Police say they are "fighting a losing battle" over enforcing the lockdown after "hundreds" turned out in parks across east London to enjoy picnics in the sunshine.

The lead singer of U.S. rock band Guns N' Roses and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have engaged in an escalating social-media exchange that's gone viral

Not enough plot to stop viewers asking: 'Is that all?'

The 'Biospherians' in Biosphere 2 tried to recreate in miniature everything needed to survive on Earth

Comedian takes on air travel, restaurants, ball games and other pastimes of the distant past that was 2019

The company has faced criticism in recent years for its handling of issues ranging from user privacy to policing hate speech to stopping the spread of disinformation.

The track is the Mumbai-based acoustic outfit’s first release this year

The post Exclusive Premiere: See ANC Become One with Nature in New Video For ‘Be Alright’ appeared first on My Site.

Brenda Francis settled into the Kingdom Hall in Calhoun, Georgia, in mid-March, surrounded by dozens of familiar faces. Signs cautioning against shaking hands and hugging were posted around the room. It felt weird to her but was certainly understandable with the threat of an outbreak looming. She herself already had stocked up on some masks and gloves.When it came time for members to comment on the Bible readings, Francis noticed the microphones typically passed around the room were now attached to the end of long poles.That was the moment Francis, a 69-year-old widow living in a small, semirural community in the South, realized just how dramatically the coronavirus pandemic was about to reshape her spiritual life, more than anything ever had in the 47 years since she was baptized as a Jehovah's Witness.A few days after the boom mics came out in the Kingdom Hall, word came down from the group's headquarters that, in the interest of safety, Jehovah's Witnesses should stop witnessing, its practice of in-person attempts at converting people to the group."People would be so receptive right now," she said of her ministry, "and we can't knock on doors."Across the country, most religious groups have stopped coming together in large numbers to pray and hold services, in keeping with stay-at-home orders. They have improvised with online preaching and even drive-in services as the faithful sit in cars. Mormons have stopped going door to door in the United States and called home many missionaries working abroad.Jehovah's Witnesses -- with 1.3 million U.S. members who hand out brochures on sidewalks and subway platforms and ring doorbells -- are one of the most visible religious groups in the nation. Members are called on to share Scriptures in person with nonmembers, warning of an imminent Armageddon and hoping to baptize them with the prospect of living forever.The decision to stop their ministries was the first of its kind in the nearly 150 years of the group's existence. It followed anguished discussions at Watchtower headquarters, with leaders deciding March 20 that knocking on doors would leave the impression that members were disregarding the safety of those they hoped to convert."This was not an easy decision for anybody," said Robert Hendriks, the group's U.S. spokesman. "As you know, our ministry is our life."It was for Francis, who became a Jehovah's Witness when she was in her 20s with a newborn and a member knocked on her door in Tennessee and persuaded her to attend a Kingdom Hall meeting. She converted. Her family was angry that she no longer came to holiday gatherings; the group doesn't believe in celebrating holidays or birthdays. Jehovah's Witnesses became her new family.The more she studied the Bible, the more she came to believe it led to eternal life. She needed to spread the word.Showing up cold on someone's doorstep didn't come naturally. She was so shy that once, she recalled, her high school principal -- "this huge Goliath guy" -- stood on her foot in a crowded hallway; she didn't say a word but waited in pain for him to move. She had considered a career going door to door as a Mason Shoes saleswoman, but after receiving a catalog, she never mustered the courage to even try to make a sale.To her, witnessing was different. Her faith had helped her stop smoking. It gave her meaning. She had seen people clean up their lives after attending meetings at Kingdom Hall."By the time I did go to doors, I was so convinced this was the right thing to do that I had no nervousness," Francis said.Through the years, she learned to build her pitch around a theme -- a Bible verse or a current event -- and tried not to sound rehearsed."You don't want to sound like a robot," she said. "You work from the heart. You want enthusiasm."Early this year, Francis had been seeing reports on Facebook about the virus sweeping through Wuhan, China. The host of a show she watched on YouTube, Peak Prosperity, had been warning that the outbreak could spread internationally.She bought masks and face shields, just in case. She started using plastic grocery bags to cover the gas pump handle when she filled up her tank.By early March, the virus still hadn't hit Gordon County, where Francis lives. But the possibility was weighing on her mind. The message on her favorite YouTube show was getting more dire as the host, Chris Martenson, a financial guru-turned-pandemic early warner, ratcheted up his pleadings for viewers to prepare themselves.Francis' 27-year-old granddaughter has a compromised immune system. As a senior citizen, she herself was vulnerable. She did what she always has done and channeled her own feelings into her door-knocking ministry. Do you think, she would ask people as she carpooled with other members to canvass the county, that the virus is a sign of the end of the world?"No one was paying much attention," she said.Elsewhere, in places like New York where infections were starting to climb, Jehovah's Witnesses members were feeling the pinch on their ministries.One of them, Joe Babsky, had been easing into conversations with members of his Planet Fitness gym in the Bronx for weeks. He knew them by first name only: Jerry, who had lost more than 100 pounds; Jason, who seemed to spend an hour on each body part; Bernie, a 78-year-old who was more fit than men half his age. Babsky had shown a few of them Bible verses and had made progress recently with Bernie discussing the logic behind the existence of an intelligent creator.Then the gym closed."All those conversations and others were cut short," Babsky said.Life continued as normal in Francis' town of Calhoun. She was convinced things were about to change, but she was too embarrassed to wear a mask -- until an encounter in Costco when a passing shopper coughed without covering her mouth.In mid-March, her Kingdom Hall meetings went virtual. Members logged into Zoom to share Bible Scriptures. Francis settled on one that she thought would resonate as she knocked on doors in her neighborhood across the county, which had by then registered a handful of COVID-19 cases.At the doorstep, Francis would start her pitch by asking people if they could make one thing in the world go away, what would it be? If the answer had to do with the pandemic, she would recite a couple of verses from the book of Luke:"There will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another food shortages and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs."All the signs were clear, she would announce. Armageddon was near. Her message finally seemed to be resonating with people.And then she got word to stop knocking on doors."This has been so much a part of our lives, so it was like, wow," she said. "I have often envisioned in paradise where going door to door would not be a thing because everyone knows God."This was not paradise.But Francis was convinced that the end of the world was not far away. There were just too many signs, she said. And so she and many other Jehovah's Witnesses members were more compelled than ever to witness any way they could. Many began writing letters or making phone calls to anyone whose numbers they had managed to collect before the pandemic hit.Masked and gloved, Francis hands out pamphlets and cards with her phone number on them to fellow shoppers at the grocery store.Last week, she sent a text to a woman in Hawkinsville, Georgia, a few miles away, whom she had been contacting from time to time. The woman said her restaurant had to close because of the pandemic and her brother-in-law was sick with the virus. A couple of days later he died.Francis texted Scriptures to the woman and told her that soon all the sickness on Earth would be over; all sins would be forgiven; paradise was near.The next day she received a written response: "Thank you so much for the information. It was such a comfort."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. has signed an agreement to secure most of the payload mass on a Firefly Aerospace rocket that's due to lift off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2021. The agreement, announced today, establishes Spaceflight as the mission's anchor customer and commits the company to managing the logistics for multiple payloads on the Firefly Alpha rocket. That should help Firefly maximize use of the rocket's 630-kilogram (1,389-pound) capacity for a launch to sun-synchronous orbit. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is planning to launch the Alpha on its maiden flight from Vandenberg later this year. The company suffered a setback in… Read More

