What was supposed to be a quick win has become a quagmire, so it now must be reduced to a dopamine hit The war on Iran, even as it spreads and destabilises the Middle East and the global economy, is not real. This is how it is being portrayed by the Trump administration. The war is a video game, a spectator sport, a social media festival of dunking. The architects of this war have made a virtue ou...
What was supposed to be a quick win has become a quagmire, so it now must be reduced to a dopamine hit The war on Iran, even as it spreads and destabilises the Middle East and the global economy, is not real. This is how it is being portrayed by the Trump administration. The war is a video game, a spectator sport, a social media festival of dunking. The architects of this war have made a virtue out of stupidity, and have been supported in that by a stupefying information ecosystem. The conflict waged by the US feels like the first of its kind in the modern age: distinctly remote and profoundly ignorant. A week into the war, the White House uploaded a clip on its social media channels featuring montages of Top Gun, Braveheart and Breaking Bad, with the caption “Justice the American way” – itself a repurposing of a Superman motto. In another, entitled Touchdown, NFL players tackle each other and upon contact, boom, footage of a strike explosion tagged “unclassified”. SpongeBob SquarePants also makes an appearance , asking, “Wanna see me do it again?”, and then, an explosion. In another, Operation Epic Fury is rendered as a Nintendo Wii game. Continue reading...
Gripping documentary examines the Future Forward Party’s unprecedented 2019 election result, and its leader’s aim to break Thailand’s repeated military coups With his disarming good looks, pro-democracy activist and businessman Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit resembles an actor rather than a typical Thai politician. Heir to the country’s largest car manufacturer, he is blessed not only with personab...
Gripping documentary examines the Future Forward Party’s unprecedented 2019 election result, and its leader’s aim to break Thailand’s repeated military coups With his disarming good looks, pro-democracy activist and businessman Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit resembles an actor rather than a typical Thai politician. Heir to the country’s largest car manufacturer, he is blessed not only with personable charisma but also inexhaustible funds. His stunning rise into public consciousness is the beating heart of Aekaphong Saransate and Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn’s debut film, a thrilling documentary about an extraordinary political campaign that shook a nation. As founder of the progressive Future Forward Party (FFP), Juangroongruangkit’s central message cut through the noise of electoral politics: secure a brighter future by correcting the wrongs of the past. Since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has undergone a never-ending cycle of military takeovers, including 12 coups. During its campaign in the 2019 general election, Juangroongruangkit’s party specifically reached out to those whose concerns often go unheard: students, working-class and rural voters. He also explicitly called for reform to the 2017 constitution , enacted by the military junta to deepen authoritarian rule. Continue reading...
“It’s the sickening stress of never quite feeling like you have roots. My marriage feels like it’s on probation, conditional to whether the government puts a stamp on the next renewal. It’s the constant uncertainty that makes me ill,” Felix King said. King, 31, an IT worker, wants to adopt a child with her American wife, Tessa, 29. But the impact of the home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s “earned set...
“It’s the sickening stress of never quite feeling like you have roots. My marriage feels like it’s on probation, conditional to whether the government puts a stamp on the next renewal. It’s the constant uncertainty that makes me ill,” Felix King said. King, 31, an IT worker, wants to adopt a child with her American wife, Tessa, 29. But the impact of the home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s “earned settlement” immigration plan means the couple, who live in Cheshire, fear they will never get the chance. Tessa came to the UK from the US in 2024. She is among about 2 million migrants who have arrived in the UK in the past five years who face a longer wait for settled, indefinite leave to remain (ILR) status in the country, under rule changes expected to begin next month, including for spouses of British nationals. Mahmood says the changes are necessary to restore fairness to the system and that the “pace and scale of migration in this country has been destabilising”. Last week the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner described the proposals as “un-British” in the Guardian. Felix and Tessa were friends for years online before falling in love, and they meet the conditions for Tessa to qualify for the five-year route to settled status in the UK under the current system. However, the proposals will introduce a minimum contribution requirement that would require Tessa to demonstrate earnings in the UK of at least £12,570 for three to five years to get ILR, which is expected to apply retrospectively. Tessa faces a battle to meet this condition because of leave from her cleaning and maintenance job for family bereavement and ill health. She is not allowed access to public funds as a visa condition and was supported throughout her time off by Felix. Migrants could face waits of 20 years for settlement under the proposals. Felix says the new contribution requirement jeopardises their hopes of having a family, as they fear they cannot demonstrate the stability needed to adopt. ...
