All posts tagged: country

UK weather: Thunderstorm warning for large parts of country after temperatures set to reach as high as 27C | UK News

UK weather: Thunderstorm warning for large parts of country after temperatures set to reach as high as 27C | UK News

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms for large of parts of the UK after temperatures are predicted to reach as high as 27C. It comes as the UK experiences high temperatures today and over the weekend – before forecasters warn of “thundery breakdowns” on Sunday. The warning is in place from noon to 10pm on Sunday and covers the North West of England, most of Wales, much of central England and the South West. See the latest weather forecast where you are “Heavy showers and thunderstorms could lead to some disruption in places, especially to travel,” the Met Office says. “Isolated property flooding is possible.” It adds: “There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds.” The south of England will see highs of 25C (77F) today, with the potential of temperatures reaching 26C (78.8F) on Saturday and possibly 27C (80.6F) on Sunday, according to the Met Office. Scotland and Northern Ireland are …

Trump, Whose Own Brain Appears to Have Been Eaten by Worms, Claims RFK Jr. Is a “Fake” Anti-Vaxxer Whose Family Is Plotting to Take Over the Country

Trump, Whose Own Brain Appears to Have Been Eaten by Worms, Claims RFK Jr. Is a “Fake” Anti-Vaxxer Whose Family Is Plotting to Take Over the Country

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Donald Trump claimed Thursday that Robert F. Kennedy, perhaps the most famous anti-vaxxer in the world, is pretending to be against vaccines for political gain, and that if elected, his “radical left” family will take over the country and cause it to collapse. Yes, in arguably one of his most absurd videos to date, Trump laid out the reasons Republicans should vote for him and not the third-party candidate, chief among them being that Kennedy’s position on vaccines is apparently a yearslong con. “RFK Jr. is a Democrat plant, a radical-left liberal who’s been put in place in order to help crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of the United States, get reelected,” Trump says in the video. Appealing to conservatives who are attracted to Kennedy’s dangerous views on vaccines, Trump declares: “For those of you that want to vote [for him] because you think he’s an anti-vaxxer, he’s not really an anti-vaxxer, that’s only his political moment.… RFK’s views on vaccines are fake, as is everything else about his candidacy. …

Transitional Council in Haiti Embraces New Changes Following Turmoil as Gang Violence Grips Country

Transitional Council in Haiti Embraces New Changes Following Turmoil as Gang Violence Grips Country

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[ad_1] PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates in a move that surprised many as gang violence consumes the country. Instead of having a single council president, four longtime politicians will take turns leading the council every five months, according to two members who were not authorized to publicly share the changes because they had not yet been announced. The members told The Associated Press late Wednesday that the council also will now consider five members a majority, instead of four. The council is composed of nine members, seven of which have voting powers. “That’s a real switch,” Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said of the changes. “I think it’s a good thing that they’re really going to share power now. … It is something that is very rare in Haitian politics.” The four members who will share power are original council president Edgard Leblanc Fils, ex-senator Louis Gérald Gilles, former presidential candidate Leslie Voltaire and …

Crow Country review – breathtaking survival horror game that harks back to Silent Hill | Games

Crow Country review – breathtaking survival horror game that harks back to Silent Hill | Games

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] It is fascinating to be playing games made by developers who have been raised on 3D games – and Crow Country’s affectionate referencing of Silent Hill is a prime example of this. A survival horror game about the dark secrets lurking within and beneath an abandoned theme park, it is also a gorgeous homage to landmark games of the past. The look of the game is breathtaking: the thick, grainy patina over the screen gives the impression of playing on a CRT monitor in somebody’s dimly lit bedroom in 1997. The chunky polygonal figure of the protagonist, the mysterious Mara Forest, serves a stark contrast against the set and landscape, which give the impression of the lush pre-rendered backgrounds of Final Fantasy VII. However, these environments are not static in the way of their predecessors, but fully and delightfully interactive – this is a game made with real attention to detail, and clear passion for the particular period of game design. It is a sublime treat to look at, and to listen to, the …

Starmer may be bland – but that passes the taste test in a country sick of spicy politics | Rafael Behr

Starmer may be bland – but that passes the taste test in a country sick of spicy politics | Rafael Behr

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[ad_1] Amid the cacophony of post-election analysis over the weekend, one item struck me as especially bleak for Rishi Sunak. It wasn’t the byelection defeat or the seismic swing away from the Tories. It wasn’t even in a news programme. It was an advert. “Britain hasn’t been so great of late,” says a pastiche scientist. “Economical, societal and sporting performance has dropped.” The reason: not enough Weetabix. Why is this so bad for Sunak? Breakfast habits do not dictate national wellbeing. But consumer brands strive for political neutrality for fear of alienating customers. Weetabix wouldn’t run a marketing campaign claiming Britain feels down in the dumps if that were a provocative assertion. But it is uncontroversial. And if it barely even counts as a political statement to say the country feels rubbish, the government presiding over the slump is in serious trouble. The Weetabix index is supported by opinion polls. In a recent survey by More in Common, a civil society organisation, voters were asked to describe the UK in a word. The top choices …

