#ordinary-people

#ordinary-people

Ordinary people don't really think about thinking of new ways to innovate pieces of furniture like tables, chairs, beds, and couches.Most people probably just think of buying something that is practical, comfortable, and does what it's supposed to do.But product designers are always out there thinking of new ways to make things like these more portable, more interesting, or basically, just better.

2022 was not kind to ordinary Haitians.This Caribbean nation was the second in the Western Hemisphere to shake off the yolk of its European colonizer, when it won its battle for independence from France on January 1, 1804.More recently, Haitians have contended with the lingering effects of a calamitous earthquake (in 2010, killing more than 200,000 people), spiraling levels of street crime, and a cholera outbreak.

Although we should always be aware of our body's condition, it wasn't until recently that people became more acutely aware of the need to monitor our health on a regular basis.Regular checkups might not always be feasible, especially if they're spaced too far apart or too pricey, and that's one of the major reasons why people put it off until it's too late.

Not everyone might be buying that whole metaverse spiel, but many might have been enamored by the idea of having a virtual version of themselves in certain spaces.Imaging ourselves in a different form inhabiting different worlds goes back farther than VR and AR, but the technologies to enable such an experience haven't exactly been available until now.

Former Cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel should not be rewarded with honours, a senior Labour politician has said.Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said comments made by Mr Rees-Mogg in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire make him unfit for a knighthood.Mr Rees-Mogg is tipped for the title in Boris Johnson's resignation honours list alongside Ms Patel, who will receive a damehood.

Like many terrible ideas, this one probably began with the best of intentions.As part of the coronation Saturday of King Charles III, British citizens have been encouraged by Buckingham Palace to recite a wonky kind of pledge of allegiance: "I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors, according to law.

It's a strange paradox.The tougher that Tory home secretaries talk, the faster law and order seems to break down.Whoever's in the role  Grant Shapps, Priti Patel, Suella Braverman  the same rhetoric grinds on, day after day: cracking down, clamping down, demanding tougher action.Now the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has joined in, reportedly launching Operation Get Tough and demanding the police use all the new powers available to them through the latest sweep of anti-protest laws.

People burned out of their homes by the hundreds.Villages, even refugee camps, raked with gunfire.Men, women and children beaten and set ablaze by angry mobs.India, the world's most populous country and home to the fastest-growing major economy, is now also the site of a war zone, as weeks of ethnic violence in the remote northeastern state of Manipur has claimed about 100 lives.

As Russia vowed to respond extremely harshly to a rare, two-day border incursion by pro-Ukrainian fighters, the leader of Russia's largest mercenary force warned that it faced further setbacks unless its ruling elite took drastic, and likely unpopular, measures to win the war.The most likely scenario for us in a special operation would not be a good one, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, said in a profanity-laced interview with a pro-Kremlin political observer published late Tuesday on the Telegram messaging platform.

NEW DELHI Rehman Rahi, a celebrated Kashmiri poet who devoted his life to promoting and preserving the Kashmiri language and gave its poetry a distinct identity, died on Monday at his home in Srinagar, Kashmir's biggest city.He was 97.His son, Dr. Dildar Ahmad, confirmed the death.Throughout his career as a writer and university professor, Mr. Rahi was committed to Kashmiri, a language he considered the source of Kashmiri identity and essential for preserving the ancient culture of a divided territory.

J ust Stop Oil supporters were pushed off the road by angry members of the public during a slow march through central London on Thursday morning.In footage shared online, four activists from the group are seen slowly walking down Pall Mall when they are then confronted by two men.After a brief confrontation with the activists, one of the men proceeds to shove two activists into a nearby hoarding.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan dodged questions when asked what he would do about councils refusing to let Transport for London (TfL) install London ULEZ cameras.Nine boroughs, including three Liberal Democrat councils and six Conservative councils, have blasted TfL's plans to install CCTV cameras in their boroughs despite TfL claiming it does not need the green light from councils to do so.

P rotest groups have taken coordinated action across London on what they have called the Fuel Poverty Day of Action.Campaigners from the Don't Pay UK and Fuel Poverty Action groups held what they called a warm up at the British Museum and Stratford Westfield on Saturday afternoon.The groups held the protest against rising energy bills and sky-rocketing levels of fuel poverty.

Rishi Sunak has said he is not bothered by Labour's criticism of his wealthy family's tax arrangements and thinks the UK has moved beyond judging people on their money, as a new estimate said the UK prime minister's fortune had fallen to around 500m.Sunak, who is the wealthiest British prime minister ever on account of his wife's shareholdings, said he did not pay attention to Labour's personal attacks on his finances.

