Remember the people who used to brag about not having cable or, better yet, not owning a television?
You know the ones (if you were alive back in the early 2000s). They were the kind of friend who showed up to trivia claiming to "know nothing about pop culture." They always thought the book was better than the movie, even when it wasn't. They bragged about not owning a television even though you saw them binge a dozen Netflix DVDs at a time.
Fast forward a dozen or so years and this figure has re-emerged, just in a slightly different form. Instead of bragging about throwing out their television, they're posting about how quitting [fill-in-the-blank] social platform has immeasurably improved their lives. While the rest of the world is rotting their brains online, they've done the impossible. They've gone offline. Read more...
Tame Impala hasn't released a new album since 2017's Currents, but they used their first appearance on Saturday Night Live as a platform to debut "Borderline," a brand new track that's made for summer.
In addition to "Borderline," the Australian band performed their week old single "Patience," giving listeners a taste of what to expect when Tame Impala headlines Coachella this year. Read more...
In a folder on my phone called “PUBLIC FIGURE,” I save screenshots of some of the most outrageous messages strangers have sent me since I got verified on Instagram, primarily because I still can’t believe I get so many. There are dozens of DMs that demand to know “why tf” and “how tf” I got a little blue badge.
People will scrawl “who are you lmao” under a bunch of my photos all at once, which is a singularly mortifying experience that has no equivalent on Twitter or Facebook, where my profiles also have blue ticks. On a few occasions, I’ve commented on a celebrity or brand’s post, then watched as the replies to my original comment devolve into a fight over whether a person can buy verification and, if so, whether that’s what I did. To be clear, I didn’t. I’m a journalist and was verified for my job. My profile is categorized under “Journalist” and a Story highlight full of screenshots of my work appears right at the top of my profile. Read more...
SAT Prep class turns into a gush of big feels on Saturday Night Live.
Substitute teacher Sandra Oh and a classroom filled with intense teen emotions are just trying to study for the SAT, but life keeps getting in the way.
It's a sitcom series' worth of life lessons and special moments crammed into four minutes. Read more...
The federal government is taking Elizabeth Holmes to court.
As you probably know by now, she was the founder and CEO of Theranos, the blood-testing startup featured in the HBO doc The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (as well as a book, podcast, and, soon, a feature film starring Jennifer Lawrence). Also being charged is former Theranos president Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani.
The pair has already been tried in the court of public opinion. Now they will face litigation for making misleading claims about their company's ability to accurately test pinpricks of blood for a catalog of diseases. Here is what is going on with the trial. Read more...
You know those Discover credit card commercials where the customer service representative looks like the person calling? Harmless? Pre-Jordan Peele's Us, yes. Now? Absolutely terrifying.
Saturday Night Live gives you another excuse to never deal with customer service. Just ignore the unexplained charges of red jumpsuits, motorcycle gloves, and gold scissors. Read more...
Sandra Oh has a hard time accepting a compliment (blame being Canadian) despite reaching new levels of success (Killing Eve is excellent, go watch it), including a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live.
During Oh's SNL monologue, Leslie Jones helps her work through an inability to receive praise and gain an American sense of natural confidence. Read more...
"Russia, if you're watching, go to bed. Daddy won."
With those words, Donald Trump (well, Alec Baldwin who returned to the role this week) did a victory lap about the Mueller Report. The Saturday Night Live cold open tackled the 300+ page special counsel's final report, rotating between Trump, Attorney General William Barr (Aidy Bryant), and Mueller (Robert DeNiro) with a special, truly soul-haunting appearance by Rudy Giuliani (Kate McKinnon).
Release the report, AG Barr, if only for the SNL sketch potential. Read more...
Today is Sunday 31, also known as World Backup Day. Founded in 2011 by Ismail Jadun. The goal was to remind us to protect our precious data as we’ve become more reliant on technology, and with April Fool's Day around the corner, don't let your buddies pull a cruel prank on you by deleting your pictures on your smartphone or laptop.
Haven't backed up your data before? Lucky for you, there are some great storage deals today. From portable hard drives, USB flash drives, network attached storage, and more. Not looking for storage products? No problem, just keep scrolling as those aren't the only deals today. Here are the best deals from Amazon, Walmart, BuyDig, B&H Photo-Video, Microsoft Store, and more for Sunday, March 31: Read more...
