Silicon Valley is synonymous with innovation, high tech and grind. Aerial photographer Cameron Davidson sees those same big ideas translate from inside company walls to hundreds of feet above ground.
The Oars + Alps Wake Up Eye Stick helps you look like you slept 8 hours. It's made with caffeine to reduce dark circles and aloe to reduce under-eye bags. It's crafted with natural ingredients and is free of cruelty.
Suspect Technologies tried to convince police to hand over a database of driver license photos, and pitched a product that would scan for people of a certain ethnicity.
You can almost hear the Disney executives rehearsing this late night conversation with Smith — trying to bury bad CGI genie memes and assure audiences, "it will be good, we promise."
Mexico's drug war has left tens of thousands of casualties in secret graves. Now, the mothers of the missing are digging them up, armed with iron rods and quadcopter drones.
These high-fidelity Oomo 3D 5.1 Virtual Surround Sound Bluetooth Earbuds truly redefine sound, letting you hear all the nuances of your favorite songs and the ones you're just exploring — plus, they're on sale now for 20% off.
The Oars + Alps Wake Up Eye Stick helps you look like you slept 8 hours. It's made with caffeine to reduce dark circles and aloe to reduce under-eye bags. It's crafted with natural ingredients and is free of cruelty.
This deer lives behind a fenced in enclosure and loves sticking his antlers between the chain links. After a little hands-on time, our cameraman now understands why.
Apple doesn't always tell the world when it buys another company — but in reality, it's quietly snapping up startups all the time. This weekend, CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that Apple purchases a new company every two to three weeks on average, and has bought between 20 and 25 companies in the last six months alone.
Scientist Cathy Plesko from the Los Alamos National Laboratory explains the available options if a large object starts barreling straight towards the earth.
In a rapidly evolving pro-pot landscape, how will cities rectify the extreme racial disparities in drug sentencing, and legislate an equitable marijuana marketplace?
Based on the timing of the attacks and clues in the computer code, researchers with the firm Symantec believe the Chinese did not steal the code but captured it from an NSA attack on their own computers — like a gunslinger who grabs an enemy's rifle and starts blasting away.
The Met Gala brings us a night of gleefully over-the-top evening wear themed in accordance to the upcoming exhibit. This year, it's "Camp: Notes on Fashion." In the most basic sense, camp is purposeful exaggeration, but it's hard to really define. Whatever your take on the cultural phenomenon, it makes for a hell of a lot of looks.
Governments and space agencies seeking to protect the Earth by changing the courses of potentially hazardous asteroids might face major legal hurdles, experts say.
Work spaces today come with strong smells, harsh light, lots of chatter and constant messages on email or Slack. For neurodivergent people, this can be a big ask.
A tablet is a nice luxury to have. It’s more than a smartphone, but slightly less than an actual laptop — it sits right in the middle and acts as a nice epicenter for all of your apps, smart home devices, e-books, and more. The thing is, tablets can get expensive, especially if you’re looking at something like a $700+ iPad. If you want an option that isn’t going to send you spiraling into debt, though, you might want to check out an Amazon Fire tablet.
Amazon currently has discounts on three Fire tablet models, ranging from $10 to $30 off their original prices — you won’t regret it, and your wallet will thank you for going the budget-conscious route. Read more...
Being an adult is turning down plans in order to stay home and play with your new kitchen appliance.
Here's another one to add to your list, and it's so perfect for summer: The Cuisinart Compact Juice Extractor is $25.96 off at Walmart, making it just $73.99. (Copping a decent juicer for under $100 is pretty rare, so we'd say make the jump.)
Plus, an at-home juicer is the perfect excuse to host a summer get-together instead of paying at a bar. The 16-ounce pitcher can be replaced with a 40-ounce one, which will easily take care of a crowd. Just look up a few juicer-specific cocktail recipes, put your fruits and veggies in the feed tube, press the button, and boom: Four servings of cold-pressed cocktails without having to beg for a bartender's attention. Read more...
After some sharp-eyed Game of Thrones fans noticed what appeared to be a modern-day coffee cup sitting near Daenerys Targaryen during a feast scene in Winterfell on Sunday, the folks behind the show went into damage control-mode and edited out the cup, so anyone who watches the episode now won't see the gaff.
Before editing out the beverage, HBO released a statement saying that the latte on the table was an error, joking that Daenerys had actually ordered an herbal tea. Read more...
A full suite of intelligent sensors guide the Roomba around your home, under and around furniture to cover as much ground as possible. There are also sensors that detect dirt and work extra hard on concentrated areas of messiness. In addition to sensors, this robot vacuum has an edge-sweeping brush that is specially designed at a 27-degree angle to sweep debris away from edges and corners. Read more...
Weighted blankets have recently joined the pack as one more tool in our "sleep better" arsenal. We've explored which mattresses are best, have waded through the online reviews to source the best pillows, and have even tracked down the best sheets. It's time to top things off with a weighted blanket.
A weighted blanket is exactly what it sounds like: A comforter-style blanket that has a layer of heavy pellets (usually glass micro beads) sewn into it.
One of the most recognized names in the space is Gravity, a blanket which racked up more than $4 million worth of donations (!!!) on Kickstarter back in 2017 and is our pick for napping (although it may be hard to justify the high price). Read more...
As we've learned throughout Game of Thrones, visions and prophecies in this world are a double-edged sword.
At best, they provide real foreshadowing, but hardly ever for the outcome we initially expected. At worst, knowing these visions only makes characters fulfill their own ill-fated destinies in attempts to avoid it.
All of that seems to be the case for the most vital vision on the show, from all the way back in Season 2. As one Redditor is proposing, we might've misinterpreted a key part of symbolism in the prophecy, which predicted exactly how the upcoming battle between Daenerys and Cersei will end in episode 5 of Season 8. Read more...
Human influencers like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner might want to secure their positions in the influencer realm before they get ousted by glorified Sims.
That's right: There are now computer generated images that do exactly what human influencers do. There's a human behind each one — coming up with captions and manually generating the content — though it can be unclear who exactly that person is. The financial threads are equally hazy, but you can be sure that someone is making money off of these "people."
According to CBS, the digital influencer market is set to reach $2 billion in the next two years. The scariest thing is just how convincing these artificial influencers really are: 42 percent of people who were following a digital Instagrammer didn't realize it wasn't a real person, according to a recent study by the media company Fullscreen. Read more...
After 11 years, 22 films, and several strides toward more diversity on screen, the Marvel Cinematic Universe still feels decades behind on queer representation. But that hasn't stopped Marvel's actors, comic writers, and fans from doing the lord's work of queering the MCU anyway.
To the surprise of no one, it turns out that queer stories and relationships make for some of the best superhero narratives.
Let Okoye find true love!
Image: hbo
"People tend to find common ground between queerness and superhero narratives because oftentimes when you're marginalized you are hoping for a better world where you are accepted and where you are seen," said Roxane Gay, seminal writer of Bad Feminist and the recent World of Wakanda comics centered around a romance between two Doja Milaje warrior women. "And superhero narratives are comprised of people who are trying to contribute to that better world in one form or another." Read more...
