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In the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital economy, businesses find themselves traversing uncharted waters, encountering new challenges in the realm of cross-border taxation. This blog sets sail to explore the complexities of cross-border tax challenges in the digital age and how the expertise of an international law firm and international lawyers becomes instrumental in…
Greece’s move against mass tourism and the increasing flow of cruise ships that dock at its shores will be finalized with the imposition of a €20 tax, which will initially apply only to the two islands, Mykonos and Santorini. The plan to impose the tax […]
TikTok made a last-ditch effort in the Supreme Court aimed at stopping the app’s ban that was set to take effect in a few days – but the platform’s arguments may have ‘failed’. Most justices appeared inclined to uphold a federal law that would ban […]
Greece’s move against mass tourism and the increasing flow of cruise ships that dock at its shores will be finalized with the imposition of a €20 tax, which will initially apply only to the two islands, Mykonos and Santorini. The plan to impose the tax […]
Culture Travel Greece’s move against mass tourism and the increasing flow of cruise ships that dock at its shores will be finalized with the imposition of a €20 tax, which will initially apply only to the two islands, Mykonos and Santorini. The plan to impose the tax […]
Culture Travel
TikTok, Reddit and Imgur are to be investigated by the UK’s data protection watchdog over how they use the personal information of teenage users. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it wants to look into how video-sharing app TikTok uses information from users aged 13 […]
Technology
Skype – once the dominant video calling service – has announced that it will shut down for good. The service boasted more than 300 million users at its peak, but the most recent figures Microsoft shared were in 2023, when it said it had more […]
Technology
The UK competition watchdog has launched an investigation into tech giant Google. The company is being investigated for whether it has too much power in online search. Google accounts for 90% of online searches in the UK, and the Competition and Markets Authority is looking […]
Technology
TikTok made a last-ditch effort in the Supreme Court aimed at stopping the app’s ban that was set to take effect in a few days – but the platform’s arguments may have ‘failed’. Most justices appeared inclined to uphold a federal law that would ban […]
Technology USA
First Ajax-Feyenoord and then we continue with Bayer Leverkusen-Bayern Munich, Lazio-Roma and in the evening Inter-Juventus and Barcelona-Real Madrid. These are the 5 “derby” matches that are expected to provide spectacle and magic on the green field for football fans. At 14:30 the Amsterdam challenge […]
SportsFirst Ajax-Feyenoord and then we continue with Bayer Leverkusen-Bayern Munich, Lazio-Roma and in the evening Inter-Juventus and Barcelona-Real Madrid. These are the 5 “derby” matches that are expected to provide spectacle and magic on the green field for football fans.
At 14:30 the Amsterdam challenge starts, with Ajax and Feyenoord clashing in a “heated” duel for the championship title, with the 2 teams separating only 3 points from each other (Feyenoord is in first place while Ajax in the 2nd).
After the Dutch “classic”, it is the turn of the German Bundesliga to present a spectacle. At 17:30, the “aspirins” of Bayer Leverkusen will wait at the “BayArena”, the “Bavarians” of Munich, with the locals looking to maintain the good form they have created after 3 consecutive victories in the Championship and the Europa League.
Meanwhile, just 30 minutes after the start of the German “clash”, at the “Stadio Olimpico” in Rome, Lazio will host the “cousins” from the capital, in the famous Rome derby. Ciro Immobile seems to be a serious lack for the “eagles” of Lazio, while on the other side, Rome of Jose Mourinho comes after the passage to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, where they eliminated the Spaniards of Real Sociedad.
However, it does not end there, as the evening has reserved the 2 most special challenges of the day. First the “Italian derby”, Inter-Juventus, at 20:45 and only 15 minutes later, from the legendary “Camp Nou”, the famous Spanish “El Clasico” between Barcelona and Real Madrid will start, to close this “magical” Sunday for all football fans.
