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Today — 18 May 2024Main stream

Celtic enjoy late win over St Mirren before Scottish Premiership title party

By: PA Media
18 May 2024 at 10:07
  • Luis Palma’s 86th minute goal secures 3-2 comeback win
  • Tagawa strikes as Hearts share 3-3 draw with Rangers

Luis Palma scored a late winner as Celtic twice came from behind to round off another successful Premiership campaign with a 3-2 victory over St Mirren on trophy presentation day at Parkhead.

St Mirren’s captain, Mark O’Hara, twice gave the visitors the lead but goals from Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi had the champions level at the break. The second half was a quieter affair but Palma converted Anthony Ralston’s cross from close range in the 86th minute to give the home fans more reason to cheer before the presentation of the silverware.

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© Photograph: Craig Brough/Action Images/Reuters

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© Photograph: Craig Brough/Action Images/Reuters

On my radar: Claire Messud’s cultural highlights

18 May 2024 at 10:00

The novelist on the continuing relevance of Ibsen, the joyful quilt art of Faith Ringgold and where to find British scotch eggs in New York

Born in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1966, author Claire Messud studied at Yale University and the University of Cambridge. Her first novel, 1995’s When the World Was Steady, and her book of novellas, The Hunters, were finalists for the PEN/Faulkner award; her 2006 novel The Emperor’s Children was longlisted for the Booker prize. Messud is a senior lecturer on fiction at Harvard University and has been awarded Guggenheim and Radcliffe fellowships. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband, literary critic James Wood; they have two children. Her latest novel, This Strange Eventful History, is published on 23 May by Fleet.

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© Photograph: Rick Friedman/The Observer

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© Photograph: Rick Friedman/The Observer

‘She’s in the pantheon now’: Kristi Noem and the politicians who hit self-destruct

18 May 2024 at 09:00

The dog-killing South Dakota governor’s VP hopes are in tatters. But she’s not the first politician to flame out with an own goal

She could have been a contender. But then she wrote a book. And suddenly Kristi Noem was caught like a rabbit – or a rambunctious puppy – in the headlights.

The governor of South Dakota found herself insisting that a false claim she met the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un had been put in her book by accident. Wait, said Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation, you recorded the whole audiobook version and read this passage out loud. Why didn’t you take it out then?

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Harrison Butker’s misogynistic graduation speech shows the bigots are winning

18 May 2024 at 09:00

We’re going backwards: a football player can say hateful things from a university podium while students are being arrested

Imagine for a moment that that you are a young woman who has spent more than $100,000 on your university degree. After four years of hard work it’s your graduation and Harrison Butker, a kicker with the Kansas City Chiefs, is the commencement speaker. During his speech the NFL star, who has made millions by kicking a ball, kindly informs you that your hard-earned degree was a waste of time and that your true role in life is supporting your husband. Imagine what that would be like.

“IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.” (This doesn’t make any sense, I know, but the entire speech is incoherent.)

Joe Biden has been “vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies”. (Which is certainly true if we’re talking about Gaza – but Butker was talking about abortion rights.)

Pride month is a “deadly sin”.

You can’t spread the antisemitic talking point that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus any more or you’ll end up “in jail”.

Women have been subject to “the most diabolical lies” and, while some women in the audience may go on to have successful careers the majority should be “most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world”.

His wife would be “the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother”. (This sparked long applause from the audience.)

We should fight against “the cultural emasculation of men”.

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© Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

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© Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Northern lights across UK may happen again soon, experts predict

18 May 2024 at 08:00

Extreme geomagnetic storm that lit up skies last weekend could reoccur as 11-year solar cycle reaches its peak

Anyone who missed the northern lights last weekend may get another chance to see them as experts predict there could be more soon.

Last weekend, bands of pink and green light, known as aurora borealis, lit up the night sky, with rare sightings across the UK, Europe and the northern hemisphere after an “extreme” geomagnetic storm caused them to be more visible, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Novel Threat Tactics, Notable Vulnerabilities, and Current Trends for April 2024

17 May 2024 at 15:08

Every month, the Pondurance team hosts a webinar to keep clients current on the state of cybersecurity. In April, the team discussed threat intelligence, vulnerabilities and trends, security operations center (SOC) engineering insights, threat hunting, and detection engineering. Threat Intelligence The Senior Manager of Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) discussed the recent surge of...

The post Novel Threat Tactics, Notable Vulnerabilities, and Current Trends for April 2024 appeared first on Pondurance.

The post Novel Threat Tactics, Notable Vulnerabilities, and Current Trends for April 2024 appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Fans queue round the block as tiny Mexican taco stand wins Michelin star

There was more business than usual and some bemused regulars after El Califa de León was rewarded for its ‘exceptional’ offering

El Califa de León, an unassuming taco joint in Mexico City, measures just 3 metres by 3 metres and has space for only about six people to stand at a squeeze. Locals usually wait for 5 minutes between ordering and picking up their food.