Warning: Contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8.
There are many, many people out there making Game of Thrones ending predictions right now.
But if you're going to listen to any of them, surely a man who has authored around 60 novels and who is pals with George RR Martin is a good place to start?
Suppose—just suppose, now—that Jon and Dani BOTH died (along with Cersei, of course). Suppose—just suppose—that a certain little man with a big heart ended up sitting on the Iron Throne?
Major spoiler alert for Dead To Me. Do not read unless you've seen the full first season.
From the very first episode, Netflix's Dead to Me is one bonkers twist after the other, a snowballing web of lies and deceit that has you on the edge of your seat, begging for more.
The show, which premiered Friday, ends on one such note: the shocking murder of Steve (James Marsden) at the hands of Jen (Christina Applegate) that inevitably brings Judy (Linda Cardellini) back into her life.
In the finale's final act, Steve visits Jen's house late at night, a bottle of wine in hand. He's pissed off that Judy emptied his bank account, thus putting a hold on his illegal business and the house offer in which Jen was so invested. Read more...
First we had Chris Pratt's video, and now we have some new stuff from Captain America himself. Chris Evans said he was going to start posting behind-the-scenes videos this week and, sure enough, he's been good to his word.
Here's one he appears to have taken on the same day Pratt recorded his:
Video ban lifted! I guess I’m not the only one who broke the rules on this day of filming (My camera work is annoyingly shaky) pic.twitter.com/D0f0e2PnXo
Moms love to pester us with questions instead of just looking up the answer herself. While we'll be glad to help her every time (right guys?), having Alexa around will be a life saver with those daily tasks. Get the Echo Dot for on sale for just $29.99, or if she's into smart home devices, swap that for the second generation Amazon Echo Plus on sale for $119.99. Or just go classic and gift the mid-range Amazon Echo is going for $64.99Mother's Day and Alexa are just an unbeatable combo.
If mum loves reading, then the Kindle Paperwhite will be her new favorite companion. She can take the new waterproof model on vacation and enjoy it by the poolside (or just in the bathtub. Close enough.) Read more...
Let's face it: You're not going to nab that coveted "Son/Daughter of the Year" title by showing up to Mother's Day brunch with a body lotion gift basket you bought at Walgreens 20 minutes earlier. Luckily, even the most chronic procrastinators can score a thoughtful gift for Mom if they know where to find some eleventh-hour bargains.
Below, we've rounded up five last-minute (but still awesome) deals on flowers, wine delivery services, and more — enough to ensure you don't get written out of the will, at least.
Sure, it's a little predictable, but you can't go wrong with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. With this deal from Teleflora, you can take your pick from dozens of stunning flower arrangements that have been handcrafted by local florists. Once you've made your selection, it'll be delivered speedily in an elegant vase (not a plain old box) right to your mom's doorstep. Read more...
Earphones have come a long way since their humble beginnings when they looked more like glorified stethoscopes than audio equipment. Now, they come in all shapes and sizes and serve a variety of purposes.
Aside from repeatedly shooting Toto's "Africa" straight to your eardrums, they also function as a stealthy defense from chatty co-workers you don't want to engage with, or as noise-blockers for when you don't want to deal with the rest of the world.
Of course, their primary duty is to stream audio in the best quality possible, and if you're a true audiophile who deeply cares about sonics, you'll be hard-pressed to find a pair better than the Oomo 3D 5.1 Virtual Surround Sound Bluetooth Earphones. Made for and by music fanatics, they're the kind of headphones that will make you nerd out about headphones. Read more...
Now that Game of Thrones is back to politics as usual, the key players and betrayers who defined the game are back in a big way. And episode 4 of Season 8 set up a double cross from one of the best: Varys.
But you don't even need to take the spider at his word when he told Tyrion a whopping two times in the last episode that he'd betray Daenerys. The precedent for Varys committing treason against his Queen is not only established in his character, but also predicted in an old prophecy many have forgotten about.
Daenerys already received plenty of warnings about betrayal.
May has barely even begun, but already more than one in four Americans have made up their minds to forego a summer vacation this year, according to a new Bankrate survey. We say, don't be a statistic — you deserve nice things and you'll be all the better off after taking a week to unwind.
That being said, we've hunted down six great deals on luggage and packing tools that'll upgrade your existing suitcase situation, none of which cost more than $200. Whether you decide to jet off to some exotic beach or opt for a staycation this summer, you'll be packing *and* spending smart with these bargain buys: Read more...
According to Droid-Life, Samsung is now telling folks who had pre-ordered the delayed Galaxy Fold phone that it still cannot commit to a ship date (the phone was originally scheduled to ship in April).
Additionally, Samsung is essentially canceling everyone's order unless they explicitly confirm that they would like to keep their order.
"We are making progress in enhancing the Galaxy Fold to make sure it measures up to the high standards we know you expect from us," Samsung told customers in an e-mail. "This means that we cannot confirm the anticipated ship date yet. We'll update you with more specific shipping information in the coming weeks." Read more...
The price of Bitcoin is rising again, and famous investors are conjuring up fresh insults for the cryptocurrency.
Speaking at the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting in Omaha, legendary investor Warren Buffett — known for his disdain towards everything crypto — once again had choice words for Bitcoin, according to CNBC. And this time, the derogatory remarks got really weird.
In a short chat with reporters in Omaha, Buffett called Bitcoin "a gambling device" that "just sits there" and that "hasn't produced anything." Read more...
Well, turns out Perry had another trick up her sleeve, switching outfits mid-event. Perry's second act was a hamburger costume, complete with a lettuce dress and a toothpick hat. Read more...
It's the moment Disney fans are waiting for, and one many are coming at with eyebrows raised — Will Smith's version of "Friend Like Me."
The star of the new live action Aladdin takes on the coveted role of the Genie, one immortalised by the late great Robin Williams.
"Robin Williams smashed that role," Smith told Jimmy Fallon on Monday night, and that Smith himself originally didn't want to touch the role. "Hell no," he said, when first asked. And fair enough, people have had their eyes critically fixed on any Genie footage of Smith from square one.
Nonetheless, what pushed him over the line? Messing around with "Friend Like Me," Smith had the team run the drum beat of The Honey Drippers' 1973 track "Impeach The President" on top. Read more...
Forget the pretenders: The Met Gala is the red carpet of all red carpets. Well, technically, pink carpets.
The fundraiser, held at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, continued its reputation of hosting the most out-there, challenging looks on Monday night, with the likes of Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Jared Leto, and Zendaya just a few of the many highlights from the event.
This year's Met Gala theme, Camp, was a perfect match for the event's history of the wild and unapologetically garish. It's based on a 1964 essay by Susan Sontag, who came to define Camp as a "love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration." Read more...
Lady Gaga, patron saint of all that is Extra, arrived at this year's Met Gala with not one, not two, not three, but four stunning looks for the pink carpet.
Are we OK? Not at all. Take a deep breath — you'll need it as we walk you through the wonderful journey that is Mother Monster's camp-themed Russian nesting doll strip.
