> The launch of Wales in the metaverse hopes to give virtual visitors from all over the world the chance to see what the country has to offer. > > Tourism body Visit Wales has created the immersive experience with the aim of platforming some of Wales's experiences and attractions. > > Around 600 million people visit the metaverse each year, across a number of platforms. > > The Welsh metaverse is being hosted on platform Spatial. > > Organisers say they believe Wales is also the first European nation to use this approach to market itself as a tourism destination. > > The announcement comes after a report by a committee of MPs published last July found Wales "lacked a coherent brand" to attract overseas visitors. > > ... > > Visitors to the virtual Wales can take on quests including building an interactive itinerary which includes real-life Wales-based activities.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11809930

> > The overnight ratings for Doctor Who's season 14 launch episodes Space Babies and The Devil's Chord have been revealed, as Ncuti Gatwa well and truly takes over the keys to the TARDIS. > > > > Space Babies, the first episode, was watched by 2.6 million viewers, with The Devil's Chord, the second, having an overnight audience of 2.4 million. > > > > While the overnight figures are close to the lowest ever for the show (with Legend of the Sea Devils only securing an overnight audience of 2.2 million in 2022), it's not the whole story. It doesn't include viewers who watched on BBC iPlayer, who will be more significant than ever due to this season being the first to debut early on iPlayer. > > > > Figures are also likely to have been affected by good weather in the UK. > > > > Season 14 of Doctor Who marks many firsts - it's the first to launch with a double bill, with the first two episodes being available at once, and it's the first to debut episodes early on iPlayer before airing them on BBC One later that day. It's also the first season after the BBC's deal with Disney, meaning episodes are being transmitted globally at the same time for the first time ever. > > > > Gatwa's first episode, the Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road, was streamed a whopping 10.1 million times on BBC iPlayer, setting a new record according to the BBC. > > > > ... > > > > Next week will see Steven Moffat's return with his tense episode Boom!.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11809930

> > The overnight ratings for Doctor Who's season 14 launch episodes Space Babies and The Devil's Chord have been revealed, as Ncuti Gatwa well and truly takes over the keys to the TARDIS. > > > > Space Babies, the first episode, was watched by 2.6 million viewers, with The Devil's Chord, the second, having an overnight audience of 2.4 million. > > > > While the overnight figures are close to the lowest ever for the show (with Legend of the Sea Devils only securing an overnight audience of 2.2 million in 2022), it's not the whole story. It doesn't include viewers who watched on BBC iPlayer, who will be more significant than ever due to this season being the first to debut early on iPlayer. > > > > Figures are also likely to have been affected by good weather in the UK. > > > > Season 14 of Doctor Who marks many firsts - it's the first to launch with a double bill, with the first two episodes being available at once, and it's the first to debut episodes early on iPlayer before airing them on BBC One later that day. It's also the first season after the BBC's deal with Disney, meaning episodes are being transmitted globally at the same time for the first time ever. > > > > Gatwa's first episode, the Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road, was streamed a whopping 10.1 million times on BBC iPlayer, setting a new record according to the BBC. > > > > ... > > > > Next week will see Steven Moffat's return with his tense episode Boom!.

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/10193357

> I don't think the inclusivity is the most interesting part of this interview - rather: > > >I wanted the show to be fun and a bit nuts. I think there’s an awful lot of television now, and I watch an awful lot of television, but I think there’s so much television that [sticks too rigidly] to the three-act structure. You know when there are 10 minutes left to go, when there’s going to be a major event, or when the murderer is going to be caught. So, I think it’s time for a show just to break those rules. Writing is about the heart and the pulse and sparks in the brain. Writing is about psychology. It’s about understanding people and why they do what they do. It’s not about hitting a particular beat 17 minutes in. So, I wanted to show this kind of laughing in the face of those rules.

