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Congress Considers Putting Ken Paxton in Charge of Choosing Who to Deport
Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:07:02 +0000
The Laken Riley Act authorizes state attorneys general to sue federal authorities to force deportations and block visas.
The post Congress Considers Putting Ken Paxton in Charge of Choosing Who to Deport appeared first on The Intercept.
As three men challenge their commutations, others brace for imminent prison transfers and the finality of a life sentence with no chance of release.
The post Biden Commuted Their Death Sentences. Now What? appeared first on The Intercept.
Conservatives have been caught admitting that age-verification laws are pretext to shut down pornography entirely.
The post SCOTUS Won’t Hear the Real Reason Porn Age-Verification Laws Are Spreading appeared first on The Intercept.
Government plans to renationalise railways will establish new public body to improve the network
Sunday train services will be as reliable as those on weekdays under plans to renationalise the railways, the new transport secretary will claim in a keynote speech on Monday.
Issuing a series of pledges on which the government will be judged by millions of passengers – as well as its political opponents – Heidi Alexander will cite the creation of a network “where Sunday services are as reliable as Monday’s” as one of her key priorities.
Continue reading...Clemmie, 27, a television writer, meets Joe, 28, a civil servant
What were you hoping for?
A Hollywood romance story to tell the grandkids. Also, that he wouldn’t judge me for ordering pizza (I’d studied the restaurant menu in advance).
Populist leader allegedly had a child with a teen girl in 2016, which would constitute statutory rape under Bolivian law
A Bolivian judge has ordered the arrest of the former president Evo Morales over his alleged abuse of a teenage girl while in office, raising the stakes in the state’s months-long showdown with the former leader.
The judge in the southern city of Tarija called for Morales, 65, to be arrested after Bolivia’s first Indigenous president ducked out of a hearing on his possible pre-trial detention for a second time.
Continue reading...“MUST FIND THE LEAKER!” Trump posted, decrying the damage to Israel when its Iran attack plans were made public.
The post CIA Leaker of Israel Intel Pleads Guilty Days Before Trump Takes Office appeared first on The Intercept.
With the Supreme Court approving the TikTok ban, the U.S. is embracing the type of internet authoritarianism it long opposed.
The post Washington’s TikTok Ban Hypocrisy: Internet Censorship Is Good, Now appeared first on The Intercept.
Ahead of Trump’s second term, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are advancing sweeping measures to make life harder for immigrants.
The post Building the Deportation Machine for Trump 2.0 appeared first on The Intercept.
The secretaries of defense and state will play key roles in U.S. policy on Israel, but they faced little scrutiny on Palestinian suffering.
The post Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio Get a Pass on Suffering in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal on almost entirely the same terms as a proposal that fell apart in the summer.
The post A Deal Too Late: Israel Agrees to the Ceasefire It Rejected Months Ago, Thousands More Died appeared first on The Intercept.
In their confirmation hearings, John Ratcliffe, Pam Bondi, and Tulsi Gabbard gave government mass surveillance two thumbs up.
The post Trump Decried This Law as a Deep State Spy Weapon. His Nominees Sure Seem to Love It. appeared first on The Intercept.
And, when he ran for Congress, trust fund kid Bo Hines got half a million in support from FTX crypto fraudsters.
The post Does This Trump Crypto Appointee Even Have Crypto Experience? Yes, With a Trump-Themed Meme Coin. appeared first on The Intercept.
From mindfulness retreats to monastery stays, tell us about a getaway where you were able to switch off completely – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break
In an age of constant distraction, silence and stillness are increasingly rare commodities, so it’s hardly surprising that more of us are turning to retreats as a way to get some much-needed breathing space. Whether it’s a meditation retreat, a yoga holiday, a digital detox or a stay in a monastery, we’d love to hear about the places in the UK, Europe or further afield where you go to rest, reset and recharge.
If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.
Continue reading...The Trump administration spied on reporters to catch leakers. At the same time, it was leaking to right-wing media.
The post The Trump DOJ Loved Leaking, as Long as It Was to Rupert Murdoch’s Newspapers appeared first on The Intercept.
Public defenders and legal professionals said they never see the leniency offered to Trump given to other defendants.
The post A Tale of Two Justice Systems: Only Trump Gets Convicted of 34 Felonies and Receives No Punishment appeared first on The Intercept.
