Met zijn Maison des médias libres wil miljonair Olivier Legrain tegenwicht bieden aan de groeiende macht van conservatieve miljardairs in de Franse mediawereld. „Sommigen zeggen: we hebben geen hulp van miljonairs nodig. Ik vraag me af of zij beseffen hoe ernstig de financiële situatie is waarin media verkeren.”

De enige roman van deze Arabisch-Joodse schrijver verscheen in 1927. Het is een uniek literair verslag van de jaarlijkse islamitische pelgrimage naar het graf van de profeet Mozes nabij de stad Jericho, een tocht die Shami zelf eens met Arabische vrienden ondernam.

Met afpersen en afdreigen ‘verdiende’ een man ruim 20.000 euro. Nu moet hij dat bedrag terugbetalen aan de staat, die het geld incasseert namens de slachtoffers. In dit geval was het een kwestie van Tikkies optellen, „maar bij bijvoorbeeld drugshandel is het veel lastiger. Een boekhouding wordt meestal niet gevonden.”

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is declining rapidly. This is Not Good. tl;dr: we're fucked.

BOEDAPEST (ANP/AFP) - Medewerkers van het Hongaarse staatspersbureau MTI komen in verzet na de verkiezingsnederlaag van premier Viktor Orbán. Ze eisen in een brief aan hun management hun redactionele vrijheid terug.

Uit gelekte e-mails komt naar voren dat berichtgeving onder de regering-Orbán streng werd gecontroleerd. Voor berichten over belangrijk overheidsbeleid of buitenlandse bondgenoten van Orbán moest van hogerhand toestemming worden gegeven.

"Wij eisen dat de onafhankelijke, onpartijdige en professioneel onderbouwde nieuwsdienst van het Hongaarse persbureau onmiddellijk wordt hersteld", staat nu in een door ruim negentig personen ondertekende brief.

Een journalist bij MTI, die anoniem wilde blijven, stelt tegenover persbureau AFP dat vrijwel iedereen heeft getekend. "De censuur hier was zoals die van een totalitaire dictatuur. Nu is het genoeg geweest."

In open letter, writers criticise Bollaré for promoting reactionary and far-right ideas and say ‘we refuse to be hostages in ideological war’

More than 100 writers have quit the historic French publishing house, Grasset, in protest at its billionaire conservative owner, Vincent Bolloré, whose media empire has been accused of promoting reactionary and far-right ideas.

In an unprecedented walk-out, dozens of writers including the acclaimed punk feminist novelist Virginie Despentes and the philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, signed an open letter against Bolloré, 74, who is close to far-right figures.

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Real Sociedad’s coach’s career reveals plenty about the man leading the proud Basque club to only their fourth Copa del Rey final

There is a moment, about halfway through a long conversation about an extraordinary journey from New Jersey to Seville, when Pellegrino Matarazzo stops mid-sentence. “I keep using that word: ‘special’. I’m realising now that my English is terrible,” Real Sociedad’s coach says.

So much so that when it finally comes to an end, after he has moved from management and mathematics to music – to OK Computer and Nino D’Angelo, tapes in the old Chevy and all-night sessions on guitar and baglama – he has a suggestion. Laughing now, about to bid farewell, he says: “Feel free to replace any words I used over 10 times. So: ‘special’…”

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Tonic is much more than a bit player in a G&T. A lot of it’s good enough to drink solo

If a tonic is something that “makes you feel stronger and happier”, my tonics come in the form of good wine, bad chocolate and an ageing whippet called Ernie. Recently, though, I’ve found myself craving the OG tonic – tonic water – which started life as a malaria treatment in the age of the British empire.

In the 17th century, Jesuit missionaries brought quinine, a bitter compound found in the bark of American cinchona trees, to Europe. They knew that indigenous people had been using it to treat fevers, and by the 1700s it was routinely being used as an antimalarial in tropical colonies. But there was a snag: quinine is unpalatable. To offset its impossible bitterness, it was combined with water and sugar to make a drink that enabled those stationed in the tropics to self-medicate every day. By the Victorian times, that self-medication had taken on a different aspect; not only had tonic water become fizzy, but it was routinely combined with gin for a drink now emblematic of the British Raj.

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Risks from cancer and other diseases could be hidden with little accountability if justices favor big firms, critics warn

The US could face foreign attacks, food shortages and agricultural “devastation” if the supreme court rules against Monsanto in a closely watched case over pesticide regulation that is set for arguments later this month, according to a series of legal briefs supporting the company.

In contrast, opposing legal briefs warn that if the court sides with Monsanto, consumers will be stripped of their rights to sue when they develop cancer or other serious diseases they attribute to exposure to dangerous chemicals. Companies will be able to hide product risks with little accountability, they warn.

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spelio has added a photo to the pool:

Along Mirrabei Drive.

While waiting for the Bank to reply on the phone, I sat here scrolling through the groups using the app you can’t search for a group so I just tap them as they scroll by. I got down to R I think so. It’s quite a few groups.

132 Groups till I got bored…