I was only a year out of college – dewy-eyed, 23, working odd jobs and hoping to somehow turn them into a writing career, trying not to concern myself with everyone else’s preoccupation with sex. I had a lot in common with Jane the Virgin’s Jane Gloriana Villanueva, whom I fell for headfirst when the show premiered that October on The CW
Since then, I have watched maybe hundreds of other TV shows. I’ve followed series from start to end, fully forgotten whole arcs or seasons, but loved and cherished Jane throughout. Jane’s candy-colored telenovela world has come to feel like an extension of my own, and the final season feels like closing a chapter of my life as well as hers. Read more...
Do you die a little bit inside every single time you see an ugly graphic posted on social media? Do you go out of your way to whip out the "graphic design is my passion" meme when you come across a Comic Sans-riddled post in your feed?
If you answered yes to these questions, maybe graphic design *is* your passion (or perhaps something that could be your passion), and you just have no idea how to harness it. Think about it, how else would you recognize what "bad" design is if you don't have an understanding of what constitutes "good" design?
Unleash your inner creative and embark on an intensive graphic design training for the price of your choosing with this unique deal. The Complete Learn to Design Bundle is comprised of 10 online courses with a collective value of $1,466, but it can all be yours for next to nothing. (This is a "pay what you want" deal — more on that later, though.) Read more...
Kids these days get the coolest toys. While most of us spent our childhoods scouting out the newest McDonalds Happy Meal toys, modern kids are designing and flying custom drones right out of the box. (I you need advice on great drones for beginners, go here.)
But who says drones have to be just for kids? Certainly not us.
Flying drones — and building your own — is something that the whole family can get in on.
Bestselling author Tim Ferriss (of 4-Hour Workweek fame and author of recent bestseller Tools of Titans) reveals the secrets behind optimizing productivity. The secret is small changes that lead to better habits, routines, and systems — all of which he’s already stress-tested on himself to increase productivity tenfold (hey, the results speak for themselves). Read more...
March 31 is World Backup Day, but of course you already knew that, didn't you?
World Backup Day is surely up there with Christmas, Easter, and New Year's Day in terms of significance. Families all around the world must gather together every year and celebrate the art of backing up data.
With the famous day now upon us, it's the perfect time to tell you all about the importance of a reliable and easy-to-use backup solution.
Acronis backup solutions defends your data and recovers anything lost or damaged from a single email to a full server, while meeting compliance regulations, budget limitations, and even the most urgent recovery needs. The full range of solutions is also on offer right now. You can save up to 50%, or £56, if you purchase a service by April 4. Read more...
The Milwaukee Brewers race sausages (tasty!). The Washington Nationals race presidents (America!). But the latest entry into the MLB comically sized mascots running for the laughs of drunk baseball fans might be the classiest.
The San Diego Padres debuted the Anchorman runners on Friday, and in the words of Ron Burgundy, "Don’t act like you’re not impressed."
Burgundy ran away with the win, handily beating Champ Kind, Brian Fantana, and noted lamp fan, Brick Tamland. Read more...
Valve Corporation's VR headset, Valve Index, will officially launch in May 2019. The previously rumored launch was confirmed with a teaser on Friday with more details forthcoming.
Per earlier rumors, the Valve Index should have a 135-degree field of view and knuckles controllers. It's also likely that the tracking will be "inside out" (sensors inside the headset, as opposed to previous generations of Vive and Oculus, which used external sensor stations to track movement).
Valve is a company that can be cautious with specific ventures, so its foray into second-gen VR speaks to how far the technology has come and Valve's faith in this product. Valve Index will have to compete with Vive and Oculus products of the same generation, so expect it to be able to hold its own. Read more...
Local farmer survives stampede of cuteness. Story at 10.
A herd of baby Nigerian Dwarf goats with wobbly legs and spirited bleats charged through a barn in Goshen, Ohio this week. Onlookers (older goats and a couple dogs) described the incident, saying, "Meh-eh-eh! Beh-eh-eh!" and "Woof! Woof!" Read more...
April Fools' Day pranks can be glorious, but when the person you're pranking is your significant other, you need to plan accordingly.
Whether you've recently started dating or have been married for years, the prank you decide to play on your other half will definitely have its repercussions. Depending on how much damage you want to do, here are 17 April Fools' Day pranks you can play on the one you love.
Now you can choose your prank based on whether or not you want to inspire a quick laugh, set up a temporary bed on the couch or start begging for forgiveness.
Everyone has a phone on them, which means lucky for you, everyone is susceptible to a classic text message prank.