The app has come under fire over privacy concerns After the administration of President Joe Biden asked employees to delete the TikTok app from their mobile devices, another tough measure is expected to be taken. The US government wants TikTok to be sold or else […]
TechnologyThe app has come under fire over privacy concerns
After the administration of President Joe Biden asked employees to delete the TikTok app from their mobile devices, another tough measure is expected to be taken. The US government wants TikTok to be sold or else it will be banned in the country.
The video-sharing app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is accused of posing a national security risk through data collected from millions of users.
For years, US officials have raised concerns that data from the popular app could fall into the hands of the Chinese government. Biometric data as well as the location of users can be obtained through TikTok.
TikTok has been at the center of criticism in the US since the administration of former White House leader Donald Trump. This app has a billion users worldwide and is especially popular among young people.
The company Meta will no longer reproduce, through Facebook and Instagram, Italian songs and pieces of music, after an agreement was not reached with the Italian company Siae, which protects the copyright of singer-songwriters and musicians. The decision was made by Meta, the head of […]
Business TechnologyThe company Meta will no longer reproduce, through Facebook and Instagram, Italian songs and pieces of music, after an agreement was not reached with the Italian company Siae, which protects the copyright of singer-songwriters and musicians.
The decision was made by Meta, the head of the two social networks, who announced that “unfortunately, the relevant agreement with Siae cannot be renewed” and that “she will have to remove the protected pieces from her music library by the Italian copyright company’.
The measure only applies to social media users in Italy. For her part, Siae announced that this is a unilateral decision, “given that the relevant negotiations are still ongoing and that there is a will to sign an agreement with transparent conditions”.
Neighboring media emphasize that the relevant negotiations are likely to continue and that at the moment, most of the songs “protected” by Siae have not been removed from the two popular social networks.
Italian commentators point out that, especially for young artists, it is important to be able to make their songs known, with some financial benefits, using social media.
A former KGB official who was in the same class as Vladimir Putin stated that the head of the Kremlin is no longer appearing at the main events in Russia, bringing before the public an image of him. The former official, who does not want […]
PoliticsA former KGB official who was in the same class as Vladimir Putin stated that the head of the Kremlin is no longer appearing at the main events in Russia, bringing before the public an image of him.
The former official, who does not want to reveal his identity, says that earlier he did not believe in such theories, but all things were turned upside down when he saw the visit of the Russian president to an aircraft factory in Siberia last week.
He says that he carefully watched all the movements, which further confirmed the idea that the real Vladimir Putin did not appear in the picture.
“Putin in these images was completely different. He constantly touched his face, nose and had a wider face and different shape of eye circles. His voice was also different”, says the former spy.
Similar statements have come several times from Ukrainian President Volodym Zelensky, who said at the world summit in Davos that he did not know who he was talking to in Russia.
A while ago, the British media wrote that Putin is dead. The Daily Mail claimed that Putin had a copy and that the Kremlin had replaced the president with a copy.
The superchallenge between Real Madrid and Liverpool has ended at the “Santiago Bernabeu”, with the minimum victory of 1 to 0, of the “galacticos”, who once again manage to qualify for the quarter-final stage of their favorite competition, the UEFA Champions League. A goal by […]
SportsThe superchallenge between Real Madrid and Liverpool has ended at the “Santiago Bernabeu”, with the minimum victory of 1 to 0, of the “galacticos”, who once again manage to qualify for the quarter-final stage of their favorite competition, the UEFA Champions League.
A goal by French “bomber” Karim Benzema in the 80th minute of the challenge was enough to seal the next victory against Jurgen Klopp’s “reds”, after that magical 2-5 victory 2 weeks ago at “Anfield Road”. “.
In this way, Real Madrid becomes the last team to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and now only the draw for the remaining teams in the Champions League is expected, which will be drawn at noon on Friday in Nyon, France.