Under Meta’s relaxed hate speech rules, users can now post “I’m a proud racist” or “Black people are more violent than whites.”
The post Leaked Meta Rules: Users Are Free to Post “Mexican Immigrants Are Trash!” or “Trans People Are Immoral” appeared first on The Intercept.
Human creativity is more powerful than any machine but it still needs analogue nurturing in the digital age
In the six decades since the release of The Times They Are a-Changin’, Bob Dylan’s success has turned out to be one thing that doesn’t change much. Each generation has rediscovered and loved his work, much to the gratification (or sometimes dismay) of their baby-boomer parents and grandparents.
The cycle will be perpetuated by A Complete Unknown, James Mangold’s acclaimed cinematic retelling of the early chapters in the singer’s career – the transition from penniless minstrel to counter-cultural icon by way of the New York folk scene of the early 1960s. As is normal for biopics, the movie takes liberties with the historical record, but the thrust of the narrative is not disputed. And while the music itself might be timeless, the analogue mechanism that conveyed Dylan to stardom looks very dated.
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...Streaming insiders have claimed they’re being made to rewrite scripts for viewers who use their phones while watching. Is this the end of prestige TV? Or pure fiction?
Be honest: how much attention do you pay when you watch TV? If you’re familiar with the ritual of half-watching a series or film – Netflix on in the background while you check out what your arch enemy has just posted on Instagram, say – it may surprise you to hear that Netflix doesn’t just know you engage in this obscene behaviour. It actually wants you to carry on.
The streamer was in the news recently thanks to an excellent piece by Will Tavlin in n+1, which reminded readers of the platform’s microgenre of “casual viewing”: TV shows and movies designed to be watched while doing something else. One paragraph in particular incited a great deal of frustration. Tavlin claimed that Netflix have told various screenwriters to have their protagonists “announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the background can follow along”.
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
Ireland’s best-selling brew has found new favour among women, the young, and celebrity drinkers. Now a shortage of supply in UK pubs has opened the door to competitors
At the Lamb, a pub on London’s Holloway Road, Hamish Goodwin is nursing a pint of Murphy’s.
A Guinness drinker, Goodwin recently fell in love with the lesser-known stout, which he calls “slightly richer”. Though generally less common, Murphy’s has been “creeping up” in pubs and bars in the capital recently, he’s noticed.
Continue reading...A big pot of comfort for everyone to dig into
This is what a winter party is all about: a big pot you can place at the table with a stack of bowls and a ladle; something that’s not expensive, that’s easy to prepare, and that can be made well in advance. Most importantly, though, this pot is exploding with deeply satisfying flavour, and will accommodate almost everyone: there’s no gluten or nuts, your vegan and vegetarian friends can dig in, and carnivores won’t feel cheated, either. Every palate is catered for, everyone is welcome.
Continue reading...Macsween working to circumvent food regulations that have banned traditional recipe in US for more than 50 years
Scotland’s largest haggis maker is creating a “compliant” recipe of the nation’s most famous dish to circumvent strict American food regulations after more than 50 years in exile.
The decision by Macsween of Edinburgh comes after traditional haggis was banned by the US authorities in 1971, taking issue with the sheep’s-lung component of the recipe, which was then prohibited for use as human food by federal regulation.
Continue reading...The host of our Comfort Eating podcast tastes and rates thick chocolate biscuits from UK supermarkets
• Who makes the best crunchy peanut butter?
I am a complete sucker for a chocolate biscuit, one of the most exciting things about a 1980s childhood. Before structured playdates, Roblox and MrBeast videos, our thrills came in a biscuit tin full of Penguins, Clubs and Breakaways. The more chocolatey the chocolate, the better. Bliss.
In recent years, the rise of the posh, extra-chocolatey biscuit has delighted me. An ideal fancy biscuit should feel heavy in the hand, need a good bite to break through the chocolatey shell, it should withstand at least three good dunks in tea, and it should come in a packet with at least one breathlessly outlandish claim along the lines of “most chocolatey yet” or “thickest coating ever”. You should feel instantly joyful when you’re eating the first one. After the third, ideally, you should feel a bit sick.