The art of pranking has seen a lot of growth with the rise of technology — but the days of prank phone calls or farting noise apps are already long gone. Sorry to break it to you, but the same old jokes aren't going to cut it anymore.
These days, texting pranks requires a subtle cunningness to throw your target off guard. You don't have to resort to digitally cloning yourself to expertly prank someone. Thanks to smartphones, you have all you need in your pocket. With a few seconds and some pre-planning, you can become the master of text message pranks that you've always dreamed of being. Here are some of our favorites to pull out in times of need. Read more...
Monteiro walked through his treasure trove, which includes full North American sets for several consoles, in a video for Guinness World Records YouTube channel. He keeps all the games, which are stacked on the floor and on shelves up to the ceiling, in a single room. (The room seems pretty small at first, then just keeps going, and going, and going.)
The Sega Genesis Mini is making a comeback. Sega revealed the news at a fan event in Tokyo, adding details later about the U.S. version.
Though there are few details about the console right now, Kotaku confirmed that the six-button controller will look the same for the Japanese version (the Mega Drive Mini). The U.S. version's three-button controllers will come with USB connectors. And for anyone with original controllers, sorry, but they won't work.
Everyone has a different tolerance for horror movies.
But the one thing even those easily spooked can agree on is that scary movies can be overall enjoyable if they're more funny and less, you know, spine-chilling.
Not everything has to be Hereditary-levels of sinister or conversely, veer into the extremely silly Scary Movie category.
The following films offer the perfect balance for those looking to dive into the genre through comedy and without worrying about being haunted by nightmares for weeks.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Happy Death Day is actually a great modern-day slasher film that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's got a well-defined, fun narrative. Read more...
There is never a bad time to look at a cute baby animal, so please enjoy this adorable seal.
The little guy was born earlier this month at an aquarium in Numazu, JapanAccording to the Mainichi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, he currently weighs about 48 pounds and is roughly 35 inches long. His cuteness level rests at a firm infinity.
What we particularly admire about this seal, though, is his ability to relax. Look at him — fully supine, eyes closed, not logged on to the internet. We love him. May you channel his energy on this and all future days. Read more...
With "The Big Freeze," Stevenson has made an album that's richly detailed and completely genuine, the product of a songwriter who has never been given her big break and is wholly content to make work that is solely for herself.
Lightweight, futuristic-looking and perfectly portable, these CX1 True Wireless Earbuds re-define wireless listening, delivering powerful Bluetooth 4.2 audio, a 30-foot range and a 500mAh charging box to keep you jamming on the go. All of that for $39.99.
Looking back on McConaughey's career, it's not just his knack for sniffing out the most performatively stoner-chill characters in cinema that stands out. It's also his penchant for truly high-sounding character names.
No, we're not talking about those contentious, controversial places in China, like Taiwan or Tibet. We're talking about an active decision by the Chinese government to make all maps inaccurate.
When Comer first got the email from her agent about the role of Villanelle, she admits she was skeptical. "I'm not a slinky, leopard, full-on catsuit assassin. I didn't feel like I had that in me."
Let's put away the sepia-toned glasses and admit what the advanced stats tell us: The level of MLB play is better than ever, and many of yesterday's greats probably wouldn't stand a chance in today's game.
* Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is under mounting pressure amid SNC-Lavalin saga * A former justice minister says government officials tried to persuade her to shield SNC-Lavalin from prosecution * Jody Wilson-Raybould made public documents indicating government coercion * The crisis may well threaten Trudeau's reelection chances in a vote this October
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under mounting pressure after his former justice minister released documents relating to a major corruption scandal.
Former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says government officials tried to persuade her to shield SNC-Lavalin from prosecution.
Wilson-Raybould made public around 40 pages of documents revealing more details of what she said were attempts by officials to force her change her mind even after she insisted they desist.
WNU Editor: This release of a secret recording is damaging to Prime Minister Trudeau's narrative on this scandal. It contradicts what he and his staff have been saying, and it only adds to the case that the Prime Minister intervened into a criminal case to protect a major Canadian company. I do not see how he can recover from it, and with Canadians going to the polls in 7 months, there is now a very good chance that he will be defeated in the polls.
Country bans campaigning on day before an election, but candidates find ways around rule
Presidential candidates in Ukraine are banned from campaigning the day before Sunday's highly contested vote. But Ukraine's "quiet day" has not been all that quiet.
Turn on television channel 1+1 and you're likely to see the poll leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy starring in his own comedy show, Kvartal 95. Later on Saturday evening, 1+1 will broadcast a biopic about Ronald Reagan, another actor-turned-politician, with his voice dubbed by Zelenskiy.