The first matches of the quarterfinals will take place on April 11 and 12, while the return matches will take place on April 18 and 19. The semi-finals will take place on May 9 and 10, the first matches, and on May 16 and 17, the return matches. The final will be on Saturday, June 10 at the Atatruk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
Fifa has switched the format for the expanded 2026 World Cup back to four-team groups. The competition in the United States, Mexico and Canada was due to feature 16 groups of three because the number of teams is increasing from 32 to 48. But the […]
SportsFifa has switched the format for the expanded 2026 World Cup back to four-team groups.
The competition in the United States, Mexico and Canada was due to feature 16 groups of three because the number of teams is increasing from 32 to 48.
But the success of the four-team format at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar caused the governing body to reconsider.
The move expands the competition from its projected 80 matches to 104, including a new round-of-32 stage.
Fifa said the top two and eight best third-placed teams would progress to the last 32.
“The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams,” said world football’s governing body.
The move was approved at Fifa’s council meeting in Rwanda.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said in December that the governing body was considering a format change after the group stages in Qatar included some exciting final games.
The four-team group format, with the top two going through to the knockout stages, has been used since the men’s World Cup expanded to 32 teams in 1998.
The new round-of-32 stage means teams will have to play eight matches to win the tournament, compared to seven at the 2022 World Cup.
Fifa approved a men’s international match calendar from 2025-2030 and said that “based on the new calendar, the Fifa World Cup 2026 final will be played on Sunday, 19 July 2026”.
It added that the “mandatory” date for which clubs must release players for the tournament will start “on 25 May 2026, following the last official club match on 24 May 2026” and that “exemptions may apply to the final matches of confederation club competitions until 30 May 2026 subject to Fifa approval”.
The women’s international match calendar keeps its six international windows per year and includes the women’s Olympic football tournament, which will take place from 25 July to 10 August 2024.
Fifa also approved the access list for the 32-team Fifa Club World Cup, which will take place every four years from June 2025.
Teams who win their confederation’s top tournament in “the four-year period of the seasons ending in 2021 and 2024” will qualify where they have enough places.
Europe has 12 places in the new tournament and Chelsea and Real Madrid, who won the Champions League in 2021 and 2022 respectively, have already secured their spots.
The other qualifying teams from each continent will be determined “by a club ranking based on the same four-year period”.
There will be a cap of two clubs per country with the exception being if more than two teams from the same country win their confederation’s premier tournament over the qualification period.
Fifa also wants to keep a yearly club competition and this will be “between the winner of the Uefa Champions League and the winner of intercontinental play-offs between the other confederations”.
Player organisations and club managers have regularly voiced concerns about the demands on players, and Fifa is to set up a task force to look at player welfare and “principles such as mandatory rest periods”.
“Our fundamental objective is to have clarity on this topic, and to have meaningful football matches while protecting the wellbeing of the players and recognising that many regions need more competitive football,” said Infantino.
However, the general secretary of players’ union Fifpro Jonas Baer-Hoffmann reiterated that “ongoing research provides new evidence of the excessive demands on elite players”.
“We are now observing a growing awareness among players about the harmful effects these pressures have on their performance, careers, and personal lives,” he added.
“They realise that their match calendar is not sustainable, affects their mental and physical health, and leaves them exposed, and without any protection, to an accelerated cycle of poorly coordinated competitions.”
Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) chief executive Maheta Molango said: “Fundamentally, the football calendar needs a complete reset.
“The expanded World Cup format being announced for 2026 means that, yet again, more games are being forced into an already overcrowded schedule.
“It is right that Fifa have listened to players’ concerns and announced a working group to address the critical issues surrounding fixture congestion and player welfare.
“It is also encouraging to see that key concerns raised with Fifa by the PFA, such as the need for a minimum of 72 hours between games, a mandatory day off each week, and an annual rest period, are being prioritised.
“When Gianni Infantino came to Manchester to meet with us last year, these were the changes that our Premier League and Women’s Super League members said they wanted to see.
“However, it’s very difficult to see how that aligns with the constant expansion of the domestic and international calendar.
