by extension, virtual worlds) became a major theme of cyberpunk fiction, from the jacked-in hacker dystopia of William Gibson’s Neuromancer to the narcotic alternative reality of Jeff Noon’s Vurt.
Video game history and culture have also been widely explored in book form, whether that was the How to Beat Pac-Man manuals of the 1980s or current investigations of the game development process by journalists such as Jason Schreier and Tom Bissell. Avid gamers and utter newcomers alike will learn much about video games and our modern digital world from these five books.
Continue reading...
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
It takes a while to find its groove, but this tale of American true-crime podcasters who travel to Cork in search of cases – from the Obamas’ production company – is well worth sticking with
I have rarely been as ungripped by an opening episode as I was by that of Bodkin. However, my sense of professional duty required me to stick with it, and by the third I was having a splendid time. Which was a lovely surprise, but is a risky game to play and not one I suspect the makers of this seven-part comedy drama (backed, incidentally but disconcertingly, by the Obamas’ production company) were going for.
But I am here to tell you that if you can make it through what you may find an uninspiring hour, you too may be pleasantly surprised by what you find on the other side of the hill. Which is a few hours spent in the company of a darkly comic thriller shot through with whimsy; a show that clearly hopes to capture the vibe and success of Only Murders in the Building and occasionally succeeds. That it doesn’t ever quite catch fire in the same way as that highly idiosyncratic show is unfortunate, if predictable, but not fatal to enjoyment.
Continue reading...The island nation is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, as changing weather patterns bring more dry spells and unpredictable rainy seasons. Sean Smith travelled to the south to meet those affected and to report on the ways they are trying to prepare for an altered future
Continue reading...Organised populists are trying to drag our cherished institution into polarising and divisive rows. The public won’t let them
In March this year, the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, gave a speech on the BBC’s future. He said unbalanced, unfair and overtly politicised attacks on institutions eroded the essence of what made Britain so globally admired. He was right. The increasing number of attacks on our institutions poses a risk to us all – at home as well as overseas. Strong, independent institutions are essential to functioning democracies. Remaining impartial allows them to put the public interest above political and business interests, take a long-term view of complex issues, and make decisions that benefit society as a whole. Their neutrality allows workers to apply expertise without fear of reprisal or coercion. And they act as roadblocks to extremism.
Too often, charities, public bodies and universities are becoming proxies in other people’s fights, and targets in other people’s schemes. It’s part of a populist approach: choose a well-known institution and level divisive accusations at it, and you can surprise people and grab headlines. The National Trust, where I work, will be 130 years old in January next year. Nearly 10% of the UK’s population are signed-up, paying members. It’s been called a peculiarly British miracle. It’s been achieved through cooperation towards a common goal – securing hundreds of miles of coast and countryside, nature reserves, historic landscapes and buildings, and priceless treasures, in perpetuity, for the benefit of the entire country.
Celia Richardson is director of communications and marketing at the National Trust
Continue reading...The ECB’s proposals to invite private investment into its divisive tournament require further scrutiny with the wider game at stake
Why should anyone be worried about the England and Wales Cricket Board’s plan to sell its stake in the eight Hundred franchise teams to private investors? A deadline for counties to agree to a “direction of travel” on this issue has been set for Friday. The governing body’s preferred direction appears clear enough. The intention seems to be to sell English cricket’s chief domestic revenue levers as quickly as possible. Most likely this will be to the existing owners of Indian Premier League franchises. IPL owners already have teams in the US, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. So why not here?
To date nobody with any kind of platform in the game seems overly concerned about this prospect. We have seen no breaking of ranks among administrators, no big‑ticket media names pointing to the potential pitfalls, no European Super League-style protests on the streets.
Continue reading...Mostly traffic-free and flat, this route between Yatton and Cheddar takes in old stations and views across the Levels to the Bristol Channel – and it’s being extended to form part of the 76-mile Somerset Circle
It’s a noise the former railway tunnel probably hadn’t heard in a while. Somewhere in the dark is a hooting part-owl, part-forlorn steam train. My sister Ele has stopped on her bike to blow determinedly across her cupped hands like a flute. As she recreates this long-gone sound, I pedal on through the cool, damp air. Water drips steadily from the stalactite-coated brickwork as my front light illuminates pedestrians and their dogs looming from the echoing shadows.
We are cycling the Strawberry Line, a 10.75-mile, mostly off-road cycling and walking route from Yatton to Cheddar in north Somerset, on a sunny spring morning. White blackthorn flowers blossom in the hedges, and puddles splatter us with brick-coloured mud. I always love the thought that this rich red soil was formed when Britain basked close to the equator, before migrating north, along with Europe and North America.