All that changed on Wednesday, however, when it became the first Mexican taco stand ever to win a Michelin star, putting it in the exalted company of fine dining restaurants around the world, and drawing crowds like it has never seen.

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© Photograph: Héctor Vivas/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Héctor Vivas/Getty Images

UK state pensions: are older retirees getting a bad deal?

By: Zoe Wood
18 May 2024 at 03:00

People who receive the new state pension can get thousands a year more than those on the old basic scheme

Sheila receives the basic state pension and says it is a struggle to make ends meet. “We’re supposed to survive on pocket money,” says the widow, aged 81. “I don’t go out because I can’t afford it. I used to go for a coffee to treat myself but not any more. It’s too expensive. If I buy clothes it is at the charity shop.

“The way we have to live is not nice at all. There’s masses of people in the same position. It makes you isolated because if you can’t go out and have a little spend it is not living is it?”

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© Photograph: 10’000 Hours/Getty Images

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© Photograph: 10’000 Hours/Getty Images

Sticky trick: new glue spray kills plant pests without chemicals

Edible oil droplets trap bugs without the harm to people and wildlife that synthetic pesticides can cause

Tiny sticky droplets sprayed on crops to trap pests could be a green alternative to chemical pesticides, research has shown.

The insect glue, produced from edible oils, was inspired by plants such as sundews that use the strategy to capture their prey. A key advantage of physical pesticides over toxic pesticides is that pests are highly unlikely to evolve resistance, as this would require them to develop much larger and stronger bodies, while bigger beneficial insects, like bees, are not trapped by the drops.

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© Photograph: Loop Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Loop Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler: golf’s straight man grabs attention in most unexpected way

By: Andy Bull
17 May 2024 at 13:20

World No 1’s unlikely brush with the law has raised his profile to a level that his playing abilities alone would never be able to

For 27 years, 10 months, and 26 days the most interesting thing about Scottie Scheffler was his golf. And given that’s what he’s paid for, you might think it ought to be enough. But the truth is that ever since Scheffler rose to the top of the world rankings in March 2022 the game has wanted more from him. Trouble is, besides his faith, his family, and his attachment to a beaten-up old 2012 GMC Yukon, he does not have much else to give. Whisper it, but the truth is that a lot of people in the game worry that Scheffler, who many reckon is the best player of his generation, is just a little bit too boring to carry the sport.

And then he decided to take a detour into the westbound lane on his way through the gates to Valhalla on Friday morning. Last month Scheffler explained that he believed his victory at the Masters was meant to be because God had laid out “today’s plans many years ago, and I could do nothing to mess them up”. Well, either the Lord also takes his marching orders from Kentucky traffic cops, or this is more proof, if we needed it, that he moves in mysterious ways.

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© Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler shakes off ‘shock and fear’ of arrest to stay in US PGA hunt

17 May 2024 at 17:37

The world No 1 was arrested and charged after extraordinary early-morning scenes but he did not let that affect this game

“I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was the start of my warmup.”

If ever a quote summed up the jaw-dropping nature of Friday at the 106th US PGA Championship, this was it.

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© Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Why Bot Management Should Be a Crucial Element of Your Marketing Strategy

17 May 2024 at 19:33

Marketing teams need a comprehensive bot management solution to address the challenges posed by bot traffic and protect marketing analytics. Bot management is designed to protect marketing efforts from bot-generated invalid traffic by accurately and efficiently classifying traffic and stopping unwanted. This allows you to maximize your marketing investments, achieve genuine engagement, and ensure accurate […]

The post Why Bot Management Should Be a Crucial Element of Your Marketing Strategy appeared first on Blog.

The post Why Bot Management Should Be a Crucial Element of Your Marketing Strategy appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Yesterday — 17 May 2024Main stream

“Outrageously” priced weight-loss drugs could bankrupt US health care

By: Beth Mole
17 May 2024 at 18:08
Packaging for Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, is seen in this illustration photo.

Enlarge / Packaging for Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, is seen in this illustration photo. (credit: Getty | Jakub Porzycki)

With the debut of remarkably effective weight-loss drugs, America's high obesity rate and its uniquely astronomical prescription drug pricing appear to be set on a catastrophic collision course—one that threatens to "bankrupt our entire health care system," according to a new Senate report that modeled the economic impact of the drugs in different uptake scenarios.

If just half of the adults in the US with obesity start taking a new weight-loss drug, such as Wegovy, the collective cost would total an estimated $411 billion per year, the analysis found. That's more than the $406 billion Americans spent in 2022 on all prescription drugs combined.

While the bulk of the spending on weight-loss drugs will occur in the commercial market—which could easily lead to spikes in health insurance premiums—taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs will also see an extraordinary financial burden. In the scenario that half of adults with obesity go on the drug, the cost to those federal programs would total $166 billion per year, rivaling the programs' total 2022 drug costs of $175 billion.

