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An African country became a hub for dark tourism, thanks partly to its striking Italian-styled architecture and unique culture. Eritrea is located in northeast Africa next to the Red Sea. It borders Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti, and is famous for its Italian colonial buildings, especially in the capital of Asmara. Travel blogger Drew Binsky traveled to the country and even met an Italian tourist there. She told him the capital city "looks really, really Italian. I had the best spaghetti and pizza that I ever had outside of Italy." The Foreign Office warns Brits against all travel to Eritrea due to a high threat of terrorism and political instability. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991. Italians arrived in the country in 1882 to form settlements in the country. This is what led to the Italian aesthetic of many of the buildings. Italy left Eritrea in 1941 during World War II, it was then placed under British military administration until 1952. Drew Binsky said in his video that the buildings take him "right back to Florence or Milan." Even many of the cars in the capital city are old Italian models. Many of the older generations in the country can speak fluent Italian. Drew Binsky added that spending time in Eritrea is like going back 30 or 40 years. The capital city is cash only, with no credit cards accepted. None of the cars and buildings are modern either. While there, the travel vlogger said the people were welcoming and accepting. Eritrea also attracts dark tourism due to its history. The country endured difficult times during the civil war that led to its independence. There was another war for two years in 1998, again with Ethiopia.Canada's Trudeau returns home after Trump meeting without assurances that tariffs are off the table
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Not long after Donald J. Trump had secured a second go at being president, a group of dreamers set their sights on building a new world, far from this polluted planet and its troubles. This cohort was not destined for Mars, but to a space within themselves – a digital utopia just for the like-minded. Bluesky is a microblogging site for idealists, devoted to protecting them against the raging reality of divergent opinion in a democratic system. The pilgrims took with them their in-house journal, The Guardian , which left Elon Musk’s X with the flounce of a friendless man leaving a party to which he hadn’t been invited. Henceforth, the trust-funded worldwide webzine will dedicate itself to nurturing the delicate biosphere of an alternative reality. Defectors from Elon Musk’s X are taking up with Bluesky. Credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images Three million users have joined Bluesky over the past week, according to the platform, and they have been busy tending to their new world. In this environment, misinformation and disinformation are not alone the enemy; malinformation – information that does not accord with the idealists’ worldview – is the apple from the tree of knowledge, from which the Devil bid Eve to sup. Curious interlopers from the Other Place – the increasingly uncensored X – have experimented by pushing the boundaries of the sayable on Bluesky. To their delight , reasonably mainstream opinions attract the ire of the moderators, and are soft-censored as “intolerance”. Posts labelled thus are not visible in the app until a user clicks on “show”. This functionality is a clue to what the spotless mind can experience on Bluesky. Only the opposite of malinformation – “euinformation”, eu being the obverse prefix – is welcome here. Euinformation is well-meaning information; not really information so much as a curation of comforting progressive axioms. Meanwhile, in the real world, way over here in Australia, I’m never quite sure which way the discussion is going to go when someone raises the re-election of Donald Trump. Given space to speak, tradies volunteer that it’s not a surprise to them that Trump won. Hairdressers venture that it might be a good thing. Even in trendy urban enclaves, the anti-Trump clucking is not as secure as in 2016. The top three concerns in the US election were democracy (presumably whether it would be honoured), the economy and migration. But the cultural effect of focusing on those essentials is wide-reaching. On reflection, it seems everyone knew that they or other people privately had less and less patience with the vanity projects of the boardroom, while the economy constricted the lives of salary men and women. Acronyms have been crumbling. Many companies have slunk away from the ESG (environmental, social and governance) trend as it has emerged that many were just faking it. Australian companies have become more wary about the claims they make in this area after corporate watchdog ASIC announced it was cracking down on greenwashing – the “practice of misrepresenting the extent to which a financial product or investment strategy is environmentally friendly, sustainable or ethical”. In August this year, the world’s largest investment firm, BlackRock , which has $US10 trillion ($15.4 trillion) under management, reported that it had dramatically reduced its support for shareholder proposals addressing environmental and social issues. Another acronym, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), is also under fire. Over 200 US colleges have backtracked on their DEI programs, as suggestions swirl that race-based admissions programs have disadvantaged some ethnic groups, including Asian Americans. The grandmama of corporate DEI, White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo, was accused of appropriating passages and ideas in her PhD dissertation from minority scholars without attribution. DiAngelo has become wealthy lecturing corporate teams around the Anglosphere on DEI, leaving them with a tangle of rules and terminology so confusing that their main use is to be weaponised in internal disputes. DEI scepticism and exhaustion have reached Australia too, with some consultants reporting that companies are scaling back, or at the very least rebranding, these departments. Australia, of course, also had the Voice referendum to remind us that permission for social change has to be sought once core concerns