The Prime Minister and his wife will welcome volunteers, Ukrainian refugees in the UK, and youth groups to Downing Street for a lunch to mark the coronation.Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty will host the event on Sunday as part of the Big Lunch celebrations taking place across the country over the coronation weekend.

Labour's lead over the Conservatives stands at a commanding 18 points, according to the last Opinium poll for the Observer before a huge set of local elections.With more than 8,000 council seats across 230 authorities in England up for election on Thursday, the Tories had been hoping that polls would tighten as they attempt to avoid heavy losses in both the red wall of old Labour seats and the blue all south-eastern seats where, traditionally, they have been strong.

On one thing, politicians, economists and commentators on the left and right can agree: Britain is broken.Not as in the silly, smirking slogan used by David Cameron in opposition, but in the most basic sense.This winter, sick people have died in the hours that it took for ambulances to arrive.This week's cold snap has again forced many families across the UK to debate whether to heat their homes or feed themselves.

The Chicago Tribune and ProPublica won the Chicago Headline Club's 2022 Watchdog Award for "The Price Kids Pay," an investigation that exposed the unfair practice of school officials and local police working together to punish students with costly tickets for minor misbehavior at school.The prize was announced Friday at the 46th annual Peter Lisagor Awards, where "The Price Kids Pay" - a collaboration between the Tribune's Jennifer Smith Richards and ProPublica's Jodi S. Cohen - also won two "best all media" awards, for investigative reporting and data journalism, as well as two other Lisagor awards for large print/online newsrooms: best investigative reporting and best education reporting.

The people who become Vladimir Putin's pawns never realize the vicious game ensnaring them.Until it's too late.WNBA star Brittney Griner made the mistake of carrying in her luggage vape cartridges with a minuscule amount of cannabis oil as she traveled to Russia to play basketball in February.Nine months later, Griner found herself in a penal colony outside Moscow on a drug possession conviction that hardly warranted the nine-year sentence she began serving.

Celebrities often face lawsuits from paparazzi, fans, and other celebrities, which can harm their reputation and finances.To avoid legal issues, celebrities can take measures to protect their privacy and become aware of their rights.Intellectual property issues can arise when a celebrity's name, image, or works are used without permission.

Russia suspended its only nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. on Tuesday as the country's President Vladimir Putin accused the West of trying to turn his brutal war with Ukraine into a "global confrontation."The U.S. and Russia agreed in 2010 to the New START Treaty, putting restrictions on nuclear warheads and other atomic weapons.

The UN has overwhelmingly voted to call for Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine, marking one year since Moscow's invasion by calling for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.Applause broke out when the result was announced, with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling the resolution a powerful signal of unflagging global support for Ukraine in a tweet late on Thursday.

Plans to fix England's broken bus system have been unveiled by Labour.The party has committed to handing more control of routes and fares to local communities, as it published analysis showing thousands of services have been axed under the Conservatives.It stated that Britain is one of the only countries in the developed world where bus operators have these powers while authorities in the areas they serve have no say.

The hype cycle for chatbots-software that can generate convincing strings of words from a simple prompt-is in full swing.Few industries are more panicked than lawyers, who have been investing in tools to generate and process legal documents for years.After all, you might joke, what are lawyers but primitive human chatbots, generating convincing strings of words from simple prompts?

We are all bound by contracts: legal agreements that rule our work and personal lives.Contracts can be difficult to read and understand, with page after page of legalese seemingly written to deliberately confuse and obfuscate.Fortunately a new wave of artificial intelligence (AI) contract review tools can help both legal professionals and laypeople navigate even the most complex documents.

From the cradle to the grave.Once that phrase was a description of the ambition of the welfare state.Now, it is an illustration of how far that old vision has frayed.An illustration, too, of the extent to which inequality shapes people's lives, from the beginning to the end, often with the aid of policymakers.

On Boxing Day, I was informed by a relative that the sympathy he'd once had for the RMT union had evaporated after its decision to hold rail strikes over Christmas.My relative understood his change of heart to be of grave significance for the trade union.Prolonged disruption had turned people like him away, he warned, and that would cost the union dearly.

Labour will not be able turn the taps on from day one on public spending if it wins the next election, the new leader of the TUC has acknowledged, suggesting the party's attempts to manage expectations are working.The incoming general secretary, Paul Nowak, said a Labour government would not be able to fix the Conservatives' neglect straight after coming to power but suggested it could still set a very clear direction of travel for public services.