Continue reading...He was an unruly teenager in 90s Los Angeles, who became feted for his turns as Freddie Mercury and a Bond villain. Now he’s turning to Greek tragedy on the London stage
Rami Malek, in one graceful sweep, lifts the food delivery bags from an assistant and holds open the door of the photographic studio. He showers the room with greetings, asking names, responding to questions: he’s doing good, thanks; his Thanksgiving was good, thanks, his partner (actor Emma Corrin) threw a surprise dinner for him, trimmings and all, and he was blown away. He shakes hands with the crew, jokes about the music, apologises for being late. His fault, he maintains. But there’s something else. In all these small interactions, Malek is quick to flip focus on to the other person: no, but how are they? How is their Sunday? I wonder as I watch him, is this real? Is this who he is? I’d read that he liked the way Tom Hanks is attentive to all those he works with. That Malek learned this in 2010 while working on The Pacific, the second world war miniseries Hanks co-produced.
Earlier, when we met in a cafe in east London, he revealed as he dropped his leather holdall and shed his jacket that he had done almost as much reading on me as I had on him. “I hope that’s OK. I mean, you investigated me,” he said. This was unnerving. First, because actors don’t care about interviewers, yet here he was giving feedback on my work, and, second, because it must have been so dull. Unlike Malek, 43, I have not starred in any Emmy-winning TV series, like Mr Robot (2015-19). Or received an Oscar for my portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), or played the supervillain who killed Daniel Craig’s James Bond in No Time to Die (2021). In the first four months of this year alone, he will star as Oedipus at London’s Old Vic theatre and in the blockbuster thriller The Amateur, which he also co-produced.
Continue reading...Ramen restaurants also struggling as Japan’s culinary landscape faces economic challenges and changing customer behaviour
In the bowels of a commercial building in Tokyo’s Shinbashi neighbourhood there is little to suggest that office workers seeing in the year of the snake have lost their appetite for shared plates of Japanese food and jockeys of draught beer. They tuck into plates of charcoal-grilled chicken, bowls of edamame and flasks of hot sake. Calls of “irasshaimase!” welcome each new group of diners.
It was not that long ago that curfews and alcohol bans introduced to limit the spread of Covid-19 forced izakaya – informal, boozy salons that range in size from cosy joints serving yakitori (chicken skewers) to cavernous spaces with seemingly endless menus – to call last orders at what would have normally been the busiest time of the evening.
Continue reading...Rare spherical egg could fetch in region of £200, with proceeds of sale going to charity
A farm worker in Devon has discovered what she believes to be a “one-in-a-billion” spherical egg.
Alison Greene, who has worked as an egg handler on Fenton Farm near the Somerset border for three years and handled more than 42m eggs, said she had never found a perfectly round one before.
Continue reading...The international community must now make up for its failure of Palestinians, writes Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob. Plus, letters by Michael Peel and Andrew M Rosemarine
The relentless anguish of Palestinians, the colossal magnitude of the calamity in Gaza, is beyond anything seen in history. Living conditions are deplorable. Hospitals are destroyed. Food is scant. Clean drinking water is nonexistent. Public health is shattered to pieces. Malnutrition, vaccine-preventable diseases and infections are rampant.
Children, women and the elderly are deeply traumatised and need urgent medical, humanitarian and psychological assistance. Despite that, the international community has failed Gaza. Let us hope that the ceasefire will pave the way towards a sustainable peace and security in the region and wider world.
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London
Why are your favourite products getting smaller but costing the same? From toilet paper rolls to snacks, shrinkflation is the sneaky tactic is affecting many things we buy.
In this video, Neelam Tailor looks into how companies hide shrinkflation and what you can do about it.
After a holiday season where festive treats like Cadbury’s Christmas selection boxes shrank while prices stayed the same, shrinkflation continues to impact shoppers in 2025. Start the year informed and learn how to spot these subtle changes to protect your budget.
Continue reading...A year in Palestine, living in fear of not just genocide — but AIDS.
The post Queer, HIV-Positive, and Running Out of Medication in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas
Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.
Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email.
Continue reading...A job listing for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show offers $12 per hour — part of a long pattern of host-city residents getting the short shrift.
The post Everyone’s Making Millions But the Super Bowl Haltime Show Wants to Hire New Orleans Locals for $12 an Hour appeared first on The Intercept.
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every Thursday
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday
Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you
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Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.
It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.
Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.
A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.
A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.
Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.
Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.
To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:
Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.
Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.
Here’s how it works:
And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.
Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.
Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.
Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.
Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.
Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.
Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.
Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?
Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.
Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.
Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.
Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.
I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.
Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.
Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.
Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.
Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency
Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.
Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section
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Cheonggyecheon stream in the South Korean capital has become an attraction – and helps with flood management, fighting air pollution and cooling the city
On a crisp December morning, office workers and tourists stroll along a tree-lined stream in central Seoul, pausing on stepping stones that cross its flowing waters. It’s difficult to imagine that just over 20 years ago, this was a vast elevated highway carrying 168,000 cars daily through the heart of South Korea’s capital.
Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs for about 3.5 miles (nearly 6km) through Seoul, was one of the earliest experiments in an increasing trend in cities globally: turning spaces where there was once car or rail infrastructure into spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. It’s a powerful example of the way that these spaces can become loved and popular, along with projects such as the High Line in New York, where an old railway track has been turned into a raised park, or the city moat in Utrecht, where a multi-lane road (nicknamed the “motorway from nothing to nowhere”) was converted back into a canal, in part of a huge continuing push to allow pedestrians and cyclists to dominate the city’s centre.
Continue reading...United Utilities has dropped legal fight to block access to data on the discharge of treated sewage in Lake District
The water company United Utilities has conceded defeat in its legal battle to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere in the Lake District.
Company officials initially claimed that data from phosphorus monitors at a main sewage treatment works at the lake was not environmental information. The company also wanted to block access to data from Cunsey Beck, a site of special scientific interest, which flows into Windermere.
Continue reading...Mexican officials ordered furnaces to shut down after report on very high levels of pollutants in surrounding neighborhood
Authorities ordered the shutdown of two furnaces at a Mexican recycling plant that processes hazardous waste exported from the US, after an investigation by the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab that revealed heavy metals contamination in nearby homes and schools.
A team from the environmental agency of the Mexican state of Nuevo León visited the plant in a heavily populated part of the Monterrey metropolitan area on Thursday.
Continue reading...The Meta boss has embraced masculinity and abandoned fact-checking and decorum. Is this the future of the tech industry?
Years ago the Economist magazine had a striking cover in which Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, was portrayed as a languid clone of the Roman emperor Augustus. This was inspired by stories that Zuck was fascinated by Gus. On honeymoon in Rome in 2012, for example, he took so many photos of the emperor’s sculptures that his wife joked it was as if there were three people on the holiday. The couple even named their second daughter August.
Explaining his fascination for Rome’s first emperor, Zuckerberg told the New Yorker that “basically, through a really harsh approach, he established 200 years of world peace… What are the trade-offs in that? On the one hand, world peace is a long-term goal that people talk about today [but] that didn’t come for free, and he had to do certain things.”
Continue reading...Charities say better guidance is needed over increasing number of sexual assaults in UK primary schools
Schools must be given clearer guidance on how to handle peer-on-peer sexual abuse among pupils, charities have demanded.
Rape Crisis and other charities wrote to England’s education secretary Bridget Phillipson and Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, last week, calling on the government to step in with clearer statutory guidance on how schools in England and Wales should address sexual violence when both the victim and the alleged perpetrator are pupils.
Continue reading...More sightings may be a positive sign for growing population but also indicative of effect of climate change
The slap of an enormous tail upon grey waters as a humpback whale leaps from the sea is becoming an increasingly possible – although still rare – natural thrill around Britain.
The 30-tonne, 15 metre-long migratory giants are being spotted in growing numbers and locations this winter from Kent to the Isles of Scilly.
Continue reading...Blaze erupts in Monterey county at one of world’s largest battery storage plants, causing highway and school closures
A fire at one of the world’s largest battery-storage plants in northern California flared up again on Friday afternoon, sending up plumes of toxic smoke after authorities had said the blaze was mostly over.
The fire in Moss Landing in Monterey county started on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of up to 1,500 people and the closure of a major highway. Fire crews were not engaging with the fire but rather waiting for it to burn out on its own, a local fire official said.
Continue reading...
SEMrush and Ahrefs are among
the most popular tools in the SEO industry. Both companies have been in
business for years and have thousands of customers per month.
If you're a professional SEO or trying to do digital
marketing on your own, at some point you'll likely consider using a tool to
help with your efforts. Ahrefs and SEMrush are two names that will likely
appear on your shortlist.
