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I made millions out of the last debt crisis. Now the wealthy stand to win again | Gary Stevenson

We urgently need a fairer tax system so that rich people like me help solve the fallout from coronavirus, not just profit from it


• Gary Stevenson is an economist and former interest rate trader

I made my first million the year Greece went under. I was 24 years old at the time.

I’d attended a presentation given by one of Citibank’s senior economists, in which he explained that government debts of the world’s major economies had grown to dangerous levels, and were continuing to grow. He warned that markets could stop lending to some of these governments, forcing a devastating round of austerity on to already battered economies.

If we repeat 2008, buying a house with one’s own wages will be a thing of the past

Related: Don't expect a snapback for the UK economy after lockdown is lifted | Larry Elliott

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Never Rarely Sometimes Always review – tough, realist abortion drama | Peter Bradshaw's film of the week

A teenager bonds awkwardly with her cousin as they take the bus from a rural community to New York so that she can have a termination

The four words in this title are the four possible replies to bureaucratic tick-box questions about the frequency of your various sexual experiences. A young woman here must answer them, before she is allowed to have an abortion. However rigid and blandly routine it seems, the four-part answer grid is cleverly designed to get information about vulnerability: it is so easy instinctively and evasively to deny a difficult question structured as a yes/no, but much harder to check the “never” box, when “rarely”, “sometimes” and “always” are coolly offered as equivalently non-judgmental options.

The lead character in Eliza Hittman’s tough, realist drama is confronted with this central, four-part inquisition about her life in one brilliantly controlled, enigmatic scene. Theoretically, it is just a bit of form-filling that doesn’t appear to promise any real revelation to the audience. Yet it does just that, delivering a penny-drop moment of realisation. Or perhaps it’s more of an ambiguous hint and all the more disquieting for that.

Related: Sleazy bosses, exploited barmaids: US cinema finally discovers the left behinds

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Romantic Comedy review – our love affair with the romcom

Elizabeth Sankey’s engaging documentary reclaims the genre from snooty cinephiles – and proudly pronounces When Harry Met Sally a masterpiece

With affection and brio, Elizabeth Sankey reclaims the genre of romantic comedy in this watchable documentary; that is, she reclaims it from the gendered snobbery of white, male, middle-aged reviewers who fall over themselves to praise horror movies or thrillers or superhero films but turn their noses up at romcom. (If La La Land had been marketed as a romcom, wonders Sankey, would it have got the same Oscars and saucer-eyed critical praise?)

Now, I’m putting my hands up here, although I still can’t handle Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday (2006), and I still worry that romcom tends to be all rom and no com, a conservative genre that often dislikes the subversion of comedy. I absolutely agreed with Sankey’s masterpiece rating for When Harry Met Sally … (1989) – what person of taste and judgment wouldn’t? – and I enjoyed her praise for While You Were Sleeping (1995), which she discreetly juxtaposes with the comparably themed The Big Sick (2017). But could it be that there is a kind of dual response going on here – straightforward reverence for a small number of romcom greats and a kind of guilty-pleasure celebration for the stratum of standard-issue romcom product below that, which maybe isn’t all that great but nonetheless foregrounds women’s experiences in the way no other genre does?

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Kehlani: It Was Good Until It Wasn't review – talent shines in pansexual soap opera

(Atlantic)
The singer whose personal life has become a public spectacle drowns out the noise with these bold yet subtle R&B tracks

By anyone’s standards, Kehlani Parrish has experienced a pretty tumultuous rise to fame. She pulled off the not-inconsiderable feat of emerging from a TV talent show with her musical credibility intact. While still a teenager, her cover band PopLyfe reached the final of America’s Got Talent – on YouTube you can still see her belting out We Will Rock You for the edification of Piers Morgan – but when they failed to win, she quit the band, declined an offer from the show’s host Nick Cannon to join a rap group he was assembling and rescued herself from a life of penury by releasing her own mixtape.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

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Beethoven, Brahms review - Sokolov finds radical Beethoven

Grigory Sokolov
(Deutsche Grammophon, 2 CDs, 1 DVD)
He last gave a concert in the UK in 2007, so any opportunity to hear one of the world’s finest pianists is welcome, though this is uneven

For over a decade now, the British government’s stringent visa requirements for visiting musicians from outside the EU have ensured that Grigory Sokolov has not played in Britain. The Russian gave his last recitals here in 2007, and as he no longer performs concertos, and shuns studio recordings, opportunities to hear a pianist who many regard as one of the finest alive today get fewer by the year. This compilation at least brings us more or less up to date, with performances taken from recitals that Sokolov gave in 2019 in Zaragoza, Wuppertal and in the Tyrolean village of Rabbi, where the great Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli had a house, and where a festival is now held in his memory.