This year's Met Gala theme is Camp, based on the essay "Camp: Notes on Fashion." Susan Sontag, who wrote the essay in 1964, defined camp as "love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration." She clarifies that you can't expect to take camp seriously, and campy art tends to be viewed as "kitschy." Read more...
A woman was allegedly drugged during Jake Paul's house party on Saturday, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Detectives are looking into a "possible single occurrence of unwillful impairment."
A guest reported to police that she may have blacked out after "something was put in her drink," a police spokesperson told BuzzFeed. The complaint came the day after Paul hosted a birthday party for the rapper Desiigner.
UPDATE: May 6, 2019, 5:26 p.m. PDT: According to Google, Gmail is no longer partially busted.
"The problem with Gmail should be resolved," reads an update posted to the Gmail status page. "We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better."
Original story:
Go ahead, ignore all those high-priority emails. You have a legit excuse: Gmail is acting up.
The Google-provided email service has been a bit finicky, with reports of unspecified service disruptions affecting users in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. Google confirmed that all is not well in email land with a Monday afternoon post to its apps status page. Read more...
Instagram will start using a similar fact-checking process as Facebook to demote posts that spread bad information, rather than remove them entirely. The news came courtesy of the journalism nonprofit Poynter, which has fact-checking efforts of its own.
It sounds essentially the same as what Facebook has been doing since shortly after the 2016 presidential election. Any post that could be hazardously false will be sent to the same place as their Facebook counterparts, with fact-checkers deciding whether or not to reduce their reach or not. Read more...
If you're reading this article let me be the first to say congratulations — not only on your impending graduation, but on having excellent taste in television shows.
You are graduating. That means you're like, really smart now. And any really smart fan of The Officewould want to finish off the school year in style — by decorating their graduation cap with references to the beloved employees of Dunder Mifflin.
From Michael Scott and Kelly Kapoor quotes, to Scott's Tots and bankruptcy jokes, the NBC comedy is full of potential graduation cap ideas.
Here are 15 Office-themed graduation caps to use as inspiration so you won't have to aimlessly wander a craft store waiting for genius to strike. Read more...
The social media platform announced Monday that, starting immediately on mobile, users can add GIFs to retweets. That's right, you no longer have to just slap a downward pointing finger emoji on your retweets and call it a day.
"Starting today, you can do something new with your Retweets – add a GIF," Twitter explained in an email to reporters. "Now, the same photos, videos, and GIFs that you add to a Tweet can be added to a Retweet, making it easier to share what’s on your mind and join the conversation when you can’t find the right words." Read more...
Are you tired of getting calls every single day from robots, spammers, and scammers? So is everyone else. Here's what you can do to put a stop to the endless robocall epidemic. Read more...
Though, in large part, it already has. On Monday, the United Nation's Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published an exhaustive report on the planet's accelerating extinction rate. The report — compiled over three years by 145 scientific authors with input from over 300 more — found that the modern extinction rate is the highest it's been in human history, and is "tens to hundreds of times" higher than the normal rate of extinction over the last 10 million years.
The toll from destroyed wilderness, exploiting critters for their horns and furs, accelerated climate change, and widespread pollution is easily apparent. Each year, scientists announce species that are gone forever. For an idea of just how grim Earth's modern day human-caused extinction crisis already is, the report provided some historical perspective: Read more...
Don’t have a VPN? Here's your cue: get one now before it’s too late.
Sorry not sorry for waxing dramatic, but if you’ve seen shows like Black Mirror and Mr. Robot, then you’re aware of the possibility that society is morphing into a tech dystopia in which it’s always open season on your digital privacy. Oh, and there’s the fact that two-thirds of all hotels leak your personal deets. And the ongoing drama that is the life of Mark Zuckerberg — you know, the guy responsible for the biggest data breaches to make headlines the past few years?
Right now, one of the highest regarded VPNs on the market, VPN Unlimited, is running a crazy 48-hour price drop on its lifetime subscription, bringing the price down to just $29. It's always a good time to get a VPN, but there is truly no better time than in the next 48 hours. Read more...
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a ceremony marking national Workers' Week in Tehran, Iran April 30, 2019. Official Iranian President website/Handout via REUTERS
GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran will restart part of its halted nuclear program in response to the U.S. withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal but does not itself plan to pull out of the agreement, the state-run IRIB news agency reported on Monday.
Citing a source close to an official commission which oversees the nuclear deal, IRIB reported that President Hassan Rouhani would announce that Iran would reduce some of its "minor and general" commitments under the deal on May 8 - exactly one year after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. pullout.
Trump subsequently reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, including on its lifeblood oil exports with the stated intent of reducing them to zero and starving Iran's economy.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran in reaction to the exit of America from the nuclear deal and the bad promises of European countries in carrying out their obligations will restart a part of the nuclear activities which were stopped under the framework of the nuclear deal," the source said, according to IRIB.
The server room at Symantec in Culver City, Calif. The company provided the first evidence that Chinese state-sponsored hackers had acquired some of the National Security Agency's cybertools before other hackers.CreditCreditMichal Czerwonka for The New York Times
Chinese intelligence agents acquired National Security Agency hacking tools and repurposed them in 2016 to attack American allies and private companies in Europe and Asia, a leading cybersecurity firm has discovered. The episode is the latest evidence that the United States has lost control of key parts of its cybersecurity arsenal.
Based on the timing of the attacks and clues in the computer code, researchers with the firm Symantec believe the Chinese did not steal the code but captured it from an N.S.A. attack on their own computers — like a gunslinger who grabs an enemy's rifle and starts blasting away.
The Chinese action shows how proliferating cyberconflict is creating a digital wild West with few rules or certainties, and how difficult it is for the United States to keep track of the malware it uses to break into foreign networks and attack adversaries' infrastructure.
The losses have touched off a debate within the intelligence community over whether the United States should continue to develop some of the world's most high-tech, stealthy cyberweapons if it is unable to keep them under lock and key.
Trade talks seemed to be going well, but president alarmed markets with his tweets
Stock markets around the world have sold off sharply after Donald Trump threatened to raise the stakes in the simmering US-China trade war. Here are the answers to key questions about the rumbling dispute between the world's two largest economies.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) chose General Vladimir Padrino to join him in a "Civilian-Military Joint Command" tasked with distributing food and medicine (source: dpa)
I have documented every post on Latin America strenuously, but this post is an exception. I do not have contacts in the country or in any of the other places involved, so please read with caution.
In his Thursday, May 2, 2019 show, Jaime Bayly described that the Minister of Defense for the National Armed Forces of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, General Vladimir Padrino, had agreed to aid Juan Guaidó remove Nicolas Maduro from office.
WNU Editor: If the above story is true, Venezuela's Minister of Defense, General Vladimir Padrino, would have been removed immediately. But he is still there, and this weekend he was photographed with Venezuelan President Maduro. But all is not rosy in Maduro's circle. This defection did shock everyone .... Head of Venezuela's Secret Police Has Defected To The Opposition (May 1, 2019).
For all the flak President Trump gets for insufficient deference to America's allies, Americans should be aware of the parlous condition of Europe, which long was regarded as the co-equal half of the Western alliance to the United States and Canada.