Continue reading...Opal Sandy can hear almost perfectly after groundbreaking surgery that took just 16 minutes
A British toddler has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person in the world to take part in a pioneering gene therapy trial, in a development that doctors say marks a new era in treating deafness.
Opal Sandy was born unable to hear anything due to auditory neuropathy, a condition that disrupts nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain and can be caused by a faulty gene.
Continue reading...The far right are on the march in Germany and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany has become the most popular party in several states. Immigration and a sense of being economically left behind have been driving factors in the rise in popularity but the Green party and the federal government’s climate policies have also borne the brunt of public anger. The Guardian travelled to Görlitz, on the German border with Poland, to find out to what extent Germany’s green policies are fuelling the far right
• How climate policies are becoming focus for far-right attacks in Germany
Continue reading...We’d like to hear from people who have been purchasing luxury goods and experiences in recent years, and how they feel about their spending habits
We’re interested to hear about people’s spending habits in the area of upmarket or luxury goods, services and experiences, and whether they are generally happy with their spending on non-essentials.
We’d like to know whether you have spent money on expensive non-essential items such as designer clothing, high end housewares, luxury holidays, expensive beauty or wellness treatments, or exclusive dining, for instance, in the past year, and if so, whether you have struggled to afford this.
Continue reading...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...My poems were written in anger after Tiananmen Square. But what motivates most prison writing is a fear of forgetting. Today I am free, but the regime has never stopped its war on words
Most of my manuscripts are locked up in the filing cabinets of the ministry of security, and the agents there study and ponder them repeatedly, more carefully than the creator himself. The guys working this racket have superb memories; a certain chief of the Chengdu public security bureau can still recite the poems I published in an underground magazine in the 1980s. While the literati write nostalgically, hoping to go down in literary history, the real history may be locked in the vaults of the security department.
The above is excerpted from my book June 4: My Testimony, published in Taiwan in 2011. I wrote that book three times, the later drafts on paper much better than the paper I used for writing in prison, which was so soft and brittle I had to write very lightly. Paper outside prison is solid and flexible enough that you don’t have to worry about puncturing it with the tip of a pen. Thus, I restrained myself and filled in a page of paper, and then how many thousand – ten thousand? More? How many ant-sized words can be packed on to a page? Who knows.
On 10 October 1995, at two in the afternoon, three police cars carrying about a dozen special agents burst in on me. Everything was carried out in accordance with “legal procedures”, the officers’ IDs and search warrant were presented, the entire search process was meticulously videotaped, and all written matter in the house (including manuscripts, letters, and notes) was confiscated. And this included the very nearly completed draft of this testimony – more than 300,000 characters representing my painstaking efforts of the past year and a half.
I was breathing normally, signed with a smile, and asked: “Should I bring clothes?” The answer: “No.” I was uneasy leaving my money and valuables at home as I prepared to be the guest of the state for a long time. The agents laughed.
At 10 o’clock in the evening, I exited the Baiguolin police station in the Xicheng district of Chengdu and was politely told: “Don’t leave the city for the next month.” Thank God, my head was still on my shoulders and I could still write.
I cursed my carelessness with the foulest language imaginable and set about rewriting with all my might. Without inspiration or passion, the pen slashed the paper to ribbons, and often I could only produce a few hundred words a day. Staring at the paper was useless, and cold sweat couldn’t solve my writer’s block. But I’d made a bet; I couldn’t admit defeat. I wanted to use this to validate my own stupid way of living as an insignificant individual – a bet with the world’s largest dictatorship – with writing materials, so that in future my kids won’t think their dad was just talking big.
Continue reading...‘Orangutan diplomacy’ strategy aims to ease concern over environmental impact of palm oil production, says minister
Malaysia plans to give orangutans as gifts to countries that buy its palm oil as part of an “orangutan diplomacy” strategy to ease concerns over the environmental impact of the commodity.
The south-east Asian country is the world’s second biggest producer of palm oil, which is found in more than half of supermarket packaged goods – from pizza and biscuits, to lipstick and shampoos. Global demand for palm oil has been blamed for driving deforestation in Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia.
Continue reading...In a crisis of her own making, Qu Jing also threatened Baidu staff who dared to question her management style
The head of public relations at China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, has apologised after creating her own PR crisis with a series of videos glorifying the country’s work-till-you-drop culture.