On Instagram, posts by President Petro Poroshenko show him praying for "Ukrainian unity" alongside senior members of the church and army veterans. An article on his government website explained that the group also prayed "for the wisdom of the people who tomorrow will decide the future of Ukraine".
Some Democrats said the move "will only result in more children and families being forced to make the dangerous journey north to the U.S.-Mexico border."
The Trump administration said Saturday that it intends to end foreign assistance programs for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, a move that Democrats called "reckless" and "counterproductive" in addressing the problems that cause people to flee to the U.S.
A State Department spokesperson said that "at the Secretary's instruction, we are carrying out the President's direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle," a term that refers to the three countries.
The spokesperson said "we will be engaging Congress as part of this process," which could mean it needs Congress' approval to end funding.
The aid affects nearly $500 million in 2018 funds and millions more left over from the previous fiscal year. The money was destined for Central America but had not been spent yet, the Washington Post reported.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in the Parliament in London, Britain, March 29, 2019 in this screen grab taken from video. Reuters TV via REUTERS
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May risks the "total collapse" of her government if she fails to get her battered Brexit deal through parliament, the Sunday Times newspaper said, amid growing speculation that she might call an early election.
Underscoring the tough choices facing May to break the Brexit impasse, the newspaper said at least six pro-European Union senior ministers will resign if she opts for a potentially damaging no-deal departure from the EU.
But at the same time, rival ministers who support Brexit were threatening to quit if May decides to stay close to the EU with a customs union or if she sought a long delay to Brexit, the Sunday Times said.
In honor of his past service to our Country, Navy Seal #EddieGallagher will soon be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court. Process should move quickly! @foxandfriends@RepRalphNorman
* Trump said on Saturday that Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher would be 'moved to less restrictive confinement' while he awaits trial for war crimes * Gallagher is a 14-year Navy SEAL vet and is accused of murdering a 15-year-old ISIS militant in his care and opening sniper rounds at civilians * The 39-year-old is jailed at the Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in California awaiting his May 28 trial for his war crimes * House Republicans filed a letter to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer last week to request Gallagher be transferred to another location * The letter alleges there he lacks food, medical care, and access to his lawyers * His family says that Gallagher as suffered 'abhorrent treatment' at the prison for the past seven months
President Donald Trump has said that a Navy SEAL who is accused of war crimes will be moved to better jail conditions while he awaits trial.
Edward 'Eddie' Gallagher, 39, is currently jailed in military prison Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in California on charges of premeditated murder and aggravated assault.
'In honor of his past service to our Country, Navy Seal #EddieGallagher will soon be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court. Process should move quickly!' Trump wrote in a tweet on Saturday morning.
The president tweeted from Mar-a-lago in Florida, shortly before departing for Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
U.S. airmen prepare a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone as it leaves on a mission at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan March 9, 2016. Picture taken March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Josh Smith
The technology that defined U.S. counterterror wars is beginning to wane in importance as the Pentagon looks to threats posed by Russia and China.
The secretive and lethal technology that has defined U.S. counterterror operations for the last decade – and remains the subject of global controversy – appears to be diminishing in importance as America prepares for the next era of combat.
New Pentagon documents show the military plans to invest next year in the lowest number of new drones in more than a decade. Though the complexity of Defense Department budgets makes it difficult to isolate a single reason for the shift, budget analysts agree the Trump administration's stated intention of withdrawing from costly and deadly Middle East wars and instead focus on a resurging China and Russia is driving a focus on other technologies.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is launching the Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors program to gather the responses of living things to underwater vehicles and relay the information through a network of man-made hardware. (DARPA)
The sophisticated sensing behaviors of marine organisms could serve as a surveillance system that aids national security
We humans often watch and wonder at wildlife. But a defense agency's new initiative turns the tables—it aims to deploy marine animals to keep an eye on human activity.
The agency wants to know if sea life ranging from bioluminescent plankton to goliath grouper can serve as components of underwater surveillance systems capable of detecting the enemy's oceangoing drones, large nuclear submarines and other underwater vehicles. The research effort is called Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS).
Many marine animals respond audibly or visibly to sound, optical, electromagnetic and chemical shifts in the water around them. For instance, schools of black sea bass change their behavior when disturbed by underwater vehicles, and certain microbes react to the magnetic signatures of submarines. Existing surveillance technology can pick up this behavior but typically has treated it as background noise.
