Hope Not Hate campaign identifies election hopefuls calling for a ‘white Britain’ and complaining of ‘kowtowing to the black community’

A Reform UK candidate who called for a “white Britain” and said Keir Starmer should be shot is among a number of contenders fuelling doubts about the party’s claim to have tightened up its vetting.

The past comments of Linda McFarlane and other political hopefuls have been unearthed ahead of the 7 May elections, including one who complained about “constant kowtowing to the black community” and others who endorsed the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

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Mandated release of files was marred by missed deadlines, leaked victims’ information and excessive redactions

• US politics live – latest updates

The US Department of Justice’s office of the inspector general (OIG) announced on Thursday that it is launching an audit of the justice department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In a news release, the deputy inspector general William M Blier, who the statement said is performing the duties of the inspector general, said the “preliminary objective” of the internal inquiry “is to evaluate the [justice department’s] processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the act”.

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Police allegedly found images on iCloud account of singer accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez

A Los Angeles prosecutor said that the singer D4vd, who was charged this week in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was in possession of a “significant amount of child pornography”.

Police allegedly found the images on the iCloud account of the 21-year-old singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke.

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Ireland and Spain will also not broadcast Eurovision after decision to boycott live event over Israel’s participation

National broadcasters in Ireland, Spain and Slovenia will not air the Eurovision song contest this year, after they decided to boycott the event over Israel’s participation.

Having announced it would not submit a national entry, the Slovenian broadcaster RTV confirmed on Thursday it would implement a broadcasting blackout of the world’s largest live music event and instead show a series of films about Palestine.

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Seven-day-old Poppy Hope Lomas died after complications during home birth encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital

A mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found.

Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital.

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Battle of the blockades may still have more time to run as the US and Iran try to assert control over the strait of Hormuz

Donald Trump’s decision to extend the naval blockade of Iran indefinitely may do nothing to reduce world oil prices – but it could amount to a recognition that further US military escalation in breach of the nominal ceasefire comes with greater risk against a regime disinclined to surrender.

In theory, Trump’s military options are increasing. A third US carrier strike group, the George HW Bush, is due to arrive in the Middle East within days after rounding South Africa. A second taskforce of 2,500 US marines is sailing from the Pacific and is due to arrive by the end of April.

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Ook in Closing Time volgen we dagelijks het nieuws.

En dan wel  ‘op de muziek van….’, waarbij soms er een liedje te binnen schiet dat past bij het nieuws van vandaag.

De Britse percussiegroep Stomp leest ook de krant. Dat gaat gepaard met wat human beatbox: de mens als trommel en de krant als gerommel.

Wie deze groep wil zien moet wachten tot november om naar het dichtsbijzijnde theater te gaan (Brussel,  Koninklijk Circus).

ultracity has added a photo to the pool:

ultracity has added a photo to the pool:

ultracity has added a photo to the pool:

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has explained the Woking-based outfit's development plans as F1 prepares to return to racing in Miami and Canada.

CHICAGO (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - Meta, het moederbedrijf van onder meer Facebook, WhatsApp en Instagram, is van plan 8000 werknemers te ontslaan. Dat meldt het hoofd van de HR-afdeling in een memo aan werknemers, ingezien door Bloomberg.

De ontslagronde, die 10 procent van het personeel treft, zal plaatsvinden op 20 mei. Naast het massaontslag zal het bedrijf ook geen nieuwe mensen aannemen voor de 6000 functies die op dit moment openstaan.

In de memo laat het bedrijf doorschemeren dat de ontslagronde te maken heeft met een nieuwe investering in AI. Het moederbedrijf van Facebook is druk bezig met geld steken in kunstmatige intelligentie in de vorm van taalmodellen en chatbots.

De ontslagronde wordt nu al aangekondigd omdat de plannen over de massaontslagronde al eerder waren uitgelekt, zo beschrijft het bedrijf in de memo. Reuters meldde half maart dat het zou gaan om ongeveer 20 procent van het personeelsbestand.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: New York is suing Coinbase and Gemini, two of the newest players in the prediction market industry, arguing that the companies' unregulated and unlicensed platforms are illegal gambling operations. Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit, filed Tuesday in state court in Manhattan, seeks to bar the companies' platforms from operating in the state unless and until they obtain licenses from the state Gaming Commission.

"Gambling by another name is still gambling, and it is not exempt from regulation under our state laws and Constitution," James said in a statement. "Gemini and Coinbase's so-called prediction markets are just illegal gambling operations, exposing young people to addictive platforms that lack the necessary guardrails." Both companies began as cryptocurrency trading platforms before branching into the prediction space, which has been dominated by Kalshi and Polymarket.

