Stephen Flynn has been criticised by SNP colleagues after saying he would stay on at Westminster, even if elected to Holyrood.

The SNP's Westminster leader has announced he is to contest a seat at Holyrood – and will ‘double-job’ as an MP and MSP if he wins.

A film about a campaign to ban greyhound racing in Scotland has won an animal welfare award at a ceremony in London.

Robert tells us who the babby daddy is. Kelley plays Dark Souls Tetris. Chris designs a very special bidet. And you get to breed with a ditto. Have fun!

The post RPG Cast – Episode 611: “All the Bidoofs I Released Before” appeared first on RPGamer.

A distant planet should have been consumed when its star expanded to become a red giant, perhaps offering insights into planetary migration

Experiments show that viewers can usually identify video deepfakes of famous politicians – but fake audio and text are harder to detect

Donald Trump will embrace the truth Joe Biden has refused to countenance: Israel's enemies are America's enemies. And when Israel defeats its enemies, America wins.

The end to this bloody stalemate must come with negotiation, and Putin should not wait until Trump is in the White House, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

After a dismal start, the UN is hosting a "halftime summit" about its 15-year plan to meet a series of human-development targets by 2030. Delegates will try to focus on problems like extreme poverty and gender equality while watching for sparks between the representatives of Ukraine and Russia.

House Republicans on Tuesday demanded that each member of President Biden's cabinet preserve all relevant documents and communications, a move that signals future investigations into the Biden administration.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog says hostages are "going through hell in the dungeons of Gaza" during meeting with President Biden at White House.

The Biden administration will support a United Nations treaty this week that will create a new cybercrime convention, including China and Russia, which has not sat well with some lawmakers and critics.

Social media commentators claimed Jill Biden refused to look at Vice President Harris as they were seated together at Arlington Cemetery for a Veterans' Day Remembrance.

Trump plans to repeal Biden's 2023 order and levy tariffs on GPU imports.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) stated that “the Biden administration demonstrated incompetence in managing the migrant crisis,” President Joe Biden “had the unilateral ability to issue an executive order restricting migration at the border, and he waited two-and-a-half years,” because the order “was unpopular among far-left elites who have outsized power over the policymaking and messaging of the Democratic Party.” Torres said, “[O]n the subject of immigration, there was genuine political malpractice. Since 2022, there has been an unprecedented wave of migration, whose impact was felt, not only at the border, but in cities like New York, where the shelter system and our municipal finances were completely overwhelmed. … Despite clear signs of popular discontent, it took the Biden administration two-and-a-half years to issue an executive order restricting migration at the border, and by then it was too late. The Republicans had won the issue, had weaponized it against us. And when the President issued the executive order, polling revealed that it was popular among the American people, among people from every racial category, blacks and whites, Latinos and Asians. So, if it was effective at reducing migration at the border and if it was

The post Dem Rep. Torres: Biden Showed ‘Incompetence’ on Immigration Because He Catered to ‘Far-Left Elites’ appeared first on Breitbart.

The State Department said Tuesday that the Biden-Harris administration would not cut off weapons supplies to Israel in reaction to what it said was a declining humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, due to Israeli mitigation efforts.

The post Biden-Harris Administration Decides Not to Cut Arms to Israel, After Threat appeared first on Breitbart.

Meta has long been at loggerheads with European Union officials over its approach to targeted Facebook and Instagram ads. The company is hoping to placate regulators with some changes to its ad model in the bloc, which includes lowering the price of its ad-free subscription. Starting November 13, the plan will cost 40 percent less — €6 ($6.36) per month for signups via the web and €8 ($8.48) for those who subscribe on an iOS or Android device. The fee for each additional Facebook and Instagram account is €4 per month on the web and €5 via mobile.

The company will automatically drop current subscribers down to the lower pricing. It says that it will once again ask users in the bloc if they'd like to sign up.