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Why TikTok Users Are Blocking Celebrities

17 May 2024 at 17:08
A TikTok movement is calling for followers to block famous people over their stances on the Israel-Hamas war. It began at the Met Gala.

© Amir Hamja/The New York Times

Zendaya at the Met Gala last week in a couture gown. Her image, spliced with photographs of Palestinian children, contributed to a TikTok movement.

US AI Experts Targeted in SugarGh0st RAT Campaign – Source: www.proofpoint.com

us-ai-experts-targeted-in-sugargh0st-rat-campaign-–-source:-wwwproofpoint.com

Source: www.proofpoint.com – Author: 1 Source: Thongden Studio via Shutterstock A likely Chinese threat actor is using a recent variant of the notorious Gh0st RAT malware to try and steal information from artificial intelligence experts in US companies, government agencies, and academia. Researchers at security vendor Proofpoint first spotted the campaign earlier this month and […]

La entrada US AI Experts Targeted in SugarGh0st RAT Campaign – Source: www.proofpoint.com se publicó primero en CISO2CISO.COM & CYBER SECURITY GROUP.

A Human-Centric Security Approach, Supported by AI – Source: www.proofpoint.com

a-human-centric-security-approach,-supported-by-ai-–-source:-wwwproofpoint.com

Source: www.proofpoint.com – Author: 1 Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning , Events , Next-Generation Technologies & Secure Development Protect People and Infrastructure Simultaneously: Proofpoint CEO Sumit Dhawan Mathew J. Schwartz (euroinfosec) • May 16, 2024     Sumit Dhawan, CEO, Proofpoint To address the cliche of people being the weakest link, cybersecurity company Proofpoint said […]

La entrada A Human-Centric Security Approach, Supported by AI – Source: www.proofpoint.com se publicó primero en CISO2CISO.COM & CYBER SECURITY GROUP.

Proofpoint Among First in Enterprise Archiving Industry to Achieve PCI Compliance Attestation – Source: www.proofpoint.com

proofpoint-among-first-in-enterprise-archiving-industry-to-achieve-pci-compliance-attestation-–-source:-wwwproofpoint.com

Source: www.proofpoint.com – Author: 1 Proofpoint Archive customers will meet the globally recognized industry standards in place to secure and protect payment account data SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 16, 2024 – Proofpoint, Inc., a leading cybersecurity and compliance company, today announced its Proofpoint Archive solution has achieved compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI […]

La entrada Proofpoint Among First in Enterprise Archiving Industry to Achieve PCI Compliance Attestation – Source: www.proofpoint.com se publicó primero en CISO2CISO.COM & CYBER SECURITY GROUP.

Here’s What 20 Top Cybersecurity CEOs And CTOs Were Saying At RSA Conference 2024 – Source: www.proofpoint.com

here’s-what-20-top-cybersecurity-ceos-and-ctos-were-saying-at-rsa-conference-2024-–-source:-wwwproofpoint.com

Source: www.proofpoint.com – Author: 1 CRN spoke with the CEOs and CTOs of a number of cybersecurity companies, including Proofpoint, Palo Alto Networks, Rubrik and CrowdStrike, during RSA Conference 2024. Here’s what they had to say. While the many implications of GenAI for security continued to be discussed and debated at last week’s RSA Conference, […]

La entrada Here’s What 20 Top Cybersecurity CEOs And CTOs Were Saying At RSA Conference 2024 – Source: www.proofpoint.com se publicó primero en CISO2CISO.COM & CYBER SECURITY GROUP.

Ministers clawing back £251m from carers hit by DWP’s allowance failures

‘Strikingly large’ sum being recouped from people who fell foul of system that did not flag overpayments

Ministers are clawing back more than £250m from unpaid carers over benefit infringements that occurred largely as a result of government failures, it can be revealed.

More than 134,000 people who care for loved ones are being forced to repay often huge carer’s allowance overpayments. The debts are incurred in many cases through no fault of their own, and leave carers saddled with enormous debts, and some with criminal convictions.

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© Photograph: Westend61 GmbH/Alamy

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© Photograph: Westend61 GmbH/Alamy

UK’s garden centres hope sunshine and Chelsea flower show will help them rebound from the rain

17 May 2024 at 19:00

A cold, damp spring depressed plant sales in the UK, but help is at hand from the ‘Glastonbury festival of the gardening world’

The sixth-wettest April on record has not been kind to Britain’s gardens or its 1,600 garden centres.

So far this year, with most of the key selling season over, garden centre sales are up just 2% on last year and down 11% on 2022, after the sodden spring depressed sales of shrubs, trees, bedding plants and seeds.