It does not require a geriatric to recall the piping days when it was commonplace to hear someone announce the coming supremacy of a united Europe. This was a fantasy wedged between the imminent economic surpassing of America by Japan, and then by China. The United States has potential rivals, some less cordial than others, and complacency is always unwise. But the decline of Europe, not its rise, is now the threat that should worry foreign policy specialists.
WNU Editor: Had lunch this past Saturday with two web developers who immigrated a months ago from Belgium to Canada. When I asked them on why they made the decision to leave, I got nothing but a lecture on how much Europe has declined in the past few years. And protests in France, Brexit, and Germany's dysfunctional political system is just the tip of the iceberg. They also gave me a prediction on Europe's future. Bottom line .... it is going to get worse.
Yes, he's really, really old, thus removing the opportunity to attack President Trump on the basis of his age.
And yes, he says really stupid stuff -- and they are usually incorrectly called "gaffes," which Michael Kinsley correctly defined as a politician accidentally telling the truth. Biden's mouth just runs faster than his brain (not much of a feat) and he utters nonsense. Often, mean-spirited nonsense like "They'll put y'all back in chains."
But the real reason why Biden won't get the nomination is that he and his family are corrupt, enriching themselves courtesy of foreign governments.
ROVANIEMI, Finland (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Russia is behaving aggressively in the Arctic and China's actions there had to be watched closely as well, amid growing divisions in the polar region over global warming and access to minerals.
Speaking as he arrived in northern Finland for a meeting of nations with territory in the Arctic, Pompeo said China appeared to have national security aims there, and Russia's activities, including plans for new shipping channels from Asia to northern Europe, deserved a closer look.
MELBOURNE, Australia – China is improving and increasing its options for a possible future invasion of Taiwan, with military reforms and investments in multi-domain military capabilities offering a range of options to defeat the self-governing island, according to a Pentagon report.
These options range from an air and sea blockade of Taiwan to a full-scale invasion, although the latter option would require a significant increase in the number of amphibious ships, according to the latest annual China Military Power Report released Thursday by the Department of Defense.
BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- China will not participate in negotiations on any trilateral nuclear disarmament agreement, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.
The United States recently raised the possibility of reaching a trilateral arms control deal with Russia and China, according to media reports.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang dismissed such a possibility at a press briefing. "China unswervingly follows a path of peaceful development and upholds a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. Our defense spending is reasonable and moderate. Our nuclear forces have been at the lowest level of national security needs and are not on the same scale with the United States and Russia."
WNU Editor: Not surprised by this response. As commented last week, China has never shown any interest to get into any nuclear arms agreement with the U.S. and Russia.
More News On China Stating That They Will Not Join US & Russia In Nuclear Arms Talks
China told two US warships to turn back after they were sailing near disputed islands without permission. The busy waterway is the latest flashpoint as relations between the world's biggest economies continue to strain.
China said on Monday that it has warned two US ships sailing near disputed islands in the South China Sea to leave the area.
The move comes amid heightened tension between Beijing and Washington over trade tariffs, sanctions and Taiwan.
What she's been telling candidates who went to her: "You can run the best campaign, you can even become the nominee, and you can have the election stolen from you." #BillAndHillpic.twitter.com/gx5az4z0uf
WNU Editor: She still cannot accept the fact that she lost. But the one IMHO who should be steamed is Bernie Sanders, and how the Democrat Party made sure that he would not win the primaries in 2016.
Israeli PM Netanyahu hailed the success of air strikes against Gaza this weekend He warned the 'campaign is not over' and said Israel was 'prepared to continue' Israel deployed air strikes after rocket fire from Gaza in an alarming escalation Egypt had brokered a ceasefire after at least 29 people died during the violence Israel's military said it had killed a Hamas operative described as a 'money man'
Israel is 'preparing to continue' its military action in Gaza despite a shaky ceasefire agreed last night, Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
The prime minister declared the battle was 'not over' after an alarming outbreak of violence across the Israel-Gaza border this weekend.
Hailing the success of Israeli air strikes which 'struck at terrorist leaders and destroyed terrorist buildings', Netanyahu said his military had hit Hamas, the rulers of Gaza, with 'great force'.
'The campaign is not over and it demands patience and good judgment,' the Israeli leader warned.
The United States is deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East on short notice in response to "clear indications" Iran and Iranian proxies were planning an attack on U.S. forces in the region, a U.S. official said.
Late Sunday night, the White House made a surprise announcement that the USS Abraham Lincoln and a bomber task force were being deployed in response to unspecified "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings."
A statement from National Security Adviser John Bolton said the deployments were intended "to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force."
The escalating global threat of cyber attacks against nation-states took a turn yesterday when Israel's military announced that they had "thwarted an attempted Hamas cyber offensive against Israeli targets. Following our successful cyber defensive operation, we targeted a building where the Hamas cyber operatives work."
The tweet included the highlighted image of the targeted building. "HamasCyberHQ.exe has been removed," the tweet concluded.
"Hamas no longer has cyber capabilities after our strike," an IDF spokesperson told reporters.
Israel and militant factions in Gaza appear to have reached a ceasefire after a violent weekend that saw the some of the worst fighting between the two sides since 2014, when full-blown war broke out.
At least 23 people were killed in Gaza, including two infants and two pregnant women, in the exchanges that began Friday, while four people were killed in Israel by rockets.
A spokesman for the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad told CNN that the agreement took effect at 4:30 a.m. local time in Gaza.
Israel rarely confirms or comments on the existence of any ceasefire. But Israeli authorities have lifted all restrictions on civilians in the Gaza periphery, which is likely a clear indication that Israel expect this latest round of fighting has ended.
The United States Army wanted a spiffy new service uniform, one that would stand out in a tough recruiting environment and polish the Army's image after a generation of grinding and divisive wars.
So it turned the clock back. Way back.
It chose a new uniform that looks almost exactly like the old green gabardine wool field coat and khaki trousers that officers wore in World War II. Probably not by coincidence, that's what the Army was wearing the last time the nation celebrated total victory in a major war.
Havana (AFP) - Russia is stirring the ghosts of Cuba's Cold War past as it looks to re-establish its influence in the Communist-run island nation, although this time analysts say Moscow has no intention of bankrolling Havana.
Whereas once the Soviet Union and Cuba were linked by an ideological bond, now pragmatism and a shared rejection of US foreign policy is drawing them together again.
At Havana's colorful May Day parade Wednesday, Raul Castro, the first secretary of Cuba's Communist Party, received the highest distinction from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation: the Order of Lenin.
WNU Editor: The current Russia - Cuba relationship is nowhere near what it was over 30 years ago. The Cold War is over, and Russia's concerns are primarily economic. And while Russian President Putin may still look at countries like Cuba and Venezuela in geopolitical terms and as leverage against the U.S., I can guarantee that the next Russian President will not.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seen during a public speech in the southern Hormozgan province, Iran, February 17, 2019. (photo credit: IRANIAN PRESIDENCY WEBSITE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
People in Iran used to refer to the 1980's as the "coupon era," where long lines formed just to procure simple things such as eggs or butter.
