Kouri Richins allegedly poisoned her husband Eric by putting a fatal dose of fentanyl in his drink, leading to his sudden death in 2022.
Businesses are using theatrical stunts not for shock alone but to create viral content and drive sales conversations online
When Lunos, an AI startup in New York City, was gearing up for launch, its founder and chief executive, Duncan Barrigan, and his team wanted to make a splash. So they shelled out $3,500 to do the unconventional: hire a horse and a cowboy to lasso the bull of Wall Street.
On a sweltering evening in late September, the cowboy galloped toward the iconic sculpture in lower Manhattan. Wearing ranch gear and a western hat stamped with the Lunos logo, he lassoed the bull’s horns as invitees and curious passersby watched. He and the horse then circled the statue, handing out cowboy hats and branded stress balls.
Continue reading...Google provided Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a wide array of personal data on a student activist and journalist, including his credit card and bank account numbers, according to a copy of an ICE subpoena obtained by The Intercept.
Amandla Thomas-Johnson had attended a protest targeting companies that supplied weapons to Israel at a Cornell University job fair in 2024 for all of five minutes, but the action got him banned from campus. When President Donald Trump assumed office and issued a series of executive orders targeting students who protested in support of Palestinians, Thomas-Johnson and his friend Momodou Taal went into hiding.
Google informed Thomas-Johnson via a brief email in April that it had already shared his metadata with the Department of Homeland Security, as The Intercept previously reported. But the full extent of the information the tech giant provided — including usernames, addresses, itemized list of services, including any IP masking services, telephone or instrument numbers, subscriber numbers or identities, and credit card and bank account numbers — was not previously known.
“I’d already seen the subpoena request that Google and Meta had sent to Momodou [Taal], and I knew that he had gotten in touch with a lawyer and the lawyer successfully challenged that,” Thomas-Johnson said. “I was quite surprised to see that I didn’t have that opportunity.”
The subpoena provides no justification for why ICE is asking for this information, except that it’s required “in connection with an investigation or inquiry relating to the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.” In the subpoena, ICE requests that Google not “disclose the existence of this summons for indefinite period of time.”
Thomas-Johnson, who is British, believes that ICE requested that information to track and eventually detain him — but he had already fled to Geneva, Switzerland, and is now in Dakar, Senegal.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is representing Thomas-Johnson, and the ACLU of Northern California sent a letter to Google, Amazon, Apple, Discord, Meta, Microsoft, and Reddit last week calling on tech companies to resist similar subpoenas in the future from DHS without court intervention. The letter asks the companies to provide users with as much notice as possible before complying with a subpoena to give them the opportunity to fight it, and to resist gag orders that would prevent the tech companies from informing targets that a subpoena was issued.
“Your promises to protect the privacy of users are being tested right now. As part of the federal government’s unprecedented campaign to target critics of its conduct and policies, agencies like DHS have repeatedly demanded access to the identities and information of people on your services,” the letter reads. “Based on our own contact with targeted users, we are deeply concerned your companies are failing to challenge unlawful surveillance and defend user privacy and speech.”
In addition to Thomas-Johnson’s case, the letter refers to other instances in which technology companies provided user data to DHS, including a subpoena sent to Meta to “unmask” the identities of users who documented immigration raids in California. Unlike Thomas-Johnson, users in that case were given the chance to fight the subpoena because they were made aware of it before Meta complied.
Lindsay Nash, a professor at Cardozo Law and a former staff attorney with ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, said that by not giving prior notice, Google deprived Thomas-Johnson of his ability to protect his information.
“Your promises to protect the privacy of users are being tested right now.”
“The problem is that it doesn’t allow the person whose personal information is on the line and whose privacy may be being invaded to raise challenges to the disclosure of that potentially private information,” Nash said. “And I think that’s important to protect rights that they may have to their own information.”
Google did not respond to a request for comment.
Tech companies’ data sharing practices are primarily governed by two federal laws, the Stored Communications Act, which protects the privacy of digital communications, including emails, and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive trade practices.
“Under both federal law and the law of every state, you cannot deceive consumers,” said Neil Richards, a law professor at Washington University St. Louis who specializes in privacy, the internet, and civil liberties. “And if you make a material misrepresentation about your data practices, that’s a deceptive trade practice.”
Whether or not corporations are clear enough with consumers about how they collect and share their data has been litigated for decades, Richards said, referencing the infamous Cambridge Analytica lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that the company misled Facebook users about data collection and sharing.
Google’s public privacy policy acknowledges that it will share personal information in response to an “enforceable governmental request,” adding that its legal team will “frequently push back when a request appears to be overly broad or doesn’t follow the correct process.”
According to Google, the company overwhelmingly complied with the millions of requests made by the government for user information over the last decade. Its data also shows that those requests have spiked over the last five years. It’s unclear how many of those users were given notice of those requests ahead of time or after.
Richards said that cases like these emphasize the need for legal reforms around data privacy and urged Congress to amend the Stored Communications Act to require a higher standard before the government can access our digital data. He also said the federal government needs to regulate Big Tech and place “substantive restrictions on their ability to share information with the government.”
It’s hard to know exactly how tech companies are handling our personal data in relation to the government, but there seems to have been a shift in optics, Richards said. “What we have seen in the 12 months since the leaders of Big Tech were there on the podium at the inauguration,” Richards said, “is much more friendliness of Big Tech towards the government and towards state power.”
From Dakar, Thomas-Johnson said that understanding the extent of the subpoena was terrifying but had not changed his commitment to his work.
“As a journalist, what’s weird is that you’re so used to seeing things from the outside,” said Thomas-Johnson, whose work has appeared in outlets including Al Jazeera and The Guardian. “We need to think very hard about what resistance looks like under these conditions… where government and Big Tech know so much about us, can track us, can imprison, can destroy us in a variety of ways.”
The post Google Handed ICE Student Journalist’s Bank and Credit Card Numbers appeared first on The Intercept.
A federal court in Georgia unsealed key records related to the FBI's seizure of 2020 election materials from Fulton County last month.
The 12-year-old was stabbed by a stranger as he walked home from school in January 2025
Justice Choudhury KC is back from his deliberation and will make a decision about whether or not he will lift the reporting restriction shortly.
Leo Ross’s foster family is in court this morning to hear the judge pass his sentence, due this afternoon.
Continue reading...CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder said the results of the study on coffee drinkers having lower risk of dementia should be taken "with a massive grain of salt."
Follow us over on Bluesky | Get in touch! Mail Daniel
Ooooh, Ariane Raedler of Austria, eighth in the individual event, nails 1:35.65, a time that would’ve been good enough for bronze; she takes the lead, giving Katharina Huber, her partner, a chance in the second portion.
Miradoli of France lays down a quicker time than she did coming 16th in the individual downhill, 1:37.37; I guess she’s used to the course now. Our big names, though, don’t come out for a while: Goggia, who took bronze in the individual event is ninth, Aicher who claimed silver, is doing the slalom portion, and Johnson is 14th with Srobova, Vlhova’s partner, going 28th and last.
Continue reading...House Republican says ‘This is all unacceptable and preventable’ of violence amid Trump’s immigration crackdown; DHS funding set to lapse after 13 February
Jamie Raskin, a top House Democrat, accused the justice department of making “puzzling, inexplicable redactions” to documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that obscured the names of abusers, while allowing the identities of the disgraced financier’s victims to become public.
Raskin told reporters that he wanted to view the complete files to better understand how the justice department handled the redaction process.
Continue reading...Thomas Massie says he may reveal the names under congressional privilege if justice department does not
Thomas Massie, a US congressman, has said he knows the identity of six more men who are “likely incriminated” by their inclusion in the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files after he viewed an unredacted version of the documents relating to the disgraced late financier and sexual abuser.
The Kentucky Republican suggested he might reveal their names under congressional privilege if the justice department (DoJ) continued to conceal their identities in publicly available copies of the documents that are still redacted.
Continue reading...MEPs vote to allow people to be deported to places they have never been to, as NGOs express fears over new ‘safe third countries’ list
The EU has moved closer to creating offshore centres for migrants and asylum seekers, after centre-right and far-right MEPs united for tougher migration policies.
MEPs voted for legal changes that will give authorities more options to deport asylum seekers, including sending people to countries they have never been to.
Continue reading...As he faces calls from lawmakers to resign, Lutnick testifies that he and his family visited disgraced financier in 2012
The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, had lunch with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the disgraced financier’s private island, he said on Tuesday, as he faces mounting calls to resign from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation” in 2012, Lutnick said in testimony on Tuesday before the Senate appropriations committee.
Continue reading...The leaders of ICE, CBP and USCIS are testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday.
This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our European news coverage here
Curiously, US vice-president JD Vance – who dominated the headlines with his highly confrontational speech on Europe last year – is not attending the MSC this year.
He spent the weekend in Italy attending the Olympic Games, visited Armenia yesterday and is in Azerbaijan today, but won’t be coming back to Germany, it seems.
Continue reading...Collins is expected to face tough re-election battle as Democrats seek to flip seat in this year’s midterm elections
Susan Collins, the Maine Republican senator who is a top target of Democrats in this year’s midterm elections, on Tuesday launched her campaign for a sixth term in office.
She is expected to face one of the toughest re-election battles of the year, as victory in Maine is seen as essential to Democrats’ hopes of winning back control of the Senate, and putting a halt to Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. First elected in 1996, Collins is among the few Republican senators who occasionally defy the president, and is the only one representing a state that the president did not carry in his successful re-election bid two years ago.
Continue reading...American wastes strong downhill leg from Johnson
Slalom standout missed out on medals in 2022
Raedler and Huber win gold for Austria
Mikaela Shiffrin extended her Olympic slump with a fourth-place finish in the new team combined event at the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday after partner Breezy Johnson led the opening downhill leg.
Shiffrin, the most successful World Cup racer of all time with a record 108 victories –71 of them in slalom, also a record – has now gone seven straight Olympic races without a medal.