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© Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

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© Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

Cats playing with robots proves a winning combo in novel art installation

17 May 2024 at 16:59
Cat with the robot arm in the Cat Royale installation

Enlarge / A kitty named Clover prepares to play with a robot arm in the Cat Royale "multi-species" science/art installation . (credit: Blast Theory - Stephen Daly)

Cats and robots are a winning combination, as evidenced by all those videos of kitties riding on Roombas. And now we have Cat Royale, a "multispecies" live installation in which three cats regularly "played" with a robot over 12 days, carefully monitored by human operators. Created by computer scientists from the University of Nottingham in collaboration with artists from a group called Blast Theory, the installation debuted at the World Science Festival in Brisbane, Australia, last year and is now a touring exhibit. The accompanying YouTube video series recently won a Webby Award, and a paper outlining the insights gleaned from the experience was similarly voted best paper at the recent Computer-Human Conference (CHI’24).

"At first glance, the project is about designing a robot to enrich the lives of a family of cats by playing with them," said co-author Steve Benford of the University of Nottingham, who led the research, "Under the surface, however, it explores the question of what it takes to trust a robot to look after our loved ones and potentially ourselves." While cats might love Roombas, not all animal encounters with robots are positive: Guide dogs for the visually impaired can get confused by delivery robots, for example, while the rise of lawn mowing robots can have a negative impact on hedgehogs, per Benford et al.

Blast Theory and the scientists first held a series of exploratory workshops to ensure the installation and robotic design would take into account the welfare of the cats. "Creating a multispecies system—where cats, robots, and humans are all accounted for—takes more than just designing the robot," said co-author Eike Schneiders of Nottingham's Mixed Reality Lab about the primary takeaway from the project. "We had to ensure animal well-being at all times, while simultaneously ensuring that the interactive installation engaged the (human) audiences around the world. This involved consideration of many elements, including the design of the enclosure, the robot, and its underlying systems, the various roles of the humans-in-the-loop, and, of course, the selection of the cats.”

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Using vague language about scientific facts misleads readers

17 May 2024 at 15:00
Using vague language about scientific facts misleads readers

Enlarge

Anyone can do a simple experiment. Navigate to a search engine that offers suggested completions for what you type, and start typing "scientists believe." When I did it, I got suggestions about the origin of whales, the evolution of animals, the root cause of narcolepsy, and more. The search results contained a long list of topics, like "How scientists believe the loss of Arctic sea ice will impact US weather patterns" or "Scientists believe Moon is 40 million years older than first thought."

What do these all have in common? They're misleading, at least in terms of how most people understand the word "believe." In all these examples, scientists have become convinced via compelling evidence; these are more than just hunches or emotional compulsions. Given that difference, using "believe" isn't really an accurate description. Yet all these examples come from searching Google News, and so are likely to come from journalistic outlets that care about accuracy.

Does the difference matter? A recent study suggests that it does. People who were shown headlines that used subjective verbs like "believe" tended to view the issue being described as a matter of opinion—even if that issue was solidly grounded in fact.

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Sophie Ecclestone shines as England beat Pakistan to seal T20 series

17 May 2024 at 16:47

Sophie Ecclestone became England’s leading T20 wicket-taker as her side secured a 65-run victory in Northampton

Right then. Maia Bouchier is taking guard. Waheeda Akhtar has the ball in her hand. We’re ready to go….

Really intersting chat on Sky right now focussing on the difference between the two sides’ power hitting.

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© Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

EFF to Court: Electronic Ankle Monitoring Is Bad. Sharing That Data Is Even Worse.

17 May 2024 at 13:59

The government violates the privacy rights of individuals on pretrial release when it continuously tracks, retains, and shares their location, EFF explained in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the case, Simon v. San Francisco, individuals on pretrial release are challenging the City and County of San Francisco’s electronic ankle monitoring program. The lower court ruled the program likely violates the California and federal constitutions. We—along with Professor Kate Weisburd and the Cato Institute—urge the Ninth Circuit to do the same.

Under the program, the San Francisco County Sheriff collects and indefinitely retains geolocation data from people on pretrial release and turns it over to other law enforcement entities without suspicion or a warrant. The Sheriff shares both comprehensive geolocation data collected from individuals and the results of invasive reverse location searches of all program participants’ location data to determine whether an individual on pretrial release was near a specified location at a specified time.

Electronic monitoring transforms individuals’ homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods into digital prisons, in which devices physically attached to people follow their every movement. All location data can reveal sensitive, private information about individuals, such as whether they were at an office, union hall, or house of worship. This is especially true for the GPS data at issue in Simon, given its high degree of accuracy and precision. Both federal and state courts recognize that location data is sensitive, revealing information in which one has a reasonable expectation of privacy. And, as EFF’s brief explains, the Simon plaintiffs do not relinquish this reasonable expectation of privacy in their location information merely because they are on pretrial release—to the contrary, their privacy interests remain substantial.