In this guide, I'm going to help you learn more about these SEO tools and how to choose the one that's best for your purposes.
What is SEMrush?
SEMrush is a popular SEO tool with a wide range of
features—it's the leading competitor research service for online marketers.
SEMrush's SEO Keyword Magic tool offers over 20 billion Google-approved
keywords, which are constantly updated and it's the largest keyword database.
The program was developed in 2007 as SeoQuake is a
small Firefox extension
Features
Ahrefs is a leading SEO platform that offers a set of
tools to grow your search traffic, research your competitors, and monitor your
niche. The company was founded in 2010, and it has become a popular choice
among SEO tools. Ahrefs has a keyword index of over 10.3 billion keywords and
offers accurate and extensive backlink data updated every 15-30 minutes and it
is the world's most extensive backlink index database.
Features
Direct Comparisons: Ahrefs vs SEMrush
Now that you know a little more about each tool, let's
take a look at how they compare. I'll analyze each tool to see how they differ
in interfaces, keyword research resources, rank tracking, and competitor
analysis.
User Interface
Ahrefs and SEMrush both offer comprehensive information
and quick metrics regarding your website's SEO performance. However, Ahrefs
takes a bit more of a hands-on approach to getting your account fully set up,
whereas SEMrush's simpler dashboard can give you access to the data you need
quickly.
In this section, we provide a brief overview of the elements
found on each dashboard and highlight the ease with which you can complete
tasks.
AHREFS
The Ahrefs dashboard is less cluttered than that of
SEMrush, and its primary menu is at the very top of the page, with a search bar
designed only for entering URLs.
Additional features of the Ahrefs platform include:
SEMRUSH
When you log into the SEMrush Tool, you will find four
main modules. These include information about your domains, organic keyword
analysis, ad keyword, and site traffic.
You'll also find some other options like
Both Ahrefs and SEMrush have user-friendly dashboards,
but Ahrefs is less cluttered and easier to navigate. On the other hand, SEMrush
offers dozens of extra tools, including access to customer support resources.
When deciding on which dashboard to use, consider what
you value in the user interface, and test out both.
If you're looking to track your website's search engine
ranking, rank tracking features can help. You can also use them to monitor your
competitors.
Let's take a look at Ahrefs vs. SEMrush to see which
tool does a better job.
The Ahrefs Rank Tracker is simpler to use. Just type in
the domain name and keywords you want to analyze, and it spits out a report
showing you the search engine results page (SERP) ranking for each keyword you
enter.
Rank Tracker looks at the ranking performance of
keywords and compares them with the top rankings for those keywords. Ahrefs
also offers:
You'll see metrics that help you understand your
visibility, traffic, average position, and keyword difficulty.
It gives you an idea of whether a keyword would be
profitable to target or not.
SEMRush offers a tool called Position Tracking. This
tool is a project tool—you must set it up as a new project. Below are a few of
the most popular features of the SEMrush Position Tracking tool:
All subscribers are given regular data updates and
mobile search rankings upon subscribing
The platform provides opportunities to track several
SERP features, including Local tracking.
Intuitive reports allow you to track statistics for the
pages on your website, as well as the keywords used in those pages.
Identify pages that may be competing with each other
using the Cannibalization report.
Ahrefs is a more user-friendly option. It takes seconds
to enter a domain name and keywords. From there, you can quickly decide whether
to proceed with that keyword or figure out how to rank better for other
keywords.
SEMrush allows you to check your mobile rankings and
ranking updates daily, which is something Ahrefs does not offer. SEMrush also
offers social media rankings, a tool you won't find within the Ahrefs platform.
Both are good which one do you like let me know in the comment.
Keyword research is closely related to rank tracking,
but it's used for deciding which keywords you plan on using for future content
rather than those you use now.
When it comes to SEO, keyword research is the most
important thing to consider when comparing the two platforms.
The Ahrefs Keyword Explorer provides you with thousands
of keyword ideas and filters search results based on the chosen search engine.
Ahrefs supports several features, including:
SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool has over 20 billion
keywords for Google. You can type in any keyword you want, and a list of
suggested keywords will appear.
The Keyword Magic Tool also lets you to:
Both of these tools offer keyword research features and
allow users to break down complicated tasks into something that can be
understood by beginners and advanced users alike.