are covered. The arc of history does not bend inexorably towards the preoccupations of student newspaper alumni and their kin over at Human Resources. Conservatives used to insist that politics is downstream of culture; in fact, if Australia’s choice of Scott Morrison in 2019 didn’t get them over the line, America’s choice of Donald Trump this year should finally persuade them that this adage isn’t complete. Culture is downstream of economics. The party perceived to be capable of managing things so you can live a good life has first dibs on defining the mainstream culture. But you won’t hear that over at Bluesky, where the butterfly logo symbolises a new type of white flight from unpleasant ideas. As the progressive influx gains pace, the Bluesky Trust & Safety team received 42,000 reports of “harmful content” in a single day , compared with 360,000 for the whole of 2023. You can block your ears and block your enemies in a digital utopia, but Trump’s election has already changed the culture of the US, and Australia too. Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter .NoneSebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the US illegally, was arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court. He appeared briefly before a judge and wore a white jumpsuit over a weathered black hooded sweatshirt. He did not speak. He will remain jailed ahead of his next court date on Friday. The apparently random attack occurred on Sunday morning on a stationary F train at the Coney Island station in Brooklyn. Police said on Tuesday that identification of the victim was still “pending at this time”. Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who was sitting motionless in the train car and may have been sleeping, and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire. The woman quickly became engulfed in flames, while the suspect then sat at a bench on the subway platform and watched, according to police. Video posted to social media appeared to show the woman standing inside the train ablaze as some people look on from the platform, and at least one officer walks by. NYPD chief of transit Joseph Gulotta said that several officers had responded to the fire and one stayed to keep the crime scene “the way it’s supposed to be” while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers. They were eventually able to douse the fire, but “unfortunately, it was too late”, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said — the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. During Zapeta’s court hearing on Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said Zapeta at one point fanned the flames on the woman using his shirt. He said a 911 call from a subway rider helped identify Zapeta. Mr Rottenberg added that under interrogation Zapeta claimed he did not know what happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself to interrogators in images related to the attack. Zapeta was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon while riding a train on the same subway line after police got a tip from some teenagers who recognised him from images circulated by the police. A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support. The shelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal immigration officials said Zapeta had been previously deported in 2018 but at some point reentered the US illegally. The crime — and the graphic video of it that ricocheted across social media — deepened a growing sense of unease among some New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system in a city where many residents take the subway multiple times each day.
(AP): Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn’t access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn’t really work for her. “I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,” said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. “I’ve done everything right with no success. It’s discouraging.” In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It’s a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. “It’s all about explaining that different people have different responses,” said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital The drugs are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic a hormone in the body known as glucagon-like peptide 1. Genetics, hormones and variability in how the brain regulates energy can all influence weight — and a person’s response to the drugs, Stanford said. Medical conditions such as sleep apnea can prevent weight loss, as can certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids and contraceptives. “This is a disease that stems from the brain,” said Stanford. “The dysfunction may not be the same” from patient to patient. Despite such cautions, patients are often upset when they start getting the weekly injections but the numbers on the scale barely budge. “It can be devastating,” said Dr. Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. “With such high expectations, there’s so much room for disappointment.” That was the case for Griffin, who has battled obesity since childhood and hoped to shed 70 pounds using Wegovy. The drug helped reduce her appetite and lowered her risk of diabetes, but she saw little change in weight. “It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said. “You want it to work like it does for everybody else.” The medications are typically prescribed along with eating behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s usually clear within weeks whether someone will respond to the drugs, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Weight loss typically begins right away and continues as the dosage increases. For some patients, that just doesn’t happen. For others, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea force them to halt the medications, Dushay said. In such situations, patients who were counting on the new drugs to pare pounds may think they’re out of options. “I tell them: It’s not game over,” Dushay said. Trying a different version of the new class of drugs may help. Griffin, who didn’t respond well to Wegovy, has started using Zepbound, which targets an additional hormone pathway in the body. After three months of using the drug, she has lost 7 pounds. “I’m hoping it’s slow and steady,” she said. Other people respond well to older drugs, the experts said. Changing diet, exercise, sleep and stress habits can also have profound effects. Figuring out what works typically requires a doctor trained to treat obesity, Saunders noted. “Obesity is such a complex disease that really needs to be treated very comprehensively,” she said. “If what we’re prescribing doesn’t work, we always have a backup plan.”High-Efficiency HJT Modules Herald a New Era in the Solar Industry