Moreover, as EFF explains in its brief, this electronic monitoring is not only invasive, but ineffective and (contrary to its portrayal as a detention alternative) an expansion of government surveillance. Studies have not found significant relationships between electronic monitoring of individuals on pretrial release and their court appearance rates or  likelihood of arrest. Nor do studies show that law enforcement is employing electronic monitoring with individuals they would otherwise put in jail. To the contrary, studies indicate that law enforcement is using electronic monitoring to surveil and constrain the liberty of those who wouldn’t otherwise be detained.

We hope the Ninth Circuit affirms the trial court and recognizes the rights of individuals on pretrial release against invasive electronic monitoring.

Beware the Biden factor, Keir Starmer: you can govern well and still risk losing the country | Jonathan Freedland

17 May 2024 at 12:26

Politics is about achieving things and telling a compelling story. But neither the president – nor Starmer – can match Trump’s gift for narrative

The smile was the giveaway. Asked whether he was “just a copycat” of Tony Blair at the launch of his Blair-style pledge card on Thursday, Keir Starmer positively glowed. He was delighted with the comparison, which the entire exercise was surely designed to encourage. Blair “won three elections in a row”, Starmer said, beaming. Of course, he’s thrilled to be likened to a serial winner. And yet the more apt parallel is also a cautionary one. It’s not with Starmer’s long-ago predecessor, but with his would-be counterpart across the Atlantic: Joe Biden.

It’s natural that the sight of a Labour leader, a lawyer from north London, on course for Downing Street after a long era of Tory rule, would have people digging out the Oasis CDs and turning back the clock to 1997: Labour election victories are a rare enough commodity to prompt strong memories. But, as many veterans of that period are quick to point out, the circumstances of 2024 are very different. The UK economy was humming then and it’s parlous now. Optimism filled the air then, while too few believe genuine change is even possible now. And politics tended to be about material matters then, tax and public services, rather than dominated by polarising cultural wars as it is now.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Cocktail of the week: the Mandrake’s Hibiscus – recipe | The good mixer

17 May 2024 at 11:00

An Aperol spritz/cosmo hybrid that’s equal parts refreshing and bubbly

A glorious combination of classic ingredients that is equal parts refreshing and bubbly – think a fruity yet refined Aperol spritz/cosmopolitan hybrid with a sparkling edge. Enjoy with friends on a sunny afternoon and embrace those fragrant citrus flavours.

Jouzas Jonauskas, head of food and beverage, Waeska Bar, The Mandrake, London W1

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© Photograph: Rob Lawson/The Guardian. Drink styling: Seb Davis.

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© Photograph: Rob Lawson/The Guardian. Drink styling: Seb Davis.

Biden and Trump are betting on debates to help magnify the other’s weaknesses

17 May 2024 at 10:31

Trump will look to again cast Biden as greatly diminished while Biden will aim to remind voters why they rejected Trump in 2020

It’s game on for a pair of presidential debates between two unpopular candidates most Americans wish weren’t running for the nation’s highest office.

In a ratatat social media exchange on Wednesday, Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreed to participate in two debates on 27 June, hosted by CNN, and on 10 September, hosted by ABC.

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© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

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© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Kate Garraway: persecution of carers has ‘horrible echo’ of Post Office scandal

Presenter, who cared for late husband, said she was approached by people in street pleading for intervention

The TV presenter Kate Garraway has said the UK government’s prosecution of unpaid carers for thousands of pounds in benefit payments has a “horrible echo” of the Post Office scandal.

In an emotional intervention on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Garraway said many people had pleaded with her to “please do something” to help those being pursued by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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© Photograph: Ian West/PA

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© Photograph: Ian West/PA

Bangers and ballet: London’s Ministry of Sound embraces contemporary dance

17 May 2024 at 10:27

Big-name ballet dancers and rising choreographers have found a new home in the superclub where the after-party goes on until 5am

“It’s the easiest rider we’ve ever done,” says the Ministry of Sound’s Mahit Anam. “Normally it’s five bottles of Patrón, four bottles of vodka … ” And this time? Water, bananas and protein bars. It’s not your usual green room at the south London superclub, because this is not your usual show: the dancefloor is about to be taken over by professionals. Ballet Nights – a monthly production usually held in a Canary Wharf theatre and featuring the country’s top ballet stars and rising choreographers – is moving into clubland. So now amid the speaker stacks and DJ decks you’ll see Royal Ballet dancer Joshua Junker and work from Olivier award-winning choreographer James Cousins. It’s a whole different kind of podium dancing.

