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20 HOME EXPERIMENTS

20 HOME EXPERIMENTS

If you’ve ever seen a hovercraft and thought it looks amazing but you’d never be able to have one, think again. You can make one in minutes! It’s just one of our 20 experiments you can do at home, no lab coat required. Not only are they fun to do, but they will also explain some of the basic parts of our everyday lives, like how magnets work, the secret to how planes stay airborne and the reason why plants will stop at nothing to reach sunlight. Using everyday items like combs, rubber bands and string, we will demonstrate real science. After all, the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians never had electron microscopes and spotless purposebuilt labs, but they made huge headway with medicine, geology, engineering and maths, to name a few.…

What It’s Like To Be In A Coma

When T. Renee Garner was 32 weeks pregnant with her son, she was rushed to the hospital with extremely high blood pressure, her foetus in distress. Intravenous medication lowered her blood pressure and her baby was delivered safely before being taken to the neonatal intensive care unit. But when Garner went to visit him there the next day, she still wasn’t well, and she began experiencing leg cramping so severe it left her weeping in the hospital. Then everything went black – for three days. Doctors determined that Garner’s coma was the result of a severe electrolyte imbalance – her sodium had dropped precipitously – caused by the IV medication she’d received. Garner says that while she was in the coma, she heard a siren and then the words “it died”,…

What It’s Like To Be In A Coma

Trump indicted

What happened Donald Trump surrendered to prosecutors on Tuesday after becoming the first former US president in history to be charged with a criminal offence. He was fingerprinted, read his rights and bailed. A grand jury in New York had voted last week to indict the 76-year-old, having decided that there was sufficient evidence to launch criminal proceedings. Trump reportedly faces multiple counts related to business fraud. The case centres on hush money Trump paid to the porn actress Stormy Daniels through his then lawyer Michael Cohen shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen gave Daniels $130,000 to stop her selling her account of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which the former president has always denied. Trump later reimbursed Cohen, payments that were designated as legal fees. Trump condemned…

Trump indicted

The NHS pay deal

What happened Unions representing NHS workers collectively accepted a pay offer from the Government this week, in a step that ministers hope will end much of the industrial action affecting the health service. Reached a day after nurses in England staged their latest 24-hour walkout, the deal gives more than a million NHS staff in England, including nurses and ambulance workers, a 5% pay rise, and a one-off payment of at least £1,655. It was agreed at a meeting between ministers and the NHS Staff Council, which is made up of 14 health unions covering all NHS staff except doctors and dentists. However, two of those unions – the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite – declined to be party to the deal, and announced plans to re-ballot their members…

The NHS pay deal

Bake SOME WAVES

“I CALL THIS MY RIPPIN’ RASPBERRY SLICE BECAUSE IT’S A TOTALLY TASTE BUD-TANTALISING COMBINATION OF FLAVOURS AND TEXTURES. THE NOSTALGIC COMBINATION OF SQUIDGY MARSHMALLOW, TART AND TANGY RASPBERRIES, SMOOTH DARK CHOCOLATE AND BUTTERY BISCUIT WILL BAKE THE DAY OF ADULTS AND KIDS ALIKE.”“HIT THE SPOT WITH THIS HEAVENLY RICH CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CHEESECAKE. IT’S A REAL CROWD-PLEASER. YOU CAN MAKE THIS RECIPE AHEAD OF TIME BECAUSE IT FREEZES BEAUTIFULLY. WHILE THIS CHEESECAKE DOESN’T TAKE LONG TO PUT TOGETHER, IT DOES NEED AMPLE TIME TO CHILL BEFORE ADDING THE DECADENT TOPPING.” I’ve always believed home bakers are the best kinds of friends. You see, we home bakers come as a sweet package – a special part of our personality is devoted to conjuring up sweet ways to make friends. There’s something very simple yet…

Bake SOME WAVES
THE LABOR MARKET IS BROKEN

THE LABOR MARKET IS BROKEN

INFLATION IS UP. The stock market is down. Unemployment is just 3.5 percent. Yet labor force participation remains stubbornly low, with only 62.3 percent of the civilian population working or actively looking for work—well below pre-pandemic levels. And even before the pandemic, that figure had been steadily declining for years. There are plenty of uncharitable theories about why the American work force is shrinking as a percentage of the population, resulting in 10 million unfilled jobs and a lot of well-wrung hands. The most common is simply that Kids These Days don’t want to work and it’ll be Gen Z’s fault when the U.S. is no longer a global economic superpower. A substantial number of younger people are not, in fact, keen to get hitched with an employer. In 2022, “for every…

Biden’s ‘bland leadership’ may be getting results

Biden’s ‘bland leadership’ may be getting results

JOE BIDEN SEEMED CAUGHT OFF GUARD. AN AIDE HAD interrupted the President’s meeting with his economic team and a handful of CEOs on a stage in the basement of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on July 28 to hand him a note. “You’re trying to tell me something, huh?” Biden said. The message informed Biden that the bill to boost semiconductor-chip manufacturing in the U.S. had passed the House, news that brought a wide grin as his staff in the room applauded. “Been trying a long time,” Biden said. The President may indeed be starting to catch a few breaks. Just the week before, Biden had contracted COVID-19, and key planks of his campaign agenda appeared dead in the water. But Biden recovered quickly from the virus, thanks to protection from…

5 ways to find humor in everyday life

If you think your life is too boring to be funny, joke’s on you: humor is all around us. Cultivating more humor in your everyday life is “one of the fastest and most powerful ways to increase overall health and well-being,” says Steven M. Sultanoff, a clinical psychologist and professor at Pepperdine University who studies how people can benefit from the healing powers of humor. “The experience of humor and distressing emotions can’t occupy the same psychological space,” he says. Adding humor to your daily life can lead to a wide array of benefits. Research suggests that it sparks energy, boosts brainpower, improves immunity, curbs stress, and improves mood. Some of those benefits stem from laughter, which is the physical response to humor, Sultanoff says. But not everyone laughs when they’re amused—and…

5 ways to find humor in everyday life
SPICE of life

SPICE of life

They’ve caused wars, forged global trading routes and established empires. Spices and their aromatic alchemy derived from dried seeds, bark and other plant parts have changed the world while banishing the bland. No self-respecting home cook is without their own collection of essential spices, but to truly spice up your life it’s worth getting to know the world’s most iconic blends. These essential spice mixes from around the globe transcend the sum of their parts. Time-honoured and deeply loved, they can be an assertion of national pride (witness Jamaica’s vocal disdain over Jamie Oliver’s “punchy jerk rice”) and a delicious vehicle for cultural understanding (some say one-quarter of the world’s population eat harissa on a daily basis). Even essential spice blends vary between countries and regions. One region’s caraway seed is another’s aniseed,…