When they see this prompt (which can only be ignored for a certain period of time), there will be a third option for EU Facebook and Instagram users to choose from. Those who don't want to pay for a subscription can instead opt to only view ads that are based on what they see in a given session in the apps. Meta will also factor in a few key data markers such as "a person’s age, location, gender and how a person engages with ads."

These less-personalized ads naturally won't be as tailored to a given user's interests, the company notes. As such, people are perhaps less likely to click on such ads. To make up for that (and make sure this option doesn't hit Meta in the pocket too hard), folks who choose the less-personalized ads option will sometimes encounter unskippable ads. According to The Wall Street Journal, these will be displayed full screen.

"Such ad breaks are common across other services, and are already offered by many of our competitors," Meta argues. "This change will help us continue to provide value to advertisers which ensures we can offer people a less personalized ads experience at no charge."

Targeted ads are Meta's biggest revenue driver, but EU officials have reportedly been pressuring the company to offer a free, less-personalized option in its apps. Meta has argued that would negatively impact its bottom line. Although it has seemingly caved to officials' requests, the unskippable ad aspect may be construed as malicious compliance, as it worsens the user experience.

Meta claims that these changes to its ad model "meet EU regulator demands and go beyond what’s required" by the bloc's laws. The company introduced its ad-free subscription a year ago to comply with laws such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as well as stricter interpretations of the General Data Protection Regulation. It was previously ordered to seek permission from users in the bloc before showing them personalized ads.

The EU didn't take too kindly to the paid ad-free approach, however. An investigation into the "consent or pay" model is ongoing. In July, the EU said that in its preliminary findings, Meta was violating the DMA with this plan.

These latest changes are said to be Meta's attempt to settle the case, but according to the Journal, the EU's discussions with the company haven't concluded. The bloc's regulatory body has until late March to finish its investigation and make a final decision. If it determines that Meta has indeed violated the DMA, the company could be on the hook for a fine of up to 10 percent of its annual global revenue. Based on its total revenue for 2023, it could have to pay up as much as $13 billion or so.

Contract negotiations in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia's ports since Monday have been called off. It comes as more than 100 organizations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.

Former Liberal senator Sean Edwards has continued to fuel speculation he is set to make a bid to enter state politics.

The Pew Charitable Trusts joined dozens of research, health care, and nonprofit stakeholders in urging President-elect Joe Biden to prioritize and strengthen the national response to antibiotic resistance.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is expected to take a slew of executive actions on his first day as president to ramp up immigration enforcement and roll back signature Biden legal entry programs, a sweeping effort that will be led by incoming "border czar" Tom Homan and other Republican immigration hardliners, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The executive actions would give federal immigration officers more latitude to arrest people with no criminal records, surge troops to the US-Mexico border and restart construction of the border wall, the sources said. Homan, who served as acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2017-2018 under Trump, will bring a deep understanding of the US immigration system after a four-decade career that took him from a frontline Border Patrol agent to head of the agency that arrests and deports immigrants in the US illegally.

Feb 20, 2023

U.S. President Joe Biden spent five hours in the Ukrainian capital on Monday, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and even taking a stroll through the streets of Kyiv – despite the sound of air sirens – to visit The Wall of Remembrance, which displays portraits of the approximately 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers who have died since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The trip was kept under a media blackout until a few hours after Biden’s arrival, with the president’s official schedule only saying he would fly in the evening to Warsaw for a planned visit. The New York Times reported, quoting an anonymous official source, that Biden arrived in Kyiv early this morning after making the same 10-hour long journey from Poland that every world leader visiting Ukraine since the start of the war has.

Jun 4, 2021

The last time Joe Biden met Vladimir Putin, the two did not exactly hit it off. During the March 2011 meeting the-then vice president of the United States urged the then-prime minister of Russia not to return to the Kremlin, and then claimed to have reached unflattering conclusions about his Russian counterpart’s soul after the meeting was over. Putin too seems to have no love lost for Biden, even if he has been less blunt in showing it.