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These days, Matthieu Bonin is enjoying life and laughs easily. It was not always so as he points out in his book on pain and suffering. Light from Darkness was published in 2023. He brought lessons from his experiences - and the importance of joy - to his talk on Wednesday at Laurentian University in Sudbury. “This is a reboot of a lecture series after COVID,” said Bonin, who lives in Lively. “The series is focused on building healthy communities. My specific topic is one that should resonate with the audience.” Bonin was the first to speak at the reboot of the Dr. Dan Andrea Lectures on Living in Healthy Communities. The topic - The Importance of Trust and Belonging - is central to a healthy community, said Bonin, an author and inspirational speaker. “I value your well-being and hope that you value mine; it has to go both ways,” he said. “I was invited partly because of my book and also that I spoke at (Laurentian University’s) convocation. Bonin, 38, said he did as he always does: speak from the heart. “I have my general ideas and themes laid out for sharing and have worked it all out. I have been doing a lot of mental health advocacy lately. To talk about depression and anxiety is important, but there is the preventative piece, like joy and belonging. “Having a good group of friends and family is essential in this. We are social beings. One of the biggest triggers for the decline in mental health is isolation. I am not a mental health expert, but I am a guy who cares.” Bonin said his next book will move into new but related territory. “The next book I am writing is about joy,” he said. “This lecture is very much linked with that. It is the first time I am speaking specifically on joy, but I am planning something additional for January. “I have some philosophy and spirituality in my background. You know, for life and living, you have to have a plan and direction, but part of the plan is to forget the plan. Be open to opportunities.” The audience for his event may fall into one of two camps, or maybe both. “Those who are looking for connections and feeling lonely, and those who are part of a healthy community. November is kind of a grey month. Come out to meet some people.” Bonin is described as a public speaker, mental health advocate, author, and adventurer. In 2022, he stage-swam 154 km around Manitoulin Island to raise funds for MS research. His book, Light From Darkness, describes his struggles with mental health and how he overcame these challenges. Today, he is a sought-after speaker. The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the federal government. Bluesky: @sudburystar.bsky.social X: @SudburyStarMQM-P celebrates Mohajir identity
Target just recently kicked off its official Target Black Friday Sale , and one deal you might have missed is this really awesome MEGA Microsoft Xbox 360 Collector Building Set . It's normally $150 but there's a 50% discount for Black Friday that drops it to only $74.99. MEGA is similar to LEGO, but the brand (which is owned by Mattel) creates sets for IPs that don't have a relationship with the other famous big block company. Some past and present examples include Pokemon, Star Trek, Halo, and, in this case, Microsoft Xbox. This would make an incredible gift idea for any gaming fan who loves working on complex building block kits like LEGO. MEGA Showcase Microsoft Xbox 360 Collector Building Set The MEGA Microsoft Xbox 360 Collector Building Set is a buildable 3:4 scale replica of the Xbox 360 console with a brick count total of 1,342 pieces (5.5 cents per brick). The details in this build are, frankly, incredible, and include interactive elements, lighting effects, and the coolest accessories. Here's a rundown of the biggest highlights: The Xbox console exterior is well represented with details like a removable hard drive, ventilation holes in the rear, text in the right places, and lighting effects. Unfortunately, there's no option to swap in a red ring of death. The Xbox console internals are just as faithfully reproduced as the exterior. There's a tray to pop in the supplied Xbox game disc (we'll get to this later), the motherboard, various heatsinks and doodads all connected by wires, and even a fancy little Cortana chip. It's also easy to get into the console (just press a little green button). The set includes an authentic looking mini Halo 3 game disc complete with a detailed Halo game box that looks just like the real thing. That's not even the best part. You can place the Halo disc into the console's internal disc tray and it will light up the Cortana chip inside. How cool is that!?! The Xbox controller has a removable battery pack. When you slide in the battery pack, the controller's guide button lights up. That's because the light brick is installed in the battery itself. So why the big price drop? According to the user reviews, the fit and finish of the bricks is not as good as LEGO sets, so the build process won't go as smoothly (you might even need to whip out the Kragle). But once you're done, I'm sure you'll appreciate the incredible amount of authentic features that the designers put into this set. LEGO Sets Are Also on Sale for Black Friday If you want to keep your building block collection strictly LEGO, check out our guide to all of the best LEGO Black Friday deals available right now. There are plenty of big discounts on sets for all ages from multiple retailers, including LEGO Shop, Amazon, Best Buy, and of course, Target. When Is Black Friday 2024? We’re in the home stretch: Black Friday falls on November 29 this year. All month long, retailers have been rolling out sales, ramping up to massive discounts on Black Friday and through the weekend into Cyber Monday. There are already some fantastic deals available on PS5 consoles and controllers , video games for all platforms, AirPods Pro , and tons more. Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.Manchester City's misery continued with a shock 4-0 Premier League rout by Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium, marking the first time in Pep Guardiola's dazzling managerial career that he has lost five games in a row across all competitions. James Maddison scored twice in the span of seven first-half minutes, while Pedro Porro netted shortly after the break and Brennan Johnson added a fourth goal deep in added time to end City's club record run of 52 consecutive home matches unbeaten in all competitions. City remain second in the table on 23 points but are five points adrift of leaders Liverpool, with the Reds having a game in hand, while Spurs climbed to sixth on 19 points after 12 games. "In this moment we are fragile defensively," said Guardiola, who signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday . "We started really well as normal but we could not score and then after that we conceded. After that we conceded some more which is difficult for our emotions right now. "In eight years we have never lived this kind of situation. Now we have to live it and break it, winning the next games, especially the next one. Now we see things in one way, maybe in a few weeks we see it differently." It was City's most lopsided loss in their history at Etihad, and their three consecutive league losses are also a first during Guardiola's eight-plus seasons as boss. "These are rare days, to come to the champions and especially City considering how they have dominated over the last few years in Europe as well," Maddison, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Saturday, told Sky Sports. "To come home with four-nil is special, these are the days you remember and I think it's important we enjoy it." Guardiola's four-time defending champions had 23 shots to Tottenham's nine and will rue the missed chances, including three in the first half from striker Erling Haaland alone. But they were all over the place defensively and paid the price in the 13th minute when Maddison sprinted in to side-foot home a beautiful long cross from Dejan Kulusevksi. Maddison doubled the lead seven minutes later when he chipped the ball over grounded goalkeeper Ederson. Porro put the match out of reach in the 52nd minute when Dominic Solanke cut back the ball for the Spaniard who unleashed a first-time effort past Ederson, and then substitute Johnson added one more in the 93rd minute. Timo Werner sprinted down the left past Kyle Walker before sending a low cross across the face of the goal that Johnson slid to knock in, watched by City's shell-shocked fans. It was the joint-biggest defeat for Guardiola, who had lost 4-0 three previous times, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and with City, in a 4-0 defeat to Everton in 2017. City last lost a competitive home game by four-plus goals when Arsenal beat them 5-1 in 2003 at Maine Road. Arsenal back on form Arsenal returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a confident 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest but Aston Villa's winless streak continued when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home to lowly Crystal Palace. Goals by Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and teenager Ethan Nwaneri got the Gunners back on track after four league games without a win in manager Mikel Arteta's 250th game in charge. Arsenal stayed in fourth spot, level on 22 points with third-placed Chelsea who began the day's action with a 2-1 victory away at Leicester City. Leaders Liverpool have 28 points ahead of their Sunday clash with bottom club Southampton. Arsenal began the day level on points with surprise package Forest but outclassed the Midlands club in the London rain. The returning Saka and captain Martin Ødegaard were hugely influential for Arsenal as both looked back to their best. They combined after 15 minutes for Saka to clip a superb left-footed drive high past Forest keeper Matz Sels. Partey curled in Arsenal's second after 52 minutes and 17-year-old Nwaneri, on as a substitute, put the icing on the cake with his first Premier League goal late on. "It's not a coincidence. The team flows in a different way when (Ødegaard) is playing," Arteta said of his skipper who returned from a long injury lay-off earlier this month. "When he is on the team you sense something different even if it's hard to put your finger on it." Goals by Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez secured the points for Chelsea as their manager Enzo Maresca returned to haunt his former club. Jordan Ayew's stoppage-time penalty came too late for the hosts. Aston Villa have now gone six games without a win in all competitions as their early-season surge has stalled. They needed a late headed equaliser by Ross Barkley to take a point against a Palace side who twice led. Ismaila Sarr gave Palace the early lead before Ollie Watkins levelled and the hosts then squandered a chance to go ahead as Youri Tielemans had his penalty saved by Dean Henderson. Justin Devenny restored Palace's lead almost immediately but the Londoners were unable to secure only their second league win. Palace remained third from bottom with eight points but Wolverhampton Wanderers climbed out of the relegation zone with a thumping 4-1 victory away at Fulham. Matheus Cunha scored two superb goals to take his league tally for the season to seven and also set up a third for his side after Fulham went ahead after 20 minutes with an Alex Iwobi curler from the edge of the box. Wolves' second league win of the season put them on nine points from 12 games and into 17th place. Brighton & Hove Albion joined Arsenal and Chelsea on 22 points with a 2-1 victory at Bournemouth thanks to goals by Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma as they maintained their best-ever start to a top-flight season. The visitors did end with 10 men though after Carlos Baleba was shown a second yellow card on the hour. Everton had 27 goal attempts at home to 10-man Brentford but could make none of them count as they drew 0-0 - a result that left them in 15th place in the table. Brentford played half the game with 10 men after Christian Norgaard was dismissed for a bad challenge on Everton keeper Jordan Pickford. - Reuters