THE TRIUMPH OF KING CHARLES

THE TRIUMPH OF KING CHARLES

As he stood in for his ailing 96-year-old mother at the opening of Parliament in May 2022, it was hard not to catch Prince Charles gazing mournfully at the Imperial Crown next to him on a velvet cushion. The irresistible thought bubble his expression suggested was “Mummy, when?” Cue trumpets. On May 6, 2023, the 74-year-old man who spent more than five decades in the waiting room of his destiny—longer than any Prince of Wales in history—finally walked through its door. King Charles III by the Grace of God, of the (still) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His Other Realms and Territory, Head of the Commonwealth, and Defender of the Faith, had placed on his head by the Most Rev. Justin Welby (Archbishop of Canterbury) the…

Written in the stools

Written in the stools

I congratulate the Listener for the stunning Médicins San Frontières photographs and article (“Heroes & hope”, December 3). It left me wanting more. Working as an aid worker in Sudan in 1985, I recall one of the senior Save the Children staff members describing MSF as “cowboys”. In my experience, working in Wad Kowli refugee camp with Save the Children then later with the World Health Organisation, MSF is one of the best aid organisations. At Wad Kowli, MSF were responsible for adult curative care, inpatient and outpatient. Our relationship with them was at all times excellent. At the MSF clinic for adults, the four doctors saw 1000-1500 patients a day. A Save the Children report from 1985 mentions, “[MSF’s] handling of the cholera outbreak was copybook, and placed very few extra demands…

The Degradation Drug

CARL ELLIOTT teaches philosophy and bioethics at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of several books, including Lonesome Whistle, about whistleblowers, which will be published next year. It started with selfies. Hannah had never taken a selfie before, or even given the idea much thought. She was a tenured 39-year-old psychology professor at a New England college. But eight days after she started on pramipexole, a drug prescribed off-label by her psychiatrist for depression and anxiety, Hannah began taking photos of herself obsessively. She couldn’t explain the desire. At the time, it didn’t even seem especially strange. Neither did the hats. She just felt like wearing them—or, really, any item that would cover her head. A gray wig. A red fedora. A spider-webbed fascinator. A vintage, canary-yellow beehive cap. Ordinarily…

The Degradation Drug
Beijing’s Big Bet

Beijing’s Big Bet

THE TEL AVIV POLITICAL SCIENTIST WAS skeptical about the message that popped up on his social media feed offering attractive rewards if he came to work in China. “I just ignored it,” he told Newsweek. “It was kind of funny.” Yet the message from the Zhejiang Torch Center in Hangzhou was completely serious—part of a multiyear, multiprong effort by the Communist Party of China (CCP) to transfer human talent and top technology to fuel its “China Dream” of global preeminence by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the Communist revolution. In messages on WeChat, China’s main social media app, “Casey Xu” presented himself as an “international recruiter.” Xu shared examples of people from “past projects” identified only by a three-letter country code and three-digit number. One blurry photograph showed “GBR 004” (Great Britain),…

Advanced AI: an existential threat to humanity?

In the four months since ChatGPT was made available to the public, the AI-assisted chatbot has become an object of amusement and wonder, said Sue Halpern in The New Yorker. Users have found that it can write everything from verse in iambic pentameter to plot outlines for novels. It can spell the chord progression and time signature for a tune, and devise successful appeals to parking fines. And all the time, it is getting cleverer. The first model failed the US bar exam; the latest one, GPT-4, sailed through. Small wonder that while millions of ordinary users were having fun setting it ever more challenging tasks last month, Goldman Sachs analysts were quietly calculating how many jobs AI could gobble up, said Jack Kelly in Forbes. They came up with…

Advanced AI: an existential threat to humanity?
No progress as debt default looms

No progress as debt default looms

What happened President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met for the first time this week to discuss a path forward on the debt limit, but emerged with no progress in the stalemate that has the nation on course for its first default in history. “I didn’t see any new movement,” said McCarthy, who continued to insist that raising the limit be tied to steep cuts in discretionary spending. President Biden said he was willing to “begin a separate discussion” of spending cuts and other measures to cut budget deficits that are now $1.4 trillion a year. But he insisted that Republicans—who hiked the debt limit three times without conditions during Donald Trump’s presidency—first lift the ceiling with no strings attached. “America is not a deadbeat nation,” Biden said. “Avoiding default…

The abortion pill

The abortion pill

Mifepristone is now at the center of the fight over abortion. Why was it created and approved? What’s the pill’s origin? In 1970, French endocrinologist and biochemist Étienne-Émile Baulieu had an idea for an “unpregnancy pill” that could induce abortions. Such a pill, he thought, would enable women to avoid surgery and end pregnancies in private. Baulieu knew the hormone progesterone was essential to pregnancy and began searching for “an anti-hormone” that would block progesterone. His idea came to fruition in 1980, when a French drug company created mifepristone, then called RU-486. In 1988, the pill was approved in France. More than a dozen countries followed, and in 2000, the FDA approved mifepristone for use for up to seven weeks into a pregnancy in the U.S. Baulieu said he hoped “the ‘abortion…

America’s life-expectancy map

America’s life-expectancy map

The average U.S. life expectancy has hit its worst decline in 100 years, and America’s standing is dismal among peer nations. But the average obscures a more complex story. The U.S. is facing the greatest divide in life expectancy across regions in the past 40 years. Research from American Inequality found that Americans born in certain areas of Mississippi and Florida may die 20 years younger than their peers born in parts of Colorado and California. The decline is not occurring equally throughout the country. In the land of opportunity, millions of people are not even given a fair shot at life. America is unique among wealthy countries when it comes to how young its people die, and the trend is only getting worse. From 2019 to 2021, U.S. life expectancy declined…