> Despite the threat of dislocated fingers and strained muscles, over 150 Bavarian men came together Sunday to compete in Germany’s unique national championship of “Fingerhakeln,” or finger wrestling. > > The “finger wrestlers” met in a big beer tent in the small southern village of Bernbeuren. Around 1,000 visitors cheered on the all-male contestants as they gulped down their national beer and world-famous German sausages while Bavarian live music filled the air. > > Finger wrestling, a well-known competitive sport in Germany’s Alpine region and neighboring Austria, originated as a way to settle disputes. > > In each round, two competitors sit on opposite sides of a solid table and each hooks one finger — usually the middle finger — through opposite sides of a small leather loop. As soon as a referee signals the start, a contestant tries to pull the other across the table swiftly. The whole thing usually lasts a few seconds, and digits put out of their joints are common. The winner moves to the next round.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15213368

> Has the U.S. government secretly retrieved exotic craft of “non-human” origin? Newly declassified documents, along with extraordinary legislation, illustrate how two successive Democratic Senate majority leaders appear to have believed so. > > Notably, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) were not alone in their focus on UFOs. The Democratic heavyweights received critical support and encouragement from a bipartisan group of high-profile senators over the years, including former fighter pilot and famed astronaut John Glenn (D-Ohio); Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who observed a UFO as a World War II pilot; Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), then-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; 2008 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.); Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.); Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). > > In late 2011, for example, the top scientist at the Department of Homeland Security met with Lieberman, then chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Reid to discuss the establishment of an ultra-secret UFO program. > > As outlined in remarkable detail in newly released documents, the intent of the proposed program was to “gain access to and inventory” UFOs secretly under “investigation in National Laboratories, government organizations and/or contractors.” > > From there, the program would engage in “laboratory experimentation” and “scientific investigation” to foster “technology exploitation” of the recovered materials. > > In short, Reid and Lieberman were advocating, “with some sense of urgency,” for the establishment of a formal UFO reverse-engineering program.

> A Catholic priest in England was reported by his parishioners after he allegedly told them Jesus died with an erection. The Times of London reports that the diocese of Hexham & Newcastle investigated the complaint against Father Thomas McHale—an American assigned to Our Blessed Lady Immaculate in Blackhill for a decade—and it was “upheld.” While McHale was reprimanded, he has not lost his position as a result of the Good Friday sermon that some of his flock deemed vulgar. McHale is said to have told those in the pews that when Jesus was crucified, blood would have rushed to his lower body. “He told people Jesus died with an erection,” one church-goer told the Times. “The church was shocked. There were young families there.” McHale is hardly the first to discuss the possibility that Jesus’ asphyxiation could have caused an erection, and the possibility has even been suggested in art through the years.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11812280

> > The High Court in Belfast on Monday morning ordered the "disapplication" of sections of the act as they undermine human rights protections guaranteed in the region under post-Brexit arrangements. > > > > The Illegal Migration Act provides new powers for the government to detain and remove asylum seekers it deems to have arrived illegally in the UK. Central to the new laws is the scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. > > > > Mr Justice Humphreys said aspects of the Illegal Migration Act were also incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). > > > > Following Brexit, the UK and the EU agreed the Windsor Framework, which stipulates there can be no diminution of the rights provisions contained within the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998, even if they differ from the rest of the UK. > > > > The judge found several elements of the Illegal Immigration Act cause a "significant" diminution of the rights enjoyed by asylum seekers in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. > > > > "I have found that there is a relevant diminution of right in each of the areas relied upon by the applicants," he said.

> The High Court in Belfast on Monday morning ordered the "disapplication" of sections of the act as they undermine human rights protections guaranteed in the region under post-Brexit arrangements. > > The Illegal Migration Act provides new powers for the government to detain and remove asylum seekers it deems to have arrived illegally in the UK. Central to the new laws is the scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. > > Mr Justice Humphreys said aspects of the Illegal Migration Act were also incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). > > Following Brexit, the UK and the EU agreed the Windsor Framework, which stipulates there can be no diminution of the rights provisions contained within the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998, even if they differ from the rest of the UK. > > The judge found several elements of the Illegal Immigration Act cause a "significant" diminution of the rights enjoyed by asylum seekers in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. > > "I have found that there is a relevant diminution of right in each of the areas relied upon by the applicants," he said.