Continue reading...Ashwin Prasad says far fewer people in work than there could be with ministers ‘tinkering at the edges’ of problem
The UK is “sleepwalking into a quiet epidemic” of joblessness with millions of people out of work and on benefits, the boss of the nation’s biggest supermarket chain has warned.
Ashwin Prasad, who runs the UK arm of Tesco, said he believed far fewer people were in work than should be and that taxpayers were spending “an ever increasing proportion of our national income on out-of-work benefits”.
Continue reading...Key Labour figures have rallied around the prime minister amid speculation over his leadership
Kemi Badenoch has said that Keir Starmer just received a “stay of execution” yesterday. Speaking to reporters on a visit this morning, she said:
[Starmer] is in a very dangerous place. The Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the quiet bit out loud.
Labour MPs and the Labour party have lost confidence in their leader, but the MPs are too scared of losing their jobs, so they’re not going to call an election, and they’ve given him a stay of execution. The sad thing is that the country is suffering from not being governed at all.
Continue reading...Buying silver online is convenient, but how safe it is depends on who you trust, how you pay and how you store it.
The Trump administration has filed lawsuits against 24 states in an effort to obtain their voter rolls.
Former police chief Michael Reiter claims Trump also said ‘thank goodness you’re stopping’ Epstein in 2006 phone call
Donald Trump slammed Jeffrey Epstein about two decades ago, claiming “everyone has known he’s been doing this”, a former Palm Beach police chief claimed.
Michael Reiter’s account of a conversation with Trump, contained within the justice department’s release of 3m Epstein files, dramatically contrasts with the US president’s public statements. After Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, Trump said “I had no idea” when asked if he knew about his former friend’s abuse of teenage girls.
Continue reading...US, Britain, EU and Arab nations condemn plans that Israeli ministers say will ‘kill the idea of a Palestinian state’
Israeli measures to tighten its control of the West Bank have prompted a global backlash, including a signal from Washington restating the Trump administration’s opposition to annexation of the occupied territory.
Announcing the measures, which involve extending Israeli control in areas that are currently under Palestinian administration, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, made clear they were aimed at strengthening Israeli settlements in the West Bank and pre-empting the emergence of an independent sovereign Palestine.
Continue reading...The city’s artist population has fallen for the first time in decades, a report finds, for want of affordable housing
Rowynn Dumont, a curator, painter, photographer and writer, lived in about 25 places around the world before settling in New York in 2017.
“It’s where my community and the art world infrastructure already were,” said Dumont.
Continue reading...With this new Mira partnership, Oura Ring users can see how their hormones affect their day-to-day health.
Apple and Google have agreed to a set of commitments to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority that will prevent them from giving preferential treatment to their own apps and require greater transparency around how third-party apps are approved for sale. The CMA announced the measures on Tuesday, seven months after it declared that the two companies held an "effective duopoly" over the UK's mobile app ecosystem. Both companies also committed to not using data gathered from third-party developers in ways the regulator deems unfair. The CMA granted both app stores "strategic market status" in October 2025, a designation that gave it the authority to demand changes. CMA head Sarah Cardell called the commitments "important first steps" and said the regulator would "closely monitor" implementation. Technology analyst Paolo Pescatore described the announcement as a "pragmatic first step" but noted some may see it as "addressing the low-hanging fruit." The UK's app economy is the largest in Europe by revenue and number of developers, generating an estimated 1.5% of the country's GDP.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Vermont native ends US men’s 50-year medal drought
Result continues strong showing at Milan-Cortina
Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo wins seventh gold
Ben Ogden delivered the most significant result in US men’s cross-country skiing in decades on Tuesday afternoon, winning Olympic silver in the men’s sprint classic at the Milano Cortina Games to end a 50-year medal drought. And afterwards he credited the relaxation he finds in knitting.
The mustachioed 25-year-old finished in 3min 40.61sec after surging through the final with his trademark classical technique, less than a second behind Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who secured the seventh Olympic gold medal of his career in 3:39.74. Klæbo’s teammate Oskar Opstad Vike took bronze after climbing from 20th in qualifying to the podium.
Continue reading...A progressive organizer beat the odds against millions in outside spending to win the special primary election for a congressional seat in New Jersey, offering a promising sign to left insurgents in the coming midterms and revealing a severe miscalculation on the part of the pro-Israel lobby.
Former Rep. Tom Malinowski conceded the race in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District on Tuesday to Analilia Mejia, former political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, after initial results showed a slim margin between the two candidates for several days.
Mejia won “despite being outspent essentially ten-to-one by not just AIPAC and outside groups but also the New Jersey political machine,” said Antoinette Miles, state director for the New Jersey Working Families Party. Mejia previously led the group, which backed her campaign and helped organize her field operation.
“No one would really categorize this district as being a left district,” Miles said, pointing to the race as a sign progressive candidates can connect with voters in more moderate districts. A Republican represented the district until 2019, when former Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen retired and former Rep. Mikie Sherrill was elected.
With the deck stacked against Mejia and little public polling in the three months since Sherrill vacated the seat to take office as New Jersey governor, there was no clear front-runner in the race. Internal polling in the final weeks of the race showed Malinowski and Mejia pulling ahead and almost equally matched, with New Jersey Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way further behind in third place, according to a source with knowledge of the data.
Rather than targeting Mejia, the pro-Israel lobby spent more than $2 million against Malinowski, likely splitting moderate voters, while known pro-Israel donors directed funding in Way’s favor. United Democracy Project, the super PAC for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent on ads attacking Malinowski, and AIPAC donors flooded Way’s campaign with more than $50,000 in the final weeks of the race. The strategy, which UDP said was meant to help them elect the more pro-Israel candidate because Malinowski had previously questioned the provision of unconditional aid to Israel, appeared to backfire, as some observers predicted.
“This election is a clear rejection of AIPAC by Democratic voters — AIPAC’s spending and support for candidates is becoming a kiss of death in Democratic primaries because of the work our movement has done to expose them,” said Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi. The group did not endorse in the race but said Mejia’s win was a positive sign for the left as midterms progress.
“This is a clear sign that the Democratic electorate is desperate to elect new leaders — like the dozen of working-class champions we’re supporting in primaries this cycle — that aren’t bought by AIPAC, crypto, AI, or any other corporate lobby that has created the intentionally weak and ineffective Democratic Party failing us in Congress right now,” Andrabi added.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Malinowski pointed to AIPAC’s influence in the race.
“Analilia deserves unequivocal praise and credit for running a positive campaign and for inspiring so many voters on Election Day,” Malinowski wrote. “But the outcome of this race cannot be understood without also taking into account the massive flood of dark money that AIPAC spent on dishonest ads during the last three weeks. I wish I could say today that this effort, which was meant to intimidate Democrats across the country, failed in NJ-11.”
On Friday, United Democracy Project issued a statement signaling it’s still paying close attention to the race ahead of the general election in April.
“The outcome in NJ-11 was an anticipated possibility, and our focus remains on who will serve the next full term in Congress. UDP will be closely monitoring dozens of primary races, including the June NJ-11 primary, to help ensure pro-Israel candidates are elected to Congress,” UDP said in a statement posted on X.
Some corners of the Democratic establishment are also reeling from the results of the race. After spending close to $2 million to back Way, the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association has not made any public statements since results started rolling in on Thursday evening. DLGA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an email to supporters on Thursday night, the Democratic National Committee prematurely congratulated Malinowski on winning the race. The release was later removed from the DNC website.
The Democratic establishment hasn’t recently had to run in competitive primaries in the district, Miles pointed out, while progressives had been preparing for this moment.
“That says something about the shift that is happening in New Jersey right now,” Miles said. “This is the first race — at least at the congressional level — in which there is an open primary, the possibility for better candidates to run, the possibility for new ideas, and the machine is being tested.”
The post AIPAC Just Helped Put a Bernie Sanders Alum in Congress appeared first on The Intercept.
Polling is bad, crucial tests are looming, his party is a tinderbox and the leadership genie is hard to rebottle
“Is it over?” That was the question that Labour MPs have been asking themselves and each other. But the meaning has shifted over the last 24 hours.
After last Wednesday afternoon’s chaos in the Commons over the release of the Peter Mandelson documents, MPs widely believed it was the final throes of Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Continue reading...A Canadian airline suspends flights to Cuba as U.S sanctions and Trump's tariff threats force Havana to warn carriers there's no way to refuel on the island.
SWORDS, Ireland, Feb. 10, 2026 — Trane Technologies, a global climate innovator, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire LiquidStack, a global leader in liquid cooling technology for data centers, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas.
LiquidStack solutions are engineered to meet the unprecedented demands of generative AI and hyperscale computing. Data centers and high‑performance compute organizations rely on LiquidStack for high-density liquid, direct-to-chip and immersion cooling solutions that improve efficiency, sustainability and performance.
Building on Trane Technologies’ minority investment in LiquidStack in 2023, this acquisition enhances Trane Technologies’ data center thermal management solutions, spanning chillers, heat rejection, controls, liquid distribution, and on‑chip cooling, and will scale LiquidStack’s pioneering technology globally.
The acquisition includes LiquidStack’s highly skilled global team and manufacturing, engineering and research and development operations in Texas and Hong Kong. Upon closing, LiquidStack will operate globally within the Commercial HVAC business unit of the Trane Technologies Americas segment.
“Rising chip‑level power and heat densities combined with increasingly variable workloads are redefining thermal management requirements inside modern data centers,” said Holly Paeper, President, Commercial HVAC Americas, Trane Technologies. “Customers need integrated cooling solutions that scale from the central plant to the chip and can adapt as performance demands continue to evolve. LiquidStack’s direct‑to‑chip and immersion cooling capabilities and talent, combined with Trane’s systems expertise and global footprint, strengthen our ability to deliver end‑to‑end, future‑ready thermal management across the entire data center ecosystem.”
LiquidStack co-founder and CEO Joe Capes will join Trane Technologies in a leadership role and will continue to lead the LiquidStack business.