UN delegates discuss restrictions to lethal autonomous weapons systems that use AI
The UK government is among a group of countries that are attempting to thwart plans to formulate and impose a pre-emptive ban on killer robots.
Delegates have been meeting at the UN in Geneva all week to discuss potential restrictions under international law to so-called lethal autonomous weapons systems, which use artificial intelligence to help decide when and who to kill.
Most states taking part – and particularly those from the global south – support either a total ban or strict legal regulation governing their development and deployment, a position backed by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, who has described machines empowered to kill as "morally repugnant".
To mark International Transgender Day of Visibility, Amnesty International asked two activists from the Dominican Republic and Pakistan to share stories of the struggles they have faced.
The discussion between them is a mark of how solidarity can bring immense comfort and strength in challenging circumstances.
Amnesty: Tell us about your upbringing.
Nairovi: I had a terrible childhood. I realized that I was a woman when I was still young, but my family never accepted it. When I was 13, they threw me out because of my sexual orientation. I started sleeping rough on the streets of Santo Domingo and taking psychoactive substances. The transitioning process to become a trans woman was very hard for me.
Mehlab: I was born in a small town in the Punjab province, and spent most of my life there until life became impossible and I moved to a metropolis to pursue higher education. Today, I work for a community-led organization HOPE (Have Only Positive Expectations) that advocates for the rights of gender and sexual minorities in Pakistan. A typical day for me involves thwarting the gender binary, defying patriarchy, plotting to overthrow capitalism and drinking lots of chai. You know, the usual things – nothing extraordinary.
What has been your greatest challenge so far?
Nairovi Castillo: The most difficult thing was gaining social acceptance. People called me a “faggot” for dressing as a woman. Many trans people have no choice but to engage in sex work to support ourselves. There are no job opportunities for us in the formal sector. I started working on my own, without a pimp, but, like all of us, I faced a lot of danger. I was stopped by the police almost every day. They beat me, they took my money and forced me to have oral sex with them. When I take off my clothes, I uncover all the scars of the ill treatment I’ve suffered. I can tell you the exact time and date I got each scar.
Mehlab Jameel: Trans people, especially from the part of the world where I am from, are always cast as hapless victims. People are so interested in learning about all the ways that we are oppressed, but not interested in challenging the systems that are oppressing us. It’s not that we do not face this violence every single day; it’s that we never get to speak about it on our own terms even within the narratives that are about us.
Tell us about the moment you chose to defy the status quo.
Nairovi: I was 29 when I became an activist. I saw how an organization called the Movement of United Women here in the Dominican Republic were supporting women sex workers who suffered from situations of violence, arrests, or HIV and I thought, ‘We need to do something like this.’ At that time, there was no organization that looked out for trans people here. We saw that we needed to organize ourselves as a group of sex workers because we have a lot of needs that are denied. So, in 2004, we founded COTRAVETD.
Mehlab: I think I have several of those moments within the span of a single day. It is only alongside others that one can fight for change. Our organizing work is not centered around an alienating and individualistic framework of rights, but instead focuses on demanding justice for the people – for us. As Angela Davis says, “It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.”
What is your greatest achievement?
Nairovi: Leading COTRAVETD. We carry out educational work so that the girls know their rights, and we hold workshops to raise awareness and train the military and police to stop abusing us. For me, going from being a trans sex worker who used to take drugs, to becoming the director of this organization and overcoming substance abuse — that’s a big achievement.
Mehlab: More than success, I find myself being curious about all the ways that I fail: failure to live happily in a patriarchal family, failure to make my trans-ness and its agendas comprehensible for a right-wing government. I am interested in my failure to find comfort in a society that constantly dehumanizes me and my very existence. My failures teach me something new every day about the violent nature of the society that I try to survive in, and the structures upholding that violence that I resist against.
Nairovi: In the Dominican Republic we need a gender identity law, so that we can have official documents that reflect our names and gender identities. We also urgently need an anti-discrimination law to ensure that the authorities protect us. So, Mehlab, how did you achieve this beautiful objective?
Mehlab: It was a collective effort. The Transgender Persons Act, among other things, allows people the right of self-determination of their gender identity and expression, and protection from discrimination. Our team consisted of lawyers, activists and researchers who worked tirelessly to ensure that the Bill before Parliament represented the demands of the community, especially those who are most economically marginalized and vulnerable to violence. It was difficult to break down barriers and gain access because the legislative process in Pakistan, as you can imagine, is a very exclusionary and elitist affair. The Act owes its victory to the brave trans warriors who fought against police brutality and gang violence all their lives.
