Latest news with #British-based
UPI
a day ago
- Politics
- UPI
ISIS claims responsibility for 2 bomb explosions in Syria
ISIS forces in a remote region in southern Syria claimed responsibility for two bombings targeting vehicles carrying soldiers and others on Wednesday and Thursday. Photo by Fayyaz Ahmad/EPA-EFE May 31 (UPI) -- The Islamic State claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks in a remote region in southern Syria on Wednesday and Thursday. The twin bombings mark the first time ISIS has attacked the new Syrian government that took power in December and occurred in the remote Sweida Province. ISIS posted two online statements on Thursday claiming responsibility for the bombings that killed and wounded Syrian soldiers and militia members who are allied with the Syrian government, The New York Times reported. An attack occurred on Wednesday and struck a Syrian Army reconnaissance group that was tracking ISIS activities in the remote desert area, CNN reported. Those wounded in that attack are members of the Syrian Army's 70th Division, and the man who died was assisting the soldiers, according to Tthe New York Times. ISIS used a remote-controlled land mine to target the vehicle in which they were traveling, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced. That attack occurred in the eastern portion of the Sweida Province and was the first attack carried out by ISIS and targeting forces allied with the new Syrian government. A second bombing occurred on Thursday in the same region, according to news reports and ISIS. ISIS said it killed and injured seven soldiers for the "apostate Syrian regime" by using an explosive device on a road in the Talul al Safa area in the Suwayda province in southern Syria, Al Jazeera reported. Both attacks occurred near Sweida in southern Syria, which is a mountainous desert area in which ISIS has operated for many years. Neither the Syrian government nor the Free Syrian Army has commented on either bombing. The United States backs the Free Syrian Army, which operates in the Sweida region's al Tanf Deconfliction Zone that is located near Syria's borders with Egypt and Jordan. The United States maintains a small outpost in the area. ISIS also has operated in the area for a long time due to its "extremely rugged and dangerous" terrain, CNN reported. Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump said he he was lifting "crippling" U.S. sanctions on Syria originally imposed to block flows of money into Syria, including aid, to put pressure on the brutal regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. He met with the country's transitional leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May14. Al-Sharaa, who was appointed president in January, has promised to hold elections once a new constitution is in place in around four years.
Spectator
4 days ago
- Science
- Spectator
Should we give weight loss jabs to children?
I have seen the future of food. And some of you won't like it. On a research trip to the Netherlands last week, along with the fellow partners of my firm, Bramble, I took a speedboat tour of the port of Rotterdam. One of the most awesome sights was the so-called 'Innocent Blender' – a vast smoothie-making fortress, box-shaped and silver – glinting over the water. This is where the British-based, Coca-Cola-owned company makes its 'tasty little drinks'. The factory location makes sense: most of Europe's imported fruit comes via Rotterdam. Massive tankers – 600ft long and filled with 40,000 tons of chilled orange juice from Brazil – move through constantly. The Blender is completely electric, runs on renewable energy and uses robots to purée, bottle and package. There isn't anything wrong with this, even if it doesn't quite chime with Innocent's cutesy image. The global food system is stretched to capacity, struggling to cope with global instability and the extreme weather of climate change. As a species, we need to harness cutting-edge science if we are to feed ten billion people (the projected population of 2060), while also giving some land back to the ecosystems we've been chewing through for decades. On our second day, we visited Wageningen University and Research – the epicentre of food system innovation. There we were shown a pill containing a miniaturised computer which, as it passes through your gut, sends live readings to your phone: temperature, acidity, location and transit time. The next model will take fluid samples at precise locations, providing a full readout of your microbiome. You then pass it in the usual fashion, give it a rinse – and hand it on to the next person. Vertical farms, growing vegetables under LED lights, without sun or soil, are familiar.
