New madman across the water: The luxury ocean liner known as Titanic II is almost ready to be launched

The "Titanic" project was relaunched after several years of hiatus. According to officials' estimates, the mega-ship could be launched on June 27, 2027.

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has revived the Titanic II project, an ambitious initiative to build a replica of the famous ship, but in a version he describes as "far, far superior" to the original, which met a tragic end during the voyage its inaugural

When the story of Titanic II began

In an impressive event held in a rented hall in the Sydney Opera House, Palmer made the long-awaited announcement that he plans to realize his long-held dream of building a 1:1 scale replica of the famous vessel. However, although he initially promised that his company, Blue Star Line, would build a "ship of love" that would redefine style and luxury, Palmer admitted that he had yet to find a suitable shipyard to build the vessel.

Almost a decade has passed since Palmer's press conference at London's Ritz Hotel, where he initiated the Titanic II project. However, although the project has been relaunched, it remains to be seen whether Palmer's dream of bringing the Titanic back to life will ever become a reality.

In response to a reporter's question in 2018 about the veracity of his project, Clive Palmer dismissed the idea that it could be a hoax or a publicity stunt. He qualified these accusations as "nonsense" and emphasized that he has "enough money to build the Titanic 10 times over".

Since then, Palmer has devoted his time and resources to various fields, from involvement in politics, serving as a member of the Australian federal parliament, to disbanding and reviving a political party, and investing in tourism and expensive election campaigns. The Titanic II project suffered a halt in 2015 following a legal dispute between one of Palmer's companies and the Chinese firm Citic, which left the project without funds.

The luxury ocean liner is almost ready

In 2018, Palmer re-announced the project and set 2022 as when the new Titanic would set sail on its maiden voyage. In the latest announcement, Palmer attributed the project's delays to the Covid-19 pandemic and stressed that it now has even greater financial resources. Here, in 2024, construction was resumed and the project is fast approaching completion.

At a press conference in Sydney Harbour, Palmer, 70, said he "could die at any time without having achieved anything great". However, he is adamant that he will continue to pursue his dream of building the Titanic and hopes that he will not close his eyes until he sees it floating on the sea.

Biden vs Trump. Americans can't find the "lesser evil"

An important part of the voters is in a dilemma and will vote for the "lesser evil", while the number of undecided people continues to grow, EFE and other news sources report.

According to the same poll, most voters believe that neither candidate has the mental capacity to be president. In the case of Trump (age 77), 48% think he can perform at the required level, while only 28% think the same about Biden (age 81).

The unfavorable opinion of Biden is 59%, compared to 52%, in the case of Trump, according to the average of the surveys carried out by the specialist portal FiveThirtyEight. This level of rejection is comparable only to the situation in 2016, when Hillary Clinton faced Trump.voters,candidate,mental capacity

Trump appears to be operating in his comfort zone, as he is used to campaigning against the backdrop of guaranteed rejection by a large part of the American electorate. Some polling agencies measure how strongly Americans oppose the candidates, and the results indicate that 48% of those who reject Trump make him "strong", while in the case of Biden the percentage is 45%.

Knowing the number of candidates' haters is crucial to understanding how well they will be able to convince the undecideds, which will determine who will be president of the United States until 2029.

According to the WSJ poll, Trump has an advantage in six of the seven states considered key to victory in the American electoral system. Trump leads Biden in voting intent in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, has a margin of error advantage in Georgia, and is technically tied in Wisconsin.

"No. He's not losing. He's gaining ground or he's tied. When people start focusing (on the election) and seeing the two options, it's obvious that Joe is going to win this election," US First Lady Jill Biden said , on the CBS morning show.

The big burden on Biden's popularity is immigration and the economy, two issues on which Trump appears to be better positioned, given his past promises.

A study predicts that all Japanese people will have the same surname in 500 years

A study conducted by the Tohoku University in Japan predicts that, by the year 2500, all Japanese will bear the surname "Sato", currently the most common surname in the Asian country.

"Sato" is the most common surname among Japanese people, and in 2023 it was borne by 1.5% of the Japanese population, according to estimates from a study led by Professor Hiroshi Yoshida of the Center for Social and Economic Research on Aging, in the mentioned university.

It estimates that the number of people with the surname Sato has increased 1.0083 times in recent years and makes a prediction about the evolution of this number, given the demographic trends of rapid aging and declining birth rates, which lead to a net loss population continues.

His study also takes into account the Japanese law which stipulates that, at the time of marriage, husband and wife must adopt the same surname, either his or hers. In Japan, only one surname and one first name are used.

Japan debates whether women should keep their surnames

Based on these factors, Yoshida estimates that in the year 2446, half of the Japanese population will have the surname "Sato" and that by 2531 all Japanese will have the same surname. The study was made public amid the ongoing debate in Japan regarding the aforementioned civil regulations regarding surnames.

Shakira cancels the movie "Barbie". Her sons hate it

The action of the film is set in Barbie Land - a matriarchal system where the women have all the fancy jobs, while the men (Kens) are subordinate to Barbie and spend all their time on the beach.