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Brassic series two review – lewd, crude ... and totally brilliant

Vinnie and the gang decide to rob a circus, as Joseph Gilgun’s hit comedy – part-Shameless, part-Ocean’s Eleven – returns for a second run

At first glance, Brassic (Sky One) looks as if it might have been the first quarantine comedy. The second series begins with Vinnie (Joseph Gilgun) skulking around the fictional Lancashire town of Hawley in full DIY hazmat get-up, with his hood up over a hat, a scarf pulled over his face, and sunglasses, despite the weather being a near-permanent state of grey drizzle. It even goes a bit Tiger King, when a robbery takes an unexpected feline turn.

But Brassic is only accidentally of the moment: there’s far too much non-social-distancing going on, for a start. It was filmed last year, while the first series was airing, and it became Sky’s biggest original comedy in years. That’s no surprise. It had an easy appeal and a raucous sense of humour, with real heart behind the madcap antics.

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Blake Mills: Mutable Set review – an ethereal journey into pop's avant garde

(New Deal)
With his fourth solo album the acclaimed producer faces down the confusion of modern life with intoxicating calm

Blake Mills has picked up Grammy nominations for his production work on Laura Marling’s Semper Femina, John Legend’s Darkness and Light and Perfume Genius’s No Shape. However, the fourth solo album by the 33-year old Californian former touring guitarist should turn the spotlight towards his own work. Mutable Set is intended as a “soundtrack to the emotional dissonance of modern life”. Themes range from precious people and experiences to disappointment and isolation, though this isn’t conventional singer-songwriter fare.

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Place: Ecuador review – a wild night in Quito

(Air Texture)
Shuffling Mestizo melodies meet eerie techno in this stellar compilation taken from Ecuador’s pulsating club scene

While most would name Colombia as the home of South America’s forward-thinking club scene, neighbouring Ecuador has quietly been carving out its own dancefloor identity in recent years. The country has produced breakout talents such as DJ Nicola Cruz and home-grown labels like ZZK and Wonderwheel Recordings, operating under the social restrictions of a largely Catholic state and in the midst of devastating austerity measures. Most of its key players reside in Quito, and bring together a community at the capital’s inclusive nights, including Cruz’s La Sagraria.

Often marked by downtempo, undulating house rhythms and samples of Andean pan flutes and instruments such as the lute-like charango, their output is organic-sounding. Yet Place: Ecuador, a new charity compilation, showcases a grittier and more kinetic side to the scene. It’s the fourth release in New York label Air Texture’s location-specific charity series (previous editions have covered Georgia, Colombia and the Netherlands), benefiting the indigenous Waorani people’s legal battles against the Ecuadorian government’s sale of their land for mineral rights.

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The pubs have gone – so why are we drinking as much as ever? | Zoe Williams

People who love boozers always said it was the atmosphere, not the alcohol, that attracted them. The lockdown has proved us right

Some forgotten heroes – or mistreated victims, if you prefer – of the coronavirus outbreak are pubs. People who love pubs always said it was the atmosphere, not the alcohol, and people who didn’t love them thought we were just spinning them a line. Now we have proof, because we are drinking as much as we ever did and yet we complain almost constantly.

That debate has ended, anyway, because the people who miss pubs now talk only to each other. We start off complaining about the pub, then segue, almost shyly, into: “Are you managing to drink quite a lot?” “Jesus Christ, you should see the state of my recycling bin. It only got collected two days ago. Today I had to climb into it to compress the cans with my body weight.” “I actually can’t carry as much beer as I want to drink,” said one friend. “One night, I ended up buying a bottle of gin.”

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

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Reversal of GST

I have taken input of GST on March, 19 and paid to the supplier on March,2020. I have also file our 3B return till Jan,2020 without any reversal of ITC.As i am the defaulter of not payment to supplier within 180 days what can i do now. What should be the action taken by me now.