“Everything’s got too formulaic, too samey, and that’s why we want to do this stuff,” says Anam. “Pushing boundaries is something we should always be doing.” Ballet Nights was hatched by former Scottish Ballet soloist and choreographer Jamiel Devernay-Laurence in 2023. The idea was to give audiences an up-close view of big-name ballet dancers like Steven McRae and Matthew Ball as well as nurturing a stable of young artists. But he was itching to expand, and eager to attract younger audiences, people who are the same age as the dancers who perform. Devernay-Laurence had met with all sorts of venues – theatres, concert halls – and it was always a “let’s talk again in the future” situation. But when he walked into Ministry of Sound: “They had open arms, they were so excited. We walked out the same day with an agreement and a date.”

Ballet Nights is at Ministry of Sound, London, on 31 May

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© Photograph: Viktor Erik Emanuel

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© Photograph: Viktor Erik Emanuel

Five Types of Trees You Can Safely Plant Close to Your House

17 May 2024 at 10:00

If you would like to plant a tree in your yard but you’re not sure that you have the space because you've heard it's a bad idea to plant a tree too close to your house, you’re in luck.

While some types of trees definitely shouldn't be planted near your home because their roots can damage your foundation, other varieties actually are safe to plant, even relatively close to a structure. Here are five of your best options, as well as a few to avoid.

Crabapple

Crabapple (Malus sp.) trees usually mature at a height of about 20 feet and have a non-invasive root system, meaning it’s not likely to damage your foundation. There are about 1,000 varieties of crabapple, of which about 100 are commonly available for planting in the U.S. These trees can thrive in U.S. agricultural zones 3 through 8, and will produce white or pink flowers in spring, and fruit that’s usually less than two inches in diameter. If you choose a plant that’s native to North America, like Malus coronaria, Malus fusca, or Malus ioensis, the flowers are good for pollinators and the fruit is good for native birds, so they can bring wildlife to your yard as well.

Dogwood

Twelve species of the flowering Dogwood (Cornus sp.) are native to North America and can flourish in USDA zones 5 through 9. They grow at a moderate rate, about 12 to 24 inches a year, and reach a height and width of 15 to 20 feet in the sun, and 40 feet or more in the shade. Because of their slow growth rate, relatively gentle roots, and easy pruning, dogwood trees are considered safe to plant near your house.

Serviceberry

Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) is native to North America, and there are varieties that can thrive in USDA zones 2 through 9. This tree can grow as small as six feet or as tall as 25 feet, and between four and 25 feet wide. They can be trimmed to the size and height of a shrub, or allowed to mature to their full height. Their relatively small size and non-invasive root structure makes them good for planting near your house, and the flowers, berries, and autumn foliage color make them a wildlife friendly and aesthetically pleasing addition to your landscaping.

Crape Myrtle

You can plant varieties of Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.) trees in USDA zones 6 through 11, and they can grow to be anywhere from six to 30 feet tall and between four and 15 feet wide. These trees, with their brightly colored blooms, are good for planting near structures because their roots aren’t invasive and they tend not to get big enough to cause damage. If you have limited space, you will need to stay on top of pruning the tree, as they can grow up to three feet in a single season. Also take care to check the specific variety of tree you’re choosing to account for the space you’ll need.

American Holly

While the American Holly (Ilex opaca) tree can grow up to 60 feet tall, it can also be pruned and kept to about 25 feet in height. This variety of holly is native to North America and can be planted in USDA zones 5 through 9. It will produce light green to white flowers and its signature bright red berries and is an evergreen, for winter color. It’s known to be safe for planting near structures and makes an excellent habitat for local wildlife.

Trees to avoid planting close to your house

Trees to avoid planting near your house include the white ash (Fraxinus Americana), poplars (Populus sp.), and weeping willows (Salix babylonica). These trees have wide-spreading root systems that can damage foundations, sewer lines, driveways, and slabs. Give them a wide berth of at least 40 or 50 feet from structures to avoid damage.

How to Adapt to Executive Order 14028

16 May 2024 at 17:57

In May 2021, the White House released the Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, also known as EO 14028. The document is fairly dense, but its contents are of the utmost concern for federal agencies, critical infrastructure, and government contractors (especially cloud service providers and software developers).  The order is meant to improve the...

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How to port any N64 game to the PC in record time

17 May 2024 at 11:40
"N-tel (64) Inside"

Enlarge / "N-tel (64) Inside" (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

In recent years, we've reported on multiple efforts to reverse-engineer Nintendo 64 games into fully decompiled, human-readable C code that can then become the basis for full-fledged PC ports. While the results can be impressive, the decompilation process can take years of painstaking manual effort, meaning only the most popular N64 games are likely to get the requisite attention from reverse engineers.

Now, a newly released tool promises to vastly reduce the amount of human effort needed to get basic PC ports of most (if not all) N64 games. The N64 Recompiled project uses a process known as static recompilation to automate huge swaths of the labor-intensive process of drawing C code out of N64 binaries.

