Global oil and gas prices have spiked as the conflict in the Middle East halts energy exports from the region. The strait of Hormuz has been in effect closed since the war began, causing fears of a global economic crisis. About a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped through the narrow passage of water, but, according to reports, traffic has dropped by about 80%, with little sign of return. How long until we feel the effects? Nosheen Iqbal speaks to John Collingridge, the Guardian’s head of business.
Continue reading...McLaren could start slowly, Mercedes may set the pace, while newcomers – and returning heroes – add huge interest
Car MCL40 Engine Mercedes Principal Andrea Stella Debut Monaco 1966 GPs 994 Constructors’ titles 10 Last season 1st. Held their nerve to close out the constructors’ and drivers’ double last season, albeit with the latter going to the wire as they rather tied themselves in knots trying to be fair to both drivers. Enter this year a little off the front but in a season likely to be marked by a fierce development battle, will expect to exploit their huge strengths in bringing the car on with alacrity and be in the mix in no short order.
Continue reading...‘Divorce rings’ have been gaining popularity. But for some women, freedom warrants a stronger, more defiant symbol
I have been a divorce coach for five years. Every client’s process is different, but occasionally I notice new trends. One afternoon, a woman showed up to her session fuming. Her soon to be ex-husband was trying to claw back her engagement ring through his attorney.
“Absolutely not,” she said, her jaw stiffening. “That ring is mine. I earned it. And I already know exactly what I’m doing with it.”
Continue reading...Climate deniers expected more resistance to the fossil fuel blitz. But Democrats, billionaires and activists have gone silent
This story is published in partnership with DeSmog, the climate investigations site
As Donald Trump assaults the legal foundation of America’s ability to regulate global warming emissions, climate deniers have been privately celebrating what they claim is the “silent” acquiescence of billionaires, Democrats, climate activists and even reporters to the president’s aggressive pro-fossil-fuel agenda.
“In my 26 years of being focused on climate, I’ve never seen anything like this. Trump is gutting everything they ever stood for,” Marc Morano, a long-time climate denier, said in January at the World Prosperity Forum, a five-day event in Zurich, Switzerland, billed as a rightwing alternative to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Continue reading...The hosts must conjure the spirit of their last title triumph, 27 years ago, when the sides meet at Murrayfield
Even now, 27 years on, Kenny Logan still remembers how good it felt. Back in 1999, as this year, Scotland were title outsiders before a crunch fixture against the defending champions, France. Beneath a bright blue Parisian sky they gloriously ripped up the script with five first-half tries and, thanks to England’s late implosion against Wales at Wembley a day later, hoisted the trophy at Murrayfield in front of 15,000 fans on the Monday.
For Logan, who landed five successful kicks on that famous afternoon, the timeless lessons of the story are twofold. The first is that Scotland have failed to win the tournament since; and the second is that, at times like this, fortune favours the brave: “When we went to France that year we took the game to them. That’s what Scotland will do this weekend – and probably do it better than we could.”
Continue reading...DORDRECHT (ANP) - Een 14-jarige jongen uit Dordrecht is woensdag aangehouden die ervan wordt verdacht sinds oktober meerdere hardlopende vrouwen op de billen te hebben geslagen. De jongen heeft toegegeven betrokken te zijn bij de aanrandingen in de omgeving van de Wielwijk in Dordrecht, aldus de politie.
Een woordvoerder zegt dat nog uitgezocht wordt "of hij echt de persoon is die heeft aangerand, of dat hij samen met iemand was". Ze zegt niet te weten om hoeveel slachtoffers het precies gaat. Twee weken geleden zijn ook nog meermaals vrouwen aangerand.
De politie zegt in nauw contact te staan met de slachtoffers die aangifte hebben gedaan. Hoeveel vrouwen aangifte hebben gedaan, deelt de politie niet in het bericht.
AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De aandelenbeurs in Amsterdam is woensdag met een aanzienlijke winst gesloten. De hoofdindex toonde daarmee wat herstel na de verliezen eerder deze week door de oorlog van de Verenigde Staten en Israël tegen Iran. Veel omliggende landen kregen de afgelopen dagen met Iraanse tegenacties te maken. Ook op andere Europese beurzen leken beleggers weer voorzichtig in aandelen te willen stappen.
De AEX steeg 1 procent tot 1000,02 punten. Berekend vanaf het begin van de oorlog in Iran staat de graadmeter nog altijd op 2,6 procent verlies. De MidKap steeg 1,6 procent tot 998,49 punten. De beurzen in Frankfurt, Parijs en Londen wonnen tot 1,7 procent.
Van een afname van de hevigheid van de vijandelijkheden in het Midden-Oosten is vooralsnog geen sprake. Turkije meldde het neerhalen van een Iraanse raket die op weg was naar het NAVO-land. De index van de beurs in Istanbul maakte een duikeling na het nieuws, maar herstelde vervolgens en stond tussentijds 0,1 procent in de plus.
A new Android app called Nearby Glasses alerts users when Bluetooth signals from smart glasses are detected nearby. The Android app, called Nearby Glasses, "launches at a time as there is an increasing resistance against always-recording or listening devices, which critics say process information about nearby people who do not give their consent," reports TechCrunch. From the report: Yves Jeanrenaud, who made the app, first spoke to 404 Media about the project and said he was in part inspired to make Nearby Glasses after reading the independent publication's reporting into wearable surveillance devices, including how Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses have been used in immigration raids and to film and harass sex workers.