Arif Ali—AFP/Getty ImagesMembers of the Pakistani transgender community parade during a rally to demand for the implementation of the transgender rights bill in Lahore on December 29, 2018.
Do you have a message for other trans people around the world?
Nairovi: We must keep fighting to end exclusion, stigmatization and discrimination, because social exclusion leads to the violations of our human rights. We can raise our voices and influence decision makers and force them to listen to us. We must empower ourselves and make people call us by our chosen names.
Mehlab: We carry society’s shame in every curve and crevice of our body, we are punished for being born into our beautiful bodies and demanding to make our own decisions about them. Our mere existence is marked with violence, erasure and hatred. There’s enough pain in our lives already, so don’t do it yourself. Be kind to yourself and those around you. Build a culture of care. And organize collectively for change.
What is your greatest dream for the future?
Nairovi: My dream for the future is to pass a gender identity law in my country and to establish a trans care home for elderly trans people, those who have no place to go, and those who live with HIV and have been rejected by their families. I want trans people to have other employment opportunities so that they don’t just have to be sex workers. This is my dream.
Mehlab: I dream of a queer future. It’s important to build a strong political culture in our movements that addresses the systemic roots of oppression affecting the people – not just trans people. It means so much to hear from a trans sister fighting a similar battle in a different part of the world. I would love to talk more about building transnational solidarity that can allow us to learn more from each other’s struggles. Such radical sisterhood beyond borders is what gives me hope for the future. I am incredibly inspired and touched to hear about the work you are doing. You are brilliant and a ray of hope for your community and I give you all my prayers and best wishes for your endeavors. More power to you!
(PARIS) — Yellow vest activists protested across France on Saturday to support an activist injured last week in a confrontation with police and to show that they remain mobilized against the government’s economic policies.
The demonstrators were undeterred by police protest bans or repeated injuries in 20 weeks of demonstrations. So they were out marching again in Paris, Bordeaux and other cities to keep pressing President Emmanuel Macron to do more to help France’s struggling working classes or to step down altogether.
They’re also showing solidarity with Genevieve Legay, a 73-year-old anti-globalization activist who suffered a head injury in the southern city of Nice last weekend. The Nice prosecutor said a police officer pushed her down.
“We are all Genevieve!” read an online appeal for Saturday’s protests.
Thousands of yellow vests marched peacefully in the streets of Paris, from north of the city center through the Left Bank to the Trocadero plaza near the Eiffel Tower. Some waved a rainbow flag that read “Peace,” same as the one that Legay was carrying in last week’s protest.
The French capital was placed under high security and protests were banned around the grand Champs-Elysees avenue, the scene of past yellow vest riots. Paris police said 32 people were detained and 21 fined for taking part in an unauthorized protest.
In the southern French town of Avignon, brief scuffles broke out as police forced protesters out of the narrow streets of the medieval city center.
In Bordeaux, in the southwest, French police used tear gas after some protesters set fire to debris from a construction site and tried to force their way past security barriers. Protests were banned from the city center, where violence has often erupted in previous weeks.
Audrey Bayart, who came from northern France for the Paris protest, said Legay’s case shows the government’s contempt toward protesters, especially after Macron told a newspaper that the elderly woman should have had the “wisdom” not to join the Nice protest.
“After a while, you have to respect people and not tell them ‘You are fragile and you stay at home,'” she said. “Everybody has things to say, why are we trying to shut them up? That is not democracy.”
The yellow vest movement for economic justice has appeared to lose support in recent weeks, drawing significantly smaller crowds than at its beginning in November, when hundreds of thousands of people mobilized across France, initially to oppose fuel tax hikes, before expanding into a broader rejection of Macron’s economic policies.
The French government is expected to announce next month a new batch of measures as a result of a “great debate” launched by Macron so ordinary French people could express their views on key issues.
(RABAT, Morocco) — Pope Francis praised Morocco as a model of religious moderation and migrant welcome as he kicked off a trip to the kingdom Saturday, warning that walls and fear-mongering won’t stop people from exercising their legitimate right to seek a better life elsewhere.
King Mohammed VI welcomed Francis as he arrived during an unusual rainstorm and began a 27-hour visit aimed at boosting Christian-Muslim ties and showing solidarity with Morocco’s ever-growing migrant community.