> Reform UK’s election efforts are being hampered by a lack of money and resources and the party has so far largely relied on £1.4m of loans from its leader, Richard Tice. > > The party is ultimately owned by Nigel Farage, but electoral and corporate filings show it has been mainly bankrolled by Tice, who has contributed about 80% of its declared funding in loans and donations since he took over in 2021. > > ... > > Reform insists that traditional former Tory donors are now beginning to open their chequebooks for the party as the election approaches, even without Farage. > > However, Tice told an audience this month that it would not be easy to run an effective ground campaign at the next election on the money coming into the party. He said it was spending “less than £1.5m a year” compared with the £35m allowed for each party nationally and likely to be spent by the Conservatives and Labour in the year before an election. In contrast, the Brexit party brought in £17m in donations in 2019. > > Tice’s personal company, Tisun Investments, has been loaning the party money in increments of £10,000-£50,000 since before he took over as leader. As of the end of 2023, outstanding loans of about £1.4m were due to Tisun, according to the Electoral Commission. Tice has also contributed £150,000 through another company, Britain Means Business. > > ... > > Reform sources said the party was heavily reliant on volunteers and had been short-staffed on the ground at recent byelections. It has about 15 staff, with admin based in Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire and the rest of its employees largely working from home. It is headquartered in Victoria in central London, but this was described by one Reform source as “more of a room” than an office. > > Tice has said he wants to run candidates in all constituencies at the general election, having picked about 450 hopefuls so far, but it managed to contest only 323 seats at the most recent council elections. The only two Reform candidates who won council seats have been investigated by the party over social media posts that praised the far-right leader Tommy Robinson. > > General election candidates have been given their seats after applying through the website, and will largely have to run their own campaign operations. > > ... > > The party’s biggest donor last year was Terence Mordaunt, a previous Tory donor, businessman and former chair of the climate change sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation, whose companies have given £200,000 to Reform. > > Other major donors have dropped off since the Brexit party rebranded itself as Reform. Jeremy Hosking, who gave £2.2m to the Brexit party in 2019 and £15,000 to Reform last year, told the Guardian he had now ended his donations to Reform UK, having once hoped they would cooperate with the Reclaim party led by Laurence Fox. > > Hosking is now supporting Reclaim, which he said was “ever more engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the culture war/free speech areas, and established political parties like Reform are not really comfortable around that”. > > Another major donor to the Brexit party in 2019-20 was Christopher Harborne, who gave in the region of £10m. He has since given £1m to the office of Boris Johnson and has not donated so far to Reform.

> The overnight ratings for Doctor Who's season 14 launch episodes Space Babies and The Devil's Chord have been revealed, as Ncuti Gatwa well and truly takes over the keys to the TARDIS. > > Space Babies, the first episode, was watched by 2.6 million viewers, with The Devil's Chord, the second, having an overnight audience of 2.4 million. > > While the overnight figures are close to the lowest ever for the show (with Legend of the Sea Devils only securing an overnight audience of 2.2 million in 2022), it's not the whole story. It doesn't include viewers who watched on BBC iPlayer, who will be more significant than ever due to this season being the first to debut early on iPlayer. > > Figures are also likely to have been affected by good weather in the UK. > > Season 14 of Doctor Who marks many firsts - it's the first to launch with a double bill, with the first two episodes being available at once, and it's the first to debut episodes early on iPlayer before airing them on BBC One later that day. It's also the first season after the BBC's deal with Disney, meaning episodes are being transmitted globally at the same time for the first time ever. > > Gatwa's first episode, the Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road, was streamed a whopping 10.1 million times on BBC iPlayer, setting a new record according to the BBC. > > ... > > Next week will see Steven Moffat's return with his tense episode Boom!.

> The winners of this year's BAFTA TV Awards have been revealed. > > Shows including Happy Valley, Top Boy and The Sixth Commandment were the big winners on the night. > > This is the second BAFTA TV ceremony to take place this year, with the craft awards for behind-the-camera roles held in April.

> Lawyers and doctors assisting the first UK tradespeople diagnosed with a lung disease linked to a material used in kitchen revamps believe the cases could mark the “start of an epidemic”. > > The first cases of silicosis among tradespeople who have worked with an artificial stone popular in modern kitchen worktops have been reported in the UK in recent months. > > The material – high-silica engineered stone quartz – has already been banned in Australia, where it was described as a modern-day asbestos after hundreds of suspected cases were identified. > > ... > > Daniel Easton, a partner with Leigh Day, is representing the first UK patients to have been diagnosed with silicosis after working with the stone. The long-term lung disease is caused by inhaling large amounts of crystalline silica dust, which is created while cutting the slabs. > > He told i: “We may be sitting on an epidemic of silicosis that’s going to become a major issue over the next couple of years. There are signs that we may be starting down a similar road to Australia. > > ... > > It is understood up to 10 cases of silicosis linked to artifical stone have now been identified in the UK, after i revealed in February that three cases were reported last year to the surveillance scheme Sword, used by physicians to log work-related respiratory diseases. > > The popularity of quartz kitchen surfaces has exploded in recent years, and it is now the UK’s most popular worktop material. > > Specialist water cutting techniques can suppress the spread of dust during manufacturing, but dry cutting can leave workers exposed to harmful amounts of silica dust. > > ... > > In Australia, screening programmes since 2018 found 11 per cent of of 4,743 stonemasons and engineered stone workers received a probable or confirmed diagnosis of silicosis because of workplace exposure to dust known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS).