“LiquidStack has been on a mission to innovate and deliver the most advanced, powerful and sustainable liquid cooling solutions,” said Joe Capes, CEO, LiquidStack. “Joining Trane Technologies enables us to accelerate that mission with the resources, scale and global reach needed to power next‑generation AI workloads in the most demanding compute environments. We are very excited to expand our impact and continue our growth as part of Trane Technologies.”
The transaction is expected to close in early 2026, subject to closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
This bolt-on acquisition follows Trane Technologies’ proven model of adding leading technologies that enhance its core businesses and scaling them to deliver strong returns over time. This follows the company’s recently-announced acquisition of Stellar Energy, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
More from HPCwire: Trane Integrates Liquid Cooling into Thermal Management for AI and HPC
About Trane Technologies
Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane and Thermo King, and our environmentally responsible portfolio of products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes, and transportation. Learn more at tranetechologies.com.
About LiquidStack
LiquidStack is the respected leader in liquid cooling for information technology hardware, telecommunications, and blockchain systems. Having pioneered the world’s highest density, most efficient, and sustainable liquid cooling solution in 2012, our advanced liquid cooling solutions continue to serve as the backbone for highly scalable and environmentally safe hyperscale, colocation, neocloud, enterprise, edge, and blockchain data centers. LiquidStack’s universal direct-to-chip CDUs, DataTank, EdgeTank, CryptoTank, MicroModular and MacroModular systems and services are enabling real-time advancement of computing and communications while supporting a sustainable planet.
Source: Trane Technologies
The post Trane Technologies to Acquire LiquidStack to Strengthen Data Center Thermal Management appeared first on HPCwire.
It's shaping up to be a big year for MacBooks, with M5 updates expected soon. We might also get a cheaper MacBook and the first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen OLED display.
Ben Ogden of Team USA won the silver medal in the cross-country sprint Tuesday at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
Barclays CEO speaks as bank deals with fallout of ex-boss Jes Staley’s ties to convicted child sex offender; Japan’s stock market jumps to new peak in extended rally after Sanae Takaichi’s party secures election victory
Retail sales in the US were flat in December, confounding expectations of a small increase.
Retail sales volumes showed no change against forecasts of a 0.4% gain, and compared with a 0.6% increase in November, according to official figures from the US Commerce Department.
Continue reading...Olympic medals have what's known as a "melt value." But they're worth far more financially than their mineral contents, an auction expert notes.
What recent developments in Syria mean for the Kurds Expert comment thilton.drupal
Kurdish forces suffered a major setback as the Damascus government seized northeast Syria and cemented its partnership with Washington — yet Kurdish cross-border solidarity has been renewed.
Dramatic changes in Syria in recent weeks have resulted in a major setback for Kurdish aspirations for self-rule. A rapid military offensive by the Damascus government seized northeast Syria from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), ending the autonomy Kurds had forged there during the civil war.
Having previously supported the SDF, the US did not intervene, reflecting its embrace of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Syrian Transitional Government (STG) in Damascus as its main partner in Syria.
From the Kurdish perspective, these developments mark a consequential defeat that will be hard to bear. However, there are several silver linings that could shape the future, although much depends on whether agreements between the two sides are implemented.
Months of talks between Damascus and the SDF failed to resolve key issues, including how to integrate SDF and Kurdish internal security units into government institutions and protect the civil rights of Kurds.
Sporadic fighting between the two sides escalated in early January when government forces captured two Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo. The offensive quickly turned east and pushed the SDF beyond the Euphrates river. Arab and tribal elements of the SDF defected to Damascus, adding to the rout.
The hastily agreed integration protocol of 18 January laid the way for a ceasefire, with the SDF capitulating on some of its previous demands, in particular to integrate into the Syrian military as a unit rather than as individuals.
Two days later, US Syria envoy Tom Barrack provided a rhetorical body blow when he publicly declared that ‘the original purpose of the SDF… has largely expired.’ He argued that Kurds in Syria should integrate into the Syrian state, cementing Washington’s backing of al-Sharaa’s centralizing vision for the country.
By the time a ceasefire was announced on 20 January, Damascus controlled wide swathes of new territory in eastern and northeastern Syria. Only the Kurdish heartlands around Qamishli and Hasakah and the symbolically important border town of Kobani remained in SDF hands.
However, a subsequent agreement between al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi on 30 January made some concessions to the Kurdish position.
In addition to establishing a permanent ceasefire, this second agreement established protocols for integrating Kurdish units into government institutions that reflect a compromise, with a military division consisting of three brigades of SDF fighters, plus a Kobani-specific brigade in the Aleppo division. While less than what the SDF wanted originally, it was better from their perspective than the 18 January version.
The agreement also called for the appointment of Kurdish officials in local and central government posts, including governor of Hasakah, and recognized Kurdish educational certificates. However, the control of oil fields, border crossings and Qamishli airport was handed to Damascus.
As the dust settles and both sides work to implement the 30 January agreement, there are four main outcomes for Kurds in Syria: two clearly negative and two potentially positive.
First, hopes to establish a federal constitution or a system of decentralization that would enshrine their hard-fought autonomy in the northeast lie in tatters. Instead, the push for a unified centralized state promoted by Damascus and embraced by its foreign backers has prevailed.
However, there are several elements of the agreement that allow for continued local control of institutions, albeit in a de facto manner. For example, institutions like the internal security forces will answer to Damascus but will likely be staffed by local Kurds. This will provide recognition and a measure of control, but not to the point of autonomy.
Supporters of the Damascus government, including Barrack, have argued that Kurdish rights will be protected, pointing to previous announcements about Kurdish language education and the official recognition of Newroz, the Kurdish new year. But some observers have argued that these moves fall short or that rights should be embedded into Syria’s national constitution.
They also rely on the agreement being upheld. Trust between the two sides is fragile. Kurdish officials will likely continue to seek maximum local authority under the new framework while Damascus will likely seek to limit it. This could cause friction.
The ill-feeling and fallout from the recent military offensive will also last long in popular memory. Policymakers should anticipate this factor given the remarkable depth of feeling that many Kurds experienced over the past few weeks.
Second, the events confirmed a decisive shift in the geopolitics of Syria in favour of Damascus. In particular, they highlighted that Damascus is now Washington’s primary partner. The SDF’s role and sacrifice as the most important local partner in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) fell on deaf ears in Washington when it mattered most. There may still be some support for the Kurds in Syria in CENTCOM and Congress, but the White House has made its position clear.
Damascus also retains the backing of Ankara and the Gulf states. While the Kurds in Syria have some friends, like France, they lack a patron that can decisively shift the situation in their favour.
From a Kurdish nationalist perspective, these two developments are bleak, but recent events have also yielded two potentially positive outcomes. Most importantly, there has been a surge of Kurdish cross-border grassroots solidarity.
Ordinary Kurds across the world rallied in response to the offensive in Syria, with large rallies in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region and smaller but persistent demonstrations in Turkey, Europe and the US. Aid drives organized by charities and media outlets raised funds and delivered supplies into Syria.
These demonstrations of Kurdish solidarity may have provided an important psychological boost at a dark moment. While this nationalist feeling may ebb over time, some have argued that the outpouring of support has been unprecedented and could be harnessed into a tangible change.
When U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi declared that she would seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione — the first capital prosecution announced during Donald Trump’s second term — legal experts immediately raised the alarm. The decision was more propaganda than judicial process, with Bondi broadcasting the news in a press release and Instagram post before Mangione was even indicted.
“One of my biggest questions is whether the Department of Justice followed its own policies in making this decision,” Robin Maher, head of the Death Penalty Information Center, told The Intercept at the time. The answer was no. “I’ve been handling capital cases for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” a defense attorney in the Southern District of New York, told Vanity Fair. “There’s a very detailed process that is supposed to be followed that is spelled out in the [DOJ] Justice Manual, and for the attorney general to just preempt that process is unheard of, as far as I know.”
It was perhaps foreseeable, then, that the capital case against the alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson might wither under scrutiny. The presiding judge tossed the death-eligible charge against Mangione last month — another high-profile setback for an administration whose mounting authoritarianism has driven out scores of DOJ prosecutors and overwhelmed the federal courts.
Yet while Mangione received frenzied attention from the start, Bondi has continued her heedless push for new death sentences mostly under the radar. To date, according to data collected by the Federal Capital Trial Project, Bondi has authorized federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against at least 30 defendants in 24 cases.
This doesn’t include cases in which Bondi has promised to seek death but has not yet filed an official notification, known as a “Notice of Intent.” After Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly gunned down two National Guard officers in Washington, D.C., Bondi vowed to “do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that monster who should not have been in our country.” But prosecutors told a federal judge last week that none of the charges they have filed allow them to seek the death penalty.
Trump had always vowed to ramp up the death penalty when he returned to the White House. After carrying out 13 executions in his first term, he started his second term furious over President Joe Biden’s decision to spare the lives of 37 people on federal death row. Under Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland paused federal executions and halted new capital prosecutions almost entirely.
Trump’s response was a bloodthirsty executive order on Inauguration Day calling on prosecutors to seek the death penalty as often as possible. Before long, Bondi was fast-tracking capital prosecutions, running roughshod over procedural guardrails and upending the process that is supposed to govern such decisions at the Justice Department.
“What we’re seeing with the death penalty is exactly what we’re seeing with the extrajudicial use of violence.”
This ham-fisted approach has largely backfired. Federal judges have taken the death penalty off the table in at least nine of Bondi’s 30 individual authorizations so far — an emblem of the DOJ’s recklessness. “Prosecutors are supposed to have a firm basis to seek the death penalty before they decide to authorize it,” said Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Project. “When you see a string of cases being deauthorized because they’re not legitimate death penalty cases, that tells you that prosecutors are overreaching.”
For its part, Trump’s DOJ has argued that prosecutors have no obligation to its own protocols — and judges have no authority to enforce them. The rules and procedures that govern capital prosecutions are a mix of law and policy that Bondi is happy to dismantle, sowing chaos and curtailing defendants’ rights.