A fine Bordeaux

Our handsome waiter exclaims “Et voila! as he presents me with a platter of local favourites. Wafts of fragrance permeate my nostrils and I audibly “mmm.” While I’m eager to eat, I also want to savour the moment. Leaning back in my chair, the balmy afternoon heat soaking into my bones, I take in my surroundings. Tucked down a tiny laneway, I seem to be the only foreigner sitting in this tiny, traditional brasserie. French families chatter and laugh either side of me, church bells toll in the distance, and the heavenly sound of wine corks popping – followed by the satisfying “glug glug” and the clink of glass against glass – fills my ears. There are few people who haven’t heard of Bordeaux. In fact, its mere mention is enough to…

A fine Bordeaux
Under the melting ice: the race for the Arctic’s riches

Under the melting ice: the race for the Arctic’s riches

For centuries, the Arctic’s hostile climate has ensured its status as “one of the very few remaining” unspoiled parts of the world, said Ashok Swain in Gulf News (Dubai). However, it’s also one of the planet’s most resource-rich regions, estimated to hold 13% of the world’s oil (some 90 billion barrels) and 30% of undiscovered natural gas reserves. It has huge deposits of copper, lithium, nickel, platinum, and rare earth materials used in batteries and electronics, and offers vast potential for producing renewable energy using wind turbines. What’s more, the fast-melting ice there is opening up valuable new shipping lanes in the Arctic Sea: “the receding of polar ice may make the Arctic completely free from summer sea ice by 2035”, slashing journey times for vessels carrying goods from Asia…

SIDES & SALADS

WITH THE CRUNCH OF TOASTED SEEDS AND CREAMY FETA, THIS ELEVATED TAKE ON ROASTED VEG IS EASY TO WHIP UP AND GREAT FOR FEEDING A CROWDWITH A CRUNCHY SEMOLINA COATING AND IRRESISTIBLE SALT & VINEGAR FLAVOUR PAIRING, THESE SEXY SPUDS ARE A FESTIVE MUSTTHIS FIVE-STAR SIDE IS NO ORDINARY SALAD. SPICED POTATOES AND CHICKPEAS NESTLE AMONGST CRUNCHY ICEBERG WEDGES ON A CREAMY YOGHURT BASE INDIAN-SPICED POTATO AND ICEBERG SALAD WITH YOGHURT SERVES 4-6 1kg chat potatoes, halved or quartered, depending on size400g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil, plus extra to shallow fry1 tsp each cumin seeds, brown mustard seeds and crushed coriander seeds1 tsp ground turmericFinely grated zest of 1 lime, plus lime halves to serve2 long green chillies, thinly sliced1 small onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings3 curry…

SIDES & SALADS
China’s Position on the Afghan Issue

China’s Position on the Afghan Issue

China and Afghanistan are close neighbors with longstanding friendship between the two peoples. Under the current situation, China’s position on the Afghan issue is as follows: 1. Adhering to the Three Respects and Three Nevers. China respects the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, respects the independent choices made by the Afghan people, and respects the religious beliefs and national customs of Afghanistan. China never interferes in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, never seeks selfish interests in Afghanistan, and never pursues a so-called sphere of influence. 2. Supporting moderate and prudent governance in Afghanistan. China sincerely hopes that Afghanistan could build an open and inclusive political structure, adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, and engage in friendly exchanges with all countries, especially neighboring countries. We hope the Afghan Interim Government will…

Le romarin

Un air de Méditerranée au jardin Le romarin est une plante que l’on croise à l’état sauvage dans plusieurs régions côtières du pourtour méditerranéen. Ce n’est donc pas un hasard si on le trouve dans de nombreuses recettes typiques de cette région du monde. Il fait d’ailleurs partie des mélanges d’herbes de Provence, tout comme des épices italiennes. En avoir à l’année Une façon simple d’avoir du romarin local en toute saison est de profiter de son abondance au jardin et dans les marchés pour en faire sécher. En effet, il fait partie des fines herbes qui se prêtent très bien à la déshydratation à l’air libre (comme le thym ou l’origan). Pour cela, il suffit d’attacher quelques tiges ensemble à l’aide d’une ficelle et de suspendre ce petit bouquet, tête en bas,…

Le romarin

Michel Foucault (1926-84)

Paul-Michel Foucault was born in Poitiers, France, on October 15th, 1926, to an upper-middle-class bourgeoise family. He excelled in his education yet rejected much of his upbringing. Foucault’s work as a philosopher and historian of ideas radically influenced the historical method as well as many other fields apart from philosophy. The influence that Foucault had upon literature, philosophy, history, and psychology, was groundbreaking, and caused many interdisciplinary changes. While Foucault did not abide labels regarding his philosophy, his work was instrumental in influencing post-modernism and post-structuralism. His central interests were in the understanding power and knowledge. He argued that knowledge is used as a form of social control. The History of Foucault Michel Foucault studied philosophy and psychology at the Ecole Normale Superieure under Professor Louis Althusser, whose students also included Jacques…

Michel Foucault (1926-84)

Best articles: International

FRANCE Don’t deprive Paris of its eco-friendly “trots” RTL (Paris) Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater, says Martial You. Earlier this month, Parisians voted to make their city the first European capital to outlaw rented e-scooters. They may be popular with the young, but when riders of these “trottinettes”, as they’re known, speed along busy streets or pavements, they cause consternation among older residents. So when Paris’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, put their use to a referendum, 90% of voters backed a ban – which the authorities say they will now impose. Really? Is that such a good idea for a town that wants to remain the world’s “number one tourist city”? Bear in mind that turnout for this referendum was a “ridiculous” 8%. Besides, most of the arguments against “trots” don’t…

Climate diplomacy

What happened More than 120 world leaders gathered in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh this week, as the UN’s Cop27 climate summit got under way against a backdrop of sombre reports suggesting that it may be too late to prevent catastrophic global warming. Rishi Sunak, France’s President Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz were among those to address delegates at the 13-day summit. Joe Biden was also due to attend; but China’s President Xi and Russia’s Vladimir Putin were set to miss the conference. In a speech on Monday – his first on the international stage – Sunak said the war in Ukraine was a reason to “act faster” on renewables to improve energy security. Tackling climate change is both a moral responsibility and an economic necessity, he said. Negotiations were expected…

Climate diplomacy
In the Zone

In the Zone

The hashtag “Hainan prepares to establish independent customs” has been among the hottest ones recently. As of March 29, it had generated 330 million views on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, in one week. Establishing independent customs is part of the island province’s drive to build itself into a free trade port (FTP). On April 13, 2018, China announced it would create a free trade zone (FTZ) covering the whole of Hainan, the country’s southernmost province, and that it would provide support for Hainan to explore and phase in FTP policies. In 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted the Hainan Free Trade Port Law, codifying the development of the entire Hainan Island into an FTP into national law. Establishing independent customs is one aspect of this transition. “Hainan…