Qu Jing, who is also vice-president at the company, said she would not take responsibility for her staff’s wellbeing “as I’m not your mother” in the videos posted over the May bank holiday on Douyin, the most popular short-video app in China. In another she said: “If you work in public relations, don’t expect weekends off.”
Continue reading...The territory’s justice minister has called for the anthem to be removed from the internet in the wake of the ruling
Hong Kong has demanded a protest song that was made popular during pro-democracy demonstrations in the territory be removed from the internet, in the wake of a court ruling which banned it.
In its judgment on Wednesday, the court of appeal described the song Glory to Hong Kong as a “weapon” to incite violent protests in 2019.
Continue reading...Critics said proposal to build canal linking Atlantic and Pacific would endanger environment and rural communities
Nearly a decade after it broke ground on a controversial plan to build a canal linking the Atlantic and the Pacific, Nicaragua has canceled a concession granted to a Chinese businessman to complete the project which critics said would endanger the environment and displace rural communities.
Despite a symbolic “ground-breaking” in 2014, no work was done on the canal that was to link Nicaragua’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts. At one point, crews broke ground on access roads near the canal but digging the waterway never started.
Continue reading...‘“What do you want me to do?” he said when we got to his trailer. I couldn’t have him just staring at me, so I said: “Maybe pick up the phone?” I don’t know if he called anyone’
I got into photographing motor sport through my friendship with Damon Hill. When we met, 40 years ago, I had a job in the marketing department of an office supplies manufacturer and he was mostly on a motorbike, either earning his living as a dispatch rider or racing at Brands Hatch. Then he switched to racing on four wheels – his dad, Graham Hill, had been a double Formula 1 world champion. Damon is a really shy bloke and it was important to him to be with people who weren’t just fascinated by his family history. I didn’t know one end of a racing car from the other.
My ambition was to work for Allsport, the sports photography agency. Eventually, I got a job there and stayed on the staff for three years until I couldn’t cope any more with going to Tottenham on a Tuesday night in the middle of February. Eamonn McCabe, the picture editor of the Guardian and the Observer, gave me a few shifts a week, and suddenly I was in at the deep end.
Continue reading...Increase in cases reflects changing mood across continent towards Chinese threats, say experts
As China’s president, Xi Jinping, arrived in Serbia for the second leg of his European tour, authorities across the continent were grappling with a wave of allegations about Chinese spying.
On Tuesday, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, revealed that a “malign actor” had compromised British military payroll records, with reports pointing the finger at China.
Continue reading...With only 144 spots and an ever-growing talent pool, the WNBA may be the most difficult league to make in all of sports. For a rookie class led by Caitlin Clark, it’ll be a whole new ballgame
From the moment Caitlin Clark was tapped by the Indiana Fever with the first overall pick in last month’s WNBA draft, the buzz surrounding the once-in-a-generation player from the American heartland has only redoubled.
The 22-year-old from West Des Moines, who broke Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record to become the all-time leading scorer in major college basketball history earlier this year, is the bandleader of a sensational WNBA rookie class that has drawn millions of new fans to the women’s game in recent months – and generated an unprecedented sense of excitement as the league’s 28th season tips off on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...The ECB’s proposals to invite private investment into its divisive tournament require further scrutiny with the wider game at stake
Why should anyone be worried about the England and Wales Cricket Board’s plan to sell its stake in the eight Hundred franchise teams to private investors? A deadline for counties to agree to a “direction of travel” on this issue has been set for Friday. The governing body’s preferred direction appears clear enough. The intention seems to be to sell English cricket’s chief domestic revenue levers as quickly as possible. Most likely this will be to the existing owners of Indian Premier League franchises. IPL owners already have teams in the US, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. So why not here?
To date nobody with any kind of platform in the game seems overly concerned about this prospect. We have seen no breaking of ranks among administrators, no big‑ticket media names pointing to the potential pitfalls, no European Super League-style protests on the streets.
Continue reading...Thanks to soil bioengineering in a village in north India, a submerged road was accessible in less than one week, according to officials
On 14 August 2023, heavy rainfall in north India triggered flash floods and landslides, devastating the region. Kishori Lal, the sarpanch (head) of the Kothi Gehri village in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, recalls the events of that day: “Our link road connecting to the state highway and a few homes along that road were completely devastated.”