Trump’s death penalty agenda is inextricable from the violence he has unleashed in Minneapolis and beyond. The cases pursued by Bondi reflect Trump’s wish to punish immigrants, people of color, and perceived political enemies — regardless of their alleged crimes. More than two-thirds of Bondi’s death penalty authorizations have been filed against defendants who are Black, Latino, Asian, or Native American, with Black people comprising the largest share. And two-thirds target jurisdictions that, like D.C., don’t have the death penalty — states like Vermont and Maryland, as well as territories like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
But perhaps most revealing are the authorizations driven by Trump’s spiteful fixation on undoing the work of his predecessor. Of the 30 defendants Bondi has sought to punish with a death sentence, 15 are people whose cases were previously handled by Biden’s DOJ, in which Garland decided against seeking death. Such decisions, known as “no-seeks,” are filed in the vast majority of death-eligible cases. Yet Trump’s DOJ has systematically sought to reverse Biden’s no-seeks – an unprecedented move that has disrupted countless federal prosecutions.
The push has not gone very well so far. At least eight of the 15 authorizations in which Bondi reversed a no-seek have been thrown out by the presiding judge, with more likely to follow. Most of these cases have proceeded as non-capital trials. But one is pending before a circuit court, with DOJ lawyers insisting the judge did not have the authority to rule as he did.
“What we’re seeing with the death penalty is exactly what we’re seeing with the extrajudicial use of violence,” said Dunham. “There’s a belief that because the Trump administration wants to, they can do it — and the law be damned.”
The extraordinary push to reverse Biden’s no-seeks was spelled out in a memo sent to DOJ employees on February 5, 2025, the day after Bondi was confirmed. Written as a rebuke of Biden, Bondi vowed to restore the death penalty to its rightful place. “This shameful era ends today,” she wrote.
The memo included a sweeping order to the DOJ’s Capital Review Committee — the set of federal prosecutors who make death penalty recommendations to the attorney general. Within 120 days, the committee was to review every pending case in which Biden’s DOJ had declined to pursue the death penalty. “This group shall reevaluate no-seek decisions and whether additional capital charges are appropriate,” she wrote.
Attorneys general have routinely reviewed cases inherited from prior administrations. In pending capital cases, a new AG has the discretion to take death off the table. Garland withdrew dozens of death penalty authorizations brought by his predecessors, while continuing prosecution of people like Robert Bowers, who was sentenced to death in 2023 for slaughtering 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
Reversing a no-seek, however, is virtually unheard of. While the 1994 Federal Death Penalty Act requires prosecutors to provide a reason to withdraw a Notice of Intent, the law did not account for a scenario in which they would decide against seeking death only to later change their minds. While prosecutors can amend charges against defendants in “superseding indictments”—making it possible that a prosecution could become a capital case — the law holds that they must give notice that they will seek the death “a reasonable time before the trial.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how many cases fit the scope of Bondi’s ordered review. But one anonymous DOJ official gave the Associated Press an estimate of 459. The order to “reevaluate” hundreds of cases in just a few months was far-fetched — and seemingly rigged against certain people from the start. Bondi’s memo instructed the Capital Review Committee to pay “particular attention” to specific types of defendants: undocumented immigrants, people affiliated with “cartels or transnational criminal organizations,” and those whose alleged crimes occurred “in Indian Country or within the federal special maritime and territorial jurisdictions.”
These marching orders fit neatly into Trump’s broader agenda. But from a practical standpoint, reversing no-seeks would make a mess of prosecutions headed for a trial or plea deal. For lawyers, judges, and families on both sides, the result would be chaos and delay. For defendants, it would be an assault on their right to due process.
Capital cases and non-capital cases proceed along distinctly different tracks from the start. People facing the death penalty are entitled to specific legal protections, including the appointment of an experienced capital defense attorney known as “learned counsel,” who must immediately investigate their client’s life to uncover mitigating evidence – factors like mental illness, generational trauma, poverty, and childhood neglect or abuse. In death penalty cases, this evidence often decides whether a defendant lives or dies.
Mitigating evidence is not reserved for sentencing, however. Under well-established DOJ protocols, prosecutors weighing the death penalty must solicit such evidence from defense lawyers. The process generally begins with the local U.S. Attorney’s Office and — should prosecutors recommend the capital case move forward — culminates in a presentation before the Capital Review Committee in Washington, D.C.
Most federal cases never make it this far. But the DOJ’s Justice Manual makes clear that the meeting is a fundamental part of the process. “No final decision to seek the death penalty may be made if defense counsel has not been afforded an opportunity to present evidence and argument in mitigation,” it reads.
The whole undertaking is time-consuming for defense attorneys and costly for the courts, which must budget for the significant resources a capital case demands: the appointment of learned counsel, as well as a mitigation specialist, psychological experts, and investigators. In part for this reason, prosecutors are expected to give notice early if they plan to pursue a death sentence, by a deadline set by the presiding judge. Once the government gives word that it will not seek death, a defendant is no longer entitled to the additional resources.
In the cases subjected to Bondi’s memo, defense lawyers had been preparing for ordinary trials, without the legal and investigative tools afforded to capital defendants. They had not been doing what capital defense attorneys are obligated to do: prioritize the penalty phase of the trial, to prevent a client from being sentenced to die. “If you’re in a no-death case and it suddenly becomes a death case, the entire life history of the defendant becomes relevant when it wasn’t relevant before,” Dunham explained.
A proper mitigation investigation can take years. “In cases involving foreign nationals — who are being disproportionately targeted by the Trump administration — it not only takes years, it takes investigations in foreign countries,” Dunham points out.
Nonetheless, within days of the Bondi memo, defense teams began hearing from the Justice Department that they should prepare for a meeting with the Capital Review Committee.
It would not take long for judges to push back.
In May 2025, a federal judge in Nevada rejected the government’s first attempt to undo a no-seek. The Biden DOJ had notified defense lawyers that they would not seek the death penalty, only for prosecutors to reverse course 12 days before the trial was set to begin. Although Bondi’s memo had suggested that no-seek reversals would be based on “additional capital charges,” prosecutors offered nothing to justify their move. There was no new evidence or major developments, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du wrote in a scathing order. “The government may not now unilaterally derail the course of proceedings with regard to this matter of clear procedural and constitutional weight.”
Soon afterwards, a Trump-appointed judge in Maryland tossed Bondi’s authorizations against three men accused of committing crimes as part of MS-13. “The government assured the Defendants and this Court, in writing, that it would not seek the death penalty,” wrote U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher. “This Court will not cast aside decades of law, professional standards, and norms to accommodate the government’s pursuit of its agenda.”
The judges highlighted a glaring problem with the DOJ’s attempts to justify its actions. “Taken to its logical conclusion,” Du wrote, “the government’s position would mean that defense counsel and the Court would have to continue to treat every single capital-eligible case as a death case … lest the government attempt to reverse its decision at the last minute.”
This would be untenable for obvious reasons. It could also bankrupt the judiciary. If a no-seek could be revoked at any moment, judges could never safely withdraw the additional resources defendants were required to receive. All death-eligible defendants would be entitled to enhanced funding and resources until trial. According to the National Association of Federal Defenders, the resulting cost would be “incalculable,” with the average number of cases requiring such resources ballooning from an estimated seven per year to “roughly 150 additional cases annually.”
“Jurors may be understandably hostile to a federal government that doesn’t respect local views and decisions.”
These warnings came at an auspicious time. As Bondi ramped up prosecutions over the summer, the program that pays private court-appointed attorneys to represent indigent clients in federal cases ran out of money, leaving lawyers working without pay. Then came the federal shutdown. Those most heavily impacted were the very same legal teams facing the wave of new death penalty cases. “Federal capital defense lawyers are under tremendous pressure to secure the time, resources, and funding they need to adequately defend these cases,” said Maher, the director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
The situation was especially senseless given how few capital prosecutions actually culminate in a death sentence — let alone an execution. Public opinion has largely turned against capital punishment, with juries increasingly refusing to send people to death row. “Securing federal death sentences will be a very difficult task given the low level of public support for the death penalty and rising concerns about federal overreach and abuse,” Maher said. It will be harder still in places that have rejected capital punishment. “Jurors may be understandably hostile to a federal government that doesn’t respect local views and decisions.”
All of this made the Trump DOJ’s targeting of U.S. territories especially vexing. In Puerto Rico, whose Constitution banned capital punishment more than 70 years ago, U.S. prosecutors have failed to win a single death sentence despite some 19 authorizations over three decades. Yet Bondi, who has authorized at least one new death case in Puerto Rico, is determined to expand such efforts to a jurisdiction that has never seen a death penalty case: the U.S. Virgin Islands.
One year before the Bondi memo, federal prosecutors filed a no-seek in the case of Richardson Dangleben Jr., charged with killing a St. Croix police detective on the Fourth of July. Garland’s DOJ “intends to proceed with either a non-capital trial or plea agreement in this matter and will not seek the death penalty,” the local U.S. Attorney wrote in February 2024. This confirmed what prosecutors had told Dangleben’s defense attorney, Federal Public Defender Matthew Campbell, more than six months earlier. At the time, this was to be expected. The U.S. Virgin Islands, Campbell would later point out in an affidavit, “had no history of authorizing or carrying out capital sentences.”
In February 2025, however, Campbell got word that federal prosecutors might seek the death penalty after all. The presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Robert Molloy, swiftly appointed learned counsel, who warned that Dangleben’s defense had already been severely compromised. “If this were a capital case from its inception, we would have hired a mitigation specialist and we would have been preparing a mitigation packet for the Department of Justice from day one,” she said in a phone conference. Instead – more than a year and a half after prosecutors said that they would not seek the death penalty – the lawyers were scrambling to present before the Capital Review Committee in a matter of weeks.
In May, the DOJ filed a Notice of Intent to seek the death penalty.