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Bank Audit Revision notes - CA Inter students

Bank audit revision notes by CA Ekta Shah prepared from ICAI Module covering all questions




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SBI ONE INDIA FUND - GROWTH (PREVIOUSLY CLOSE ENDED UPTO 14/01/2010)

Category Growth
NAV 10.43
Repurchase Price 10.33
Sale Price 10.43
Date 10-Aug-2012




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SBI ONE INDIA FUND - DIVIDEND (PREVIOUSLY CLOSE ENDED UPTO 14/01/2010)

Category Growth
NAV 10.43
Repurchase Price 10.33
Sale Price 10.43
Date 10-Aug-2012




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Every CA Aspirant Must Follow This Mantra

Every CA Aspirant Must Follow This Mantra | CA Kapil Malhotra | Josh Talks




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Starcom: Nexus, and What It’s Like to Live with an Indie Game Developer

Today Kevin’s game, Starcom: Nexus, releases in Early Access on Steam. It’s a thing of beauty, and also a lot of fun. If you like games that take you into outer space where you get to explore mysterious worlds, build a powerful ship, and explode bad guys, you should buy it, and play it, and let your gamer friends know about it. Yes, I’m biased, but reviewers and streamers  - who are not his spouse  - also love it :o). (FYI those last two links go to youtube streaming vids.)



***

Conversation at the dinner table:

Kevin: How was your day?

Me: Okay, I guess. I still can’t figure out how to get this girl to accidentally set her house on fire, then cause an explosion and get stuck in a window grille.

Kevin: I believe in you.

Me: Thank you. How was your day?

Kevin: Okay. When my enemy ships get within a certain distance of each other, they spontaneously explode.

Me: Oh!

Kevin: It’s not supposed to happen. It’s a bug.

Me: Oh.

Kevin: I can’t figure it out.

Me: I believe in you!

***


There are a lot of similarities between the work Kevin and I do. We both create complicated worlds with characters and plots. We’re both entertainers.

Meet your commander.

We have some processes in common: for example, we both study the books/games we love, then try to learn from them. We both think about the things we don’t like in other books/games, then try to come up with alternatives we prefer. We both know how to wear the creator hat; then switch to the reader/gamer hat, reading/playing our own project with a critical eye; then go back to the creator hat to fix what isn’t working. We’re both extremely familiar with the phenomenon wherein you change one little thing, then a ripple effect passes through the entire work, complicating/breaking things in ways you didn’t anticipate.

Meet the Ulooquo, an underwater alien race.

We can also get similarly overwhelmed by our own projects. I’ve talked a lot on the blog about how a book has many parts, and writing a book involves many jobs. Well, a game has SO many parts. It has music and art, visual effects, numerous interfaces, plot and character, mysteries and rewards. It must be able to support and absorb the choices of individual gamers, over which the creator has no control. It has SO many (literally) moving parts!



We also both work by ourselves for years on self-directed projects… then put our creations out into the world, hoping they’ll find the people who will love them.

These similarities are deep. They help us to understand each other’s frustrations and joys, and support each other meaningfully. This is awesome. However, I want to talk a little bit about the differences, which are many.

For example, in my writing career, I have an agent. She connects me to an editor who helps me craft the right words. Then, my editor works with my publisher to create a beautiful physical book, publicize and market that book, and sell that book for me.

An indie game developer, on the other hand, does everything himself, in an extremely saturated market with a lot of roadblocks. He can hire other people to help. Kevin hired a composer and an artist, to help him with his music and his characters (like the Commander and the Ulooquo above). He hired a marketing consultant to do a few things too. But he worked closely with those people, because he knew exactly what he wanted. And everything else has been the work of his own hands. He’s done SO much marketing and publicity work on his own that’s made me appreciate my own marketing and publicity departments even more than I did before. Self-promotion in a saturated market is really, really hard. It’s also stressful for a guy who happens to be humble and was raised with the good-old New England ethos of not bragging about himself :o).

Here’s another big difference: Kevin can release his game while it’s still in production, then use the feedback from early players to shape it and make it better. He can write code into the game that allows him to see how long players play; where they decide to drop out of the game; which options are being chosen more often than others. (He receives this information anonymously, in case you’re starting to worry that he can actually tell what you’re doing inside his game!) As a writer, I definitely don’t know where someone decides to abandon my book. Nor do I want to know, because once people are reading my book, it’s final! If everyone is bailing at a certain point, there’s nothing I can do about it. The words in my book are not going to change. Kevin’s game is more of a living, growing creature, even after it releases, and based on player reactions.

Another big difference is that while I am a wordsmith, Kevin is a programmer. A lot of the time, when I step into his office, he’s working with programming language on his many screens, and I don’t understand the smallest bit of it. My readers read my actual words. His gamers play a game built on a framework of programming that looks and feels very different from the actual game. He also works with a lot of complicated software (like, for 3D modeling) and does a lot of math. He uses trigonometry to [I just asked him to explain it and he said something about spaceships shooting at each other, vectors, and cosines. ???]. I can come home and tell him practically everything I struggled with at work that day. A lot of what he does is too technical for me to understand—though he is really good at creating analogies and explaining things to me when I ask (and when I'm not rushing to finish a blog post!).