The rationing of food and essential goods might be coming back to Iran, for the first time since the Iran-Iraq war of (1980-1988), due to the sanctions being imposed on the Islamic republic - which may cause the government to have a larger role in the rationing of such products.
The war left nearly two-million people dead and wounded on both sides of the fight, and it took years afterwards for the government to end this type of rationing.
WNU Editor: As long as the basics are provided for the Iranian regime will survive. But for those who long for foreign goods, those items will probably be very expensive to get. As for the general public's probable reaction .... this is not what they were promised will happened when the nuclear deal was signed 3 years ago.
Palestinian leaders in Gaza agree ceasefire with Israel to end ferocious two-day bloodbath which has left at least 27 people deadhttps://t.co/CEzOVGy1iM
China says it still plans to send negotiators to the US for trade talks even after President Donald Trump vowed to raise tariffs later this week, a threat that sent stock markets into a tailspin https://t.co/FXYwQDpQTF#TradeTalks
Pilot says plane that burst into flames during emergency landing in Moscow, killing 41 people on board, had been struck by lightning and lost radio communication, Russian media report. https://t.co/0DC47MvGXD
AFP graphic showing the final moments of SU-1492 as it crash-landed at Sheremetyevo international airport in Moscow@AFPgraphicspic.twitter.com/XSXnBMhWm4
Brunei will not impose the death penalty on those convicted of having gay sex, in an apparent bid to temper international condemnation following its roll out of strict new Islamic laws last month https://t.co/YB0HQnEB10
North Korean military conducts a 'strike drill' for multiple launchers and tactical guided weapon into the East Sea during a military drill in North Korea. KCNA via REUTERS
WNU Editor: The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... Editors Choice Pictures (Reuters).
New research suggests that China may have undertaken large-scale destruction of Islamic sites in its western Xinjiang province, where Muslim minorities such as Uighurs live under severely repressive rule.
The Guardian and open-source journalism website Bellingcat used satellite imagery to examine 91 religious sites identified by people who used to live in the northwestern province, finding that 31 mosques and two major shrines showed significant structural damage between 2016 and 2018.
Of those, 15 structures were “completely or almost completely razed.” Others had defining features like domes or minarets removed. Nine other buildings used as mosques that did not have obvious mosque-like features were also destroyed, according to the Guardian.
The Imam Asim shrine, an important pilgrimage site for Uighurs, and the Kargilik Mosque, one of the largest mosques in the area, were among the buildings destroyed, according to the investigation. The Yutian Aitika mosque near Hotan, a large mosque dating back to the year 1200 where locals gathered for religious holidays, is also reportedly among those demolished.
China faces increasing condemnation for its alleged persecution of Muslim minorities. The State Department estimates that between800,000 to 2 million Turkic Muslims, including Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and others, are being held in what Beijing calls “re-education camps.” Others call them concentration camps.
U.S. officials have repeatedly denounced the practice. China has defended the detentions as a means of combatting terrorism, and has tried to pass the camps off as “vocational training” centers similar to “boarding schools.”
Some experts and former residents believe the Chinese government is destroying religious buildings in a further attempt to wipe out Islamic religious identity in China.
“If the current generation, you take away their parents and on the other hand you destroy the cultural heritage that reminds them of their origin… when they grow up, this will be foreign to them,” said a former resident of Hotan, according to the Guardian.
Lawmakers in Germany are considering a new law that would fine parents if their children aren’t vaccinated against measles.
The Guardian reports that the draft law would make vaccinations mandatory for any child attending nurseries or schools, as well as teachers, educators and medical staff. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to US$2,800. If approved this year, the law would go into effect by March 1, 2022, and would require parents to provide proof of their children’s vaccination by mid-2020.
The proposed measure comes amid a global resurgence of the respiratory illness that has been driven in part by anti-vaccination scare campaigns. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccination, known as MMR, has been a regular target of the “anti-vaxxer” movement, which peddles a widely discredited theory that the vaccine is linked to autism. The World Health Organization has named “vaccine hesitancy” a top 10 threat to global health.
In 2018, 98 countries reported an uptick of measles cases, including in areas previously declared measles free. Measles is more contagious than Ebola, tuberculosis or influenza, according to UNICEF.
(ANKARA, Turkey) — Turkey’s top election authority voided the Istanbul mayoral election won by an opposition candidate and ordered a do-over, ruling Monday in favor of a request by the president’s party to throw out the vote it narrowly lost.
Opposition leaders said the Supreme Electoral Board’s decision to invalidate the results from Istanbul’s election raises concerns about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on power and Turkish democracy in general.
A top aide for Erdogan told The Associated Press that the voiding of the mayoral election in Turkey’s biggest city amounts to “a victory for Turkish democracy” by ensuring the results reflect the voters’ choice.
Ekrem Imamoglu of the opposition Republican People’s Party placed first by a slim margin in the March 31 mayoral election, defeating the ruling party candidate, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. Erdogan’s conservative and Islamic-based Justice and Development Party then charged that a series of election irregularities made the results illegitimate.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said the Supreme Electoral Board revoked Imamoglu’s mandate and called a new election for June 23. As grounds to annul the March 31 results, the board said that some ballot station heads were not civil servants as required by law, the news agency said.
Yildirim, the loser in the election, said he hoped the decision would lead to “beneficial and beautiful results for Istanbul.”
In a statement to the AP, presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun said: “Having held free and fair elections for nearly seven decades, Turkey will complete this process in a transparent, lawful and orderly manner.”
Leaders of the Imamoglu’s main opposition party held an emergency meeting in the capital of Ankara late Monday.
Addressing thousands of his supporters in Istanbul, Imamoglu accused the electoral board of bowing to pressure and threats from Erdogan’s party. He vowed to use “democracy” to win back the “rights” that he said were taken away by force. The crowd called for the electoral board members to resign and accused Erdogan of stealing the vote.
Kati Piri, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, said on Twitter: “This ends the credibility of democratic transition of power through elections in Turkey.”
Police set up barricades around the electoral board’s headquarters in Turkey’s capital, but there were no immediate signs of major demonstrations. Protesters banged pots and pans in several Istanbul neighborhoods, the opposition Birgun newspaper reported.
Howard Eissenstat, a Turkey expert at the nonprofit Project for Middle East Democracy and a Middle East history scholar at St. Lawrence University in New York, said Monday’s ruling “removes the last fig leaf of competitive elections” hiding the erosion of democracy in Turkey.
“Turkey wasn’t democratic yesterday and it’s not democratic today,” Eissenstat said.
He noted that Erdogan’s party previously invalidated election results in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish-populated regions after a pro-Kurdish party won and replaced elected mayors with government appointees.
“Erdogan cannot afford to lose in the second round. It would a disastrous display of weakness,” Eissenstat said.
The local elections held across Turkey on March 31 produced setbacks for the president. His party lost city hall in the capital as well as in Istanbul, ending 25 years of the Justice and Development Party and its Islamist predecessor governing both cities.