While human coding work is still needed to smooth out the edges, project lead Mr-Wiseguy told Ars that his recompilation tool is "the difference between weeks of work and years of work" when it comes to making a PC version of a classic N64 title. And parallel work on a powerful N64 graphic renderer means PC-enabled upgrades like smoother frame rates, resolution upscaling, and widescreen aspect ratios can be added with little effort.

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"this rat borg collective ended up [performing] better than single rats"

17 May 2024 at 08:39
Conscious Ants and Human Hives by Peter Watts has an entertaining take on Neuralink.

In breif, Watts doubts Neuralink could provide "faster internet" in the sense Neuralink markets to investors, but other darker markets exist.. Around fiction, if you've read Blindsight and Echopraxia then The Colonel touches amusizingly employs Watts perspective on hiveminds. "Attack of the Hope Police: Delusional Optimism at the End of the World?" is lovely latlk too. Also "The Collapse Is Coming. Will Humanity Adapt?" by Peter Watts.

US PGA Championship 2024: Scottie Scheffler hits second-round 66 after arrest – live

Sky Sports commentator Wayne Riley has been on the driving range to gauge opinion among the early starters. “The energy is zapped,” he reports. His Sky colleague Rich Beem is competing this week as a former champion, and Beem told Riley that “no-one had seen Scottie Scheffler … everyone was on their phone … they’d hit a shot, hit a putt, then look on their phone … they were caring for Scottie Scheffler, they were worried.”

Riley also spoke of the “person who was coming to the golf, if he was coming, lost his life … that is a terrible thing … you’re looking forward to the PGA Championship here at Valhalla and someone is not going to be with us today … so many players have said to me, ‘I can’t believe they’re actually playing today’ … I’m getting that vibe … I’m getting a lot of vibe that people are going ‘woah, somebody’s lost their life here today, Scottie has been taken away, do we go into Monday?’ ”

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© Photograph: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Scottie Scheffler charged with assault after traffic stop outside US PGA

The world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, has returned to Valhalla an hour before his revised tee-time for the second round of the US PGA Championship after an extraordinary sequence of events as he tried to drive into the course on Friday morning in which he was arrested, detained and booked on four separate charges by police.

Dramatic footage showed the golfer being led away in handcuffs and eye witnesses said police and Scheffler became involved in a misunderstanding over traffic flow which saw him removed from his tournament vehicle.

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© Photograph: Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections

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© Photograph: Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections

‘We were all going through traumas under one roof’: the drag queen adoption drama inspired by real life

17 May 2024 at 08:00

Daf James’s life was upended when he and his husband adopted three kids – and he knew he had to write about it. As Lost Boys & Fairies hits the screen, the writer and cast talk about queer lives, Welshness and what makes a family click

Lost Boys & Fairies is not a true story. But like most drama and fiction, it draws heavily on the real-life experiences of the people who made it. Daf James, the Welsh playwright and screenwriter behind the story, also adopted three children with his husband when those children were aged between two and five. As in the show, he went to activity days to meet children who needed carers, got interrogated by social workers and had plenty of sleepless nights. So when we see his protagonist Gabriel getting hit in the head with a football by a seven-year-old in a Cardiff park, are we watching fiction here or reality?

“Everything I write is personally inspired,” Daf tells me, over Zoom from his attic bedroom, just minutes after we have both put our children to bed. “But I’ve learned how to adapt my lived experience into fiction. Andy is a fictitious character; the father is a fictitious character; the children are fictitious characters.” Andy, the saint-like husband of Gabriel, is played by Hawkeye star and Northern Irish actor Fra Fee, who tells me that his role in Lost Boys & Fairies was “genuinely the honour of my life”. It’s a statement that, like the show itself, hits a note of radical sentimentality. “I’ve never played a gay man on screen before,” Fee goes on, “which sounds a bit mad as a gay man myself. So to get the opportunity to do something that felt so positive was such a gift.”

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© Photograph: Simon Ridgway/BBC/Duck Soup Films

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© Photograph: Simon Ridgway/BBC/Duck Soup Films

Oma, London SE1: ‘Very difficult to resist’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

17 May 2024 at 07:00

Who’d have thought that a nerdish but relaxed space age taverna would turn out to be one of the openings of the year?

Oma in Borough Market is Greek, but not as you may know it. If you don’t know your “wildfarmed laffa” from your spanakopita gratin with malawach, or your giouvetsi beef-fat pangrattato from your mussel saganaki with tsalafouti, then this will be, literally, all Greek to you. At Oma, the server’s “Do you want any help with the menu?” is greeted with an emphatic “Yes!”

How is the laffa wild, but also farmed, and why is it in the bread section? I’ll tell you how: the flour for the laffa is farmed, but without pesticides, and it’s then turned into a salty, pillowy, buttery flatbread to swoosh through Oma’s showstopping bowls of hummus, babaghanoush and labneh. Yes, I did just call hummus showstopping there, but that’s what happens when David Carter of Smokestak and Manteca and Ecuadorian chef Jorge Paredes, formerly of Sabor in Mayfair, spend 18 months tinkering with the recipe before serving their hummus masabacha-style – that is, much smoother and runnier than you may be used to. Crunchy chickpeas swim in this silky custard, which is topped with a spicy, bright green coriander zhoug.