If you're interested in keyword suggestions, SEMrush
appears to have more keyword suggestions than Ahrefs does. It also continues to
add new features, like the Keyword Gap tool and SERP Questions recommendations.
Both platforms offer competitor analysis tools,
eliminating the need to come up with keywords off the top of your head. Each
tool is useful for finding keywords that will be useful for your competition so
you know they will be valuable to you.
Ahrefs' domain comparison tool lets you compare up to five websites (your website and four competitors) side-by-side.it also shows you how your site is ranked against others with metrics such as backlinks, domain ratings, and more.
Use the Competing Domains section to see a list of your
most direct competitors, and explore how many keywords matches your competitors
have.
To find more information about your competitor, you can
look at the Site Explorer and Content Explorer tools and type in their URL
instead of yours.
SEMrush provides a variety of insights into your
competitors' marketing tactics. The platform enables you to research your
competitors effectively. It also offers several resources for competitor
analysis including:
Traffic Analytics helps you identify where your
audience comes from, how they engage with your site, what devices visitors use
to view your site, and how your audiences overlap with other websites.
SEMrush's Organic Research examines your website's
major competitors and shows their organic search rankings, keywords they are
ranking for, and even if they are ranking for any (SERP) features and more.
The Market Explorer search field allows you to type in
a domain and lists websites or articles similar to what you entered. Market
Explorer also allows users to perform in-depth data analytics on These
companies and markets.
SEMrush wins here because it has more tools dedicated to
competitor analysis than Ahrefs. However, Ahrefs offers a lot of functionality
in this area, too. It takes a combination of both tools to gain an advantage
over your competition.
When it comes to keyword data research, you will become
confused about which one to choose.
Consider choosing Ahrefs if you
Consider SEMrush if you:
Both tools are great. Choose the one which meets your
requirements and if you have any experience using either Ahrefs or SEMrush let
me know in the comment section which works well for you.
On the eve of his return, it’s clear that world leaders, whether they like him or loathe him, can’t ignore this unpredictable showman
Michelle Obama’s one-woman boycott of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration on Monday requires no explanation. It’s plain that the former first lady has zero tolerance and even less love for a man who delights in racist and sexist behaviour. Lots of other people, especially among US allies in Europe, would boycott Trump, too, if they could. Yet, inescapably, they must deal with him for the next four years.
Such fear and loathing is by no means universally shared. A poll, published last week by the European Council on Foreign Relations, found that in China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil, more people welcome Trump’s return than deplore it. In contrast, people in the UK, France, Germany and a clutch of other west European countries are frankly appalled at the prospect.
Continue reading...The Brentford fans ought to have known better. After all, Darwin Núñez had scored a fabulous goal against their team in the corresponding fixture here last season. Still, when Núñez entered as a 65th minute substitute, they were ready with their taunt, one that compared him unfavourably to his one-time Liverpool predecessor, Andy Carroll.
Núñez had travelled to London having scored only four times all season. The scrutiny burned. It was no kind of return for an £85m record signing. Arne Slot had insisted he would come good, that it was simply a matter of getting him into the right spaces and situations against deep-set opponents. How it would work out at the very end for Núñez and Liverpool.
Continue reading...Emergency services say 30 people were involved, of whom 10 were taken to hospital, at Astún in the Pyrenees
Ten people have been hurt, two of them seriously, after a ski lift collapsed at a resort in north-east Spain, hurling dozens of passengers into the snow below.
Although initial reports said 35 people had been injured on Saturday at the Pyrenean resort of Astún, in the Aragón region, the figures were later revised down.
Continue reading...Discovery of two injured servicemen sent from Pyongyang and disguised as Russian fighters blows apart myth that Zelenskyy’s fight is solely with Moscow
The news was sensational. It travelled quickly among Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Russia’s Kursk region. “I heard from a friend of a friend,” one officer, Vitalii Ovcharenko, recalled. “This was half an hour after it happened. My friend said: ‘We’ve got a North Korean prisoner! He’s in shock but OK.’ I said: ‘Wow.’” Ovcharenko added: “Everyone wanted a selfie. They wrapped him in a blanket and gave him tea.”