The health of insect populations globally is far more varied than previous research suggested.

For the first time, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane flew free in the skies over New Mexico's Spaceport America, its new base of operations. The SpaceShipTwo plane, known as VSS Unity, has made rocket-powered flights beyond the 50-mile space milestone during tests at California's Mojave Air and Space Port, but today's unpowered test flight was the first to be flown from Spaceport America. "Today's VSS Unity flight is another exciting milestone for Virgin Galactic's progress in New Mexico," Dan Hicks, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, said in a news release. "We are extremely happy and proud of… Read More

Everything is in readiness for the first mission to send humans into orbit from U.S. soil since NASA retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011 – from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that will take two astronauts to the International Space Station, to the parachutes that will bring them back down gently to an Atlantic Ocean splashdown, to the masks that NASA's ground team will wear in Mission Control. The fact that the launch is coming in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has added a weird and somewhat wistful twist to the history-making event. "That certainly is disappointing," NASA… Read More

The third time's the charm for the Allen Institute for Brain Science's 3-D atlas of the mouse brain. Version 3 of the atlas, known as the Allen Mouse Brain Common Coordinate Framework or CCFv3, is the subject of a research paper published today in the journal Cell. It builds on a partial brain map that focused on the mouse cortex and was released in 2016. Previous versions of the atlas were rendered with lower-resolution 3-D maps. The latest high-resolution maps are fine enough to pinpoint the locations of individual brain cells — which is crucial for interpreting datasets that contain thousands… Read More

The largest, brightest full moon in nearly seven decades started to show on Tuesday evening over Europe, Latin America, the US and the Middle East. This year, the supermoon was expected to come nearer to Earth than at any time since 1948, astronomers have said. A supermoon occurs when the timing of a full moon overlaps with the point in the moon's 28-day orbit that is closest to Earth, and about every 14th full moon is a supermoon. If skies are clear, this time the full moon will appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual, according to Nasa

After a string of studies that highlight the possible link between air pollution and Covid-19 deaths, Ian Sample hears from Prof Anna Hansell about the complicated relationship between pollution, health and infection with Sars-CoV-2

Object found in HR 6819 system is the closest to Earth yet known – and is unusually dark

Astronomers say they have discovered a black hole on our doorstep, just 1,000 light years from Earth.