Another difference is that he is a visual artist. For example, he created Entarq's Citadel below, which is one of the worlds his gamers get to explore.


Here's another.


Another difference:  I can do my work anywhere. All I need is my notebook and a pen. Kevin needs his fancy computer and his big monitors. So he works from home. Home office and self-employed means he’s working most of the time. Most mornings, he’s working by the time I get out of bed. By the time I leave for my office, he’s put hours in. I come home and he’s making me dinner; after dinner, he works for a few more hours. I go away on trips without him; he works while I’m gone! I always thought I worked really hard. I have a new standard now.

And now his work has created this beautiful, fun game that’s getting really positive attention from gamers and streamers :o). Today, you can buy it in Early Access, and become one of the players who contributes to what it will ultimately become.

And that's my little explanation of what it's like to live with an indie game developer. Check out the links if you’re interested! The trailer is below.




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Like Totally Whatever

Here are two vids. Watch them in order: Taylor Mali, then Melissa Lozada-Oliva. ♥










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A new short story by Steven Moffat

A new short story by Steven Moffat, "Terror Of The Umpty Ums".




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May 2, 2020: Subscribe To The Steve Jackson Games Newsletter!

Would you like to receive information on new games, special events, and important news? Subscribe to our newsletter and you will start receiving a few emails every month where we highlight the latest games and expansions, and (at times) direct you to our crowdfunding campaigns.

The newsletter is just one way to stay in touch with us. For other options, including links to our various social-media channels, visit this page on our site.

Subscribe to the newsletter today!



Warehouse 23 News: Keep Watching The Skies!

The truth is revealed; UFOs are real! And they may have plans! GURPS Monster Hunters 5: Applied Xenology is your guide to bringing a new threat to GURPS Monster Hunters heroes: the terrors of science! Fight aliens, unleash technomagic, become a different kind of champion, and more. Danger is just a download away from Warehouse 23!




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How Much Should You Write Every Day?

This is too honest by far, and I wonder if it is perhaps unhelpful for me to talk openly about. Vulnerable is hard. But, I would have loved to have read this years ago, so let’s do this: I want to talk about how much I write, and my current experiment of writing 500 words… Continue reading How Much Should You Write Every Day?




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"Never Rarely Sometimes Always": New Film Follows Teenager's Perilous Journey to Access Abortion

As multiple states have moved to further restrict access to abortions during the pandemic, a powerful new dramatic film follows a 17-year-old girl as she travels from her small town in Pennsylvania to New York City to get an abortion without having to notify her parents. "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" director and writer Eliza Hittman joins us to discuss the making of the film, which is being distributed online while cinemas remain closed in most states due to the pandemic.




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Tara Reade's Ex-Neighbor on Biden Sexual Assault Allegation: I Believed Her Then & I Believe Her Now

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden denied sexual assault allegations against him on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday, breaking his silence after weeks of mounting pressure to respond to claims put forward by former staffer Tara Reade, who says he sexually assaulted her in 1993. In a statement, Biden said, "I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago. They aren't true. This never happened." Tara Reade first came forward with her allegations in March, saying Biden pushed her up against a wall and digitally penetrated her. In a Democracy Now! broadcast exclusive, we speak with Reade's former neighbor Lynda LaCasse, who says that Reade told her about the encounter and described it in detail in the 1990s. LaCasse is a lifelong Democrat and Biden supporter. She says of Tara Reade, "I believe her 100%." We also speak with investigative journalist Rich McHugh, who first interviewed LaCasse for Business Insider.




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"A Terrible Price": Mardi Gras Story Lays Bare How COVID-19 Is Devastating Black America

We look at the deadly disparate impact of the pandemic on African Americans as told through an in-depth story for The New York Times Magazine by writer Linda Villarosa in her new piece, "'A Terrible Price': The Deadly Racial Disparities of Covid-19 in America," that tells what happened to the Zulu club, a Black social organization in New Orleans, during and after Mardi Gras. She reports that the experience is usually a joy, but the coronavirus made it a tragedy.




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Antimatter Discovery Reveals Clues about the Universe's Beginning

New evidence from neutrinos points to one of several theories about why the cosmos is made of matter and not antimatter

-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com




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'Spider-Man' Immune Response May Promote Severe COVID-19

Clinical trials have begun to test drugs that counter toxic molecular webs linked to lung distress

-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com




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Physicists Criticize Stephen Wolfram's 'Theory of Everything'

The iconoclastic researcher and entrepreneur wants more attention for his big ideas. But so far researchers are less than receptive

-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com




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Preliminary Class 8 truck orders see lowest order levels in years

Preliminary North American Class 8 truck orders saw steep declines, driven on by the impact of COVID-19, or coronavirus, according to recent data issued respectively freight transportation consultancy FTR and ACT Research, a provider of data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles.