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© Photograph: Matthew Hague/The Guardian

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© Photograph: Matthew Hague/The Guardian

Norman Finkelstein on Gaza, ‘from the river to the sea’ and political messaging: ‘We need to bring unity to this struggle’

17 May 2024 at 07:00

New York University professor Nikhil Singh interviews the political scientist and longtime critic of Israel after his speech at Columbia University

How do the messages and slogans adopted by social movements matter? In the 1960s, one of the simplest and most powerful slogans of the African American civil rights movement was: “Freedom now!” With that slogan, the movement indicated that Black demands exceeded a narrow reading of legal rights and protections. At the same time, it tapped into one of the most powerful keywords in the American political lexicon in a way that was immediately legible to a large, popular audience.

The occasion for the conversation below was a speech that the political scientist Norman Finkelstein gave at the Columbia University encampment protesting Israel’s war in Gaza. Finkelstein challenged students to think of the kind of messaging that might broaden their audience and build their movement. He questioned the slogan “Palestine will be free, from the river to sea” as mostly ineffective for these purposes, due to how it inflames fears among Israel’s supporters and gives fuel to arguments that pro-Palestinian protests on US university campuses are antisemitic and even “genocidal”.

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© Photograph: Katie Smith/Sipa USA via Alamy

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© Photograph: Katie Smith/Sipa USA via Alamy

Company insolvencies jump; Royal Mail takeover would face security review; energy cap to fall in July – business live

17 May 2024 at 09:54

Tesla’s chair discusses upcoming shareholder votes on relocating to Texas and Elon Musk’s $56bn pay deal

The Sunday Times also reports that the biggest risers on this year’s list are:

Barnaby and Merlin Swire and family, the family’s two-century-old business owns a significant stake in Cathay Pacific and has extensive interests in Hong Kong (£8.82bn)

Idan Ofer, is the son of Sammy Ofer, who built a shipping empire after serving in the Royal Navy during the Second World War (£6.96bn)

John Frederiksen and family, Fredriksen, a Norway-born Cypriot oil and tanker tycoon, has twin daughters who stand to inherit his empire. He owns a Chelsea mansion with a ballroom (£4.556bn)

“We need an economy that rewards work not just wealth.

“But as millions of families struggle to cover even the basics, the super-rich are amassing even greater fortunes.

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© Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

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© Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

British asylum housing tycoon breaks into Sunday Times rich list

Graham King, whose firm is paid £3.5m a day to accommodate arrivals in the UK, listed among country’s 350 richest people

An Essex businessman who won government contracts paying his company £3.5m a day for transporting and accommodating asylum seekers has been named among the 350 richest people in the UK.

Graham King, the founder and majority owner of a business empire that includes Clearsprings Ready Homes, which won a 10-year Home Office contract for housing thousands of asylum seekers, was on Friday named alongside King Charles III, the prime minister and Sir Paul McCartney on the Sunday Times rich list of the wealthiest people.

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© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

‘Art-washing’? Unease as British cultural institutions lend lustre to Saudi trade push

17 May 2024 at 02:00

Campaigners say move to use the arts to reinforce economic ties with Riyadh may help to launder Gulf state’s human rights record

It was an unusual gig for YolanDa Brown, the saxophonist and composer who this week performed high above the clouds for a UK delegation on a private British Airways plane bound for Saudi Arabia.

The flight was part of a trade offensive for British businesses and institutions in Riyadh, with Brown’s performance part of a new focus for Saudi-UK relations – international arts.

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© Photograph: Cabinet Office/Twitter

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© Photograph: Cabinet Office/Twitter

The Tories' war on foreign students isn’t for the good of the country – it's about saving their own skins | Polly Toynbee

17 May 2024 at 02:00

This dying government is happy to see universities in crisis, the economy damaged and soft power lost – if it wins a few votes

A key turning point in British politics was Tony Blair’s famous three priorities: “education, education, education”. A giant step was his 1999 conference speech: “Today I set a target of 50% of young adults going into higher education in the next century.” By 2017-18 that symbolic threshold had been crossed in England, with more than half of young people taking that leap forward. In 1980 it was just 15%.

But universities are falling into severe financial crisis. Unsurprisingly, the Tories are not unduly bothered. They attack universities all the time, calling for cuts in student numbers. Now they are plunging the knife into vital funding from foreign students. They ignore pleas from major companies, which wrote to the government this week, to stop a migration policy that is threatening investment in the UK by blocking foreign students.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Andrew Fox/Alamy

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© Photograph: Andrew Fox/Alamy

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