[...] New York's lawsuit alleges that the Coinbase and Gemini are seeking "to avoid the legal and financial consequences" of the state's close regulation of gambling "by offering what is quintessentially wagering under the guise of offering 'event contracts' on a 'prediction market.'" By operating without licenses, the lawsuit says, Coinbase's and Gemini's prediction market businesses aren't paying the same taxes as licensed casinos and mobile sportsbooks, which are taxed by the state at a rate of approximately 51% of gross revenues. In addition, the lawsuit says, Coinbase and Gemini allow users as young as 18, while state law prohibits wagering by anyone under 21.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I’ve never seen anything like these photos before. In October 2024, Rachel Moore had a close encounter with a humpback whale in French Polynesia and took these photos of the whale’s eye. Moore wrote of the experience:

This moment of eye contact was beyond my wildest dreams. I’ve never encountered a whale like this one, and it was the most profoundly beautiful experience of my life.

Tragically, just a few days later, the whale was dead; she drowned after being struck by a boat. Moore’s photos and experience galvanized an effort to regulate a slow zone for large boats in French Polynesia during whale migration season, which became law late last year:

French Polynesia has just passed new speed regulations to better protect humpbacks during their migration. Vessels over 12 meters must now travel at 10 knots (12 knots max) within 1 nautical mile of the islands, helping prevent the kind of tragedy we never want to see again.

(via moss & fog)

Tags: photography · Rachel Moore · whales

High-end CGI and post-production by Recom Farmhouse NYC, for a high-impact poster campaign for Ford Bronco. Michael Hanisch photographed vast desert landscapes, building a cinematic world full of off-road energy - heat and dust on the road less paved. The vehicles were integrated through CGI using high-resolution plates captured with custom-built equipment for maximal realism.??Project: Ford Bronco Photographer: Michael Hanisch @michaelhanisch_?Post Production @recomfarmhouse NYC CGI artists: Robert Russ, Luke Burke Post Artists: Robert Russ, Andrew Coleman, Steven Orts, Jong Yoo

He ja Kempi, die bedreigde zijn ex omdat ze van hem abortus moest plegen, deed ze niet, ging hij door met dreigen, werd hij veroordeeld tot zeven maanden celstraf + een regulier en onlinecontatverbod, ging-ie in hoger beroep en begon dat contactverbod: meteen te schenden. Zo deelde hij beelden van hun kind, heimelijk opgenomen audiofragmenten uit de rechtszaak, doxte haar nog door haar jeugdzorgdossier (dat hij nooit had mogen hebben) deels online te plempen en bleef maar door zwatelen over een DNA-test, die er volgens hem niet gekomen was omdat zijn slachtoffer dat niet wilde. Het probleem met die lezing is alleen: het is geen correcte lezing, want Jerreley Slijger (echte naam) is veel te dom om iets te lezen (knap dat hij wel in staat is om teksten te schrijven eigenlijk). Slachtoffer wilde die DNA-test wel degelijk, alleen graag via haar huisarts en Kempi moest de 169 pietermannen die zoiets kost zelf voldoen. Afijn, nu moet Kempi na spoedkortgeding dus binnen 48 uur overal rectificeren, want die niet bijster slimme maar wel ontiegelijk kwaadaardige vent heeft zijn honderdduizenden fans geruime tijd zonder aanleiding en met lasterlijke onzin opgehitst tegen de moeder van zijn kind. "In eerdere berichten heb ik gesteld dat de moeder van mijn kind een DNA-test weigert. Die bewering is onjuist. De voorzieningenrechter heeft op [datum vonnis] geoordeeld dat deze uitingen onrechtmatig zijn en ik ben veroordeeld deze te verwijderen en deze rectificatie te plaatsen." Laat hij dit na, dan gaat het hem 5K per dag kosten.

Is allemaal achteraf gelul natuurlijk, maar was het niet beter geweest als Kempi Kempi had bedreigd om Kempi er toe te dwingen een vasectomie te nemen? Is hartstikke goedkoop, ouwe dibbes.

Het was deze week groot nieuws: de musical The Phantom of the Opera gaat vanaf 2028 voor onbepaalde tijd draaien in het Nieuwe Luxor in Rotterdam. Betrokkenen spreken van een grote economische kans. Wat levert het de stad op?

Het was deze week groot nieuws: de musical The Phantom of the Opera gaat vanaf 2028 voor onbepaalde tijd draaien in het Nieuwe Luxor in Rotterdam. Betrokkenen spreken van een grote economische kans. Wat levert het de stad op?

Three vendors matched to three sites

The US Department of the Air Force (DAF) has selected three companies for possible nuclear microreactor projects at three of its installations under a program aimed at improving energy resilience if the electricity grid goes down.…

Next week, representatives from 54 nations will gather in Brazil to begin planning their transition away from fossil fuels. The conference, cosponsored by the Netherlands, was motivated by petrostates' ongoing success at blocking climate COPs from advocating for this obvious step. Conference website. January story from Climate Change News.