“We know that the current workload players face is having an ongoing impact on their wellbeing, both on and off the pitch. We can’t simply push them until they break.”
Social networks are so used and hold such a large amount of information that it is often difficult to tell the truth from what it seems. The latest case most likely has to do with the viral footage coming out of Beijing, where it looks […]
LifeStyleSocial networks are so used and hold such a large amount of information that it is often difficult to tell the truth from what it seems.
The latest case most likely has to do with the viral footage coming out of Beijing, where it looks like the streets and the vehicles parked there are almost covered in maggots. A spectacle worthy of a horror movie, so much so that it forced the locals to open their tents to avoid any of the so-called peaceful creatures.
But that’s not enough, the news is also full of evidence of fish falling like hailstones in Lajamanu, a town in the Australian desert.
Theories are many, and the most scientific comments speak of a rare but not exceptional event, where the force of a tornado can transport for miles small animals like these above.
In any case, there are conspirators and apocalypse enthusiasts who say that it is about the irrefutable signs of the “Doomsday”, the clear warning that the World, this world at least, is coming to an end. Others, more skeptical, content themselves with the analysis of the images, which actually seem to tell a different story.
If you look closely, the images of worms mostly come from a video, somewhat unclear, where the worms could very well be what we all know as poplar flowers, which especially when wet in the rain turn into long creatures without clear form.
Meanwhile, the video accompanying the Australian fish news was actually taken from a road accident in Norway, where a container full of fish crashed onto the highway. The fish that have actually been seen in Australia may be the result of the aforementioned tornado phenomenon.
Often times, a deeper control of social networks can save us from the nightmare for the future.
With the first John Wick (2014), Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski established a franchise that soars above most action films. Merging an artful aesthetic with brilliantly choreographed and shot fight scenes, it set a standard matched in its three sequels, including the latest, John […]
EntertainmentWith the first John Wick (2014), Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski established a franchise that soars above most action films. Merging an artful aesthetic with brilliantly choreographed and shot fight scenes, it set a standard matched in its three sequels, including the latest, John Wick: Chapter 4. Knives, guns, swords and martial arts come into play, often in lovely, red-tinged light to the sound of glass shattering all around. The violence is just cartoonish enough not to be truly disturbing, at least most of the time.
There is another reason the films are so entertaining and successful, though (with the franchise earning more than $500 million dollars so far). Perversely, we love John Wick himself. That lethal, bereaved assassin is a good bad guy for our times, the natural extension of Tony Soprano, Walter White and all the other heroic antiheroes the culture has embraced. A hit-man who tried to escape the criminal life, Wick returns with fury and vengeance after his wife dies and thugs kill the dog she left him. He only murders villains and is driven by humanising grief. Reeves’ action moves and his sincerity, even when Wick is at his most stern, perfectly capture the blend of emotion and kinetic energy that define the films.
The twist in Chapter 4 is that John Wick goes full James Bond, globe-trotting and shooting his way through glamorous cities, with action that is even more spectacularly staged. Running at 2 hours and 49 minutes, it is bigger than the previous films in every way – not better or worse, just more.
The plot picks up where the last film left off. The High Table, the organisation that controls crime around the world, has a multi-million-dollar contract out on Wick, who killed a High Table member. In more familiar Mafia terms, it’s as if he murdered a made man. And he violated another rule by doing it on the grounds of a Continental hotel, the supposed safe spaces for assassins around the world. Like Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III, Wick keeps getting pulled back in. Now, to try to free himself once more, he must grapple with a new villain, the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), who in his first scene commits a murder so arbitrary and upsetting that he instantly becomes one of the franchise’s most despicable figures.
As Wick fights his way along, he meets colourful allies and enemies. Donnie Yen (the Ip Man films) plays a blind assassin. Ian McShane returns as Winston, the ever-logical and calm manager of the New York Continental, the only person able to ask John, “Have you learned nothing?” As always, McShane’s urbane, dry delivery makes the films even more engaging.