The dolls travel to the real world, where they experience patriarchy. Then Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling) wants to include the patriarchy in the constitution of Barbie Land, but is prevented by Barbie (Margot Robbie) and her team.

Shakira said her two sons "absolutely hated" the film. The artist's children say that it is a film that "emasculates", which Shakira agreed with "to a certain extent".

She said: "I'm raising two boys. I want them to feel strong while respecting women. I love pop culture when it tries to empower women without taking away men's ability to be men and protect." .

The artist also said: "I think that men have a purpose in society and that women also have another purpose. We complement each other, and this complement should not be lost"

However, Shakira offered a more nuanced perspective, saying: "Just because a woman can do it all doesn't mean she should, right? Why not share the burden with the people who deserve to carry it, who do they have a duty to wear it too?"

Major cities on the US East Coast are sinking. Experts have explained how it is possible

Several cities on the east coast of the USA are sinking. Experts warn that there are a number of factors causing this situation, including climate change, reports The Guardian.

Between 2007 and 2020, New York, Baltimore, and Norfolk, Virginia sank by about 2 mm per year, other places sank at double or triple the rate, and Charleston, South Carolina sank the fastest, by 4 mm per year.

Some of this surging has resulted from pumping groundwater for water supplies or natural gas, but New York and other cities are sinking under the weight of their buildings.

It's a complex situation, with a number of factors at play. After the great ice sheets melted at the end of the Ice Age, the land gradually tilted, with northern areas that were under ice rising, while southern areas that were ice-free sloped. If land sinks and sea levels rise as a result of climate change, the risk of flooding on the US East Coast is increased.

Buildings, roads, railways, farmland and more are under threat, with the risk of seawater seeping into water supplies and turning forests into 'ghost forests', with coastal wetlands particularly vulnerable to erosion, crucial to protecting many cities from storm surges during hurricanes.

The most starred prison restaurant in Italy

In March 2016 the New York Times published a piece by Jim Yardley entitled “Italian Cuisine Worth Going to Prison For”. 

Yardley recounted his dinner at InGalera and summarized the history of the restaurant thus: «It is difficult to imagine a more unlikely success than that achieved by this place, and it is equally difficult to imagine a more fascinating experiment in the rehabilitation of prisoners». Silvia Polleri, a restaurateur who founded and manages InGalera, said that it was by reading that piece in the New York Times that she discovered that her restaurant was unique in the world: «I knew that we were the only ones in Italy. I didn't know we were the only ones in the world." The name InGalera was Polleri's idea, and she also came up with the "subtitle": "The most starred prison restaurant in Italy".

InGalera: how the Bollate prison restaurant works

“The restaurant is technically located outside the Bollate prison and not in its detention area for security reasons. This allows anyone to eat there without having to leave any identity document" explains the director. “It is managed by the ABC cooperative in which prison inmates work, and was created in order to eliminate the stigma on certain topics”, first of all the possibility of seeing these people in a different light. As soon as you enter the Bollate prison you are accompanied by some stewards to the restaurant, where guests of the penitentiary facility will be waiting for you. The restaurant is modern and welcoming and the kitchen is managed by chef Davide (no surnames), who studied at Gualtiero Marchesi's professional school before his conviction. With him a team of 3 or 4 people, a maître and waiters. Only the sommelier is external because he has to handle the orders and because the inmates cannot have anything to do with alcohol. Prisoners who are allowed to carry out work activities outside without escort will work. Everyone has a salary, with a normal paycheck.

During the services Polleri goes around the tables to say the exact same things in front of the customers that he says in front of the camera in Rho: the restaurant exists because in Italy the average recidivism of prisoners is 70 percent, and it is «a shame for the entire society." But in Bollate, among the unfortunately very small sample of inmates who work at InGalera, that percentage drops to 17 percent. 

People hired on a regular contract work at InGalera, explains Polleri: this is the reason why their recidivism rate is so low, because what they do in there is worth just as much as what others do out there. And therefore the demands must be the same, the limits as well: a customer can complain about the food and the service, or compliment one another. And nothing else.

Japan has a new island after an undersea volcano erupted

Japan has gained another island to add to its already impressive collection after an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200km south of Tokyo created a new landmass.

Experts said the tiny island emerged from a series of eruptions that began in October near Iwoto Island, part of the Ogasawara island chain in the western Pacific.

Fukashi Maeno, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo's earthquake research institute, confirmed that the water-type eruptions occurred about one kilometer off Iwoto, forming a land mass about 100 meters in diameter, reports The Guardian.

When magma ejected from eruptive activity comes into contact with seawater, it cools and solidifies, rising layer by layer until it rises to the surface.

The island is made up mainly of pumice, a volcanic rock with a low density. A storm surge or a particularly violent eruption could sweep it away at any moment, as happened to the Tongan island of Hunga-Hapai, wiped off the map by the 2022 eruption off the coast of Tonga in Polynesia.

Earlier this year, geographers declared that the Japanese archipelago, previously thought to consist of four main islands and about 6,000 much smaller and mostly uninhabited islands, actually consisted of twice as many.

Using digital mapping technology, the Japan Geospatial Information Authority said it had identified a total of 14,125 islands - 7,273 more than previously thought.