Author: i2wtc

In this photo released by the Presidential Office of Taiwan, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (right) wears a cowboy hat given to him by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) during a meeting in Taipei on Monday. A U.S. congressional delegation met with Taiwan’s new president on Monday in a show of support, shortly after China conducted drills around Taiwan following the new president’s inaugural speech. AP/Office of the President of Taiwan (via AP) Hide caption Toggle caption AP/Office of the President of Taiwan (via AP) TAIPEI, Taiwan — Days after China conducted drills around Taiwan in response to the inauguration of the…

Pinterest has identified “Western Gothic” as a top interior design trend for 2024. “Western” and “Gothic” may seem like a mismatch, but for fans of the dark and brooding cowboy drama “Yellowstone,” the melding of the two aesthetics may be a natural fit. Western Gothic combines a dark color palette with vintage Western and Americana motifs. The Pinterest 2024 Forecast Report, based on global search data from over 482 million users, shows an increase in online searches for styles such as “Western Gothic,” “Western bed ideas,” “Vintage Americana,” and “Country room ideas.” Common elements of this non-classical style include: Dark…

Jos Buttler is expected to miss England’s third T20 match against Pakistan at Sophia Gardens on Tuesday after returning home to be with his wife following the birth of their third child. Coach Moeen Ali will be in charge of a much-changed team if the predicted storm clouds clear in time for the match to go ahead as scheduled.England selected what was likely their strongest line-up for Saturday’s game at Edgbaston, which they won by 23 runs, but with the first match at Headingley being rained out, they are likely to use most of the players who sat out the…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released the results of a study on the most impersonated companies in 2023 to help potential customers and victims better prepare for such attacks.According to the report, Best Buy and its subsidiary Geek Squad were the biggest victims of identity theft, with a total of 52,000 reported cases, causing losses of $15 million.The top three were Amazon with 34,000 complaints and PayPal with 10,000 reports. The 10 most impersonated companies alone accounted for a total of 132,000 confirmed cases of impersonation scams, with many more likely going unchecked or unnoticed.Beware of impersonation scams by…

The NBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Finals may soon be over.As of Monday, the Boston Celtics lead the Indiana Pacers 3-0 in the East, while the Dallas Mavericks also lead the Minnesota Timberwolves 3-0 in the West.The games have been relatively close: Two of Boston’s three wins have been by five points or less, and two of Dallas’ three wins have been by three points or less.Luka Doncic leads the Mavericks in scoring, scoring at least 32 points in each game, while Jayson Tatum leads the Celtics, scoring 36 points in two of the three games.Regardless of when those series…

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A Georgian parliamentary committee on Monday rejected a presidential veto of a “foreign agents” bill that has sparked mass protests for weeks. The move by parliament’s justice committee sets the stage for a plenary vote on Tuesday to override President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto of the bill, which Zourabichvichvili and other critics say would restrict press freedom and hinder Georgia’s potential membership of the European Union.The law would require media outlets and non-governmental organizations that get more than 20 percent of their budgets from abroad to register as “serving the interests of foreign powers,” a move critics…

MaSelected Exican Andrés Manuel López Obrador became Mexico’s president in 2018 with good reason. His diagnosis that inequality, insecurity, and a corrupt political class were damaging to Mexico was persuasive. But aside from raising the minimum wage to reduce poverty, López Obrador’s “Fourth Transformation” has set Mexico back. A nationalist hell-bent on destroying the gains of his predecessors, he has left Mexico’s health and education systems in tatters. His reversal of pro-competitive energy market reforms has made Mexico’s electricity polluting and costly. Water is scarce. His hands-off security policies have strengthened the control of criminal gangs. He has attacked independent…

The story so far: South Africa’s Supreme Court on Monday barred former President Jacob Zuma from running in the next election. Zuma was forced to resign as South Africa’s president in 2018 amid allegations of corruption. He was convicted of contempt of court in 2021 and sentenced to 15 months in prison, but only served two months. He is currently on trial for corruption allegations.Zuma was a member of the African National Congress (ANC) when he was president of South Africa and was succeeded by Cyril Ramaphosa after his resignation. Zuma’s comeback attempt and disqualification In December 2023, Zuma announced…

Danial RasoulMay 27, 2024 • 50 minutes agoHaris Rauf speaks to media ahead of the 3rd T20I against Pakistan Getty ImagesTop athletes may have everything at their disposal, but they often don’t have the time. No player in Pakistan cricket takes a voluntary break from cricket, except to play cricket elsewhere when the calendar clashes. Haris Rauf knows this better than anyone after he opted out of Pakistan’s Test series in Australia to play in the Big Bash, paid for by a central contract.The idea of ​​a voluntary rest was fanciful as he tried to make amends with the cricket…

Between 2020 and 2060, the world is expected to add approximately 2.6 trillion square feet (241 billion square meters) of floor space every month for four decades, equivalent to the entire size of New York City, while the global construction market has reached US$14 trillion, or 14.2% of global gross domestic product (GDP). In Hong Kong, the construction industry’s added value will be HK$121.8 billion in 2022, accounting for 4.3% of GDP. However, Hong Kong’s construction costs are among the highest in the world. According to an assessment by consulting firm McKinsey, Hong Kong’s construction costs are US$36 per square…