Dec 1, 2021

One of the few things America’s Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin had agreed upon prior to their first summit almost half a year ago was that they would not hold a joint press conference after their June 16 huddle at an 18th century villa in Geneva. The two presidents’ decision to talk to press separately came as no surprise, given how many major issues they publicly disagreed on at the time.

Jul 11, 2024

Stephen Walt writes that doubts about Biden’s ability to do the job over the next six months must be balanced against the qualities that Trump exhibited when he oversaw U.S. foreign policy. Insider accounts of Trump’s first term portray him as erratic, mercurial, uninterested in details, and incapable of giving most foreign-policy problems sustained attention.

Mar 13, 2024

David Kearn argues that even in the absence of restrictive resource and budgetary constraints, a focus on identifying and achieving concrete objectives that will position the United States and its allies to effectively deter aggression in critical regional flashpoints should be the priority given the stressed nature of the defense industrial base and the nuclear enterprise.

Jun 4, 2024

Stephen Walt argues that those who fetishize credibility typically assume all that is needed is sufficient resolve. This overlooks the other key ingredient— competence.

Joining Forces Event at Fort Leonard Wood, MO

There is an ancient and proud tradition of people finding spiritual resonance within the captivating riddle of their own sexuality. That tradition has little or nothing to do with carnies eating junk food... or does it???

Sir Alex Ferguson's Harry The Viking is among the likely runners at the Scottish Grand National.

IWMI research will support evidence-based design and the implementation of the Jordanian climate adaptation policy.

The post The multiple challenges from climate change, urbanization and forced displacement in Irbid Governorate, northwest Jordan first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

US President Joe Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest, said White House physician Kevin O'Connor. O'Connor wrote on Friday in

The White House has disclosed that the First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, has received a positive result for medlinkCOVID-19/medlink. The announcement was made this evening.

The correlation between medlinkhigh smoking rates/medlink among individuals with HIV and the prevalence of comorbid health issues is influenced by

Patients with Alzheimer's dementia having delirium suffer from a huge healthcare costs as per a study "One-year Medicare costs associated with delirium

The events in the last couple of months when the much hyped Dhoni's men in blue were brought down to earth by the unbeatable and most competitive Aussies followed by that ignominous exit from the three nation one day series and the exit...

Journal Editorial Report: He fought the law, and the law won. Image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Journal Editorial Report: A diplomatic Olympic boycott may not be enough. Image: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

As authoritarian regimes in China and Russia continue to make gains, President Biden faces a challenge of reigniting global democracy at his Summit for Democracy. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains how Biden will navigate these challenges at the virtual summit. Photo Illustration: Elise Dean

In an address to the nation on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, President Biden accused former President Donald Trump of spreading a “web of lies” about the 2020 election. Photo: Michael Reynolds/Pool via Reuters

President Biden said at a news conference Wednesday that the stalled $2 trillion Build Back Better proposal would likely have to be split up to get certain pieces, like provisions on climate, energy and early-childhood education, passed. Photo: Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg News

President Biden said on Wednesday that the U.S. is ready to unleash sanctions against Russia if President Vladimir Putin makes a move against Ukraine. Biden also laid out a possible diplomatic resolution. Photo: Susan Walsh/Associated Press

At least 10 people were injured when a snow-covered bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh early Friday morning, hours before President Biden was scheduled to visit the city and speak about infrastructure. Photo: Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

During President Biden’s address to the nation, he garnered bipartisan applause as he warned Russia that more coordinated measures were coming in response to its invasion of Ukraine. He also laid out ways to help tame inflation. Photo: Pool/Reuters

Charlie Ergen is at it again. Here's a rundown of the telecom bids currently in play from Dish and others.

Dish has made a stunning bid to buy Sprint for a cash-and -stock deal valuing Dish at $25.5 billion. Last year Softbank agreed to buy Sprint, also for a package of cash and stock. Dish claims its offer is worth 13% more.