US seeks free-market private investment deals over development assistance as experts warn of ripple effects

The Trump administration is continuing to pressure the United Nations and the international aid sector more broadly to adopt trade-focused policies to benefit US firms – or face the threat of further budget cuts.

Donald Trump’s second term has already seen USAID suffer mass layoffs and have its remaining operations folded into the state department, with a ripple effect across the globe that has many experts warning will cost thousands of lives as vital programs are cut.

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway shine in frothy sequel that smartly comments on struggling media industry

• This article contains spoilers for The Devil Wears Prada 2

• The Devil Wears Prada 2 review – a sequel? For spring? Groundbreaking

After a promotional blitz that has run the full gamut from haute (Meryl Streep on the cover of Vogue with Anna Wintour) to not (a heinous line of Target sweats), The Devil Wears Prada 2 is finally here, and set for very chic box office takings of over $200m in its first week.

Praised as one of the few Hollywood sequels to measure up to its beloved original, the movie sees Streep reunite with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci two decades after the original movie’s release in a flurry of designer rags, withering put-downs and a slew of celebrity cameos. Surprisingly enough, it mostly works. At my screening on opening weekend, fans crowded to take pictures with promotional cardboard cut-outs and clinked cocktails as the lights went down. Read on for a spoiler-packed breakdown of the film, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Yes, Trump might carry them to victory in the midterms. But he can’t carry them much longer – especially not in the 2028 elections

All told, Democrats already seem as though they’re headed for a great midterm election. Voters already troubled by the state of the economy now have the impacts of Donald Trump’s teeter-tottering war in Iran to contend with, and polls tell us they aren’t happy ⁠– per poll averages from the analyst Nate Silver, nearly 55% of Americans oppose the war in Iran, 61% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, and 57% of Americans disapprove of Trump overall. As it stands, Democrats have a six-point advantage in generic congressional ballot polling over Republicans.

And Republican hopes that a mid-decade redistricting rush would save their tight majority in the House have been frustrated. The partisan gerrymandering war of the last several months peaked with the victory of a ballot measure in Virginia that allows the state’s Democratic legislature to draw maps that would eliminate three Republican seats and a riposte by Florida Republicans who approved their own map that could allow Republicans to gain as many as four seats in that state – mere hours after the Supreme Court struck down provisions in the Voting Rights Act banning racial gerrymandering.

The promise of this task: throwaway fun and mindful, tactile joy. The reality: juice, humiliation and a deeply stubborn fruit

I’m trying to “touch grass” more these days, to embrace embodied experiences and introduce analogue “friction” – and fun! – into my life, which is how I ended up attempting Rosamund Pike’s no-knife technique for eating a pineapple.

Admittedly, I discovered it online while consuming algorithmically suggested slop (the video is from 2021, but was reposted on TikTok last week and is enjoying a new flurry of attention). But shh. It’s great – Pike is infectiously enthusiastic, explaining that the Wheel of Time showrunner Rafe Judkins told her the technique, then gamely gets to work, worrying the pineapple base off with her thumbs, then popping off and eating perfect chunks. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?” she concludes.

Updated guidelines issued by the Trump administration mean immigrants could potentially be denied a green card for their political opinions

Let’s play a fun game of Will This Get Me Deported? The first contestant is myself: a British-Palestinian green card holder in the US. I’ll start by quoting some recent news items concerning Israel. I don’t have the space to list every atrocity that the US ally has been accused of in the past few weeks so, unlike certain trigger-happy soldiers, I’ll restrict myself to two bullet points.

“Israeli soldiers and settlers are using gendered violence and sexual assault and harassment to force Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank, human rights and legal experts say.” (The Guardian; 21 April)

“Israeli forces shot and killed a young female student on Thursday while she was attending a class held in a tent in the town of Beit Lahiya in ‌the northern Gaza Strip … third-grade student Ritaj Rihan was hit by a bullet in front of her classmates.” (Reuters; 9 April)

A desperate cabbie joins a service that directs him down a shadowy path in this interesting, less-is-more satirical thriller

Canadian film-maker Michael Pierro makes his feature debut with this low-to-no-budget sortie, a modern-day Travis Bickle nightmare which, though flawed and in need of some script development, adds up to a pertinent satirical comment on the gig economy and the Waymo-isation of the service industry.

Nathaniel Chadwick has the everyguy role of a Toronto driver working for an Uber-style app, slumped in his hoodie at the wheel, deeply depressed about providing for a partner and baby at home, avoiding calls from his landlord, exhausted and exploited by customers who are rude and throw up in his car. He’d prefer to be paid by the app every day rather than every week but that would mean upgrading to some higher “platinum” level of driver, and paying a non-returnable membership fee which would supposedly entitle him to be first in the queue for jobs and various other questionable perks. He can’t afford it, in an interesting insight into Uber world.

peaceful-jp-scenery posted a photo:

Shikoku Karst
四国カルスト

The place I most wanted to visit on this trip was the Shikoku Karst, located at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,400 meters. I was able to enjoy the magnificent scenery and the profound beauty of the mountains of Shikoku. It was a little chilly, though.

今回の旅で一番行きたかった所が標高1,000mから1,400mに位置する四国カルストです。雄大な景色、四国の山の奥深さを堪能できました。ちょっと寒かったですが。

Kumakogen town, Ehime pref, Japan

peaceful-jp-scenery posted a photo:

Michinoeki Awaji
道の駅あわじ・明石海峡大橋

I went on a four-day motorcycle tour of Shikoku during Golden Week. On the first day, I crossed the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and spent the day sightseeing on Awaji Island.

GWは4日間の四国ツーリングに行ってきました。初日は、明石海峡大橋を渡り、一日、淡路島を観光しました。

Awaji city, Hyogo pref, Japan

peaceful-jp-scenery has added a photo to the pool:

Michinoeki Awaji
道の駅あわじ・明石海峡大橋

I went on a four-day motorcycle tour of Shikoku during Golden Week. On the first day, I crossed the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and spent the day sightseeing on Awaji Island.

GWは4日間の四国ツーリングに行ってきました。初日は、明石海峡大橋を渡り、一日、淡路島を観光しました。

Awaji city, Hyogo pref, Japan

BOEKAREST (ANP) - Het was de afgelopen weken druk bij het Nationaal Historisch Museum in Boekarest. Daar werden sinds woensdag 22 april de gouden helm van Cotofenesti en twee gouden armbanden tijdelijk tentoongesteld, die vorig jaar in Nederland werden gestolen. Het museum meldt aan het ANP dat het aantal bezoekers deze periode flink is gestegen.

Het was de eerste keer dat de kunststukken weer publiekelijk te zien waren sinds ze werden teruggevonden. Volgens een woordvoerder van het museum gebeurde dit "om mensen de kans te geven de helm te zien, en hen te laten weten dat hij terug is". Afgelopen vrijdag was de laatste dag.

De gouden helm raakte beschadigd en moet worden gerestaureerd. Daarna keren de kunststukken terug naar het museum. Het is niet duidelijk hoe lang de restauratie gaat duren.

Het proces tegen drie verdachten van de kunstroof begon vorige maand. Het OM heeft met twee van hen de afspraak gemaakt dat ze strafvermindering krijgen voor het teruggeven van de helm en twee van de gouden armbanden. Naar de derde armband wordt nog gezocht.