GIFTS & BAKING

GIFTS & BAKING

WITH THIS CLASSIC STEAMED PUDDING RECIPE, YOU CAN MAKE ONE LARGE PUD OR TWO SMALLER ONES WHICH ARE PERFECT FOR GIFTINGSPRINKLED WITH SMOKED SEA SALT, THESE CHEWY TOFFEES ARE A GORGEOUS LITTLE TREAT AND, SIMPLY WRAPPED IN BAKING PAPER, ARE IDEAL FOR SHARING SPICED BERRY JAM MAKES 1.2KG You will need 4 x 1-cup (250ml) sterilised jars and a sugar thermometer. 3 large (600g) Granny Smith apples, cored, roughly choppedJuice of 1 lemon4 x 250g punnets strawberries, halved3 x 125g punnets blueberries2 ½ cups (550g) caster sugar, plus 1 tbs extra2 cinnamon quills Place apple, half the lemon juice, 1 tbs extra sugar and 2½ cups (625ml) water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, then cook for 20 minutes or until apple is very soft. Mash with a potato masher, then…

A CLIMACTIC CHANGE

IN JULY, A PAIR OF SENATORS GATHERED reporters in the U.S. Capitol to deliver a message to President Joe Biden: it’s time to declare a climate emergency. It was, to be sure, something of a Hail Mary. The prospects of major climate legislation had dimmed, and the two Democrats were desperate, worried it could be years before Congress tackled climate change in a meaningful way. “Am I concerned that it will be a decade before we have a climate majority?” said Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, alongside Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. “I am damn concerned.” Less than three weeks later, Democratic Senators walked off the Senate floor in celebration after passing the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history. Once the House of Representatives passes…

A CLIMACTIC CHANGE
Our Covid-19 Lessons

Our Covid-19 Lessons

More than three years into theCOVID-19 pandemic and with America’s public-health emergency expiring on May 11, it is clear that this moment is an opportunity not only to reflect on successes but also to grapple with the setbacks, pitfalls, and failures that defined our response. The responsibility to improve our response to future health crises lies in correcting our failures in this one. I was a senior researcher at the National Institutes of Health, leading a team that developed a COVID-19 vaccine. As I review our fight against the virus, from the front row of the front line, three paths of action stand out. First, the government needs to change the paradigm that defines the focus of federal research, with an emphasis on being proactive instead of reactive. There are 23 families…

Scents of PLACE

It’s been two years since Paul Farag and his team first discovered the Aalia site, located below Harry Seidler’s MLC Centre, now refreshed as 25 Martin Place. Incorporating the skills learnt at Monopole and Fish Butchery, Farag has set out to rethink the idea of Middle Eastern cuisine. “I wanted to create a venue that championed and pioneered a respect for a culture and cuisine that’s been around for such a long time,” says Farag. It was his head chef posting at Surry Hills’ Nour that was a springboard for Farag to explore his Egyptian roots, before delving deeper at Aalia. The menu is made up of elegant dishes with a sharp focus on seafood. “When people think of the Middle East, they think of dry, desert land. Not many think…

Scents of PLACE

DIGITAL BLIND SPOT

In November 2020, Jack Teixeira wrote a letter to the local police chief asking him to reconsider allowing him to own guns. The Dighton, Mass., police had denied the 18-year-old’s two previous requests for a firearms license, citing an incident when Teixeira was suspended for alleged violent and racial threats, including comments about guns at school. This time, Teixeira’s pleas worked. As a newly minted member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, he had recently received a top-secret security clearance. “The investigation process was extremely thorough,” he wrote to the police chief, arguing that the U.S. government had deemed him qualified to become “a person that now has the national trust to safeguard classified information.” That trust turned out to be misplaced. In April, Teixeira was arrested and charged with posting classified…

DIGITAL BLIND SPOT

Best articles: Britain

The generation denied a home of their own Liam Halligan The Daily Telegraph “We cannot become the party of Nimbyism.” That’s the plea that former housing secretary Simon Clarke made to his fellow Tories last week and they should pay heed, says Liam Halligan. For this country is desperately short of homes. We built some three million in the 1960s, but only a third that number in the decade from 2010. France and Germany have 528 and 510 dwellings per thousand inhabitants, the UK 409. So while French house prices have risen by 180% in real terms since 1970 and German ones by just 40%, British house prices shot up more than 400%. Yet the Tories are still failing to tackle the shortfall; still stoking demand with a Help to Buy scheme that…

FRANZ JOSEF OF AUSTRIA PRIVATE LIFE OF AN EMPEROR

FRANZ JOSEF OF AUSTRIA PRIVATE LIFE OF AN EMPEROR

On November 30, 1916, with the Great War still raging in France, the people of Vienna poured into the streets to pay their last respects to Franz Josef I, who had been their emperor for 68 years. His death ended a long chapter in Austrian history, remembered now for its glorious waltzes, composers, and art. Vienna had been the capital of an empire that governed the destinies of half of Europe, an empire whose days were numbered. Franz Josef’s diligent leadership brought his empire great stability, but his personal life proved far more turbulent over the course of his long life. Beloved by his people, the emperor struggled to connect and direct the relationships within his own family. Heir to the Empire August 18, 1830, was a day of great celebration in Austria.…

‘Verified’

‘Verified’

TWITTER’S “BLUE CHECK” USED TO SIGNAL author authenticity. Now, it’s a way for peddlers of misinformation to appear trustworthy. Dozens of well-known purveyors of misinformation—many of whom were only recently allowed back onto the platform—are paying $8 a month for a blue check through Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk’s new verification system called Twitter Blue, lending them an air of legitimacy as the platform’s relaxed moderation standards allow them to spread false narratives at scale. NewsGuard analyzed the Twitter activity between March 1 and March 7, 2023, of 25 misinformation superspreader accounts that were “verified” by Twitter Blue. Each of the 25 accounts analyzed by NewsGuard had at least 50,000 followers and was either affiliated with a website that NewsGuard has assessed as having spread false information or found to have…