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Irish bitcoin buyers clouded by an overwhelming sense of distrust
It's 9.30am on a Saturday, and more than 500 people have flocked to Dublin's Green Isle Hotel. Queues of eager attendees arrive early to register for what would later be described as the first day of the rest of their lives. Searching for financial freedom, how to get rich quick, and ways to protect their wealth from bad actors, these people are looking to the event for answers. This is the Bitcoin Ireland Conference 2025. We've all heard the warnings about unbacked cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. 'Like buying a lottery ticket,' in the words of Central Bank of Ireland governor Gabriel Makhlouf, who has likened it more to a Ponzi scheme than a legitimate investment. However, at this conference, the governor's warning falls on deaf ears. If anything, his disapproval only further emboldens these sceptics to buy more. Unlike their portfolios, the crowd was largely diversified. Young adults from the age of 17 sat alongside retirees. Attendees from across Ireland bonded with people from Europe and beyond. Women of all ages also helped fill seats, with a 'Women in Bitcoin' initiative and a women-only panel helping to boost engagement. Naval gazing... Just after 10.30am, we were already warmed up, with the third speaker of the day telling an attentive crowd that fiat currency was a scam used by governments and central banks against you and to enslave you. 'Bitcoin is sovereign. You are not,' warned Karl Deans of the British-based Sovereign Project, an organisation known for its radical stance against taxation. Operating on the view that nobody is required to obey laws they have not explicitly consented to, the group offers paid courses on how to protect your signatures, titles that can 'steal your status,' and how to 'short circuit a fraudulent court'. 'Mr is the lowest-ranking officer on a vessel,' Mr Deans told conference attendees. 'If you are a Mr, you cannot question the general. 'This is why they have an infantry in the army. They're infants. They cannot speak. That's why you have a soldier, because he sold his soul to the service.' Putting aside his fundamental misunderstanding of navy rankings and basic etymology, Mr Deans's fixation on words and their origin set the conspiratorial scene that would later become omnipresent throughout the conference. The 'financial astrologer' His talk was followed by the second female speaker of the morning, Claire Marrinan, who introduces herself as a 'financial astrologer'. Her website, The Bitcoin Zodiac, explores the 'dynamic world of cryptocurrencies through the lens of financial astrology', and offers courses on mastering cryptocurrency and blockchain that can be unlocked for just $149. Her philosophy is that by analysing the position of celestial bodies, it can help predict macro trends and asset fundamentals, which can ultimately lead to predicting price action. However, Ms Marrinan does not claim to be an expert and wouldn't dare to call herself one. Artwork displayed at Bitcoin Ireland Conference which was available to purchase with Bitcoin. 'We outsource every single thing in our lives to an expert,' she says during a panel discussion alongside like-minded bitcoin advocates. 'This has been an absolute scam. Now is the time to take back. Educate yourself, whether it's your health, educating your children, or your finances. 'Every single aspect of your life that we outsource to experts, we need to reclaim. We can first start by buying bitcoin.' Distrust as a hallmark From the word go, the conference was clouded by an overwhelming sense of distrust. Not just in governments or central banks, but in every facet of everyday life. As Ms Marrinan emboldened the audience to take matters of health and education into their own hands, I watched as a man sitting in front of me studied his phone intently. He wasn't checking messages or scrolling on social media, he was examining the security cameras set up all around his home — both outside and in. He spent minutes replaying footage of a family member as they cooked breakfast in the kitchen, before meticulously scrutinising all other camera angles placed within the house. He checked the cameras twice in one hour. The price of bitcoin currently stands at around €96,000, having peaked at more than €102,000 at the beginning of this year. It remains volatile, with monthly changes oftentimes exceeding 30% up or down. But its volatility is not a concern to this conference's crowd. As they see it, it's about taking a long-term view. This is reflected in the term HODL ('hold on for dear life'), a popular mantra among crypto enthusiasts. Confidence in Bitcoin 'Bitcoin still has potential to reach €7m, maybe €8m,' one conference investor tells me. Crediting himself for being ahead of the curve, having first bought bitcoin more than seven years ago when it averaged around just €7,000, he says he's since been able to leave his job as an architect. How? By selling his house to buy bitcoin. 