Country Star Who Can’t Sing After Stroke Releases New Song Using AI

Country Star Who Can’t Sing After Stroke Releases New Song Using AI

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[ad_1] Over a decade after suffering a debilitating and near-fatal stroke, country music star Randy Travis has released a new song that features an AI-generated recreation of his own voice. It’s a fascinating use of the technology. Instead of cloning another artist’s voice without their consent or an estate resurrecting a passed performer’s vocals, Travis and his wife Mary used the tech to breathe new life into the singer’s extensive and decades-long country music career. The track, called “Where That Came From,” features Travis’ iconic voice, which was generated by two separate AI models. These models were trained on vocal stems plucked from the singer’s lengthy discography, dating back to 1985. The results speak for themselves: it’s practically impossible to tell if it was generated by an AI. “All I ever wanted since the day of a stroke was to hear that voice again,” Mary Travis told The Associated Press.   Travis suffered a stroke, the result of a virus that attacked his heart, in July 2013. He had to spend years relearning how to …

I visited the little Russian town inside a NATO country | World | News

I visited the little Russian town inside a NATO country | World | News

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[ad_1] Arriving at Barentsburg (Image: Tom Burnett/Reach PLC) The sun is high in the late April sky as the ship makes its way down the fjord – although this is not surprising, I’m so far north that it is not set to go down until August. It has been several hours since the MS Billefjord pulled away from the quay at Longyearbyen, the largest town on Svalbard and by most estimates the most northerly town of any size in the world, with around 2,300 making it their home. There are few other settlements of any size on Svalbard anymore, many of the coal mining operations that brought people to this remote Arctic archipelago at scale have closed down – following the path of the intrepid European whalers who would wait out the winter season in this barren land centuries before. As the ship makes its way through the choppy waters of the Isfjorden I keep an eye out on the shore for the elusive polar bears that live on this remote land at what feels …

The 10 most dangerous cities in the world with 5 in the same country | World | News

The 10 most dangerous cities in the world with 5 in the same country | World | News

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[ad_1] Safety is one of the most important considerations when you plan a trip abroad or even at home. The last place you want to find yourself in is a country or city where crime is prevalent and foreigners are targeted by ruthless gangs or terror groups. The UK’s Foreign Office publishes a travel guide for each country, giving its verdict on safety. One country in particular has a long list of places tourists are advised against travelling to by the Foreign Office. This Central American country also features prominently in a list of the ten most dangerous cities in the world – contributing five of them. Mexico is a country of outstanding beauty, whose stunning beaches attract millions of foreign tourists every year – some 66 million in 2022. Yet the country is blighted by cartel related violence, which is becoming increasingly prevalent even in famous beach resorts such as Cancun, where tourists once felt safe. An analysis carried out by the website worldpopulationreview.com lists the ten most dangerous cities in the world – …

‘I love my country, but I can’t kill’: Ukrainian men evading conscription | Ukraine

‘I love my country, but I can’t kill’: Ukrainian men evading conscription | Ukraine

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[ad_1] Anton* was on his way to work as a civilian volunteer in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv 10 days ago. Several men stopped him. They asked: “Hi, who are you?” And: “Can you show me your documents please?” One of the officers produced a tablet and scrolled down a list. He found Anton’s name. A single word was written next to it in red capital letters: ukhyliant, or draft dodger. The men took him to the nearest conscription office. That morning, Anton and his colleague Serhii were due to drive a truck full of humanitarian aid to a frontline zone. The two men – aged 32 and 31 – had been checked twice before, once outside a metro station, and on a second occasion while waiting for a tram. They received pieces of paper. The first was a polite request to register details. The second an official summons to report to a recruiting centre as soon as possible. More than two years into Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s armed forces are short of soldiers. …

Song for Wales winner inspires fresh bid to get country its own Eurovision place | Wales

Song for Wales winner inspires fresh bid to get country its own Eurovision place | Wales

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[ad_1] Musicians, language campaigners and pro-independence politicians have backed a campaign to win a place for the land of song in Eurovision. There is an increasingly loud chorus of music fans who believe that Wales, a country of heavenly choirs, anthem-belting sports crowds and rousing rock bands, should be given its own place in the song contest. On Friday the campaign was given a focus with the release of a song called Anfonaf Angel (I Send An Angel) with a glitzy Eurovision-style video by the singer Sara Davies, who won this year’s Cân i Gymru (Song for Wales) competition, to draw attention to the fact that many Welsh people would like their homeland to have a chance to take part. Davies said winning Cân i Gymru made her wonder afresh why her country did not have a place in Eurovision. “It really doesn’t make much sense to me that we’re not. This will hopefully drive the idea forward and get people talking about it.” A leading voice backing the idea is the folk singer Dafydd …