Torrential downpours in nearby Rewalsar, a picturesque lake town popular with tourists, led to several water bodies bursting their banks. The subsequent flooding and landslides wrecked homes in Lal’s village, necessitating the evacuation of hamlets and severing vital links to the outside world. With roads submerged, the ensuing closure of the Mandi-Rewalsar-Kalkhar Road and link roads left scores of tourists stranded and local communities isolated.
Amid this chaos, the resilience of Nog, a village in Bilaspur district, stands out. While roads across the region, including those in and around Kothi Gehri, remained closed, the road leading to Nog was accessible in less than one week, according to officials.
Ceasefire and divestment calls have spread beyond US campuses, with more expected as Rafah offensive begins
University campuses around the world have been the stage of a growing number of protests by students demanding academic institutions divest from companies supplying arms to Israel.
The protests, which first spread across college campuses in the US, have reached universities in the UK, the rest of Europe, as well as Lebanon and India.
Continue reading...Move comes after deputy prime minister and agriculture minister dismissed by government
South Korea’s position remains it will not supply lethal weapons to any country, president Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, when asked if Seoul was prepared to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.
Yoon also said his government intended to continue managing relations with Moscow to “pursue economic cooperation and mutual benefits” even though the two countries’ ties have become “uncomfortable” since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...  | submitted by /u/lurker_bee [link] [comments] |
Congress party’s Arun Reddy held over fake video of interior minister Amit Shah
Indian police have said they have arrested the social media chief of the country’s main opposition party over a doctored video widely shared during the ongoing national election.
Arun Reddy of the Congress party was detained late on Friday in connection with the edited footage, which falsely shows India’s powerful interior minister, Amit Shah, vowing in a campaign speech to end affirmative action policies for millions of poor and low-caste Indians.
Continue reading...Inadvertent poisoning of scavengers across Indian subcontinent is forcing some communities to give up ancient custom
Traditional Zoroastrian burial rites are becoming increasingly impossible to perform because of the precipitous decline of vultures in India, Iran and Pakistan.
For millennia, Parsi communities have traditionally disposed of their dead in structures called dakhma, or “towers of silence”. These circular, elevated edifices are designed to prevent the soil, and the sacred elements of earth, fire and water, from being contaminated by corpses.
Continue reading...Prime minister said there were ‘credible allegations’ that India was behind killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Canadian police have charged three members of an alleged hit team for their role in the assassination of the Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the first arrests in a high-profile killing that officials believe was masterminded by India.
The arrests come nearly a year after the prominent activist was killed in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh gurdwara on the evening of 18 June in the city of Surrey, British Columbia. In what investigators previously described as a carefully orchestrated operation, two assailants fired about 50 bullets at Nijjar and escaped the area in a grey car.
Continue reading...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...Meta has threatened to pull WhatsApp out of India if the courts try to force it to break its end-to-end encryption.
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...One is pro-Scottish independence, the other against – can they find common ground on taxation or the new laws on hate crimes?
Kevin, 50, Edinburgh
Occupation Pensions consultant
Continue reading...Lots of complicated details here: too many for me to summarize well. It involves an obscure Section 230 provision—and an even more obscure typo. Read this.
Defense attorney Susan Necheles’ rapid-fire questioning appears aimed at showing Daniels’ revelation about alleged affair was motivated by money
Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse.
Juan Merchan, the judge, has instructed that photography is no longer allowed in the courtroom for the rest of the trial, per pool, citing a court officer.
Continue reading...David McLean’s alleged confessions of killing his mother with a pillow deemed unreliable by judge
A former mayor accused of trying to smother his dying mother with a pillow has been cleared after a judge ruled his confessions of killing her were inherently unreliable.
David McLean was accused of attempting to murder his 92-year-old mother, Margaret McLean, by covering her face as he told her: “Sorry, Mum.”
Continue reading...I saw a voting process that was both dignified and moving – and as a member of long standing, I welcome this change
The Garrick Club’s vote this week in favour of admitting women as members mattered. It mattered – and was the subject of widespread public debate – because the club’s prominence in London’s establishment landscape made its exclusion of women seem unjust and wrong. With a large number of senior judges and other public servants as members, it simply could not pass as just another club. Some might argue that this popularity speaks to its standing, others that it also brings responsibility.