Morocco last year became the main destination for sub-Saharan African migrants seeking to reach Europe via Spain. The influx has strained the kingdom’s resources and fueled anti-migrant sentiment in Spain ahead of its April 28 general election.
After an airport greeting, the two leaders then took separate vehicles — Francis in his popemobile and the king in a convertible Mercedes — and paraded in tandem into town for a formal welcome ceremony at the complex where two of Morocco’s past monarchs are buried. Women ululated as Francis and the king walked along the promenade of the Hassan Tower complex under umbrellas.
Francis told the king that he hoped Morocco would continue to be a model of humanity, welcome and protection for migrants.
“The issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers, fomenting fear of others or denying assistance to those who legitimately aspire to a better life for themselves and their families,” Francis said.
Rather, he called for a change of attitude toward migrants that respects them as people, worthy of dignity and rights, and not just statistics. He said world leaders must address the economic imbalances and unrest on Earth that fuel conflicts and migration flows.
“Today’s grave migration crisis represents an urgent summons for concrete actions aimed at eliminating the causes that force many people to leave country and family behind, often only to find themselves marginalized and rejected,” he said.
It’s a message that Francis is expected to repeat later in the day when he meets migrants at a center run by the Catholic Church’s Caritas charity. Francis has made the plight of refugees a hallmark of his papacy, and has used many of his foreign visits to insist on the need to welcome them, protect them and integrate them into society.
Spain became the leading migrant entry route into Europe last year with over 57,000 unauthorized arrivals, according to the European Union. Morocco became the main departure point for migrants in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats after Italy essentially closed its borders to migrants leaving Libya.
Around 2,300 people died crossing the Mediterranean Sea last year and over 300 have already died this year on the dangerous journey, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Francis opened his remarks to the king by praising Morocco’s tradition of interfaith coexistence and its efforts to promote a moderate form of Islam.
Morocco, a Sunni Muslim kingdom of 36 million, reformed its religious policies and education to limit the spread of fundamentalism in 2004, following terrorist bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 43 people.
Key to that effort has been the Mohammed VI Institute, a school of learning for imams that teaches a moderate Islam and exports it via preachers to Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Francis was visiting the institute later Saturday.
Francis praised the school, saying it “seeks to provide effective and sound training to combat all forms of extremism, which so often lead to violence and terrorism, and which in any event, constitute an offense against religion and against God himself.”
The king said education was the key to fighting radicalism — not military crackdowns.
“What all terrorists have in common is not religion, but rather ignorance of religion,” he said.
The trip follows Francis’ February visit to the United Arab Emirates, where the pope and the imam of Cairo’s Al Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning, signed a landmark joint statement establishing the relationship between Catholics and Muslims as brothers, with a common mission to promote peace.
The “Human Fraternity” document outlines a shared set of values and principles common to Christians and Muslims, focusing on the dignity of every person and a rejection of violence committed in God’s name.
Muslims, Christians and Jews have long lived peacefully in Morocco, even though Catholics are a tiny minority of about 23,000.
Francis will minister to them on Sunday when he celebrates Mass in Rabat’s sports stadium, before returning to Rome.
(FRANKFURT, Germany) — German law enforcement officials say 11 people were arrested in western Germany on suspicion of planning an Islamic extremist terror attack but were then ordered released after no weapons or explosives were found during searches.
The dpa news agency reported the suspects were taken into custody on Friday and Saturday in the towns of Essen, Duesseldorf, Wuppertal, Moenchengladbach, Duisburg and Ulm, citing a spokesman for prosecutors in Duesseldorf.
The prosecutors’ spokesman was quoted as saying Saturday that the group was suspected of having ties to Islamic State militants, either as sympathizers or a splinter group, and of planning a “serious act of violent subversion,” although there was no indication of a specific target.
The prosecutor’s office said the suspects were ordered released but the investigation would continue.
Officials said one suspect was from Tajikistan but provided no information about the nationalities of the others. Officials originally said 10 suspects but later updated it to 11.
In a closed-off meeting in the U.K. Parliament with members of her ruling Conservative Party on Wednesday evening, a beleaguered Theresa May told colleagues she would step down.
But like all things in British politics these days, it wasn’t that simple. May had already offered to resign before the next election anyway, and her latest offer came with one rather large condition: that lawmakers ratify her Brexit deal — the same deal that, in January, those very same lawmakers defeated by the biggest margin in the U.K.’s recorded parliamentary history.