Last week’s capture of two North Korean servicemen was an extraordinary moment in Russia’s bloody war against Ukraine. The Kremlin has taken elaborate steps to conceal the presence of 12,000 elite troops sent in autumn by Pyongyang to Russia. At camps in the Far East they were given Russian equipment: uniforms, rifles and fake military documents.
Continue reading...Italian region comes surprise eighth place and has plenty of budget package deals available, according to Which?
January is the best month to book a summer holiday – and this year there is a surprise budget option: Tuscany. According to Which?, the central Italian region is among the cheapest package holiday destinations for 2025.
Researchers analysed almost 6,000 package holidays from three of the UK’s biggest tour operators, Jet2holidays, Tui and easyJet Holidays. Tuscany, more usually associated with luxury villa holidays amid rolling hills and vineyards and the expensive hotels of Florence, made it into the top 10 cheapest package destinations, behind better-known budget areas such as Costa Brava in Spain and Corfu in Greece.
Continue reading...The convergence of money and politics isn’t new. What’s different is the Silicon Valley right’s hostility to the nation state
In the last speech of his presidency, Joe Biden described the United States the way he usually only describes the nation’s adversaries: as an oligarchy. His fears about “the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people” came after weeks of discussion of the influence of the mega-rich on the incoming Trump administration. At least 13 billionaires are set to have government posts under the new president, with his expected cabinet worth at least $7bn, double that of his own first term and an astonishing 60 times more than the net worth of the current one. Tallying in Trump’s close adviser, Elon Musk, bloats the figure to over a half trillion. Wealth and power have long had a happy marriage in America. What’s different now? It can be captured in three terms: scale, sector and strategy.
One thing about billionaires in the US is they keep making more of them. In 1990, there were about 60. Ten years later, there were 298. Today there are almost 750, enough to fill a pair of jumbo jets (assuming some could be persuaded to travel in economy). Billionaire status is no longer enough to make you a household name. Those with the Scrooge McDuck or John D Rockefeller status of people “so rich they are famous for being rich” are more properly identified as centibillionaires: people worth more than $100bn.
Quinn Slobodian is the author of Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy
Continue reading...Our expert picks the top wetsuits to keep you warm whatever the weather, so you can ride the waves year-round
• The fitness gear that made you fitter
Gone are the days when surfers needed a woolly jumper under their wetsuit – or to wear two wetsuits – to stay warm. Wetsuit tech has come a long way in recent years and now offer far greater protection against the cold. This shift has meant more of us are surfing all year round, even in the chilliest of British winters.
But such innovation has come at a cost, as explained in The Big Sea, a documentary made by two surfers from the north-east of England. The film shows the effects of producing neoprene, the synthetic rubber used to make most surf wetsuits, on the predominantly black and low-income residents of Reserve in Louisiana, where cancer rates are alarmingly high.
Best overall winter wetsuit:
Patagonia R4 Regulator front zip hooded full suit
Women’s £560 at Patagonia
Men’s £560 at Patagonia
Best budget winter wetsuit:
C-Skins NuWave Solace/Session 5/4 chest zip steamer
Women’s £233.95 at Sorted Surf Shop
Men’s £244.39 at Ocean Sports Board Riders
Best winter wetsuit for flexibility:
Billabong 5/4mm Furnace natural chest zip wetsuit
Women’s £410 at Billabong
Men’s £410 at Billabong
Best winter wetsuit for warmth:
Finisterre Nieuwland 5.5/4.5mm Yulex chest zip hooded wetsuit
Women’s £345 at Finisterre
Men’s £345 at Finisterre
Cheonggyecheon stream in the South Korean capital has become an attraction – and helps with flood management, fighting air pollution and cooling the city
On a crisp December morning, office workers and tourists stroll along a tree-lined stream in central Seoul, pausing on stepping stones that cross its flowing waters. It’s difficult to imagine that just over 20 years ago, this was a vast elevated highway carrying 168,000 cars daily through the heart of South Korea’s capital.
Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs for about 3.5 miles (nearly 6km) through Seoul, was one of the earliest experiments in an increasing trend in cities globally: turning spaces where there was once car or rail infrastructure into spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. It’s a powerful example of the way that these spaces can become loved and popular, along with projects such as the High Line in New York, where an old railway track has been turned into a raised park, or the city moat in Utrecht, where a multi-lane road (nicknamed the “motorway from nothing to nowhere”) was converted back into a canal, in part of a huge continuing push to allow pedestrians and cyclists to dominate the city’s centre.