The authorizations in the Virgin Islands didn’t stop there. Over the next few months, the government filed Notices of Intent against two more men, co-defendants Enock Cole and Jiovoni Smith. As in Dangleben’s case, prosecutors had previously said that they would not seek death only to reverse course after Trump returned to office. Even more shocking was an authorization in a third Virgin Islands case, that of Rosniel Diaz-Bautista. In his case, the DOJ had apparently decided to seek a death sentence “without granting the defense any opportunity to submit mitigating evidence, make a mitigation presentation, or otherwise participate in the capital-authorization process,” as Campbell wrote in a court filing. This was “wholly unprecedented in the thirty-plus year history of the modern federal death penalty.”
Judges struck down the authorizations against Dangleben, Cole, and Smith. Ruling in Dangleben’s case, Molloy — a Trump appointee — echoed the federal judges who had previously refused to allow the DOJ to reverse its no-seeks. Prosecutors had said “unequivocally” that they would “proceed with either a non-capital trial or plea agreement in this matter,” he wrote. The trial “will proceed as a non-death penalty case.”
But prosecutors appealed Molloy’s ruling to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which took the case. Just days before Dangleben’s trial was set to start, Molloy abruptly canceled it.
In December, lawyers on both sides of Dangleben’s case appeared before a panel of Third Circuit judges in St. Croix for oral argument. It was the first time an order rejecting one of Bondi’s no-seek reversals was being tested before an appellate court. The judges have yet to rule. But if the DOJ prevails, it would potentially turn decades of case law on its head.
The National Association of Federal Defenders filed an amicus brief in support of Dangleben, warning that the government was trying to erode the authority of district courts with arguments that were “novel and extreme.” DOJ lawyers were increasingly claiming that judges lacked the power to enforce the deadlines prosecutors were supposed to follow when deciding whether to seek death — or to hold them to those decisions.
The panel seemed perplexed by the whole situation. “Do you have any cases where a no-seek notice was filed, whether formal or informal, and then the case proceeded to trial as a death case?” a judge asked William Glasser, one of two lawyers representing the Trump administration.
“Your Honor, I’m not aware of any off the top of my head,” Glasser replied.
“So this would be the first,” the judge said. He could see why some prosecutors might wish to change their minds after filing a no-seek, say, upon uncovering new evidence. But that didn’t happen in this case.
Glasser pushed back. The government “reevaluated” the evidence, he said, and decided it merited death after all. “Was it really a reevaluation?” another judge asked. “Or was it more a policy change?”
Glasser insisted that the DOJ’s actions were not as disruptive as they appeared. The panel seemed skeptical. “District court judges have not only the right but the duty to set up an orderly process,” one judge said. In Dangleben’s case, prosecutors filed their Notice of Intent just four months before the trial date.
“Four and a half months, your Honor,” Glasser clarified. But in any given case, he maintained, a trial date could simply be pushed back.
“There’s a level of game theory and gamesmanship here that seems to be inimical to what we want in trials generally and especially homicide trials,” one judge remarked. Perhaps more concerning, there was no “limiting principle” to the government’s position: The DOJ was essentially saying it could change its mind on a whim and everyone else would have to adapt.
Glasser suggested that courts could just appeal to the government’s willingness to be reasonable. “I’ve seen district judges saying to the government, ‘Look, tell me if you’re going to [bring a superseding indictment]. I need to know that for planning purposes.’ And that’s perfectly legitimate.”
Can judges really count on the government to honor such a claim?
Yes, Glasser said.
The judge asked the obvious question: Then why can’t they count on the government when it says, “We’re not seeking the death penalty?”
Glasser gave a lengthy response. But the real answer was obvious to anyone who has watched Trump’s assault on the courts. The real answer is that the DOJ can’t be trusted at all.
The post Pam Bondi Is Pushing Death Sentences for People Spared By Her Predecessor appeared first on The Intercept.
From Pennsylvania to Montana, the White House’s war on ‘woke’ has targeted US monuments that address topics like racism and Indigenous history
Blank spaces now exist where a series of panels about enslavement once appeared on the walls of the President’s House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The site, which honors the home of George Washington and John Adams, is a major landmark that bore artwork and informational signs for more than a decade. But on 22 January, National Park Service (NPS) workers used hand tools to pry off 34 panels to comply with a presidential executive order designed to reframe the national narrative. The panels that highlighted the lives of people enslaved by George Washington when Philadelphia was the US capital in the 1790s are now in storage.
The removal is one of several across the nation, as NPS staff aim to conform with Donald Trump’s executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” issued on 27 March 2025. Public markers, monuments and statues that the Trump administration considers disparaging to past or current Americans have been flagged at more than a dozen parks. Two exhibits at Montana’s Little Bighorn battlefield national monument that discuss Indigenous history and the Battle of the Little Bighorn have been targeted and deemed noncompliant. Additionally, signage about climate change at Muir Woods national monument in California and visitor brochures at Medgar and Myrlie Evers home national monument in Mississippi that referred to Medgar Evers’s killer as racist were also removed.
Continue reading...The American economy's most valuable companies are now worth trillions of dollars more than their predecessors were a generation ago, yet they employ a fraction of the workers -- and a new analysis by the Wall Street Journal argues that this widening gap between capital and labor is the defining economic story of our time. Labor received 58% of gross domestic income in 1980; by the third quarter of 2025, that figure had fallen to 51.4%. Corporate profits' share rose from 7% to 11.7% over the same period. Nvidia, the most valuable US company in 2026, is nearly 20 times as valuable as IBM was in 1985 in inflation-adjusted terms and employs roughly a tenth as many people. Since the end of 2019, real average hourly wages have risen 3% while corporate profits have climbed 43%. Household stock wealth now equals almost 300% of annual disposable income, up from 200% in 2019. Yale economist Pascual Restrepo predicted that AI integration will shrink labor's share of revenue further, just as factory automation did for blue-collar workers in decades past.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Feb. 10, 2026 — Using the Frontier supercomputer at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have performed the largest direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulence in three dimensions, attaining a record resolution of 35 trillion grid points. Tackling such a complex problem required the exascale (1 billion billion or more calculations per second) capabilities of Frontier, the world’s most powerful supercomputer for open science.
This visualization shows moderately large pressure fluctuations within a 35-trillion-grid-point turbulence simulation, including 5x and 25x zoom-in views. The negative fluctuations organize into tornado-like structures. Credit: Georgia Institute of Technology.
The team’s results, published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, offer new insights into the underlying properties of the turbulent fluid flows that govern the behaviors of a variety of natural and engineered phenomena — from ocean and air currents to combustion chambers and airfoils. Improving our understanding of turbulent fluctuations can lead to practical advancements in many areas, including more accurately predicting the weather and designing more efficient vehicles.
“Turbulence has long been recognized as a grand challenge problem for both science and computing. Resolution is the key, and this research is about pursuing advances in the fundamental understanding of turbulence by employing high-resolution simulations with the right parameters. This work will have numerous implications for computer modeling and practical applications in many disciplines in which the flow of air, water or other fluids plays an important role,” said P. K. Yeung, the Georgia Tech professor of aerospace engineering who leads the project.
Among the many challenging problems in fluid dynamics, turbulence stands out because of its disorderly fluctuations over a wide range of scales in both time and space. Adding to the complexity is that turbulent flows often occur in a wide variety of geometries that modify the physics of the flow. Picture the differences between water churning over a rough riverbed vs. water flowing through a smooth pipe.
However, the small-scale motions of turbulence possess a considerable degree of statistical universality, regardless of the overall flow geometry. This concept of small-scale universality is thought to be of greater validity as the range of scales widens and the turbulence becomes more intense. But simulating such dynamics has been difficult to achieve on computer systems prior to Frontier.
“Understanding the fine-scale properties of turbulence in a simplified geometry amenable to fast computation can provide great benefits for understanding and modeling turbulence. The latter, in turn, requires immense computational power, and Frontier is among the very best,” Yeung said.
Attaining New Scales of Insight on Frontier
On Frontier, Yeung and his team were the first in the world to simulate turbulence in 3D at a resolution with as many as 32,768 grid points in each dimension, exceeding 35 trillion grid points in total. (In computer simulations, grid points represent specific locations where variables are calculated — the more grid points, spaced closer together, the more accurate the results.)
“This is a scale that exceeds the capacity of any other machine in the world,” Yeung said. Additionally, they were able to simulate flows at a very high Reynolds number — 2,500 — which provides a higher degree of physical fidelity than possible in prior work. The Reynolds number measures the ratio of inertial forces (that tend to keep moving) to viscous forces (that oppose motion due to internal friction). A flow with a low Reynolds number tends to be slower and smoother, such as paint being poured from a bucket, whereas a flow with a high Reynolds number will likely be more turbulent, such as rainfall within storms.
“The scale of the simulations on Frontier has reached such a point that we are within reach of experiments as far as the range of scales that can be simulated numerically or can be made to happen in the laboratory,” Yeung said. “We’re at a point where we can say that the numerical simulations’ results are very reliable, and they can allow us to settle some of the hypotheses about turbulence. We can test fundamental theories to get some idea about how we can make corrections — because all turbulent theories for phenomena this complex are inevitably imperfect.”
An important question is how large the largest turbulent fluctuations can be in fully developed turbulence. Extreme events in which intense fluctuations are rare and localized in time and space can lead to major consequences but are often not sufficiently accounted for in classical theories. Examples include extreme weather (such as category-5 tornadoes and record rainfall), local pockets of high air contamination and instabilities that can lead to sporadic auto-extinction in internal combustion engines.
“In turbulence, fluctuations of significance are observed in many flow properties. Even small fluctuations can have tremendous consequences. They are somewhat random, but fluctuations are still subject to physical laws, and they occur in time and space. So, instead of attempting to calculate how much rain will fall a week from now, we say, ‘The probability that rain will fall next week is X percent.’ We convert the question from a deterministic one to a stochastic or statistical one. We’re interested in finding out the probability distributions,” Yeung said.