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11783148

> > Last year’s Cocaine Bear managed to spawn a trend even if it wasn’t a huge hit at the box office, with Cocaine Shark following and now Cocaine Werewolf howling our way soon. > > > > Amityville Coke Den isn’t far behind, we assume… > > > > Our friends over at Rue Morgue have provided us with a first look at the upcoming Cocaine Werewolf, which they reveal will be directed by Mark Polonia (director of Cocaine Shark!). > > > > Here’s the synopsis from Cleopatra Entertainment: “Cocaine, cash and a crew filming a low-budget horror movie in the eerie woods of northern Pennsylvania clash when an unexpected visit from a bloodthirsty werewolf literally enters the picture–with deadly results.”

> Last year’s Cocaine Bear managed to spawn a trend even if it wasn’t a huge hit at the box office, with Cocaine Shark following and now Cocaine Werewolf howling our way soon. > > Amityville Coke Den isn’t far behind, we assume… > > Our friends over at Rue Morgue have provided us with a first look at the upcoming Cocaine Werewolf, which they reveal will be directed by Mark Polonia (director of Cocaine Shark!). > > Here’s the synopsis from Cleopatra Entertainment: “Cocaine, cash and a crew filming a low-budget horror movie in the eerie woods of northern Pennsylvania clash when an unexpected visit from a bloodthirsty werewolf literally enters the picture–with deadly results.”

> EXCLUSIVE: Francis Ford Coppola‘s Megalopolis has sold to key indie buyers in Europe’s top five territories, we can reveal. > > Ahead of its anticipated world premiere at this week’s Cannes Film Festival the movie has closed with Constantin Film for Germany and all German-speaking territories, including Switzerland and Austria; Eagle Pictures for Italy; Tripictures for Spain; and Entertainment Film Distributors Limited for the U.K. A deal with Le Pacte for France was announced last week. > > The movie debuts on Thursday 16th in Cannes with cast Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, D.B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman set to tread the red carpet.

> A man who survived Nazi occupation and camps as a teenager has reflected on his harrowing start in life as he turns 100. > > George Durkal, who was held captive in an internment camp in Germany during World War Two marked his milestone with a celebration at his care home. George was born as one of six siblings in Poland in 1925 but emigrated to the UK after the war. Speaking from the Argentum Lodge Care Home in Nailsea, in Somerset, he said the outbreak of the Second World War and Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 had shattered his happy childhood. > > Aged 15 he returned from school one day to find his house burnt to the ground, surrounded by German soldiers. Living in occupied Poland was extremely tough and in 1945 the Gestapo demanded one member of his family was to go to work in Germany. George, who was only 21 at the time, volunteered and he was sent by cattle truck across the border to work as a carpenter fixing farmers' carts. > > Later he was sent to an internment camp where he was forced to labour building underground bunkers. George, who said his birthday card from King Charles and The Queen Consort took pride of place during his party, said: "I've certainly led an eventful life, which is perhaps the secret to a long life." > > "I was blessed with a wonderful marriage of over 68 years to my soulmate Joyce, which brought me great joy. "I had a really lovely birthday and the staff at Argentum Lodge have gone out of their way to help me celebrate my century." Following the war, George joined the Polish Army and was stationed in Italy for two years." > > As Poland was now under Russian occupation, George emigrated to England where he swiftly learnt English and used his carpentry skills to find work making furniture. He later worked for British Cellophane in Bridgwater for many years. George married his wife Joyce in 1955 and they had a son, Neil. After Joyce's death in 2023, George moved to Argentum Lodge in Nailsea to be near his Great Nieces and Nephews.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/15552048

> The linked video (cinemastix) runs through the ideas (which others had come up with) and how they're actually applicable to Star Wars because Lucas said they were actually more like silent films, based more on their music and visuals than dialogue. > > Now no one needs to be told the dialogue in Star Wars isn't the main attraction ... but I'd never thought about them as silent films let alone actually watching them that way. I'd kinda be into trying that out, at least maybe for ESB. > > And then there's the idea of a Black and White samurai version of the prequels! Which is a thing (with Japanese dub) ... and well that actually looks legit!