Conjure in your mind the heady hit of warm garlic butter as it spills out of a kiev, then transport that to soft, baked chicken balls and luscious, glossy grains of orzo, which effectively double as both carb and sauce. That’s what today’s first dish is! Then, a method of cooking chicken breast that’s speedy and succulent. It will become a favourite (if it’s not one already). Sage is not typically...
Conjure in your mind the heady hit of warm garlic butter as it spills out of a kiev, then transport that to soft, baked chicken balls and luscious, glossy grains of orzo, which effectively double as both carb and sauce. That’s what today’s first dish is! Then, a method of cooking chicken breast that’s speedy and succulent. It will become a favourite (if it’s not one already). Sage is not typically involved in a piccata, but I like how it imparts its flavours into the cooking fats and, subsequently, the pounded, dredged chicken, too. Garlic butter chicken balls with orzo Homemade meatballs do take a short moment to shape, but otherwise this is more straightforward than filling, breading and frying the classic alternative. Prep 10 min, plus soaking Cook 30 min Serves 4 70g breadcrumbs 4 tbsp milk 500g chicken mince 1 lemon, zest finely grated, then cut into 6 segments 25g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 60g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve 1 medium egg Salt and black pepper 1 tbsp neutral cooking oil 275g orzo 80g salted butter 150g baby spinach Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl, add the milk, stir and leave to soak for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, use a spoon to combine the chicken mince with the soaked breadcrumbs, lemon zest, two teaspoons of chopped parsley, a teaspoon of minced garlic, one-third of the parmesan, the egg and a really generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6, and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or a silicone mat. Use your hands to spread the oil over the lined sheet, then use the same oily hands to roll the mince mixture into 12 large meatballs weighing about 45g each. Arrange the meatballs on the baking sheet as you work, occasionally wiping your hands over the oil to prevent the meat sticking to them and to apply a little oil to the outside of the balls. Bake for 13 minutes, by which time they will be pale, but set and clearly juicy. Meanwhile, brin...
In a heart-wrenching display of devotion, an elderly man from eastern China spent 12 hours every day for 105 days travelling to visit his wife in hospital. Chen Achong, 82, a farmer from Zhoushan in Zhejiang province, and his wife, Xue, have been married for more than 50 years, according to the mainland media outlet Xinwenfang. Touching: Chen Achong kisses his wife’s hand as she lies in her hospit...
In a heart-wrenching display of devotion, an elderly man from eastern China spent 12 hours every day for 105 days travelling to visit his wife in hospital. Chen Achong, 82, a farmer from Zhoushan in Zhejiang province, and his wife, Xue, have been married for more than 50 years, according to the mainland media outlet Xinwenfang. Touching: Chen Achong kisses his wife’s hand as she lies in her hospital bed. Photo: CCTV A year ago, Xue suffered a stroke and soon after developed severe pneumonia, leading to her hospitalisation in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Li Huili Hospital in Ningbo. Advertisement With their son unable to be by her side due to work, Chen took on the full responsibility of caring for his wife. Every day, he woke at 4.30am to prepare meals before catching a bus to Ningbo, where he transferred to another to reach the hospital. Advertisement ICU visiting hours were from 10.30 to 11.00am, but after his visit, Chen would stay in the hospital corridor until the afternoon before taking the bus back to Zhoushan.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works Recently we covered a good deal on Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti graphics card which was on sale for just over $350. In case you missed out on the deal, then here's another offer you will probably like to know. We have the RX 9070 XT from the opposite camp also on sale at the moment for $800 and you also g...