The loss of Istanbul, the country’s commercial and cultural capital, was particularly hard for Erdogan. He began his political ascent as Istanbul’s mayor.
At pre-election rallies, the president had repeatedly told crowds, “Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey” and “Whoever loses Istanbul, loses Turkey.”
Istanbul, with its 15 million residents and strategic location straddling Europe and Asia, accounted for 31% of Turkey’s GDP of $851 billion in 2017 and draws millions of tourists.
The city government had a budget of $8.8 billion last year. The municipality has awarded lucrative contracts to businesses close to the government over the years and offers huge financial resources and employment opportunities.
(CANBERRA, Australia) — Australia’s prime minister was hit on the head with an egg and a woman was knocked off her feet Tuesday during a protest ahead of a general election next week.
The egg appeared to strike Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the back of the head then bounce off without breaking as he spoke to voters at a hall in the regional town of Albury.
Bystander Margaret Baxter was knocked to the floor as security guards grabbed a 25-year-old woman who is accused of throwing the egg and carried her outside.
Morrison helped Baxter to her feet. He later suggested the protester was part of a militant movement that raids farms that it accuses of cruelty to animals.
“My concern about today’s incident in Albury was for the older lady who was knocked off her feet,” Morrison tweeted.
“I helped her up and gave her a hug. Our farmers have to put up with these same idiots who are invading their farms and their homes,” he added.
Baxter later said she had been knocked over by a cameraman. She said she landed on her hip but was not injured.
“The prime minister helped me get up off the floor and I was very grateful for his assistance,” Baxter told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“I recently had surgery on my stomach so my main concern was holding my stomach to make sure it didn’t get hit or somebody land on it,” she added.
Outside the hall, the protester told reporters she did not mean to knock anyone down.
The protester, who did not identify herself, described throwing the egg as “the most harmless thing you can do.”
Police later said in a statement the woman had been taken into custody.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten condemned the protest as “appalling and disgraceful behavior.”
“In Australia, we have violence-free elections,” Shorten told reporters. “People are allowed to protest peacefully, but anything approaching violence is unacceptable.”
Morrison was campaigning in an electorate held by his conservative Liberal Party. The party fears that an independent candidate could win the seat at the election on May 18.
Two Reuters journalists imprisoned in Myanmar for reporting on a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims have been released after spending more than 500 days behind bars.
Reporters Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, walked free Tuesday morning after a presidential pardon, according to Reuters.
A post on the news agency’s Twitter account shows the Burmese journalists leaving Yangon’s infamous Insein Prison.
The pair were freed as part of an amnesty of 6,250 prisoners by President Win Myint, according to Reuters. Authorities have historically released prisoners close to the date of the country’s new year, which began in mid-April.
The men were reunited with their families shortly after leaving prison. Wa Lone’s wife, Pan Ei Moon, discovered she was pregnant after her husband was arrested. He has met his young daughter only a few times, when she visited him in jail. Kyaw Soe Oo has a three-year-old daughter.
The two men were arrested in December 2017 and later sentenced to seven years in prison for possessing “state secrets” in what was widely believed to be a set-up. The journalists had been reporting on violence in the country’s western Rakhine State, where Myanmar’s state security forces have been accused of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Reuters’ investigation, published in February 2018, documented the slaughter and mass burial of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din. About 1.2 million Rohyinga were estimated to live in Myanmar before the country’s military launched a brutal crackdown on the mostly-stateless ethnic minority in response to attacks on border patrols by suspected Rohingya insurgents in August 2017.
The violence drove more than 700,000 people across the border into southeast Bangladesh, where more than a million Rohingya now live. Survivors of the exodus described scenes of rape, arson and indiscriminate killing of civilians, and U.N. investigators have called for the country’s military leaders to face charges of genocide.
The journalists’ case caused international outrage and brought heavy criticism to the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who leads Myanmar’s civilian government. The case was seen as a major setback for press freedom in the country during its turbulent transition from military rule. In late April, Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejected the final appeal to release the men and decided to uphold their prison sentences, prompting further outcry.
Human rights and press freedom advocates around the world celebrated the pair’s release, but noted that dozens of people remain behind bars in Myanmar for reporting critically about the government or the military.
“These courageous investigative journalists should have never been arrested, much less imprisoned, in the first place and their release was long overdue,” Phil Robertson, Deputy Director for the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “But the crisis is not over for the literally dozens of other Burmese journalists and bloggers who are still facing baseless criminal charges for their reporting about the Tatmadaw or NLD government officials.”
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were recently recognized as co-winners of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, and along with several other journalists, they were named as TIME’s Person of the Year in 2018.
(SANTA FE, N.M.) — A recent college graduate from New Mexico who had just landed his dream job as a fishing guide in Russia was among those killed when an airliner burst into flames during an emergency landing in Moscow.
Jeremy Brooks, 22, of Santa Fe was remembered Monday as a fly-fishing expert by his former boss Ivan Valdez, owner of The Reel Life fishing shop.
Valdez said Brooks recently graduated from Colorado College in Colorado Springs after majoring in environmental science.
Brooks was on his way to work as a fishing guide in northwest Russia, a job he coveted after having a passion for fly fishing since he was 7.
Valdez told the Albuquerque Journal that he hired Brooks at 16 as a guide for his shop as soon as the teen got a driver’s license.
“He never had a mean bone in his body,” said Valdez, who described Brooks as more of a son than an employee. “He had it all to offer the world. I never heard a bad complaint against him.”
Marco Rossetti, who went to high school with Brooks at Santa Fe Prep, struggled to talk about the death of his friend.
“Aside from the point of fishing, because that’s not all he was, he was the best person. He was there and had any friend’s back better than anybody,” Rossetti told the Journal. “I have more respect for him than any other person on this planet. And now he’s not on this planet.”
The Russian airliner that took off Sunday from Moscow was airborne for 28 minutes before returning for an emergency landing while still heavy with unburned fuel, which then ignited after a rough touchdown.
Flames quickly engulfed the aircraft, killing 41 of 78 people aboard.
(FRANKFURT, Germany) — The Aeroflot-operated SSJ100 passenger jet that caught fire during an emergency landing in Moscow is part of Russia’s efforts to maintain a presence in civil aviation in a market dominated by companies like Boeing, Airbus and Embraer.
Here’s a quick look at the SSJ100 and the Russian company that built it, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft:
The plane
The SSJ100, or Superjet 100, is a short- to medium-haul narrow body jet with two engines that can be configured to carry up to 103 people.
At that size, it’s intended for shorter and less travelled routes and as a substitute for larger planes to save costs during slower travel seasons. Regional aircraft are an important part of Russia’s transportation system, given the country’s enormous distances and many remote towns. The Superjet succeeds older, Soviet-built planes such as the Tu-134 airliner.
The plane is built at the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft’s plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia’s distant Far East region. Although the design is Russian, the company says it uses the latest Western technology as well. The engines are made by PowerJet, a joint venture between France’s Safran Aircraft Engines and Russia’s Saturn.