In Osaka, the big action scenes take place with arrows as well as swords, amid glass display cases holding samurai costumes, a classic Wick setting. In Berlin, Wick battles Killa (Scott Adkins), a corpulent, gold-toothed villain who, oddly for a Wick film, seems like a misconceived reject from Goldfinger. But in the extravagant fight scene, Wick chases him through a dance club, where waterfalls line the walls and techno music drowns out the sounds of gunshots and axes to the head. Throughout, Wick is trailed by The Tracker (Shamier Anderson), a bounty hunter with a very well-trained killer dog (in fact five incredible stunt dogs).
And in Paris, Wick has a meeting with the Marquis, the Eiffel Tower providing a picturesque backdrop. A big, climactic scene is set on the steps and in the shadow of Sacré-Coeur. The backdrops make the criminal underworld look like the subject of a glossy fashion-magazine photo shoot. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is a sign of a slender plot engineered to suit the settings.
The film echoes a central question from all the Wick films, though: is he a natural-born murderer? Or a good man underneath it all? “This is who you are,” the Marquis tells him. “A killer.” The question is pointedly unresolved here. Beneath the supersized action, the character hasn’t deepened over time. For an action series, that isn’t a flaw, but it is a missed opportunity.
The franchise is already growing in new directions. The Continental, a three-episode spin-off series coming this year on Peacock, is set in the 1970s and tells the origin story of Winston and his hotel. Production has finished on Ballerina, set between Wick 3 and 4, starring Ana de Armas as a dancing assassin. We don’t know if she kills en pointe, but we do know Reeves is in the film. Apparently, as long as the franchise keeps making money, one way or another John Wick will never die.
Russia is also believed to be sending female prisoners to fight in Ukraine. This is the first time that such a thing has been reported, as men imprisoned, even for serious crimes, were previously released from their cells to pay for their crimes by fighting […]
PoliticsRussia is also believed to be sending female prisoners to fight in Ukraine. This is the first time that such a thing has been reported, as men imprisoned, even for serious crimes, were previously released from their cells to pay for their crimes by fighting for the Motherland.
“Last week there were large movements of trains to Donetsk, where prisoners of war were sent. There were women prisoners in one of the wagons,” says a statement from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Even before, it was reported in various media that some of the convicts were transferred to the “Kuschevka” prison in the Krasnodar region, near the war zone. There, some of them, released from prison through a scheme related to mobilizing the country for war, were put to work to help supply the soldiers with food and equipment.
Olga Romanova, of the “Russians behind bars” Foundation, is quoted by the “Daily Mail” as saying that about 100 women have been sent to Ukraine so far. Previously, imprisoned men sent to war have become part of the Wagner mercenary group, but recently, the founder of this group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that he will no longer take fighters from this category, without explaining why.
The social communication network WhatsApp may be banned from operating in the United Kingdom. The warning was given by the head of this application, Will Cathcart. He says that the bill of the British authorities for Internet security can be the reason for this. Specifically, […]
TechnologyThe social communication network WhatsApp may be banned from operating in the United Kingdom.
The warning was given by the head of this application, Will Cathcart.
He says that the bill of the British authorities for Internet security can be the reason for this. Specifically, we are talking about the “end to end” mode for encrypted conversations, which WhatsApp applies and which has to do with the content of the messages.
This mode means that only the interlocutors see the messages, and even the social network itself does not have access to these conversations due to the encrypted functionality.
But the British authorities are considering the possibility that in the United Kingdom the encryption of conversations is not allowed in any application because there may be illegal content that must pass through the filter of the authorities.
If the UK government forces the social network to remove this mode, then WhatsApp will consider not offering the service in the UK as it does not accept this condition.
WhatsApp defends its policy on encrypted chats by arguing that it is the right of users to have private communication, chat freely and not be “under the scanner”.