Police vehicles were set on fire by protesters using Molotov cocktails in France, as president Emmanuel Macron faced another day of violent demonstrations.Thousands fought running battles with heavily armed officers at an illegal gathering on Saturday at Sainte-Soline, near Poitiers on Saturday.They were protesting against the deployment of a new water-storage centre, and come a day after clashes elsewhere in the country over Mr Macron's plan to push the retirement age up from 60 to 62 without a parliamentary vote.

Close King Charles visit to France postponed amid widespread retirement age protests French authorities feared the safety of King Charles would not be guaranteed on a trip around France coinciding with violent protests against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms.A three-day state visit was postponed at Mr Macron's urging after security forces grew concerned over the King's habit of impromptu handshakes, and talking to ordinary people whenever he could, a source who was involved in the planning of the trip told The Independent.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has called for a Holyrood election to be called after Nicola Sturgeon's successor takes office.The SNP leadership race will come to an end on Monday, with the new first minister officially elected at Holyrood on Tuesday and sworn in at the Court of Session the following day.

Crisis is a great teacher for central bankers and for the rest of us.Canadians who thought money was an unchanging unit for earning, saving and spending learned their lesson from a year of inflation.And anyone who thought banks were glorified instant teller machines certainly learned something over the last two weeks as they watched contagion from the disintegrating Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) help bring down Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse.

TV personality and model Christine McGuinness has helped to break the Guinness World Record for the longest lanyard to highlight the range of invisible disabilities that affect people.The former beauty queen, who released her documentary Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism last week, was at Liverpool Football Club's Anfield stadium to take part in the record-breaking attempt.

A climate activist who repeatedly tried to speak to Sir David Attenborough in an upmarket seaside restaurant has been cleared of failing to comply with a dispersal order.Poole Magistrates' Court was shown body-worn police camera footage of how Emma Smart, 45, refused to leave the shop under the Catch at the Old Fishmarket restaurant in Weymouth, Dorset, in November last year.

After Matthew Desmond won the Pulitzer for Evicted, about families struggling to stay housed, the Princeton sociologist realized he still didn't understand why the U.S. has more poverty than any other advanced democracy.His new book Poverty, By America, provides a provocative and compelling answer: It's because the rest of us benefit from it, and act to keep it that way.

By Jan Wahl-
Last year at this time I was in cinematic heaven.was one of the finest films that I had seen in a long time, and the movie was up for Oscar gold.It is so rare that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and I agree on anything, but this time last year they got it right.Coda is a powerful musical drama concerning a deaf family and their hearing daughter.

Affordable housing issues are creating conflict as advocates centre on a fight for a parcel of land acquired by a private developer in a marginalized neighbourhood, even though experts say their calls for expropriation might not be the solution the city needs.The seven properties between 214 and 230 Sherbourne St., located in the east of Toronto Centre, have been a key rallying point for advocates.

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails The mastermind behind the hit TV show Call The Midwife claimed getting an OBE honours her working-class family but said she was choked it came with a citation signed by the late Queen.

My wife is amazing at a lot of things: spotting a typo from 10 paces, retaining obscure facts about medieval English food customs and, as seems almost obligatory these days, making sourdough bread.The one thing she is absolutely awful at, however, is art.Back in the 80s, her art teacher wrote in her end-of-year report: Claire has a tendency to be highly experimental which I would praise, were it not for the fact that her examination pieces were experiments which appeared to have gone very badly wrong.

Given the influence of Denmark on the far-right Sweden Democrats, there's a good chance that the Swedish cultural canon will follow the Danish example, and include architecture, visual arts, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture.If the plans go ahead, you can expect vigorous debate in Sweden's national newspapers on what works should be included and what should be left out, how much emphasis should be put on 19th-century classics, and how much on modern pop culture.

Politics The president took a shot at dropping his Rs for a moment Wednesday.As Marty Walsh drops out of the Biden administration for a new gig, so too, for a moment Wednesday, did Joe Biden's Rs.As the president discussed his nomination of Julie Su, the deputy labor secretary, to succeed Walsh as the nation's secretary of labor, he put on, what is presumedly, his best Boston accent to praise the former mayor of the Hub.

The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, clashed with Chinese diplomats on Thursday, passionately rejecting their claim that the west was adding fuel to the fire by arming Ukraine.Baerbock said it was time for China to tell Russia to stop its aggression.In a debate at the UN general assembly marking the anniversary of the invasion and seen as a key barometer of the state of world opinion, China intervened to present itself as above the conflict by proposing a catalogue of measures: a ceasefire, dialogue, security guarantees for Russia, protection of civilians and the upholding of territorial integrity.