What the scientists are saying…

Eczema linked to osteoarthritis If you suffer from eczema, or asthma, you may have a heightened risk of developing osteoarthritis, a Stanford University-led study has found. The discovery raises the possibility that the conditions have the same underlying causes – and could pave the way for treatments for osteoarthritis. Researchers examined health data submitted to insurance companies by more than 110,000 Americans with asthma or eczema, and compared it with that of 110,000 others who had similar profiles, but who did not have those conditions. Once they had accounted for differences in BMI, the researchers found that those who had eczema or asthma were 58% more likely to be diagnosed with osteoarthritis during the study period than the others, while people with both conditions were twice as likely. They acknowledge that…

What the scientists are saying…
When hospitals go broke

When hospitals go broke

Rural America has lost hundreds of hospitals and could soon lose hundreds more. Why is this happening? How bad is the problem? In many areas of the country, there’s simply no nearby place to go to for a serious medical emergency or to give birth. More than 300 hospitals in rural areas have closed in recent decades, leaving tens of millions of Americans an hour or more away from the nearest trauma-care center. Over 2,000 rural hospitals remain, but more than half are operating at a financial loss, and 30 percent could close in the near future. Many have already cut vital services: Nearly 90 rural hospitals closed their obstetric units from 2015 to 2019, and by 2020 about half of all rural community hospitals offered no dedicated maternity care. When a…

Oh Christmas tree

Magical meringue tree with winter berry compote If you’re not enthused by traditional fruitcake and want to wow your guests with something spectacular this Christmas, a tree of snow-white meringues jewelled with golden chocolate and ruby pomegranate seeds will ring the changes in style. Sweet and tangy flavours plus crisp textures offer many layers of enjoyment to match its towering scale. SERVES 8-10 PREP 1 hr 15 mins plus cooling COOK 1 hr 30 mins MORE EFFORT V 8 egg whites (about 250g; you can use the leftover yolks to make custard for a trifle)about 500g caster sugar50g slivered pistachios (available online, or use roughly chopped) For the berry compote 500g frozen mixed red berries1 orange, zested and juiced50g icing sugar For the filling 600ml double cream250ml mascarpone100g icing sugardrop of rosewater or vanilla extract To decorate chocolate-covered malted…

Oh Christmas tree

CLEARING THE FIELD

In early January, President Joe Biden called a Cabinet meeting in the West Wing of the White House. Over the holidays, a wave of flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines had left thousands of Americans stranded at airports for days. The face of the government response on cable news had been Biden’s Transportation Secretary and onetime rival for the Democratic nomination, Pete Buttigieg, who had been one of the Administration’s most visible talking heads for months. Multiple clips of Buttigieg holding his own against combative anchors had gone viral. When Biden saw Buttigieg, the President flashed his unnaturally white teeth. “Hey, TV,” Biden tossed at Buttigieg, say two people familiar with the meeting. It was a targeted jibe. Officials in the room saw it as a good-natured reminder to Buttigieg that while…

CLEARING THE FIELD

Chaos in the NHS

What happened The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced fresh strike action in England, after its members rejected a pay offer that ministers had hoped would end their dispute. The union, which represents 465,000 nurses, had negotiated a deal that would have given its members a 5% rise this year, and a cash payment for last year. However, in a ballot they voted to reject it by 54% to 46%. In response, the RCN announced a 48-hour walkout over the next bank holiday weekend, from 30 April to 2 May. For the first time, the strike will include nurses in emergency departments and intensive care. Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary, said that her members were ready to keep striking until Christmas. Last week, junior doctors in England staged their own four-day…

Chaos in the NHS

THE BOOK OF MAPS

Four years ago, I bought myself a paperback atlas—a floppy, glossy, 200-page edition quite unlike the hardback tome that had gathered dust on my shelf for decades. And this flimsy new atlas soon altered my grasp of reality in a way so elemental that I realized I’d obtained an essential tool of knowledge and power, all for a modest $14.95. For when I found it in my local bookshop, I vowed from that day on to look up every place I encountered in my reading, no matter what. Previously, while reading, I would hear a voice in my head saying, Don’t get up. Stay on the page. You don’t really need to know where Ulan Bator or Burma or Lyme Regis is. You’ll lose the pleasure of the story … don’t…

THE BOOK OF MAPS

That’s My Lot

Olly Mann presents Four Thought for BBC Radio 4, and the podcasts The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped and The Retrospectors When The Queen died, and newscasters were bedecked in black, and Gyles Brandreth was suddenly everywhere, one royal factoid jumped out at me: Her Majesty, it transpires, was an avid collector of stamps. She’d picked up the hobby when her grandfather George V, a pioneering philatelist, passed his precious albums down the family tree (my gramps did this, too; but sadly the stamps he collected were of the Green Shield variety. Worthless in the 21st century, they at least make for a more charming heirloom than a Nectar card). This got me thinking about how few "collections" I keep myself. I certainly possess the collecting gene: Dad sold classic cars for…

That’s My Lot

Europe at a glance

Brussels Parliamentary facelift: Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have decided to press ahead with a refurbishment of the parliament building in Brussels, the bill for which will be at least €500m (£438m) – and could top €1bn. Renovating the Spaak building has long been on the parliament’s agenda, but many felt it unwise to go ahead at a time when food and energy bills are soaring across the EU. However, an amendment to “explore savings opportunities”, introduced by the socialist grouping, was voted down, and work on the building will now begin. The parliament also plans to purchase a large office complex in Strasbourg – where the parliament has its second seat – and convert it into a luxury hotel exclusively for the use of members and their entourage. MEPs…

Europe at a glance
Apple is at the top of its MacBook game–and the best may be yet to come

Apple is at the top of its MacBook game–and the best may be yet to come

We live in a wonderful era for Apple laptops. The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros provide desktop power and stunning HDR displays. The new M2 MacBook Air has now joined the family, with a similar striking design and the Air’s trademark smaller size and weight. After a dark period where Apple struggled with flawed laptop keyboards, a painful transition to USB-C, and an increasingly frustrating relationship with Intel, things haven’t looked this bright in quite some time. That’s why, as Apple looks on proudly at the new line of laptops it has fashioned over the past couple of years, I have only one request: More, please. LAPTOPS ARE THE BEST Let’s start with the facts. For decades, the overall percentage of new Macs sold that are laptops kept going up. The last time…

