3 h. ago Christie’s withdraws rare ‘first calculator’ from auction after French court halts export

Move comes after French scientists issued urgent appeal to prevent La Pascaline from leaving the countryA rare example of the first functioning calculating machine in history looks likely to stay in France after Christie’s withdrew it from auction pending a definitive ruling from a Paris court on whether or not it can be exported.La Pascaline, developed by the French mathematician and inventor Blaise Pascal in 1642, when he was just 19, and billed as “the most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction”, had been expected to fetch more than €2m (£1.8m). Continue reading...

Economics

4 d. ago South Carolina executes man by firing squad, in state’s third such killing in year

Stephen Bryant, 44, convicted over 2004 murder, was shot dead despite growing backlash against ‘barbaric’ methodSouth Carolina executed a man by firing squad on Friday, marking the third time the state has used gunfire to kill a person on death row despite growing backlash against the method.Stephen Bryant, 44, had been sentenced to death for the October 2004 killing of Willard “TJ” Tietjen and pleaded guilty to two other murders. Bryant’s lawyers had argued in final appeals that the sentencing judge had been unable to consider his brain damage from his mother’s alcohol and drug use during pregnancy, but South Carolina’s supreme court declined to halt the execution on Monday. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago ATP Finals match halted for 'medical emergency' as umpire takes action on court

Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime were both left confused as their ATP Finals semi-final match was briefly paused for a medical emergency in the crowd

Events

1 week ago Trump demands supreme court intervene after judges reject bid to halt Snap funding

Appeals court rejects administration’s legal effort and orders officials to pay November’s food aid benefits in fullThe Trump administration asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly food stamp benefits amid a US federal government shutdown, and was denied later the same day.Now, the administration must continue to follow the orders of a lower court. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago US supreme court lets Trump block passport sex markers for trans and non

Decision by high court’s conservative majority is Trump administration’s latest win on emergency docketThe supreme court on Thursday allowed Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and non-binary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity.The decision by the high court’s conservative majority is Trump’s latest win on the high court’s emergency docket, and it means his administration can enforce the policy while a lawsuit over it plays out. It halts a lower-court order requiring the government to keep letting people choose male, female or X on their passport to line up with their gender identity on new or renewed passports. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Christian who had job offer withdrawn over views on homosexuality begins appeal

A 2024 tribunal heard that a charity withdrew the offer of a social worker job for Felix Ngole when it discovered online reports about his beliefs.

Politics