The team’s paper provides a definitive assessment of the difference between the probability distributions of energy dissipation (or how effectively energy is converted from the kinetic energy of the bulk flow to small-scale fluctuations and heat) and those of enstrophy (a measure related to the intensity of localized swirling, or vorticity), both of which govern the local details of fluid motion. Understanding that difference can aid in making predictions for the behavior of turbulent flows, such as in extreme weather.
The study’s results also show that — even at the highest resolutions and during the most extreme turbulence — many classical scaling laws still hold true, including the “dissipative anomaly,” which is the idea that the average energy dissipation rate is nearly independent of fluid viscosity at high Reynolds numbers. At the same time, the present simulations confirm that corrections accounting for the intermittent nature of small-scale turbulence physics are stronger than commonly assumed.
To achieve these results on Frontier, Yeung and his team implemented a simulation protocol called “multiresolution independent simulation” with an allocation of compute time from DOE’s Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program.
This approach involved running multiple short, high-resolution bursts on top of longer but lower-resolution simulations. By carefully “upgrading” the resolution over short times and then averaging over many of these segments, they managed to study the smallest scales of turbulence without needing to simulate the whole flow for a long time. Yeung’s doctoral students, Rohini Uma-Vaideswaran and Daniel Dotson, have been using the data to advance machine learning and visualization to illuminate the intricacies of 3D turbulent flow.
Yeung’s current work conducting computer simulations of turbulence comes roughly 50 years after this field of research began and over 30 years since he began studying it himself. Efficient use of Frontier has now taken the simulations to a Reynolds number comparable to experiments but with the advantage of being able to provide incredible detail despite the simplified geometry.
Some of the data from Yeung’s team are now publicly available online at the Johns Hopkins Turbulence Database, which receives funding from the National Science Foundation. According to Charles Meneveau, JHTDB principal investigator, the 35-trillion-grid-point DNS dataset prepared by the Georgia Tech team is already attracting significant interest and will likely be leveraged in many future publications by JHTDB users.
Frontier is managed by the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility located at ORNL.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit energy.gov/science.
Source: Coury Turczyn, ORNL
The post Frontier Simulations Test Turbulence Theories at Record 35 Trillion Grid Points appeared first on HPCwire.
No suspect named yet as TV host’s mom still missing a day after deadline set by ransom note from alleged kidnappers
The search for television host Savannah Guthrie’s mother continued on Tuesday morning amid desperate family entreaties for her safe return.
The FBI still has yet to identify a suspect or person of interest. Nancy Guthrie remains missing, a day after the deadline set by a ransom note from her purported kidnappers.
Continue reading...Tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta to collectively invest $600bn on artificial intelligence this year
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. Today in tech, we’re discussing the Persian Gulf countries making a play for sovereignty over their own artificial intelligence in response to an unstable United States. That, and US tech giants’ plans to spend more than $600bn this year alone.
Bitcoin loses half its value in three months amid crypto crunch
How cryptocurrency’s second-largest coin missed out on the industry’s boom
Files cast light on Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to cryptocurrency
Why has Elon Musk merged his rocket company with his AI startup?
Hail our new robot overlords! Amazon warehouse tour offers glimpse of future
Anthropic’s launch of AI legal tool hits shares in European data companies
Continue reading...Hockey star Laila Edwards said she's "just so thankful" to represent Team USA at the Winter Olympics, making her historic debut on the ice Thursday.
YEREVAN, Armenia, Feb. 10, 2026 — Firebird, a U.S.-based AI cloud and infrastructure company, announced Phase Two of its AI supercomputing megaproject, securing U.S. export licensing and regulatory approvals for the sale and delivery of an additional 41,000 NVIDIA GB300 graphics processing units (GPUs) to Armenia.
Firebird and U.S. Government Announce Phase 2 of $4 Billion AI Megaproject in Armenia. Credit: Firebird.
The expanded cluster marks a major milestone, positioning Armenia as home to one of the world’s top five largest AI GPU clusters, with the $4 billion USD project representing one of the most significant technology-driven capital investments in the country’s history.
The announcement was made during an official visit to Yerevan by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who disclosed the details at a press briefing alongside the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Rev Lebaredian, Vice President of Omniverse and Simulation Technology at NVIDIA, and Firebird co-founders Razmig Hovaghimian and Alexander Yesayan.
Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan commented: “I am pleased to note that the Memorandum signed between Armenia and the United States on August 8 in the areas of semiconductors and artificial intelligence will bring to life the megaproject by Firebird to build an artificial intelligence factory and a data center in Armenia. I hope that close and transparent cooperation established between Armenia and the United States in the high-tech sector will allow us to further develop and strengthen the mutually beneficial partnership between Armenian and U.S. companies.”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said: “Today marks a new beginning for cooperation between Armenia and the United States. The Prime Minister mentioned this incredible tech deal: the United States proudly approved this wonderful technical agreement for NVIDIA. This means new markets and new jobs, both for the American workforce and companies, as well as for Armenia. These are chips that simply do not exist in most countries in the world, they are now going to be developed, and the data centers using those chips are going to be built in Armenia thanks to the Prime Minister’s leadership.”
The newly secured U.S. export license authorizes the sale and import of advanced NVIDIA hardware into Armenia, reinforcing the project’s full compliance with U.S. regulatory frameworks and underscoring the high level of institutional trust supporting the initiative.
Phase Two builds on Firebird’s previously announced Phase One, a $500 million investment that laid the foundation for Armenia’s first high-performance AI computing cluster. Together, the two phases represent a step-change in Armenia’s technological infrastructure, enabling research across life sciences, robotics, space, and next-generation AI applications.
Razmig Hovaghimian, co-founder and CEO of Firebird, added: “Firebird extends U.S. AI technology leadership globally, aligned with our vision of enabling AI for the benefit of all. This new cluster establishes Armenia as a global supercomputing hub, demonstrating how trusted U.S. infrastructure can power emerging economies. We’re grateful to the U.S. and Armenia governments for their partnership in enabling American technology to operate globally at scale.”
Firebird’s megaproject is designed to create a sustainable, globally competitive technology ecosystem in Armenia, anchored in secure infrastructure, international partnerships, and long-term economic value.
As Firebird enters Phase Two, the initiative stands as a tangible example of how cross-border cooperation, aligned regulatory frameworks, and a shared commitment to innovation can translate into transformative national impact.
More from HPCwire: Firebird Secures US Export Authorization for Armenia AI Supercomputing Project
About Firebird, Inc.
Firebird, a U.S.-based AI cloud and infrastructure company, designed to provide secure, scalable, and globally accessible GPU infrastructure. Its mission is to democratize access to advanced AI computing, enabling innovation across research and enterprise in both the private and public sectors.
Source: Firebird
The post Firebird and US Government Move Armenia AI Megaproject into $4B Phase Two appeared first on HPCwire.
Anjlee Sangani signed off private investigator’s confession of lawbreaking for Daily Mail publisher, which he now says was forged
A solicitor who approved a private investigator’s contested confession of bugging, phone tapping and hacking on behalf of the publisher of the Daily Mail did not oversee the document being signed, the high court has heard.
The most serious allegations of unlawful information-gathering against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) came from a signed statement made by the private investigator Gavin Burrows.
Continue reading...The Puerto Rican star’s vision of American identity moved beyond colonial tropes to span an entire hemisphere
By now, many of us have a favorite part of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time performance. It’s a dense, rich set that invites rewatching to take in every thoughtful, exuberant detail – even though it’s barely 14 minutes long.
My most beloved part occurs a little more than nine minutes into the homage, when the cuatro puertorriqueño appears. The stringed instrument has its own moment in the spotlight, shown in the talented hands of the cuatrista José Eduardo Santana just before Ricky Martin performs.
Continue reading...CAMBRIDGE, England, Feb. 10, 2026 — Nu Quantum has announced the opening of a new trapped-ion networking laboratory in Cambridge, UK. Based close to its existing R&D headquarters, this state-of-the-art facility will double the company’s research infrastructure to accelerate progress towards distributed quantum computing.
Credit: Nu Quantum
Achieving real utility for quantum computers requires scaling. Nu Quantum’s technology enables quantum computers to scale by weaving individual quantum processors into a modular, distributed computing fabric. Crucially, Nu Quantum’s architecture is adaptable to support scaling for different types of quantum computing modalities.
The new facility will host Nu Quantum’s multi-node networking testbed, where the company’s world-leading Qubit-Photon Interface (QPI) technology will be proven with trapped-ions. Nu Quantum’s QPI technology is designed to interconnect clusters of commercial processors from industry leaders via a scalable photonic network, paving the way towards distributed quantum computing architectures. These interfaces, based on optical microcavity technology and integrated into novel custom-built ion traps, will enable high-performance entanglement links between qubits in different nodes.
Nu Quantum’s QPI hardware is designed to push the performance of remote entanglement links beyond current state-of-the-art demonstrations, thanks to innovations ranging from world-leading expertise in optical microcavity mirror fabrication, novel entanglement protocols, and a systems-level approach to distributed quantum computing. The Qubit-Photon Interface forms part of the company’s Entanglement Fabric technology roadmap to develop a robust photonic networking layer that facilitates modular quantum computers.
Nu Quantum recently announced their $60 million Series A fundraising round, the largest for a quantum company in the UK and for quantum networking globally. This investment, alongside the expansion of R&D facilities, marks a new period of growth for the company, which is currently hiring across several technical areas including a dedicated focus for scientists and engineers specialized in trapped-ion and AMO fields.
Adding to the company’s existing research facilities, which include access to cleanrooms, optics labs, and mechanical and electronics engineering resources, the new laboratory will also benefit from active research collaborations with the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, the University of Sussex, the University of Cambridge, Cisco, and foundry subcontractor Infineon Technologies.