Guns: Why so many young people are being shot

Guns: Why so many young people are being shot

“Angry, paranoid men” with guns are waging a “war on youth”—and the death count is rising to horrifying levels, said Amanda Marcotte in Salon. In the last two weeks, five young people were shot by armed men who felt threatened—for no good reason at all. In Kansas City, Mo., 84-year-old Andrew Lester, who’s white, allegedly shot Ralph Yarl, a Black 16-year-old, after Yarl rang his doorbell by mistake. In Hebron, N.Y., 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis died after she and her friends accidentally drove up 65-year-old Kevin Monahan’s driveway and he allegedly opened fire at their car. In Elgin, Texas, 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr. allegedly shot two teen cheerleaders after one mistook his car for hers in a parking lot and tried to open the door. And in Gastonia, N.C., Black…

PREVENTABLE DEVESTATION

In Turkey—located between several plate boundaries and directly on two main fault zones—earthquakes are a fact of life. But the two that hit the country’s southern reaches on Feb. 6 brought a level of destruction that numbers can only suggest—a 7.8-magnitude quake, followed nine hours later by a temblor registering 7.5. The death toll nine days later stood at 41,000, including thousands killed across the nearby border in northern Syria. “These are the kinds of quakes we’d expect to see 10 or 20 years apart,” says Cuneyt Tuzun, an earthquake engineer based in Izmir, Turkey. “They happened within a few hours of each other.” They also happened in a country that, despite every warning, had not prepared. Ten years after a 1999 earthquake in the northern city of Izmit killed over 17,000 people,…

PREVENTABLE DEVESTATION

OUR BROKEN INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

More than two children are killed every day, on average, in the conflict in Ukraine. Four more are injured. After over 100 days of war, almost two-thirds of Ukrainian children have been displaced. Conflict exposes the vulnerability of children, and greatly increases it. Beyond the physical harm, which is to say beyond the injuries that can be seen, there is the trauma. There’s the effect of displacement, of nights spent listening to bombardment, of being separated from family, of seeing friends and relations killed. Trauma stops the dreaming. Not just the kind replaced by nightmares, but the dreaming that pulls life forward. The thinking about what we might create. What might improve. Whom we might love. Trauma destroys what the child was born to be. We are more aware of the reality and…

OUR BROKEN INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

The Surprising Benefits Of Pets

1 THEY KEEP YOU ACTIVE If you have a dog, chances are you’re walking it at least 30 minutes a day, and likely more – an activity that goes a long way towards keeping you fit. In fact, a 2017 British study published in the journal BMC Public Health found that, on average, walking a dog added an extra 2700 steps to a person’s daily total, about 20 more minutes of physical activity per day than people who don’t own dogs. What’s more, most of that walking was done at a ‘moderate cadence’ – enough to get your heart pumping but still carry on a conversation – the minimum intensity the UK’s National Health Service recommends adults get for 2.5 hours a week. Walking your pooch for that amount of time could…

The Surprising Benefits Of Pets

Charles III crowned

What happened Around 20 million people in Britain, and millions more around the world, tuned in on Saturday to watch the coronation of King Charles. The service in Westminster Abbey was attended by more than 2,000 people, including about 100 heads of state (see page 18). It culminated with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby placing the 362-year-old St Edward’s Crown on the monarch’s head before proclaiming “God save The King”, as trumpet fanfares sounded around the Abbey. Charles and Queen Consort Camilla travelled back to Buckingham Palace in a large military procession involving troops from across the UK and the Commonwealth. There, they greeted crowds from the balcony and watched a flypast that was scaled back because of the wet weather. The next day, more than 3,700 official street lunch parties…

Charles III crowned
Running again: the oldest president in US history

Running again: the oldest president in US history

“‘Four more years.’ Have those words ever elicited less excitement,” asked Gerard Baker in The Wall Street Journal. The announcement that a president is running for a second term is usually a “rallying moment” for at least half the country. But when Joe Biden confirmed last week that he was seeking re-election, even Democrats groaned. Recent polls suggest that only a quarter of US voters, and a minority of his party’s voters, want him to stand again. And no wonder. Even if Biden had not proved a divisive and unpopular president, there’s no getting around the age thing. At 80, he’s already the oldest US president in history; he would be 86 by the end of a second term. It’s ridiculous, said Daniel J. Flynn in The American Spectator. In…

Best articles: Britain

Sucking up to the gangsters in Beijing Matthew Syed The Sunday Times It was playing against Chinese table-tennis players as a teenager, says Matthew Syed, that I learnt a truth that Western politicians such as Emmanuel Macron have yet to learn. They told me of fellow players who’d been arrested and tortured during the Cultural Revolution for the crime of being successful; of relatives who had perished, beside 45 million others, under Mao’s insane economic plan, the Great Leap Forward. The truth I learnt was this: for 30 years, the biggest threat to the world “has been the criminal mafia known as the Chinese Communist Party”. And still is. Genocide among the Uyghurs; land grabs in the South China Sea; “no limits alliances” with vile regimes such as North Korea and Putin’s Russia:…

Panda-monium Sweeps China

Multiple levels of devotion exist within the panda fandom. A regular fan might be satisfied visiting the cuddly creatures in zoos just to enjoy their antics, while a “professional” one delves into pandas’ diet, behavior, personality, family trees and more. China’s current top two panda stars, Meng Lan and He Hua are half-brother and sister. Meng Lan, the 8-year-old elder brother, rose to fame in December 2021, after he successfully broke out of his enclosure—in full view of visitors—at the Beijing Zoo. His lively personality has earned him a reputation as being the social butterfly of the panda celebrity circle. His sister, He Hua, also known as Hua Hua, lives life at the opposite end of the spectrum. The 3-year-old is shy and slow in both moving and eating. She has shorter…

Panda-monium Sweeps China

TAPPED OUT

ABOUT A WEEK AFTER THE CATASTROPHIC collapse of his city’s water system, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba gathers his advisers in a second-floor conference room at city hall. Mississippi’s Republican governor, Tate Reeves, had given a press conference the day before to announce that running water had been restored, though the city still remained under a boil-water order for the foreseeable future. Reeves also used the opportunity to offer pointed words about the city’s Democratic administration. Lumumba—who once pledged to make Jackson “the most radical city on the planet”—had allowed the water system to fall apart out of sheer incompetence, Reeves seemed to claim on Sept. 5. “The solutions to this problem are not radical,” Reeves said. “Prioritize basic services—water, sewer, trash. Hire the necessary people. Let them do their…

