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King Charles III Crowned at Westminster Abbey “Long Live the King”

King Charls III Coronation

At a time when the monarchy is struggling to remain relevant in a broken modern Britain, King Charles III was crowned Saturday at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony steeped in old ritual and filled with glitter.

Charles was handed an orb, a sword, and a sceptre at his coronation, and the solid gold, bejewelled St. Edward’s Crown was put atop his head as he sat on a 700-year-old wood chair.

The queen said, “I come not to be served, but to serve,” in front of world leaders, foreign royals, diplomats, and a smattering of stars, and was presented as Britain’s “undoubted king.”

Inside the medieval monastery, trumpets rang out, and the assembly of around 2,000 people sang, “God save the king!” Thousands of troops, hundreds of thousands of spectators, and scores of demonstrators gathered outside.

It marked the end of the king’s seven-decade journey from heir to monarch.

The event, code-named Operation Golden Orb, was a show of legacy, tradition, and spectacle unparalleled in the world, according to the royal family and administration.

It was an opportunity to be a part of a historic event for the crowds assembled under stormy sky, thousands of whom had tented overnight.

King Charles III Coronation

Dignitaries Watch Coronation of King Charles III

The monastery was buzzing with excitement as the day began, and it was adorned with fragrant flowers and colourful headgear. Notables in attendance were US first lady Jill Biden, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, French President Emmanuel Macron, eight current and previous British prime ministers, judges in wigs, troops with gleaming medals, and celebrities such as Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, and Lionel Richie.

During a slightly modified Anglican ceremony, Charles, dressed in red and cream velvet and ermine-trimmed robes, swore on a Bible that he is a “true Protestant.”

However, a prelude to the coronation oath was added to state that the Anglican church “will seek to foster an environment where people of all faiths and beliefs may live freely.” It was the first ceremony to involve Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh dignitaries, as well as the first to include female clergy.

Before being presented with the Sovereign’s Orb and other regalia, Charles was anointed with oil from the Mount of Olives in the Holy Land, a part of the rite so sacred that it was hidden behind screens.

King Charles III Crown

St.Edwards Crown

The crown was then placed on Charles’ head by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby while he sat in the Coronation Chair, which was formerly golden but is now weathered and engraved with graffiti. Underneath the seat lay a hallowed stone known as the Stone of Scone, which was used to crown ancient Scottish monarchs.

Such spectacular rites have confirmed the authority of British kings to rule for over 1,000 years. Charles was the abbey’s 40th ruler – and the oldest, at 74 years old.

Since Charles automatically became monarch with the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September, the king no longer has executive or political power, and the service is strictly ceremonial.

The king remains the head of state and a symbol of national identity in the United Kingdom, and Charles will have to struggle to unite a multicultural nation and shore up support for the monarchy at a time when it is dwindling, particularly among younger people.

While most Britons see the monarchy with apathy to mild interest, some are vehemently opposed to it. Republic, an anti-monarchy organisation, said six of its members, including its chief executive, were arrested on their way to a protest in central London.

Police said they made 52 arrests after warning that they would have a “low tolerance” for anybody attempting to disrupt the day. Arrests of peaceful protestors were described by Human Rights Watch as “something you would expect to see in Moscow, not London.”

King Charles III

Less Expensive Royal Machine

The multimillion-pound cost of all the pomp — the actual sum is unknown — also irritated some in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis in which many Britons are struggling to pay their energy bills and buy food.

King Charles has aspired to head a smaller, less expensive royal machine for the twenty-first century, and his coronation was a shorter, more intimate occasion than his mother’s.

The royal family’s usually squabbling members put on their own show of solidarity. Prince William, the next in line to the throne, his wife Kate, and their three children were all present. William knelt before his father near the end of the ceremony and promised fealty to the monarch before kissing him on the cheek.

Archbishop Welby then encouraged everyone in the abbey to pledge “true allegiance” to the queen. He added anyone watching on television may also pay their respects — however that element of the ceremony was toned down after some criticized it as a tone-deaf attempt to make Charles take a public oath of fealty.

Prince Harry, William’s younger brother who has publicly feuded with the family, arrived alone. His wife Meghan and their children stayed in California, where the couple has resided since leaving the royal family in 2020.

After the ceremony, as Charles and the other prominent royals joined a beautiful military procession, Harry stayed outside the abbey until a car arrived to whisk him away.

Large crowds cheered as Charles and Queen Camilla travelled in the Gold State Carriage from the abbey to Buckingham Palace, preceded by a parade of 4,000 troops and military bands performing upbeat tunes. The king and queen waved from the royal balcony to a sea of people cheering and shouting “God Save the King!”

The Crowning Moment of King Charles

 

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

trump

Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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Could Last-Minute Surprises Derail Kamala Harris’ Campaign? “Nostradamus” Explains the US Poll.

Scientists Awarded MicroRNA The Nobel Prize in Medicine.

US Inflation will Comfort a Fed Focused on Labor Markets.

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