While this new laboratory will firstly focus on networking trapped-ion qubits, Nu Quantum’s technology is readily adaptable to other modalities, as showcased in the company’s announcement of a first Qubit-Photon Interface for neutral atom qubits in 2024 as part of an Innovate UK project with collaborator Infleqtion.
“The opening of our new laboratory is a huge milestone as it constitutes the first dedicated industrial R&D facility for trapped-ion distributed quantum computing in the UK and Europe. This state-of-the-art laboratory will accelerate our roadmap to enabling interconnected quantum computing architectures,” said Dr. Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Founder and CEO of Nu Quantum.
“After years of R&D achieving unprecedented cavity performance for fast, efficient quantum networking, we are now preparing to test one of our core technologies in-house with trapped-ion qubits. This lab opening is a major milestone for Nu Quantum and this is an incredibly exciting time for the team,” said Dr Claire Le Gall, VP Technology at Nu Quantum.
Collaborator Professor Matthias Keller at University of Sussex added, “The opening of Nu Quantum’s Networking Testbed Lab in Cambridge is yet another sign that Nu Quantum is pushing the frontier of quantum networking. I am looking forward to continuing and deepening our fruitful collaboration and to seeing the positive impact the new lab will have on the business.”
Professor Mete Atatüre, Head of the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and Founding Advisor at Nu Quantum, said, “Quantum is an important science and technology area for the UK, and industry-led R&D is critical for us to stay at the forefront. The quantum interconnection challenge remains a bottleneck from communications to distributing computing, and Nu Quantum’s new Testbed Lab will push the limits of networked quantum systems at industrially relevant scales.”
Central to the test and measurement hardware housed within the new facility is a laser suite with wavelength stabilization and photonics delivery. This capability was developed in partnership with the NQCC funded through a National Security Strategic Investment Fund program, advancing quantum technologies through targeted collaboration between government end-users and technology providers.
More from HPCwire
About Nu Quantum
Nu Quantum is the category creator and leader in distributed quantum computing technology. Its Entanglement Fabric approach is a modular, interoperable networking layer that interconnects quantum processors into a more powerful distributed quantum computer. Through its technological advances and collaboration with industry partners, Nu Quantum is accelerating the path to fault tolerance to unlock breakthroughs and transform industries worldwide. For more information, visit nu-quantum.com.
Source: Nu Quantum
The post Nu Quantum Opens Trapped-Ion Quantum Networking Laboratory in Cambridge appeared first on HPCwire.
Police briefly enter court as tempers flare, benches clear
Hornets coach Charles Lee later tossed for arguing call
A fight between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets in the third quarter of Monday night’s game resulted in four player ejections.
Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges were tossed, along with Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Hornets coach Charles Lee was ejected in the fourth quarter after he had to be restrained from going after an official while arguing a call.
Continue reading...Lack of response shows security law and harassment by authorities have muzzled ‘critical voices’, say experts
Hong Kong’s once-vibrant media outlets have responded with silence or celebration to the 20-year jail sentence handed down to Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media tycoon and critic of the Chinese Communist party.
Lai, 78, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison after being convicted of sedition and colluding with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s national security law. The charges were widely seen as being politically motivated and designed to silence one of Hong Kong’s most influential pro-democracy campaigners.
Continue reading...PlayStation 5 (version tested), Xbox, PC; Grasshopper Manufacture/Marvelous Inc
After some dumb fun hacking at zombies, legendary developer Suda51’s first original game in a decade sadly only delivers a host of incoherent disappointments
Ever since he baffled GameCube owners with 2005’s Killer7, Japanese game director Suda51 has had a reputation for turning heads. From parodying the banality of open-world games with 2007’s No More Heroes to collaborating with James Gunn for 2012’s pulpy Lollipop Chainsaw, his games often offer a welcome reprieve from soulless, half-a-billion-dollar-budget gaming blockbusters. It was with considerable excitement that I fired up Suda’s first new game in 10 years.
The game kicks off with a slick cartoon that shows our hero, Romeo Stargazer, being eaten by a zombie. Hastily resurrected by his zany scientist grandfather, Romeo returns from the brink imbued with new powers – and then we’re off. Almost immediately I am bombarded by an impenetrable wall of proper-noun nonsense. It’s like this for the next 20 hours.
Continue reading...The stowaway was first spotted as a barge was tugged into San Juan's Old Army Terminal port. Then officials saw them in the water.
The Framework Desktop offers surprising performance for such a compact machine. However, it doesn't give you the upgradability you might expect.
US courts, scholars and Democrats are pushing back against the president’s aggressive drive to boost fossil fuels
Donald Trump’s aggressive drive to boost fossil fuels, including dirty coal, coupled with his administration’s moves to roll back wind and solar power, face mounting fire from courts, scholars and Democrats for raising the cost of electricity and worsening the climate crisis.
Four judges, including a Trump appointee, in recent weeks have issued temporary injunctions against interior department moves to halt work on five offshore wind projects in Virginia, New York and New England, which have cost billions of dollars and are far along in development.
Continue reading...The top private schools in New York City plan to charge more than $70,000 this year for tuition, an amount exceeding that of many elite colleges, as they pass on the costs of soaring expenses including teacher salaries. From a report: Spence School, Dalton School and Nightingale-Bamford School on Manhattan's Upper East Side are among at least seven schools where the fees now exceed that threshold, according to school disclosures and Bloomberg reporting Fees among 15 private schools across the city rose a median of 4.7%, outpacing inflation. Sending a kid to New York private school has always been expensive, but the cost now is so high that even those with well-above-average salaries are feeling squeezed. Prices have risen dramatically in the past decade, up from a median of $39,900 in 2014.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has had the final two of nearly 30 civil lawsuits against him dismissed.
Around 60 percent said they expected their lives would be significantly better in the future, roughly nine percentage points lower than during the pandemic.
As the Gordie Howe bridge nears completion, Trump, in his latest salvo against Canada, suggested he would “not allow” it to open, saying Canada had treated the U.S. “very unfairly.”
New website lists only limited number of medications – and many of them cost less in generic form elsewhere
The Trump administration has launched TrumpRx, but there are other sites offering discounts on more medications, and the new government site will appeal to a very limited group of patients, experts say.
Trump has promised reforms on the unusually high drug prices in the US, and he called the announcement “the largest reduction in prescription drug prices in history” at a press conference on Thursday. Yet the site only lists 43 medications, more than half of which are available in generic form at significantly cheaper prices elsewhere.
Continue reading...Critics brand deal with regulator as ‘lightweight’ with ‘no legal bite’ as tech giants avoid legally binding measures
Apple and Google have committed to avoid discriminating against apps that compete with their own products under an agreement with the UK’s competition watchdog, as they avoided legally binding measures for their mobile platforms.
The US tech companies have vowed to be more transparent about vetting third-party apps before letting them on their app stores and not discriminate against third-party apps in app search rankings.
Continue reading...How far will Trump push Cuba? Expert comment jon.wallace
Cuban-American voters and US law will hinder the president’s freedom of action. But if Trump pushes too hard, he may create a serious problem.
The US’s 64-year embargo on Cuba is about to get a lot tougher. The Trump administration has cut off the estimated 27,000 to 35,000-barrel-per-day deliveries of cheap Venezuelan oil to the island and is threatening tariffs on countries that may think about trying to fill the void.
The end of that oil lifeline comes as Cuba is already suffering its worst economic crisis since the 1959 revolution – one that has brought rolling electrical blackouts, declining hard currency reserves, and food and fuel shortages.
President Donald Trump has said that he’s offered a deal to the Cuban government, headed by Miguel Díaz-Canel, and that the two governments are having discussions. The Communist Cuban regime faces an impossible choice: concede to White House demands that will threaten its power – for instance, to release political prisoners and hold elections – or try to use repression to cling on through a looming humanitarian crisis that could erupt into chaos and/or massive outmigration.
The decision will depend on what the Trump administration is offering. The US embargo – codified into law in the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act and again in the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (Cuban Liberty Act) – places legal limits on what the US president can guarantee as concessions. The US’s politically powerful, majority Republican, Cuban-American community will also have a say.
All this also comes with a reminder, if not a warning: Cuba is not Venezuela. As much as Trump may feel emboldened by his 3 January intervention that removed President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, leaving his regime and cabinet in place, the factors in play in Cuba present a quite different challenge to the ‘Donroe Doctrine’.
Cuba does not sit atop vast oil reserves and has no untapped mineral riches. There is no great economic win offered to the US by a change of government. Even the sugar industry that built pre-revolution Cuba has collapsed. Nor, despite its close relations with Russia, China and Iran, does Cuba represent a national security threat.
Instead, this is largely driven by ideology, the hangover of the Cold War in which 66 years and 13 US presidents have failed to topple the stated nemesis 90 miles off the coast of Florida.
Unlike Venezuela’s chaotic and corrupt government, the Cuban state has seen sixty-plus years of uninterrupted rule under Fidel Castro and then his brother Raul, allowing the Communist party to dominate and remake government.
Public officials and the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) of Cuba have been indoctrinated in the myth of the revolution and fear change. And the FAR’s ownership of key areas of the economy – including tourism and financial services integrated under large holding companies – helps ensure their loyalty.
Within the regime, it is uncertain exactly where power lies. Diaz Canel is a relatively young leader, at least compared to the ‘historicos’ that had governed the country since 1959. A party apparatchik, hand-picked by the ideologically bankrupt regime to replace 94-year-old Raul Castro in 2018, he finds himself in a difficult position.
The Castro legacy hangs over him, and while he still provides fiery anti-Yanqui rhetoric, empty state food stores shelves show that the revolution has run out of gas.
Meanwhile, Raul Castro’s son Alejandro remains in power, occupying a vaguely defined role in the Interior Ministry. Allegedly he has become the lead negotiator for the regime: Unconfirmed reports claim that he has been in dialogue with the US, though those claims have been questioned.
Six decades of totalitarian control and repression has atomized Cuban society. There is no democratic leadership in waiting as there was in Venezuela that enjoys the popular legitimacy of an election. And Cuba’s small independent political and civil society remains divided and isolated internally.