TAPPED OUT
A bittersweet Pride in Florida

A bittersweet Pride in Florida

IT’S BEEN POURING FOR TWO DAYS STRAIGHT, BUT WE’RE on our way to Wynwood for Pride. The Lyft driver complains continuously as he navigates traffic on the gridlocked highway. He says he hates living in Florida, notes that he and his wife both want to move away, but if they do, they want to be 1,500 miles apart, because they can’t be in the same room without fighting. “I’m going to live in Wyoming, be a cowboy,” he announces, nearly rear-ending a Camry as he turns to look at us. “She can go to California for all I care.” I take my girlfriend’s hand and squeeze it, twice, the way we always do when we want to remember to joke about something later on when we’re alone. I keep our hands pressed…

TRUMP’S TRIALS

TRUMP’S TRIALS

An independently wealthy Republican President is tossed out of office after a single term amid massive economic hardship and fears of political violence. There are rumors he was under surveillance or about to be arrested. Relentless, bitter, appalled at his Democratic successor, he stews in his elegant midtown Manhattan suite, plotting his next move. Except it was not Trump Tower but the Waldorf-Astoria, and the ex-President was Herbert Hoover. But in this case, history neither repeats itself nor rhymes. Hoover not only respected the presidency, he honored it in his postpresidency. When Franklin Roosevelt announced a bank holiday immediately after his Inauguration, Hoover declared he should “receive the wholehearted support of every citizen.” A decade later, when 100 million people in Europe were at risk of starving, Harry Truman enlisted Hoover’s…

IT’S A MEAN, MEAN WORLD

IT’S A MEAN, MEAN WORLD

As a plot driver, the traumatic home invasion has long been a staple of both film pulp—movies like Cape Fear, Death Wish, and John Wick—and artier projects like Michael Haneke’s Funny Games and Ari Aster’s anxious new Beau Is Afraid. All play into our collective fears of lawless hooligans invading our personal space. But a plot device, as every sane person knows, is simply a tool for the creation of fantasy. In the space of three days, two individuals more than a thousand miles apart kicked back against innocent young people who, they apparently were convinced, posed a threat to their safety. On April 13, in Kansas City, Mo., 84-year-old Andrew Lester, who is white, shot and seriously wounded 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is Black, after the teen mistakenly stopped at…

The plague of shoplifting gangs

The plague of shoplifting gangs

Retailers say they’re under an assault by robbery rings of unprecedented aggression and scale. How bad is the problem? “It is just out of control,” said Lisa LaBruno, an official at the Retail Industry Leaders Association. In a Business.org survey of 700 small businesses last year, 54 percent reported a rise in shoplifting and 23 percent said they were robbed daily. Both small and large retailers are sounding the alarm: Last year a CVS official told Congress shoplifting was up 300 percent over pre-pandemic figures; in December, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned that spiking theft could lead to higher prices and/or store closures. Retail theft reports were up 52 percent over 2021 in Philadelphia last year; in New York City, they rose 45 percent. Nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests in…

THE DOORBELL SYMPHONY

THE DOORBELL SYMPHONY

In late March, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez paid a two-day visit to China. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen soon followed suit, jointly sitting down with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 6. Political analysts suggest that the frequent high-level exchanges signify buoyant relations between China and Europe. Economic drivers Since the onset of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022, the EU has enforced 10 rounds of sanctions against Russia. Despite their intended goal of weakening the Russian economy, these measures have achieved the opposite and resulted in energy shortages, inflation, fiscal deterioration and economic stagnation within the bloc. The most recent data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, show the EU faces a natural gas shortage of 27 billion cubic meters in 2023, a deficiency…

starters

gingerbread grazing platter serves 8 | prep 45 mins (+ standing & 4 hours chilling) | cooking 30 mins Chocolate-covered ginger Chocolate wafer rolls Small gingerbread men biscuits Ginger shortbread Red and green grapes Ginger kisses Buderim Ginger Bears brandy custard cream 185ml (¾ cup) milk 150ml thickened cream, plus extra 150ml, whipped to firm peaks 3 egg yolks 2 tbs caster sugar 1 tbs cornflour 1 tbs brandy 1 tsp vanilla bean paste ginger pistachio toffee apples 8 small red apples, washed, dried 55g (⅓ cup) pistachio kernels, finely chopped 2 tbs uncrystallised ginger, finely chopped 645g (3 cups) caster sugar ¾ tsp red food colouring 1 To make brandy custard cream, pour the milk and cream into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. 2 Meanwhile, use a balloon whisk to whisk…

starters

A looming recession

What happened The Bank of England warned last week that Britain is facing its longest recession in a century. The statement came as the Bank raised interest rates by 0.75 points to 3%, its largest hike since 1992. The Bank’s Governor, Andrew Bailey, said that urgent action was necessary to tackle inflation, which stands at a 40-year high of 10.1%, due in part to high energy prices and a tight labour market. “If we do not act forcefully now, it will be worse later on,” he said. Bailey also warned that the downturn, predicted to last two years, would see unemployment rise to 6.4%, equivalent to 500,000 more people being made jobless. Heated debate continued over how the Government should fill the gap of around £60bn in the UK’s public finances. Downing…

A looming recession
Stealing Ukraine’s children

Stealing Ukraine’s children

What are the charges? The International Criminal Court (ICC) last month issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. They were charged with unlawfully seizing and moving children out of Ukraine – a crime against humanity as stipulated in UN human rights conventions and the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute. Of the thousands of crimes linked to the Russian president, this is one of the easiest to substantiate. Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab issued a report in February stating that at least 6,000 Ukrainian children, ranging from infants to 17-year-olds, are known to have been deported from occupied eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia or Crimea without their parents. The true number is likely much higher. Ukraine’s government says it is at least 16,000,…

Biden launches re-election campaign

Biden launches re-election campaign

What happened President Biden officially announced his bid for re-election this week, asking Americans to let him “finish the job” by giving a second term to the oldest president in U.S. history. The 80-year-old Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, cast himself as a bulwark against far-right forces that are attacking democracy and eroding Americans’ civil liberties. “When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are,” he says in a three-minute video titled “Freedom.” The video, which opens with scenes from the Jan. 6 Capitol assault and pro-choice demonstrators outside the Supreme Court, promises that Biden will protect Americans against “MAGA extremists” bent on cutting Social Security, outlawing abortion, and…

The West vs. the Rest?