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Mystic Meg, The Sun's longtime astrologer, has died aged 80, according to the newspaper.The astrologer whose real name was Margaret Lake wrote a horoscope column for The Sun for nearly 23 years.

Black History in School - Annabel Tokun, Croydon High School (Image: Unsplash) I interviewed Katy Fenwick, who is a Head of History at Croydon High and asked her some questions in regards to her Black History Month and the way it's celebrated and educated within schools.What is the importance of learning about Black History?' It is hugely important that Black History and culture is celebrated.

In the video game and HBO show The Last of Us, an infectious fungi turns humans into zombies.David McNew/Getty Images In the video game and HBO show The Last of Us, humans struggle to survive after an infectious fungus turns ordinary people into zombies.Creators of the franchise didn't look far for inspiration the series is based off a real-life species of fungus that performs a kind of "mind control" on its insect hosts.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter and have the latest stories from Mission Local delivered directly to your inbox.For the first time in its brief history, Manny's Cafe at 16th and Valencia streets changed its interior furnishings to face Valencia Street outside its windows looking west.It was no coincidence: The topic Monday night was the future of Valencia Street.

A spate of deaths among celebrities and public figures across China has sparked concerns that the actual death toll from Covid-19 may be far higher than authorities are reporting.Many on Chinese social media have been mourning the death of actor Gong Jintang, who died aged 83 on New Year's Day.He was known for his portrayal of Father Kang in the sitcom Kang's Family, which first aired in 2000.

In 2013, I applied for a travel visa to the United States.Along with the visa, America, with her boundless generosity, also granted me a new name.FNU? Was this a typo?Did someone's cat enter my details into the system?Perhaps this was an unofficial designation.An ancient prefix.A modern pronoun?I wasn't able to clarify.

In my favorite TikTok video of 2022, an amateur interviewer with a tiny microphone approaches a stranger in an AC/DC T-shirt minding their own business.Pushing the mic in front of the person's face, the interviewer comes in with the favorite question of gatekeepers from time immemorial:


"Can you name three AC/DC songs?"

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House on Wednesday and offered his country's profound thanks to President Joe Biden and the American people for support in fighting off the ongoing Russian invasion.Great honor for me to be here.Your journalists, I thank you so much for the invitation.

Sinn Fein's leader said Ireland needed a general election, not a government rotation of taoiseach, as she led opposition criticism of Leo Varadkar's nomination.Mary Lou McDonald said the coalition could try to delay real change in the country, but said they could not halt it.As polls continue to show Sinn Fein as the most popular party, its party president launched a scathing criticism of the Government during the special Dail sitting to elect Mr Varadkar as taoiseach for a second time.

The UK's international aid programme has been brought crashing down by an act of simple, crass vandalism, according to the former chairman of the international development committee.Lord Bruce of Bennachie described how the UK's world-beating aid and development programme has been curtailed by cuts to the aid budget and the merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign Office.

Now that Samuel Bankman-Fried has been detained in the Bahamas, US authorities are preparing to finally put the question that everyone's been trying to ask the chief executive of collapsed crypto exchange FTX: "Where's the money, Sam?"But there's another mystery that faces the Securities and Exchange Commission, which charged Bankman-Fried with fraud on Tuesday: How much real money was ever involved?

The day Sam Bankman-Fried's portrait graced the cover of Forbes in October 2021, cryptocurrency was a $2.2 trillion market - a valuation that would swell past $3 trillion a month later.Then 29 and one of the youngest self-made billionaires to land on the ranking, he touted plans to give away his $22.5 billion fortune for the good of humanity.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the Archbishop of Canterbury are to join Pope Francis on a historic pilgrimage of peace to South Sudan.They have been invited by President Salva Kiir Mayardit and will meet with him and his five vice-presidents in Juba, the country's capital.

The budget set by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is hugely damaging for public services, Sinn Fein has said.Mr Heaton-Harris made a budget statement on Thursday in the absence of a Stormont Executive.The executive has not been reformed since the last Assembly election in May due to DUP protest action against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Harry Redknapp has said it's there, we've got to get on with it now while reflecting on the controversy surrounding Qatar hosting the World Cup.The former football manager, 75, shared his thoughts on the tournament, which kicked off yesterday, at The Sun's Who Cares Wins Awards on Tuesday evening.Redknapp told the PA news agency: It's there, we've got to get on with it now.

A delivery driver has been forced at gunpoint to drive a suspicious object to a Londonderry police station.A major security operation is continuing in the city following a hijacking on Sunday night when the suspicious object was placed in a delivery driver's car in Curryneirin and he was forced to travel to the Waterside.