'I never have to work a day again, I'm sorted now. My only regret is that I didn't buy more sooner,' he tells me, urging me to take his advice and buy some bitcoin of my own. Standing beside him was an old college pal of his who joined the bitcoin game much more recently, first buying it just over 18 months ago. He sees his financially free friend as somewhat of a guru, looking to replicate his success so he too can retire early. That hasn't happened yet and, given that he too has sold his home on the back of his friend's advice, he's running out of options. I look to my friend, and I want what he has. I'm in a job that I hate while trying to support a young family. It's incredibly tough. I want the freedom and the security he has, so I don't have to worry about these things. To these people, bitcoin is not just an asset but a lifeline. It offers an escape from the grind of a nine-to-five office job which, according to them, is no better than a prison cell. For every investor who has already won big, there are four or five others who want to take their first step on the bitcoin ladder but can't due to financial constraints. Many feel powerless, unable to join in on the fun while still enslaved by the central banks — but at least they're in the know. Many conspiracy theories are predicated on the idea that those involved in them know something that the general public doesn't. This was relayed to me many times by attendees and even the event organiser who, upon hearing that I had an undergraduate degree in economics and a master's in finance, told me that I knew nothing about money or its value, adding that a young woman like me would want to educate herself properly about the things mainstream education refuses to teach. Choose the orange pill... Unlike the other attendees, I have yet to be 'orange-pilled' — a Matrix-inspired term describing those who have declared their dedication to bitcoin. Filled with an intellectual superiority, bitcoin enthusiasts speak with convincing authority that is compounded by an overwhelming sense of urgency. You need to buy bitcoin, and you need to buy it now. 'If you want your last name to mean something in this world, buy as much bitcoin as you can,' one conference speaker said. Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf said in 2023 that buying cryptocurrencies was akin to buying a lottery ticket, saying: "Describing it as 'investment' is, needless to say, an abuse of the word." Picture: Vivek Prakash/Bloomberg Newcomers to bitcoin eat this up, with many not realising that a speedy push to buy and a HODL mindset bodes well for those who already own it. The more people that buy and hold it, the higher the price goes, and the more profit made by long-term investors. While conspiratorial at its core, it would be disingenuous to describe all 500-plus attendees as paranoid truth seekers. Their conclusions may be irrational, but what brought them there is not. ...or a lottery ticket They want to be the next great success story. They want the financial freedom these gurus promise. Most are completely disinterested in any argument that questions the legitimacy of bitcoin or its upward trajectory. For a second, the strength of the echo chamber almost convinced me that I needed to consider this. That was until I remembered that many speakers believed they should buy bitcoin when Mercury is in retrograde. So will I be buying bitcoin as a result? Probably not, but I might treat myself and buy a few lottery tickets instead.
The Mainichi
5 days ago
- Business
- The Mainichi
Historic Japan sake brewery offering courses for foreign sommeliers
OITA (Kyodo) -- A sake brewery in southwestern Japan with an over 150-year history has begun offering a seminar for foreign sommeliers on the traditional techniques for making the Japanese alcoholic drink, which were added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list last year. The five-day seminar at Fujii Shuzo in Usuki, Oita Prefecture, is part of a course organized by the British-based Sake Sommelier Academy targeting experienced sommeliers, held in hopes of spreading awareness and appreciation about sake beyond Japan. On Feb. 4, Andre Cis, a 40-year-old food and wine consultant from Austria, participated in steaming rice and placing it in a tank with rice malt and water. Describing the work as complex and intricate, he said he wishes to share his appreciation of the brewery's sake back home. The seminar also welcomed a participant from Israel on a different date. Toru Fujii, who heads Fujii Shuzo, said the seminar creates a "chance to garner attention from overseas." While some in the domestic industry have told him they worry about it giving up its secrets, the 50-year-old was more concerned about the shrinking of the domestic market. "This is not the time to be saying things like that," he said. "The value of Japanese sake can increase if it becomes a commodity that can be brewed in any country, similar to beer and wine," he said. Fujii hopes opening up to people from overseas will eventually lead to exports to Europe, where the brewery currently has few sales. Japan's domestic shipping volume of sake peaked at more than 1.7 million kiloliters in 1973 but has been declining due to the proliferation of other alcoholic beverages, plunging to about 390,000 kl in 2023. However, the growing popularity of sake abroad has led to a recent increase in exports, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Fashion Network
5 days ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Mars The Label in first-ever retail partnership as it links with Flannels
British-based fashion brand Mars the Label has made a decisive step in its evolution, forming its first-ever retail partnership with luxury retailer Flannels. The partnership 'marks an exciting milestone in the brand's evolution from a homegrown e-commerce success story to a nationwide fashion mainstay'. Featuring sculpted styles 'designed for confident, fashion-forward women who value both bold silhouettes and wearable glamour', the Flannels collab 'introduces a new era of visibility for Mars the Label' via 35 Flannels and Frasers locations across the UK. From 'denim sets to loungewear, corsets to trousers', the collection's bestsellers have been reimagined in fresh colourways while there will also be Flannels/Frasers exclusive pieces. Brand founder Arianna Ajtar said: 'This partnership is 10 months in the making. What started as a dream in my dad's garage nine years ago has grown beyond my wildest dreams into a movement that empowers women to look and feel their best. 'Now being stocked in Flannels feels like the next chapter we've been building towards. This moment is proof that women-led, independent fashion brands can take up space on the main stage.'