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Postal Service sees fiscal second quarter revenue gain and further net losses

Quarterly revenue—at $17.8 billion—headed up $348 million on an annual basis. But, despite the revenue gain, volume declined, falling 2.3% to 34,013 total pieces, and total operating expenses—at $22.3 billion—were up$2.8 billion, or 14.2%.




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the company of deviants




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Even the animals are losing it




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I putz u on pedestal and luvs u furevr




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Human probably won't even notice




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WORST STAR WARS OPENING CREDITS EVER




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GSTR-3B Nil return to be filed vide SMS Facility and filing for Companies through EVC

GSTR-3B Nil return to be filed vide SMS Facility and filing for Companies through EVC...




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Revised GSTR-3B for UT of JandK and Ladakh

Revised GSTR-3B for UT of J&K and Ladakh...




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An Autumn for Crippled Children - All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet [2020]

Дата релиза: 01.05.2020

uploaded by st.liar

Список треков:
01. I Became You
02. Water's Edge
03. Everlasting
04. Paths
05. Silver
06. None More Pale
07. All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet
08. The Failing Senses
09. Craving Silence
10. Distance

Скачать и обсудить альбом здесь




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Иван Дорн & Seven Davis Jr. - Numbers [2020]

Дата релиза: 12.04.2020

uploaded by JohnnyKnoxsville

Список треков:
01. Numbers
02. Poisoned
03. Heart Jail
04. Yes, I Do
05. Ivan's Favorite

Скачать и обсудить EP здесь




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Pühapäevahommikune looduselamus, Sweet nature experience on sunday morning

Äratuskell oli mul sellel hommikul pandud kella viieks, kuid selle abi ma ei vajanudki. Kerge ärevus ja põnevus eelseisva hommiku osas oli teinud oma töö – ärkasin kellata. Mul oli plaan minna varahommikusele metsatiirule ja sellel hommikul lootsin kohata just karu! Kuidagi tunne oli selline, et vot nüüd on küll õige aeg! Eks oma osa […]




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Week in Review: Women on the front lines of Covid-19, lifting France's lockdown and homemade homages to art

FRANCE 24 takes a three-part look at the women on the front lines of the Covid-19 fight in France and examines the details of the government plan to start lifting lockdown on May 11. We also spoke with Iceland's prime minister about her country's response to the pandemic and examined how art lovers, barred from museum visits, are recreating famous paintings in their homes. 




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Week in Review: Covid-19 prisoner releases, how a pandemic affects film and the Rance Valley

This week we took a look at Iran's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the troubles that lie ahead for prisoners on early release due to the coronavirus and China's "mask diplomacy". We also investigate how Covid-19 is affecting the French cinema industry and the role of US forces in the Sahel region's war on terror. 




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Everything You Knew About Dinosaurs Was WRONG

Misconception: T-Rex was king of the dinosaurs. WRONG. Dinosaurs had no king. Rather than establishing a traditional monarchy, they adopted a parliamentary republic with citizen-initiated referenda.




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D&D's The Tomb of Horror, except every player is operating a bulldozer

The goons of BYOB take on an all-time classic dungeon with a slightly adjusted equipment list. What's the CR adjustment on a bulldozer anyway? So the boss should have *scribbles* 2d6+6 slimes now, hmm... with +1 hardhats, yeah! *scribbles*.




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EVERYMAN: A Product from Unilever™

You don't want it, but brother, we've got it! Give us your money! Now! NOW!!





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Unemployment rate in the United States reaches highest level since Great Depression

The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record. The figures are stark evidence of the damage the coronavirus has done to a now-shattered economy.




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Investigation: Videos reveal location of mass drowning on Iran-Afghan border

Dozens of Afghan migrants are feared dead after Iranian border guards allegedly forced them into a river on the Iran-Afghan border on May 1. Of the 57 men and boys in the group only 12 are known to have survived. One of the survivors told the France 24 Observers team that he and the others were arrested and tortured by guards from an Iranian border post overlooking the Harirud river. His account, along with amateur videos circulating on social media in Afghanistan, allowed the Observers team to pinpoint the location of the Iranian border post. 



  • On The Observers

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Kim Jong Un is not believed to have had surgery, says S. Korea

South Korea's assessment is that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not have surgery, local news outlet Yonhap said, citing an unidentified senior official at presidential Blue House.