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works Recently we covered a good deal on Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti graphics card which was on sale for just over $350. In case you missed out on the deal, then here's another offer you will probably like to know. We have the RX 9070 XT from the opposite camp also on sale at the moment for $800 and you also get a 1000 watt PSU alongside it. So if you are looking to build a new gaming PC, grab this combo deal as you do save money (purchase link under the specs tables down below). The variant in question is Sapphire's beefy Nitro+ models which is one of the best 9070 XT variants out there. These GPU competes with the likes of RTX 5070 Ti in general rasterization and in ray tracing it beats the RTX 5070, making it a solid 1440p gaming card. Plus there is 16GB of VRAM so you need not worry about oversaturating the buffer, at least not at 1440p or even at 4K. Alongside that you get a Rosewill 1000-watt 80+ Gold SMPS. The technical specs of the Sapphire Nitro+ RX 9070 XT are given in the table below: Specification Value GPU Architecture AMD RDNA™ 4 Compute Units 64 (3rd Gen RT + 2nd Gen AI Accelerators) Stream Processors 4096 Ray Accelerators 64 AI Accelerators 128 Infinity Cache 64 MB Game Clock Up to 2520 MHz Boost Clock Up to 3060 MHz Memory Size / Bus 16 GB GDDR6 / 256-bit Memory Clock 20 Gbps Effective Interface PCI Express® 5.0 x16 Outputs 2 × HDMI® 2.1a, 2 × DisplayPort™ 2.1a Maximum Resolution 7680 × 4320 (HDMI & DP) Multi-Display Support Up to 4 displays Cooling Solution Tri-X Cooling Technology, AeroCurve Fan Blade, Free Flow, Integrated Cooling Module, Optimized Composite Heatpipes, Dual Ball Bearing Fans Board Power 330 W Typical Power Connector 12V-2x6 (H++) with included 3×8-pin adapter Recommended PSU Minimum 850 W Form Factor ATX, 3.2-slot Dimensions 330.8 × 128.5 × 65.68 mm The technical specifications of the Rosewill VMG 1000W 80+ Gold PSU are given in the table bel...
One War & Five Scenarios To End It Authored by Amir Taheri, With the war between the Israel-US duo and the Islamic Republic in Iran entering its fourth week, two questions are asked in policy circles across the world . The first is: how long will it last? The answer is: how long is a piece of string? Which means: because no one knows, no speculation is warranted. The second question may be beyond ...
One War & Five Scenarios To End It Authored by Amir Taheri, With the war between the Israel-US duo and the Islamic Republic in Iran entering its fourth week, two questions are asked in policy circles across the world . The first is: how long will it last? The answer is: how long is a piece of string? Which means: because no one knows, no speculation is warranted. The second question may be beyond a journalist's bailiwick: how does it end? As one of my mentors in journalism taught so many decades ago, we had better leave history to historians and guessing the future to futurologists. However, using a dose of sophistry, one might claim that op-eds represent a hybrid form of journalism that allows a measure of exemption from the mentor's rule through pontification. With that admittedly lame excuse, one could imagine five scenarios in which this war might terminate. The first is for President Donald Trump to do what he has done many times: declare victory and move to something else. When the US started firing Tomahawk missiles at Iran last month, many hoped it would be a quick, surgical operation, similar to last June's strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, allowing Trump to offer footage showing such sites as Natanz, Isfahan and Heron Mountain turned into a pile of rubble. However, we are now told by many, including the IAEA's Director Rafael Grossi, that Iran has many unidentified sites spread all over the country. Moreover, no one knows where Tehran is hiding its 400 kilograms of enriched uranium that could be upgraded to build nuclear warheads within a short time. In that scenario, Trump wouldn't be able to declare victory without Grossi giving Iran a clean bill of health. And that would put Trump in the same spot that four of his predecessors were when Hans Blix, Mohamed ElBaradei and Yukio Amano ran the IAEA and refused to say whether or not Iraq, and later Iran, were building the bomb. Thus the first scenario appears too dicey. The second scenario is for Trum...
The European Central Bank is on alert for the fallout on prices from the Iran war, Vice President Luis de Guindos told El Mundo newspaper. “We are ready to respond as necessary,” he was cited as saying. “Of course, we are concerned by the situation. Monetary policy cannot prevent the war from having an initial impact on both inflation and growth, but the ECB can monitor the situation and be alert ...
The European Central Bank is on alert for the fallout on prices from the Iran war, Vice President Luis de Guindos told El Mundo newspaper. “We are ready to respond as necessary,” he was cited as saying. “Of course, we are concerned by the situation. Monetary policy cannot prevent the war from having an initial impact on both inflation and growth, but the ECB can monitor the situation and be alert to potential second-round effects.” In the interview published Monday on the ECB’s website, Guindos stressed that “at the next Governing Council meeting in April, we will have more data on the conflict, which is the main source of uncertainty, and we will decide from there.” Other ECB policymakers including Germany’s Joachim Nagel and Ireland’s Gabriel Makhlouf indicated on Friday that the ECB will need to consider hiking interest rates as soon as the April 29-30 gathering if price pressures build further . That meeting will be Guindos’s final one, as the Spaniard’s eight-year term finishes at the end of May. That means his country — the euro zone’s fourth biggest — will be off the Executive Board until at least next year, when three seats including that of President Christine Lagarde become vacant. Pablo Hernández de Cos , who was Spain top central banker until mid-2024, is seen as one of the front-runners to succeed Lagarde, though his government hasn’t put forward his name so far. “Pablo was a very good governor and is now at the BIS,” Guindos said. “He would be a fine candidate, but it’s the government that understands the circumstances and knows how to best play its hand.” Guindos was part of the Spain’s conservative cabinet before joining the ECB in 2018 and de Cos was nominated by his successor as economy minister. That government was voted out of office in the same year, and the Socialists — led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez — have held power since. Given that political backdrop, it’s unclear if Sanchez’s government would nominate de Cos for an ECB post. “Above an...