The vote lifts a cloud from the club’s reputation, as did a similar vote by the Athenaeum in 2002. These places are not hole-in-the-corner institutions. In my view, the Garrick’s influence on Britain’s public life has been overstated. But privilege and influence are perceived, and that has been enough to make the club’s membership vulnerable to public scrutiny. That vulnerability was evident in the embarrassment some members felt at seeing the issue discussed outside the club’s walls. It was as if misogyny was a vice that dared not speak its name.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...At some deep level, the former adult film star clearly has his number and knows how to hit him where it hurts
The spectacle of Stormy Daniels on the witness stand in a Manhattan courtroom this week sent one back to the image of Trump’s last female antagonist, E Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who famously sued Trump for sexually assaulting her, standing victorious outside another courtroom in January. Daniels, unlike Carroll, is not the plaintiff in this case. Nonetheless, Trump’s fortunes rest, to a large degree, on her credibility, a 45-year-old former porn star who the New York Times described this week as “a complicated and imperfect witness”. If Carroll – elegant, measured, articulate – was the perfect victim, Daniels is practically the archetype of the woman court systems tend to revile. And yet, on the strength of her opening testimony, she strikes me as Trump’s very worst nightmare.
This impression is extrajudicial. Daniels, who has already been rebuked by the judge for straying off topic, may prove too wayward a witness to achieve what Carroll did: the civil case equivalent of a guilty verdict against a man almost supernaturally able to avoid them. If we are looking beyond verdicts to the public image, however, Daniels is in some ways by far the more menacing foe for Trump. You couldn’t make up the details of her testimony this week, which sent court reporters scrambling to find sober ways to present her account of spanking Trump with a rolled up magazine and insisting on having sex with her without a condom. This is a woman willing to meet Trump at his preferred site of conflict – public humiliation – and on the evidence so far, he isn’t weathering it well.
Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...The ‘Mriya’ unit made up of members of the legal profession patrols the capital region’s skies with antique weapons
In a small wood in the Kyiv region Anatoliy Shyshak stared at the night sky. Dusk was falling. The only sounds came from a thrush nightingale and a faraway yapping dog. Shyshak – a sergeant in Ukraine’s territorial army – was listening for something else: an enemy drone. “It sounds like a moped. Not a classy Italian one, but something cheap and horrible,” he said. “They fly between 100 and 300 metres above the ground. You hear a rattling.”
For the past year Shyshak’s brigade, the 241st, has scoured the heavens for Russian flying objects. Its task is to shoot them down before they can reach the capital. He and his territorial defence colleagues are based about 100km east of Kyiv, along one of several drone flight paths. “I like my job. We are pretty successful. We stop death here. Our families are in Kyiv so we are protecting our wives and children,” he said.
Continue reading...Fifa must publish an independent report into its responsibilities to migrant workers in Qatar and begin the process of providing financial compensation, Amnesty International has said.
The human rights organisation has called on Fifa to finally publish the report by Michael Llamas, president of the Gibraltar Football Association, before its congress in Bangkok next week. According to those familiar with the process, the Llamas report has found Fifa has a responsibility to provide financial remedy to workers or the families of workers involved in 2022 World Cup projects in Qatar and that its conclusions were approved by the executive Fifa council in March. The Guardian understands the report is under review by Fifa stakeholders but that the governing body remains committed to its publication.
Continue reading...Panel heard from expert witnesses how Russia had ‘means, motive and opportunity’ for covert targeting of intelligence officers
Russia has “targeted and neutralized” dozens of US intelligence agents in recent years in a covert worldwide operation using sonic weapons, a House committee heard on Wednesday as it looked into the mystery phenomenon known as Havana syndrome.
The panel heard from expert witnesses that Russia had “the motive, the means and the opportunity” to enact the attacks on US diplomats and other government employees at embassies and other government outposts that left many with debilitating or career-ending brain injuries and hearing loss.
Continue reading...Supporters of rightwing ex-president Jair Bolsonaro among 1.6m people at show despite conservative criticism of ‘satanist’ singer
For conservative supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, Madonna’s recent mega show in Rio had seemed the perfect opportunity to score points against what they see as the ungodly and morally degenerate left.
After the Queen of Pop threw the biggest concert of her 40-year career on Copacabana beach on Saturday, one far-right congressman called the singer a “satanist”. Another reprehended the “immoral acts” that had unfolded on stage during the sexually charged event and called Madonna’s performance “an affront to Brazilian laws”.
Continue reading...Congress party’s Arun Reddy held over fake video of interior minister Amit Shah
Indian police have said they have arrested the social media chief of the country’s main opposition party over a doctored video widely shared during the ongoing national election.
Arun Reddy of the Congress party was detained late on Friday in connection with the edited footage, which falsely shows India’s powerful interior minister, Amit Shah, vowing in a campaign speech to end affirmative action policies for millions of poor and low-caste Indians.
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