With May offering to resign even if her deal succeeds, it’s hard to see her justifying remaining in her post now that it seems to have failed for good. “Once you’ve said you’re going, your authority tends to bleed away pretty quickly,” says Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London. And following the failure of May’s third attempt to get her deal through on Friday, pressure on her to resign even more quickly could boil over at any time.
Because the U.K. is a parliamentary rather than a presidential system, a new party leader could take over without having to hold a general election. But with a divided party and the Conservative minority government fraying at the seams, either May or a new leader may choose to hold one sooner rather than later. The contest to pick May’s successor will be whittled down to two candidates by Conservative lawmakers, but then ultimately go to party members for a vote.
With that in mind, here are some lawmakers from the Conservative Party who could replace Theresa May as U.K. Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson
Somehow, the former Foreign Secretary, who resigned from May’s cabinet last year over the Brexit deal before agreeing to back it after May offered to resign, is still the frontrunner to succeed the prime minister. A campaigner on the “Leave” side in the 2016 referendum (who famously wrote two op-ed columns, one for leave and one for remain, while deciding which side to support), Johnson is regarded by many in his own party as a political opportunist. “He is widely seen as dishonest, disloyal, and not a team player by his colleagues,” says Bale. “On the flip side, he has this celebrity status and might be able to appeal to people that haven’t traditionally voted Conservative”.
Johnson is also seen as the favorite of the Conservative Party membership, which ultimately has the final say between the final two candidates on the ballot, after lawmakers whittle down the field. “He is the darling of members. But he’s not the darling of MPs,” says Tony Travers, professor of politics at the London School of Economics. “That’s his weakness.” Johnson’s opponents in the party have said they would likely coalesce behind a “Stop Boris” candidate in order to prevent members from getting the chance to vote for him.
Michael Gove
Gove, the current Environment Secretary, was another of the most prominent figures on the “leave” side of the 2016 referendum. He might just be that “Stop Boris” candidate – indeed, he has been before. After David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister in the wake of the referendum, he offered to run Johnson’s leadership campaign, but stood down at the last minute to run against him, splitting the pro-leave vote and opening the way for May to take the top job. “He must be the front runner,” says Travers. “He will probably do quite well among Brexit activists.” Gove is also a good parliamentary performer, an experienced minister and is widely seen as a “safe pair of hands.”
Jeremy Hunt
The current Foreign Secretary, Hunt has long been a loyal backer of May’s deal. But unlike Johnson and Gove, he campaigned for the remain side in the 2016 referendum. Nevertheless, like May herself, he had a change of heart after the referendum, arguing that the government must secure an “orderly” Brexit. “He has clearly been on maneuvers positioning himself as a sane, moderate, recognizable kind of Conservative politician,” says Travers. That could work for or against him. “He’s less inspiring, slightly more bland, but then again, seen as a safe pair of hands, which can be an advantage,” says Bale.
Sajid Javid
Now the Home Secretary, Javid is a relatively new face in government, but has been seen by colleagues as having leadership potential for some time. The fact he voted remain in the referendum could work against him, but like May and Hunt he has come around to the leave side. As Home Secretary he has taken a hard line on migration – a key issue in the referendum. He has, for example, revoked the citizenship of “ISIS bride” Shamima Begum, and cut his 2018 Christmas holiday short to return to the U.K. amid reports of migrants crossing the English Channel.
Dominic Raab
Raab, a former Brexit Secretary who also resigned from May’s government to vote against her deal, is another candidate who the Brexit-supporting wing of the Conservative Party sees as a viable replacement for May. Like Johnson, he originally criticized May’s deal but voted for it on Friday after she promised to resign. Unlike Johnson, he has a black belt in Karate. That tougher image was bolstered on Thursday, when Raab said the U.K. must be prepared to leave the E.U. without a deal on the April 12 deadline — positioning himself as perhaps the “no deal” candidate in the seemingly inevitable leadership race. “He’s quite radical,” says Travers. “But after all that’s happened, MPs might not want anything too radical, given all of the problems they’ve had.” In the end, the biggest factor working against him could be convincing enough colleagues to vote for him. “He’s not a people person,” says Bale.
Andrea Leadsom
One of the few women who stands a chance in the race, Leadsom, the current leader of the House of Commons, has been a longtime Brexit-supporter. She was the last candidate standing against Theresa May in the 2016 leadership race, but stood aside before it came to a vote. “She would certainly fight for territory with Boris in many ways,” says Travers. “She’s an ardent Brexiteer, she was tough on the issue, and she’s seen as more of an operator than Boris – an operator politically, rather than just in her own interests.”
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