The plane first flew in 2008 and entered commercial service in 2011. It is certified by the European Union Safety Agency but is mainly used in Russia and has not made much headway against international competitors, not just from Boeing and Airbus but also from Brazil’s Embraer.
Aeroflot is the biggest client with 50 of the planes. Mexico’s Interjet said Sunday it operated five of the planes “under the highest safety standards.”
Interjet has previously said it has 22 Superjets but referred in a recent earnings report to the “gradual phase out of the fleet of SSJ100.” The company reported it lost sales after some planes were temporarily out of service after a warning from Russia’s aviation authority about a potential defect in the tail section in December 2016. Interjet also said it was seeking contractual recovery of maintenance costs associated with the plane.
Brussels Airlines said the company ceased using several Superjets provided by Irish leasing firm CityJet because limited supplies of spare parts affected aircraft availability.
The company
The Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company bears the name of Soviet aircraft designer Pavel Sukhoi, who was responsible for a series of Soviet military aircraft starting before World War II.
Today’s firm is part of Russia’s United Aircraft Corp., which consolidated many of the legendary names of Soviet aviation such as MiG, Sukhoi and Tupolev. UAC was established by a decree from President Vladimir Putin in 2006 to promote the Russian aircraft industry, which is seen as essential for the security and defense of the country. Much of its production goes to the military, while the SSJ100 is the key project aimed at maintaining a Russian presence in civil aviation.
Troubles
On May 9, 2012, a demonstration flight hit Mount Salak in Indonesia, killing all 45 on board, after the pilot disregarded six alarms from the terrain warning system on the apparent assumption there was a problem with the terrain database, according to the report from Indonesia’s air safety regulator. The plane had unintentionally left a circling pattern after the crew was distracted by a prolonged conversation not related to flying the plane.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed their new baby boy into the world on May 6, Kensington Palace announced on Monday. It is the couple’s first child.
Harry and Meghan married in May 2018, becoming the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Now, the question is where the new arrival will fit into the line of succession of the British royal family.
The answer is seventh in line. The new baby bumps Prince Andrew, the second son of the Queen, into eighth place.
But the youngster is behind his cousins Prince George and Princess Charlotte, by virtue of their father — Prince William — being older than Harry and second in line to the throne.
In 2013, the U.K. Parliament passed a law allowing succession of siblings to be decided by age, rather than gender. The previous rules meant that an older sister would come further down the pecking order than her younger brother.
Jen PrandantoThe new royal baby is seventh in line for the throne.
The new baby also bumps Princess Eugenie, who got married last October, into tenth in line to the throne.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex welcomed her first child with Prince Harry — a baby boy — whose name has not yet been released by the royal family. As of Monday afternoon, royal fans in the U.K. are betting on different royal baby names since the morning’s birth announcement.
But the odds are in his favor to have a great name.
Meghan Markle gave birth to the 7-pound, 3-ounce baby boy early on Monday morning, according to the Sussex Instagram account.
The Duke and Duchess announced that royal baby Sussex had arrived on Instagram. “The Duchess and baby are both healthy and well, and the couple thank members of the public for their shared excitement and support during this very special time in their lives,” royal couple said on social media.
Prince Harry told reporters Monday that he and Meghan were “thinking about names but, the baby is a little overdue so we’ve had a little bit of time to think about it.”
U.K.-based betting and gambling company Ladbrokes said in a press release that as of Monday afternoon, betting for the royal baby names odds had the top choice, Arthur, at 5/1. Alexander is behind with 6/1, followed by Albert and James, both at 8/1 odds.
The odds are in the favor of family names as Philip, the name of Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, trailed behind at 12/1 odds — a departure from its 6/1 odds at the time of birth. Charles, the name of Prince Harry’s father and the heir apparent to the throne, has 16/1 odds, as does Edward, the youngest son of Prince Philip and the Queen.
“Arthur has headed the betting since Prince Harry’s announcement this afternoon,” a spokesperson for Ladbrokes told TIME in an email, “but Alexander is by far the biggest mover in the last few hours and is now second-favourite.”
Had the royal baby been a girl, betting ended as follows: Ivy was at 7/4, Diana was at 6/1 and Grace was close behind at 8/1.
The newborn royal baby is now seventh in line to the throne, bumping Prince Andrew, the second son of the Queen, into eighth place. The royal baby will be behind his cousins Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte, because their father––William, Duke of Cambridge––is the first born son and second in line to the throne.
Before the baby’s gender was known, betting on the gender was suspended as soon as the Duchess of Sussex went into labor on Monday, May 6.
The first royal baby for Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is officially here. The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to a boy “early in the morning” on Monday.
“We are pleased to announce that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their firstborn child in the early morning on May 6th, 2019. Their Royal Highnesses’ son weighs 7lbs. 3oz.,” the royals announced on their official Instagram account.
“The Duchess and baby are both healthy and well, and the couple thank members of the public for their shared excitement and support during this very special time in their lives.”
The baby was born at 5:26 a.m. local time, the a palace said.
Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, is with her daughter at the couple’s home at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, England. She is “overjoyed by the arrival of her first grandchild,” according to the palace.
Not long after the news of the birth, Prince Harry made a statement to gathered journalists. He said that Meghan and the child were healthy and that he was “over the moon” with excitement.
I’m very excited to announce that Meghan and myself had a baby boy early this morning. Very healthy baby boy. The mother and the baby are doing incredibly well. It’s been the most amazing experience I could ever possibly imagine. How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension, but we’re both absolutely thrilled and so grateful to the love and support from everybody out there. It’s been amazing.
Still thinking about names but, the baby is a little overdue so we’ve had a little bit of time to think about it––but that’s the next bit. We’ll be able to see you in two days’ time as planned and be able to share it with you as a family and share it with you guys and so everyone can see the baby.
I haven’t been at many births, this is definitely my first birth––it was amazing, absolutely incredible and as I said, I’m so incredible proud of my wife and as every father and parent would ever say, your baby is absolutely amazing, so this little thing is absolutely to die for so I’m over the moon.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have yet to release their new son’s name. But, unlike Prince George of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge and Prince Louis of Cambridge—the children of William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge—Harry and Meghan’s baby boy is not a prince. Unless Queen Elizabeth issues a Letters Patent declaring otherwise, Harry and Meghan’s son––and any future children – will likely be given the title of earl (or lady if they have a girl in the future.)
Still, the baby’s name is likely to be traditional, royal experts say. The new royal baby is seventh in line to the throne, which gives the Duke and Duchess some more leeway in the naming process, but they’re not going to want to stray too far from royal tradition. “I think [Markle] understands and respects the traditional institution that she’s married into,” Katie Nicholl, a royal correspondent for Vanity Fair and the author of Harry and Meghan: Life, Loss, and Love, told TIME in a previous interview.
Though we don’t yet know where Meghan chose to give birth, it’s likely she didn’t give birth in the same hospital as the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Diana––the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital in Westminster, London. But that’s not so surprising, considering other royals have been born in different hospitals before: Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, had her two children at Frimley Hospital in Surrey, England and Sarah Ferguson gave birth to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie a different hospital in London.