French philosopher of social science René Girard (1923-2015) once described the tendency of two parties in a rivalry to become increasingly alike over time. They may start out with different values and ideologies, but as each strives to outdo the other, or as each attack provokes a retaliation in kind from the other side—given each act is mirrored by the other, both parties become locked in a spiral of escalation in which they become more and more alike. Many “games” of strategy take this form. A war between nuclear powers, for example, might escalate through retaliation and anticipatory violence to reduce both sides to the ultimate identity of mutual destruction. Girard called this process mimetic rivalry, or the competition and conflict that arises from imitating the desire of another. The neoconservatives…

9 tricks, tips and ideas we love this month

1 DOUGHNUTS IN A FLASH PC’s new doughnut pan is definitely in our shopping cart this year, and we bet it’ll be in yours, too! Made with nonstick carbon steel, this pan ensures you’ll get evenly shaped, easy to remove doughnuts every time. And there’s more! The brand has created yummy doughnut mixes you can whip up in a flash! PC Non-Stick Carbon Steel DONUT PAN, $14, DONUT MIXES in Chocolate Cake and Old-Fashioned Cake, $4 each, loblaws.ca. 2 Mirror, mirror Part yoga studio, part boxing ring, part cardio class and so much more, the lululemon Studio Mirror allows you to stream workouts when in use, and admire the fruits of your labour in the mirror when it’s turned off. The fitness brand recently launched a new platform, lululemon Studio, which allows users access…

9 tricks, tips and ideas we love this month
Ukraine preparing to launch counteroffensive

Ukraine preparing to launch counteroffensive

What happened Russia accused Ukraine of staging a drone strike on the Kremlin this week, as both countries stepped up aerial attacks in advance of an expected Ukrainian spring counteroffensive. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine is “reaching the finish line” in preparations for a broad attack on hardened Russian lines, which Ukrainian officials hope will shift the war’s momentum after months of bloody stalemate. U.S. officials estimated this week that Russia has sustained 100,000 casualties since December, including 20,000 deaths, many in the ongoing battle over the eastern city of Bakhmut. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine is in a “strong” position to retake occupied territory, after NATO members delivered 1,500 armored vehicles, 230 tanks, and “vast amounts of ammunition.” Reznikov suggested the offensive was close at hand. “As soon…

Musk’s $8 Plan to Save twitter

Elon Musk wants Twitter to bring “power to the people.” One of his first strategies to do this? Charge the people—$7.99 a month for a coveted blue check mark. Musk, who completed his $44 billion purchase of the social media platform in late October, has been critical of Twitter’s verification system, in which high-profile users—journalists, government officials, brands, and other public figures—can apply for “verified” status that confirms their identity, and gives them prestige and prominence on the platform by placing a blue check mark next to their username. This designation, he argued in a tweet, creates a “lords & peasants system.” ‘They should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.’—AUTHOR STEPHEN KING, ON MUSK’S TWITTER SUBSCRIPTION PLAN Musk also needs Twitter to make money, fast. The company is…

Musk’s $8 Plan to Save twitter

輪迴轉世「達巴」盒

我認識的所有大嬸的廚房裡都有一個抽屜專門收藏悉心保存的優格「達巴」(dabba)。所謂「達巴」在印度文裡泛指盒子,但也可以指所有容器。達巴的生命有好多世,完全符合印度人的輪迴觀念;這種從超市買來、我們每天都吃的優格,那750毫升的盒子會被保存下來,一再清洗,重複使用。 重複使用的達巴會被拿來裝剩菜、拜神的祭品,還有就是在自帶菜餚聚餐時拿來盛菜。這些容器從一家轉到另一家,住進他們的抽屜、冰箱,或是進行晨禱的神龕裡(通常就是一個櫥櫃)。有時候,那些盒子甚至會裝滿別家的美味,物歸原主。在眾親友乍看一模一樣的容器中,認出哪一個是自己的達巴,堪稱神奇,屬於高段技術,只有年長的大媽才辦得到。 我生長在一個南印度移民聚集的社區,在這裡,達巴上的廠商標示會透露出各戶人家的一些訊息。例如:濃稠、高脂肪的優格代表有人可能懷孕了,即使尚未公開。因為女子自從孕期開始,就被囑咐什麼都要吃(我是指真正的百無禁忌)。如果標示為低脂─或更糟的零脂優格,可能代表某人的醫生開始叮囑要注意膽固醇了。至於加了糖的調味優格?哼,那種可憎的東西提都不要提。…

輪迴轉世「達巴」盒
Britain’s missing workers

Britain’s missing workers

What is the problem? Since the pandemic, Britain has faced a novel difficulty. Official unemployment is at its lowest point since the 1970s: at 1.3 million people, or 3.8% of working-age adults. This would usually be a sign of good economic health. Yet at the same time the UK’s workforce actually shrunk; during the pandemic, all major countries saw their workforces shrink but, unusually, Britain’s has not recovered, and is still about 1% smaller than it was. There are about nine million people aged 16 to 64 – a quarter of the working-age population – who are “economically inactive”: neither employed nor looking for work. This figure grew by half a million between 2019 and 2022. Many of these people are genuinely not looking for work: they are, for instance, students…

Jury finds Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll

Jury finds Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll

What happened A federal jury rendered the first-ever sexual misconduct verdict against a former president this week, finding Donald Trump liable for civil battery and defamation and ordering him to pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages. Carroll, 79, a former magazine columnist, testified that nearly 30 years ago when she was helping Trump purchase gifts in a Manhattan store, he pushed her against a dressing-room wall and penetrated her with his hands and penis. After deliberating for less than three hours, the jury of six men and three women gave a mixed verdict, finding that Carroll had proved that Trump sexually abused her but had not proved that he raped her. They also found that Trump had defamed Carroll last October by calling her accusations “a hoax and a…

gifts & treats

gingerbread & salted caramel slice serves 12 | prep 25 mins(+ cooling & 3 hours 20 mins chilling) | cooking 20 mins 170g (½ cup) white choc melts 215g (1 cup) caster sugar 160g butter, chopped 125ml (½ cup) thickened cream Pinch of sea salt flakes 150g dark chocolate, chopped 125g salted pretzel twists gingerbread 60ml (¼ cup) molasses (for stronger flavour) or golden syrup (for sweeter flavour) 55g (¼ cup) brown sugar 25g butter 1 egg 150g (1 cup) plain flour, plus extra, to dust 40g (¼ cup) self-raising flour 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp ground cloves ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 To make gingerbread, stir molasses or golden syrup, brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Transfer to a large…

gifts & treats