On the app's project page, Jeanrenaud described smart glasses as an "intolerable intrusion, consent neglecting, horrible piece of tech." Jeanrenaud told TechCrunch in an email that his motivation came from "witnessing the sheer scale and inhumane nature of the abuse these smart glasses are involved in." Jeanrenaud also cited Meta's decision to implement face recognition as a default feature in its smart glasses, "which I consider to be a huge floodgate pushed open for all kinds of privacy-invasive behavior."
The app works by listening for nearby Bluetooth signals that contain a publicly assigned identifier unique to the Bluetooth device's manufacturer. If the app detects a Bluetooth signal from a nearby hardware device made by Meta or Snap, the app will send the user an alert. (The app also allows users to add their own specific Bluetooth identifiers, allowing the user to detect a broader range of wearable surveillance gadgetry.) Further reading: Meta's AI Display Glasses Reportedly Share Intimate Videos With Human Moderators
On the app's project page, Jeanrenaud described smart glasses as an "intolerable intrusion, consent neglecting, horrible piece of tech." Jeanrenaud told TechCrunch in an email that his motivation came from "witnessing the sheer scale and inhumane nature of the abuse these smart glasses are involved in." Jeanrenaud also cited Meta's decision to implement face recognition as a default feature in its smart glasses, "which I consider to be a huge floodgate pushed open for all kinds of privacy-invasive behavior."
The app works by listening for nearby Bluetooth signals that contain a publicly assigned identifier unique to the Bluetooth device's manufacturer. If the app detects a Bluetooth signal from a nearby hardware device made by Meta or Snap, the app will send the user an alert. (The app also allows users to add their own specific Bluetooth identifiers, allowing the user to detect a broader range of wearable surveillance gadgetry.) Further reading: Meta's AI Display Glasses Reportedly Share Intimate Videos With Human Moderators
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for "Armageddon," Return of Jesus A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God's plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was "anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth," according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer. From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
From the original link: The MRFF is keeping the complainants anonymous to prevent retribution by the Defense Department. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to my request for comment. One complainant identified themselves as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in a unit currently outside the Iran combat zone but in Ready-Support status, deployable at any time. The NCO said they were Christian and emailed the MRFF on behalf of 15 troops, including at least 11 Christians, one Muslim, and one Jew. (Full email printed below.) The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander "urged us to tell our troops that this was 'all part of God's divine plan' and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ." *** This blog post is linked from the front page of the MRFF, it is not a random substack. Related: Why the religious beliefs of Trump defense pick Pete Hegseth matter. In Tennessee, Hegseth sent his children to a specific Christian school; he then joined a nearby church, both of which are tied to Wilson's CREC and ACCS. The structures and informal workings that make up the CREC and ACCS are designed to ensure theological agreement and submission to church leadership, and protect churches from lawsuits when there are accusations of abuse. These aren't just churches you can join by showing up. From my research, I know the CREC churches embrace a style of church government where a candidate for membership must go before the elders – called a session – to show that their conversion was authentic and submit to thorough questioning of their theology. They then usually sign a covenant or make a public verbal covenant, submitting to church elders. *** This sure does sound like Hegseth is in a religious cult and our country's defense department is being run by his extremist pastor, doesn't it? N.B. This link was posted near the end of the Iran war thread, but I thought it was worth moving to its own thread. Mods feel free to delete if you disagree. I know this is a doomerist topic - literally! - but I hope we can keep the conversation from being nothing but doomerism.
From the original link: The MRFF is keeping the complainants anonymous to prevent retribution by the Defense Department. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to my request for comment. One complainant identified themselves as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in a unit currently outside the Iran combat zone but in Ready-Support status, deployable at any time. The NCO said they were Christian and emailed the MRFF on behalf of 15 troops, including at least 11 Christians, one Muslim, and one Jew. (Full email printed below.) The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander "urged us to tell our troops that this was 'all part of God's divine plan' and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ." *** This blog post is linked from the front page of the MRFF, it is not a random substack. Related: Why the religious beliefs of Trump defense pick Pete Hegseth matter. In Tennessee, Hegseth sent his children to a specific Christian school; he then joined a nearby church, both of which are tied to Wilson's CREC and ACCS. The structures and informal workings that make up the CREC and ACCS are designed to ensure theological agreement and submission to church leadership, and protect churches from lawsuits when there are accusations of abuse. These aren't just churches you can join by showing up. From my research, I know the CREC churches embrace a style of church government where a candidate for membership must go before the elders – called a session – to show that their conversion was authentic and submit to thorough questioning of their theology. They then usually sign a covenant or make a public verbal covenant, submitting to church elders. *** This sure does sound like Hegseth is in a religious cult and our country's defense department is being run by his extremist pastor, doesn't it? N.B. This link was posted near the end of the Iran war thread, but I thought it was worth moving to its own thread. Mods feel free to delete if you disagree. I know this is a doomerist topic - literally! - but I hope we can keep the conversation from being nothing but doomerism.