At the end of the day, it’s not the hospital that matters, but the wishes of the royal parents, according to royal expert and CNN commentator Victoria Arbiter. “We have to respect any new mother’s choices,” she told TIME.
Kensington Palace first announced that Markle was pregnant with the couple’s first child on Oct. 15, nearly five months after their royal wedding at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. “Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019,” the palace said in a statement.
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019. pic.twitter.com/Ut9C0RagLk
Until the couple announces the name of the royal baby, royal watchers (and the world) are anxiously awaiting (and betting) the answer. But, as Arbiter told TIME previously, the public has to give them privacy. “Harry and Meghan are very keen to maintain the privacy of their child and also to sort of set the boundaries on what is acceptable and what’s not.”
One such aspect of the couple’s privacy was their choice to not take a typical post-birth photo, instead choosing to keep the moment for themselves. According to People, pictures of Meghan, Harry and the royal baby are expected soon on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
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CONTROVERSY has overshadowed the acclaim that greeted Tiger Woods at the White House ceremony where the Masters winner was bestowed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Trump.
GERMANY's Social Democratic Party is facing a backlash after blaming Brexit on "British upper-class kids" and "populists" and calling for a second referendum - with critics arguing Britain was free to make up its own mind free from external interference.
KIM KARDASHIAN appears to be diverting attention from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's new royal baby to the fact her own baby is due soon, via an anonymous surrogate.
He appears out of nowhere in a sleepy little neighbourhood in suburban Kerala. He calls himself Shunya, the zero. Who is he? A lunatic? A dark magician? A fraud? Or an avadhuta, an enlightened soul?
Saami—as they call him—settles into a small cottage in the backyard of the local toddy shop. Here he spins parables, blesses, curses, drinks endless glasses of black tea and lives in total freedom. On rare occasions, he plays soul-stirring melodies on his old, bamboo-reed flute.
Then, just as mysteriously as he arrived, Shunya vanishes, setting the path for a new avadhuta, a new era.
This first novel by Sri M is a meditation on the void which collapses the wall between reality and make-believe, the limited and the infinite. With its spare storytelling and profound wisdom, it leads us into the realm of 'shunya', the nothingness of profound and lasting peace, the beginning and end of all things.
Born Mumtaz Ali in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Sri M is a spiritual guide, social reformer and educationist. He heads The Satsang Foundation.
In 2011, he wrote his memoir, Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography, which became an instant bestseller; the sequel, The Journey Continues, was published in 2017. He is the author of several other books on philosophy, yoga and Indian mysticism. Over the years, his mission has resulted in several initiatives including a number of alternative schools, the Satsang Swasthya Kendra, which provides affordable health care to people through holistic and comprehensive treatments, and the Manav Ekta Mission and Sarva Dharma Kendra, which promote inter-faith harmony.
This is his first novel.
Shunya: A Novel Excerpt
For well over sixteen years, Sadasivan had to pass the old, abandoned cremation ground at midnight on his way back home from his toddy shop.
He prided himself on the fact that he didn't believe in ghosts and ghouls and other superstitions and yet, every time he passed the gate of the crematorium, an unknown fear gripped him and his hair stood on end.
That night, too, as he whizzed past the gate on his Royal Enfield motorbike-an upgrade from his old bicycle which he had felt took ages to clear the distance-Sadasivan followed the simple rule he had devised to make things easier: 'Don't look in the direction of the crematorium.Go as fast as you can.'
He had almost passed its gate when he distinctly heard a voice calling him out by name. Try as he might, he couldn't resist the temptation to turn and look. A shiver went up his spine.
A figure clad in white leapt out of the gate and, in the bright light of the solitary street lamp, Sadasivan could see him coming in his direction.
He lost control of his motorbike which hit a protruding flagstone, skid sideways, and sent him flying across the road.
As he picked himself up, he was scared stiff to see the white-robed figure right by his side.
'Umph! Not bad. No major damage, Sadasiva. Get up and go home. Don't be frightened. I am not a ghost, ha ha!'
Sadasivan got up, dusted his clothes and picked up the motorbike which had fallen a few metres away. The bike seemed fine except for a dent or two and one broken rear-view mirror. Then he noticed that the skin on both his elbows and his left knee had peeled off. No other damage.
The stranger followed him to the bike.
'Who the hell are you,' shouted Sadasivan, angrily, 'popping up from the cremation ground at midnight like a ghost? Haven't seen you in these parts and how do you know my name?'
'Sadasiva, I'll see you tomorrow at your toddy shop, okay? We'll talk then. Now go home and take care of yourself. There are no ghosts—go home.'
Sadasivan started his bike and rode home wondering who this crazy man was. He had seen him at close quarters: a single piece of unwashed white mundu was wrapped around his waist with an equally unwashed, loose cotton shirt; he was barefooted and fair-complexioned, with a pointed Ho Chi Minh beard. Who was he? Didn't Sadasivan notice a bamboo flute in his hand? Where did he spring from? He was certainly not a local and yet he spoke Malayalam. By the time he reached his house his anger had vanished and, for some strange reason, he was looking forward to seeing the stranger the next day.
In ten minutes he was home. His wife was shocked to see him injured. 'Fell off the bike,' he said and while she washed and dressed the wounds and served him dinner, he told her the story of the night's adventure. 'Very odd man, Bhavani,' he told her. 'Said he'll see me at the toddy shop tomorrow. And for some mysterious reason, I am looking forward to seeing him.'
'Be careful,' said Bhavani after she'd had her dinner and they'd retired to the bedroom. 'Maybe he's a madman.'
'How can a madman know my name?' asked Sadasivan as he was falling asleep. He had taken a paracetamol and as the pain of his bruises slowly ebbed, sleep the ultimate reliever took over.
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Akshaya Tritiya 2019: Buying gold during this Muhurat will bring you good fortune; details inside Akshaya Tritiya is celebrated on the third day of brighter half in lunar month Vaishaksha.
Cyclone Fani: Toll rises to 35 in Odisha, lakhs still without water & power While a maximum of 21 people died in Puri, four deaths each were reported from Mayurbhanj and Jajpur, and three each in Cuttack and Kendrapara.
How Obama used race, personal chemistry, Jan 26 visit to win Modi on Paris Climate deal? Ex-aide reveals The tactics deployed by Obama to bring India on board, which was the only major power in his way of the climate deal, was described by his former top personal and national security aide Benjamin Rhodes in a podcast interview.
Election Commission clean chit to PM Modi in two more cases: Sources Earlier, the EC had cleared six speeches of Modi, two of Shah and one of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
Jyotsna Mehta BJP corporator moves proposal for ropeway in South Mumbai Mehta says that this can be a good tourist attraction, as well as it will give people a bird's eye view of the southern part of the city
Ahmedabad: Woman beats man who molested her, drags him to police station 30-year-old man found it out the hard way what happens when you molest a woman who not only knows how to fight back but also protect herself.
Consumer body asks Bombay Hospital to pay compensation for deficiency of service The order was given after the SCDRC overturned the order of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (DCDRF) which had dismissed the appeal of complainant and patient, Siddiqui Shah Nawaj Ahmed.