It was found in a system called HR 6819, in the constellation Telescopium.

Mother's Day is coming up, but it doesn't feel quite right for Dawn Degeus. The 39-year-old mother from Ancaster, Ont., will try to celebrate while one of her two kids actively avoids her.

Because the airline industry can monetize literally anything, apparently.

We put Caddy 2.0.0 head to head against a ranking heavyweight, Apache 2.4.41.

A video interview with Canada’s AI secretary general on crisis and opportunity. 

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-Xbox-One-X-1TB-Black-Console-as-is-for-repair-or-parts-only/264227168298

YMMV obviously--I ordered two of these a month ago and they have been running fine for me.  All I had to do was reinstall the newest system update and they have both been fine with no issues.  One system's issue noted was "freezes" and the other was "no video". 

It says he has only 2 in stock, but I bought two a while back and the listing has remained active for the entire time with stock available, so he probably leaves the number low to keep demand going. This is probably a bulk buyer who doesn't extensively troubleshoot the systems.  I am not affiliated with the seller.  Cosmetically, the systems are nice enough to trade in without taking a refurb fee when stores re-open for business.

The Conservative MP Julian Knight chairs the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee and has heard from more than 70 charities about the impact of Covid-19.

Taylor Swift sent a care package to a registered nurse in Utah, Whitney Hilton, who just returned from New York after providing assistance at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center. “I wanted to send you some presents and to let you know I am so grateful for you”, Swift began in her handwritten note, […]

The post Taylor Swift Pens A Thank You Letter To A Nurse Fighting At The Frontlines appeared first on Chart Attack.

Mike Tyson is easily one of the most legendary fighters of all time and despite being 53 years old, there is still an appetite for him to come back to fighting. Recently, Tyson has been posting his training videos where he looks like an absolute menace. His punching power is still scary and even today he […]

The post Mike Tyson Offered $20M To Fight Again appeared first on Chart Attack.

Exes Demi Moore and Bruce Willis’ extended family struck a pose for the new Instagram photo, but with Bruce’s wife Emma and their two daughters missing. Emma and the girls recently joined Bruce in Demi’s Idaho home, just in time to celebrate Evelyn’s 6th birthday. Demi shared a snap with Bruce, their three girls, and […]

The post Bruce Willis’ Wife Emma And Their Two Daughters Are Missing From The Family Photo appeared first on Chart Attack.

Channing Tatum and his ex-wife are in disagreement over their daughter Everly. Jenna claims that Channing had broke lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic and she asked for a court-appointed parenting plan coordinator. Tatum (40) and Dewan (39) divorced in 2018 and had a joint custody agreement in place. Now, Jenna claims that Channing disregarded […]

The post Jenna Dewan Mad At Ex Channing Tatum For Putting Their Daughter At Risk Of CoViD-19 appeared first on Chart Attack.

Students, teachers and community groups are working to ensure that support is still available as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps kids out of school.

In addition to the QAnon accounts, Facebook also removed accounts linked to VDARE, a U.S. website known for posting anti-immigration content.

Alberta is currently the only Canadian jurisdiction to have a contact-tracing app available to download, but several other provinces, including Ontario, B.C. and New Brunswick, have said they are investigating this technology.

IN WHAT has been described as the ‘biggest plot twist since Line of Duty’ this week First Date viewers watched as Oxford’s Blain became the centre of a complicated love quadrangle.

TORONTO - No winning ticket was sold for the $10 million jackpot in Friday night's Lotto Max draw. The jackpot for the next draw on May 12 will be approximately $15 million.

OTTAWA - For years, those living and working in nursing and retirement homes across the country have struggled as overburdened caregivers tried to maintain a basic level of care and dignity for aging and ailing Canadians. It happened behind closed doors, said Carole Estabrooks, a professor in

Stars Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton and Barry Keoghan. 

The post The Green Knight – Official Teaser Trailer appeared first on UKFilmNews.com.

Apropos of ‘The climate conundrum’ (ET, Oct 9), Mukul Sanwal rightly suggests that developing countries should lead in setting the agenda for global technological cooperation.

A trading combination involving Nifty options is gaining prominence among savvy trading desks of institutional investors.

ICICI Bank also approved fundraising of up to Rs 25,000 crore via non-convertible debentures.

The coronavirus pandemic canceled a lot of our plans and reinforced that we need to stop waiting for a right time to do the things we want.