Rambo2100 has added a photo to the pool:

A dark day, with the Sydney harbour suburb of Birchgrove in the foreground and Goat Island, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and the financial end of the Sydney CBD also in the picture.

Named after Lieutenant John Birch's estate built circa 1812, the area served maritime and shipbuilding industries but, like neighbouring Balmain, has long ceased to be a suburb of the 'working man'. At one time the Balmain Colliery was located here.

Jailed then exiled in London, Rahman returns home as the main contender to be next prime minister of Bangladesh

Tarique Rahman, who after 17 years in exile is the main contender to be the next prime minister of Bangladesh, has pledged to end entrenched corruption and put the country on a “new path” as voting began in the first free and fair elections in almost two decades.

Speaking to the Guardian before polls opened on Thursday morning, Rahman promised a new era of clean politics, including a “top down, no tolerance” approach to graft, if his Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) was brought to power.

Republicans join Democrats in objecting to national emergency US president declared to impose tariffs

The US House on Wednesday voted to rescind tariffs that Donald Trump imposed on Canada last year, a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House’s trade policy as the president threatened electoral retaliation against any Republican who defied him.

The largely symbolic resolution to disapprove of the national emergency Trump declared to impose tariffs on Canada passed 219 to 211, with six Republicans – Don Bacon of Nebraska, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Kevin Kiley of California, Dan Newhouse of Washington and Jeff Hurd of Colorado – voting with all Democrats except Jared Golden of Maine, who voted against it.

Ukrainian president says security guarantees must first be in place as he pushes back at suggestions he plans to hold poll under US pressure. What we know on day 1,450

Ukraine will hold elections only once it has security guarantees in place and a ceasefire with Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, pushing back at suggestions he is planning to stage fresh ballots under US pressure. “We will move to elections when all the necessary security guarantees are in place,” the Ukrainian president told reporters on Wednesday in a voice note. “I have said it’s very simple to do: establish a ceasefire, and there will be elections.” He also said that if Russia agreed, it might be possible to “end hostilities by summer”. Elections in Ukraine have been effectively suspended since Russia invaded in 2022 due to martial law.

Senior Ukrainian officials agreed on Wednesday to boost air defence capabilities around the capital to counter possible further Russian air attacks on energy infrastructure, the energy minister said. “We also identified and prioritised other critical infrastructure facilities that require protection,” Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram on Wednesday after a meeting of the military staff. The fresh preparations follow attacks on Kyiv that have left officials scrambling to repair damage that has left thousands in the cold and darkness.

Russian strikes killed four civilians on Wednesday in different localities in Ukraine’s south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, the regional governor said. The attacks occurred in three small localities near the town of Synelnykove, east of the regional centre of Dnipro, Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram. In one attack, a man was killed and his wife wounded. In a different locality, a couple and their 45-year-old son was killed and a man wounded. A woman was hurt in a third village.

Zelenskyy said the US needed to put more pressure on Russia if it wanted the war to end by summer, adding it is unclear whether Moscow would attend US-brokered peace talks next week. “It depends not only on Ukraine, but also on America, which must exert pressure – excuse me for saying so, but there is no other way: it must exert pressure on Russia,” he said on Wednesday, after previously saying Washington wants to end the war by June. Zelenskyy said Russia was still deliberating over whether to participate in the proposed next round of trilateral peace talks in Miami but that Ukraine was ready to attend.

The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says he is ready to be disqualified on Thursday because he does not want to betray his country’s dead athletes, reports Sean Ingle. Heraskevych has vowed to wear his “helmet of memory” in the skeleton, even though the International Olympic Committee has told him it will kick him out if he does. “I will not betray these athletes,” he said after finishing first on the final day of practice.

British defence minister John Healey says the UK has committed £150m ($205m) to the so-called prioritised Ukraine requirements list (Purl) initiative to supply Ukraine with US weapons. Purl was set up last summer to keep US weapons flowing to Ukraine at a time when new US military assistance had stalled. “Together we must provide Ukraine with the critical air defence it needs in response to Putin’s brutal onslaught,” Healey said in a statement on Wednesday. Allies have already put forward more than $4.5bn through the programme, the US ambassador to Nato, Matthew Whitaker, said on Tuesday.

A Russian crackdown on the Telegram social media app risks damaging its own army, pro-war bloggers have warned, as the platform’s founder refused to bend to pressure from Moscow, reports Pjotr Sauer. Russia’s communications watchdog said on Wednesday that the app – used by more than 60 million Russians each day – would begin slowing nationwide, accusing it of failing to address earlier regulatory violations.

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant can be restarted safely only if it is returned to Ukrainian control, the head of Ukraine’s nuclear power operator said on Tuesday. The six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have been shut down since Russian forces captured the area, and Moscow announced last year it was aiming to restart at least one reactor. But Pavlo Kovtoniuk, boss of Ukrainian state nuclear firm Energoatom, said Russia lacked some equipment and spare parts to operate it, and risked a nuclear accident if it tries.

The Dawson’s Creek star, who died on Tuesday aged 48, had been open about struggling to meet the high expenses of his cancer treatment

A GoFundMe set up to support the widow and children of actor James Van Der Beek has passed its initial goal of $500,000 within hours of being created – and has now been updated to a goal of $1m.

Van Der Beek, best known for his role as sensitive teen Dawson Leery on the TV series Dawson’s Creek, died on Tuesday aged 48 after a battle with bowel cancer.

Bill that requires proof of citizenship and would limit mail-in voting passes 218-213 but faces uphill battle in Senate

The House on Wednesday passed the Save America Act, which would dramatically change voting regulations by requiring proof of citizenship at voter registration and significantly curtail mail-in voting.

The legislation, which passed 218 to 213, faces an uphill battle in the Senate, close observers say.

Businesses are embedding prompts that produce content they want you to read, not the stuff AI makes if left to its own devices

Amid its ongoing promotion of AI’s wonders, Microsoft has warned customers it has found many instances of a technique that manipulates the technology to produce biased advice.…

Compute it leases from Amazon, MIcrosoft, and Google... that's another story

Model-maker and SaaS-y AI outfit Anthropic has committed to covering any increases in energy prices paid by consumers caused by its power-hungry datacenters.…

banzainetsurfer has added a photo to the pool:

Kairakuen 偕楽園
Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

The "very poor," as well immigrant communities and the very young and old, the amendment read, "fall outside the non-cash financial system." [...]

Nationwide, those levels are decreasing, but remain significant. A survey conducted by the FDIC found that in 2023, Black and Latino households were overrepresented in the unbanked population, with 10.6 percent of Black and 9.5 percent of Latino households in the U.S. were unbanked, down from 17 and 14 percent in 2017.

Today, approximately 4 percent of San Francisco households are "unbanked," or do not have a checking or savings account, and nearly 14 percent are "underbanked" -- have bank accounts but primarily use cash or use check cashers or money orders. [...] "These residents are often the most financially vulnerable and can face higher costs and barriers in everyday transactions," Manke said.

The destruction of cash is part of the advertising panopticon agenda. Paper money doesn't have a utm_source on it so it is useless.

Let us also keep in mind that this "vocal contingent of local business owners" are the same business geniuses who are always, always certain that a bike lane will ruin them.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.