China’s top battery makers have gained more than $70bn in market capitalisation since the US and Israel attacked Iran, highlighting Upgrade to read this Financial Times article and get so much more. A Silver or Gold subscription plan is required to access premium news articles.
China’s top battery makers have gained more than $70bn in market capitalisation since the US and Israel attacked Iran, highlighting Upgrade to read this Financial Times article and get so much more. A Silver or Gold subscription plan is required to access premium news articles.
China’s sweeping overhaul of insurance accounting is making balance sheets clearer, but also more volatile. A 2026 deadline has taken effect requiring insurers to adopt new international standards , aimed at giving investors and regulators a clearer view of financial health. But the transition has proved disruptive, with some companies reporting sharp swings in profits and net assets while still p...
China’s sweeping overhaul of insurance accounting is making balance sheets clearer, but also more volatile. A 2026 deadline has taken effect requiring insurers to adopt new international standards , aimed at giving investors and regulators a clearer view of financial health. But the transition has proved disruptive, with some companies reporting sharp swings in profits and net assets while still producing financial statements under legacy rules.
Most Japanese people oppose sending warships to the Middle East in response to the war on Iran , according to two polls conducted over the weekend amid continued US pressure on allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. In a Yomiuri newspaper survey, 67 per cent voiced opposition to sending the nation’s Self-Defence Forces to the region, while an ANN poll showed 52 per cent against their deployme...
Most Japanese people oppose sending warships to the Middle East in response to the war on Iran , according to two polls conducted over the weekend amid continued US pressure on allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. In a Yomiuri newspaper survey, 67 per cent voiced opposition to sending the nation’s Self-Defence Forces to the region, while an ANN poll showed 52 per cent against their deployment. The polls also showed elevated approval ratings for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ’s cabinet, at 71 per cent and 65.2 per cent respectively, with a comfortable majority positively evaluating the outcome of Takaichi’s talks with US President Donald Trump on Thursday. Advertisement Takaichi avoided a showdown with Trump over Japan ’s support for securing the strait, but the president continued to pressure Tokyo to do its part. Most of the East Asian nation’s oil imports depend on the waterway, which has been effectively blocked. Trump and Takaichi talk in the Oval Office of the White House on Saturday. Photo: White House/Planet Pix/Zuma Press Wire/dpa The prime minister said she explained to Trump that while Japan was willing to contribute to the efforts, there were limits to what it can do due to legal constraints. Still, Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi indicated at the weekend that the sending of minesweepers after a ceasefire could be considered.
格隆汇3月23日｜NLI Research Institute经济学家Tsuyoshi Ueno表示，短期内日本10年期国债收益率仍有进一步上升的空间，但主要的预测情况是，春季期间油价将趋于稳定，从而缓解通胀担忧。“即便如此，有关日本央行加息以及央行减少购买国债的猜测仍可能持续存在。因此，我们预计在三个月的时间范围内，收益率相对于当前水平将基本保持平稳。”他说道。在一种风险情景中，如果长期的敌对状...
格隆汇3月23日｜NLI Research Institute经济学家Tsuyoshi Ueno表示，短期内日本10年期国债收益率仍有进一步上升的空间，但主要的预测情况是，春季期间油价将趋于稳定，从而缓解通胀担忧。“即便如此，有关日本央行加息以及央行减少购买国债的猜测仍可能持续存在。因此，我们预计在三个月的时间范围内，收益率相对于当前水平将基本保持平稳。”他说道。在一种风险情景中，如果长期的敌对状态导致能源价格持续上涨并加剧通胀担忧，10年期国债收益率可能会升至 2.5%。