Continue reading...From mindfulness retreats to monastery stays, tell us about a getaway where you were able to switch off completely – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break
In an age of constant distraction, silence and stillness are increasingly rare commodities, so it’s hardly surprising that more of us are turning to retreats as a way to get some much-needed breathing space. Whether it’s a meditation retreat, a yoga holiday, a digital detox or a stay in a monastery, we’d love to hear about the places in the UK, Europe or further afield where you go to rest, reset and recharge.
If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.
Continue reading...A year in Palestine, living in fear of not just genocide — but AIDS.
The post Queer, HIV-Positive, and Running Out of Medication in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
Alfred Bourgeois’s daughter is convinced of his innocence. In the four years since his execution, she has waged a sometimes-lonely battle to prove it.
The post She Lost Her Dad to Trump’s Killing Spree. Now She Wants Biden to Clear His Name. appeared first on The Intercept.
A new Syria is emerging from the shadow of the brutal Assad regime. The Guardian’s Bethan McKernan and Ayman Abu Ramouz meet people celebrating their hard-won freedom, but also those grappling with a traumatic past. The pair travel to the notorious Sednaya prison, where they meet a former prisoner who was liberated by his family just days before
Resistance was not a choice’: how Syria’s unlikely rebel alliance took Aleppo
'The Syrian regime hit us with chemical weapons: only now can we speak out' – video
Syria’s disappeared: one woman’s search for her missing father
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...Move fast, break things, sprint to kiss Trump’s ring: Marina Hyde on the tech bro inauguration derby. ‘I get hate from both sides – vegans and carnivores’: James Collier on UPFs, emotional eating and why he created Huel. And “My partner blames a ‘lack of attraction’ for not wanting sex”: Philippa Perry advises one reader
Continue reading...Our expert picks the top wetsuits to keep you warm whatever the weather, so you can ride the waves year-round
• The fitness gear that made you fitter
Gone are the days when surfers needed a woolly jumper under their wetsuit – or to wear two wetsuits – to stay warm. Wetsuit tech has come a long way in recent years and now offer far greater protection against the cold. This shift has meant more of us are surfing all year round, even in the chilliest of British winters.
But such innovation has come at a cost, as explained in The Big Sea, a documentary made by two surfers from the north-east of England. The film shows the effects of producing neoprene, the synthetic rubber used to make most surf wetsuits, on the predominantly black and low-income residents of Reserve in Louisiana, where cancer rates are alarmingly high.
Best overall winter wetsuit:
Patagonia R4 Regulator front zip hooded full suit
Women’s £560 at Patagonia
Men’s £560 at Patagonia
Best budget winter wetsuit:
C-Skins NuWave Solace/Session 5/4 chest zip steamer
Women’s £233.95 at Sorted Surf Shop
Men’s £244.39 at Ocean Sports Board Riders
Best winter wetsuit for flexibility:
Billabong 5/4mm Furnace natural chest zip wetsuit
Women’s £410 at Billabong
Men’s £410 at Billabong
Best winter wetsuit for warmth:
Finisterre Nieuwland 5.5/4.5mm Yulex chest zip hooded wetsuit
Women’s £345 at Finisterre
Men’s £345 at Finisterre
Criminals stealing hundreds of pounds by snooping locker codes and using them to access accounts with same pin
Police have urged the public to use different pin codes at the gym after a prolific thief stole hundreds of pounds from a man he snooped on while entering a locker code that he also used for his bank card.
Last September Declan Murphy, 35, secretly watched the victim as he typed in a locker code at a luxury central London gym. After stealing the victim’s phone and bank card from the locker, Murphy then successfully guessed that the four-digit code on the card would be the same as the locker code.
Continue reading...Report by Lancet Commission says BMI should be used as ‘screening tool’ rather than determining factor
This week, doctors confirmed what many people have felt for a long time: the way we think about obesity is not helpful, BMI (body mass index) is unreliable, and this needs to change.
The Lancet Commission has urged a “radical overhaul” of how obesity is diagnosed, warning that reliance on BMI has resulted in both under- and over-diagnosis of the condition affecting approximately 1 billion people globally.
Continue reading...
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