Many of those who oppose the communist regime have left. Since the Revolution, between 2 to 3 million Cubans have escaped brutality and economic failure by fleeing to the United States, Spain and countries in Latin America (numbers vary widely because of the multiple exit methods and dispersion).
The exodus has served as a convenient safety valve for the Cuban regime, removing the most disgruntled citizens from political and civic life on the island. It has also created a large and highly politically motivated political force in the US.
The large Cuban-American community has waited decades to return to the island. Many want to see the communist regime of former president Fidel Castro collapse and a transition to democracy like those in Eastern Europe in 1989 and the early 1990s. That presents a political risk for Trump.
There are legal limits on what his administration can offer Cuban citizens and the Cuban diaspora in any potential deal with the Cuban regime. The 1996 Liberty Act reconfirmed the US embargo as law.
It also added a set of conditions that any future president would have to confirm had been met in order for the Congress to lift the embargo. Those conditions include: the removal of all Castros from government, the release of political prisoners, the return of freedoms of association and speech, and credible steps to multi-party elections.
While President Trump was willing to buck Congressional oversight in his Venezuela adventure, doing so in this case could incur the wrath of embargo supporters, largely Republicans.
Or perhaps it might not. Loyal Republican partisanship and faith that Trump can deliver change, even if not immediately, may maintain their support.
Regardless, Venezuela-style leadership change will not be sufficient under US law to re-establish meaningful economic relations. And any promises by the regime – with or without the current leadership – to eventually release political prisoners, loosen restrictions of basic freedoms and hold free and fair elections will be met with legitimate skepticism by democratic and human rights activists and non-partisan Cuban-Americans.
An ongoing story and more frequent new heroes, including five right now, move the game in the direction it always seemed to promise.
Bill limits type of science used to determine health risks and gives industry major role in chemical review process
A new Republican House bill proposes sweeping changes to US toxic chemical laws that would gut protections for consumers, workers and the environment, public health advocates mobilising against the legislation warn.
Among other changes to the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), the bill would limit the type of science that is used to determine health risks, stop legally requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure chemicals won’t harm people, give industry a prominent role in chemical review processes, and make it more difficult legally for the agency to ban toxic substances.
Continue reading...I glimpsed the monks on their 2,300-mile pilgrimage across America – their message of loving-kindness had me in tears
“I’m obsessed with the monks,” my friend Sam told me. “It’s the only thing getting me through the violence of this second Trump administration. The monks, and my meds.”
I nodded. I’d first heard about the monks walking for peace after my brother and sister-in-law traveled to hear them in Alabama, returning with stories of stillness and a grounded sense of hope.
Continue reading...Players say hockey keeps them young. A new 80+ hockey hall of fame honors the people who have stuck with the sport.
The California governor has a record of failed pledges on housing, healthcare and more as he mistakes theatrics for leadership
Gavin Newsom has stumbled upon the perfect slogan for his likely upcoming presidential campaign: “Strong and Wrong.” In a recent interview, California’s governor said Americans prefer crude politicians like Donald Trump over leaders who cling to niceties and norms.
“Given the choice … the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right,” he said.
Gil Durán is a California journalist and author of the forthcoming book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War On Democracy. He was an adviser to several Democratic politicians
Continue reading...Trump administration seeks to remove ‘illegal aliens’ but Uline’s past employment practices reveal a different reality
When JD Vance delivered a speech about the US economy late last year at a Uline facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he talked up the Trump administration’s key goals: removing “illegal aliens” from the country, rewarding companies that keep jobs in the US and paying Americans good wages.
“We’re going to reward companies that build here in America and give good wages to do it,” Vance said.
Continue reading...Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Josh Hawley don't agree on much, but they've found common ground on health care and affordability.
International Olympic Committee bars a Ukrainian skeleton racer from wearing a helmet showing images of fellow athletes killed in Russia's invasion.
Astronomers had warned that proximity of INNA facility to telescopes would have irreparably damaged observation
The scientific community is celebrating the cancellation of a project which would have threatened the clearest skies in the world in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
The proposed $10bn, 3,000-hectare green hydrogen and ammonia production facility, known as INNA, included a port, transport links to the coast and three solar power plants, and had been under evaluation by Chile’s environmental regulator for almost a year.
Continue reading...Downhill champion Breezy Johnson among the affected
‘A solution has been identified, and a fix put in place’
After days of embarrassing stories about Winter Olympic medals cracking, snapping, and even breaking in two after falling in the snow, organisers say they have finally fixed the problem.
Officials have also promised to repair any of the medals that were awarded in the opening three days of competition in Milano Cortina, after identifying on Monday that the issue stemmed from the medal’s cord, which is fitted with a breakaway mechanism required by law.
Continue reading...Jamie Raskin, a top House Democrat, accused the justice department of making 'puzzling, inexplicable redactions' to documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that obscured the names of abusers, while allowing the identities of the disgraced financier’s victims to become public. Raskin told reporters that he wanted to view the complete files to better understand how the justice department handled the redaction process
Continue reading...As trust in Russia and China’s state broadcasters grows, director general warns of the dangers of cutting back the service
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks with no future deal with the government currently in place, the corporation’s director general, Tim Davie, has warned.
In a last-minute pitch to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Davie said the uncertainty came as news organisations were cutting their international reporting and disinformation was “flooding the digital sphere at an incredible speed”.
Continue reading...These are the scales to consider if you want the best data.
Pascal Soriot suggests UK-US agreement will not be enough to revive plan to expand Cambridge site
The boss of Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company has said the government’s recent drug pricing deal is a “very positive step” but is unlikely to unfreeze a paused £200m investment in Cambridge.
AstraZeneca’s chief executive, Pascal Soriot, suggested that a UK-US deal on NHS pricing agreed in December would not be “sufficient” to restart the project to build a research site in the east of England, which was paused in September.
Continue reading...Marius Borg Hoiby, Crown Princess Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son, is on trial facing 38 charges, including raping four women and assaults against ex-girlfriends.
Seamus Culleton describes conditions as ‘torture’ as he pleads with taoiseach to raise his case with Donald Trump
An Irish man who has been held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for five months despite having a valid work permit and no criminal record says he fears for his life and has appealed for help from Ireland’s government.
Seamus Culleton said conditions at his detention centre in Texas were akin to “torture” and that the atmosphere was volatile. “I’m not in fear of the other inmates. I’m afraid of the staff. They’re capable of anything.”
Continue reading...Head of army says potential ‘peacemakers’ being trained, in what would be first outside force in Gaza since 1967
Indonesia has said it is preparing to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza to be part of a peacekeeping force under Donald Trump’s Middle East plan.
The announcement by the army chief of staff, Gen Maruli Simanjuntak, makes Indonesia the first country to deliver a specific commitment to the international stabilisation force (ISF) envisaged as part of the second phase of the Trump plan.
Continue reading...Drinking the right amount of water every day is crucial for your health, and this hydration-tracking water bottle showed me that I need to do better.
Stop scammers in their tracks by locking your SSN. It's quick and easy.
The software and technology sectors pose one of the all-time great concentration risks to the speculative-grade credit market, according to Deutsche Bank AG analysts. Bloomberg: They comprise $597 billion and $681 billion of the speculative-grade credit universe, or about 14% and 16% respectively, analysts led by Steve Caprio wrote in a Monday note. Speculative debt spans high-yield debt, leveraged loans and US private credit. That's "a meaningful chunk of debt outstanding that risks souring broader sentiment, if software defaults increase," the analysts wrote, with "a potential impact that would rival that of the Energy sector in 2016." Unlike in 2016, pressures would likely first emerge in private credit, business development companies and leveraged loans, with the high-yield market weakening later, the analysts added. The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools risks further weighing down multiples and revenues for software-as-a-service firms, while the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance since 2022 has pressured cash flows, the analysts wrote. For instance, software payment-in-kind loan usage has risen to 11.3% in BDC portfolios, over 2.5 percentage points higher than the already elevated index average of 8.7%, according to Deutsche. PIK deals typically allow borrowers to pay interest in more debt rather than cash.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
CS Venkatakrishnan dismayed by ‘depravity and corruption’ revealed in Epstein files as he announces profits
The chief executive of Barclays has said he is “deeply dismayed and shocked” at the “depravity and the corruption” revealed in the Epstein files, as the bank deals with the fallout of its ex-boss Jes Staley’s ties to the convicted child sex offender.
In his first public comments on the matter since the US Department of Justice began publishing documents related to Jeffrey Epstein in December, CS Venkatakrishnan said his thoughts went out to the victims of Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting child sex trafficking charges.
Continue reading...Title says it all really. I like to do street photography around LA and walking is just so slow. I would love to be able to put my one wheel in the front trunk of my boxster and park it and ride off from there. Anyone with a 991/981 know if I can fit a one wheel inside the front trunk?
Democratic leaders a say White House proposal doesn't make the grade as they demand new restrictions on ICE and threaten a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department.
Exclusive: Analysts say there will be oil spill catastrophe that could be far bigger than Exxon Valdez disaster
Decrepit oil tankers in Iran’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet are a “ticking time bomb”, and it is only a matter of time before there is a catastrophic environmental disaster, maritime intelligence analysts have warned.
Such an oil spill could be far bigger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster that released 37,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea, they said.
Continue reading...US captain reflects on her playing career in France and the need for greater competition as she prepares for a summer move to Denver
Lindsey Heaps is sitting in the heart of Lyon, a city that has witnessed her transformation from a self-described “baby” into the authoritative captain of the US women’s national team. Now wearing the iconic No 10 shirt for OL Lyonnes, inherited this season from Dzsenifer Marozsán, Heaps is reflective. She is a veteran, a leader who has won almost everything, yet she remains a student of the game, constantly seeking the “good struggles” that defined her early years.
The timing of our meeting is poignant. This month Lyonnes reasserted their dominance over the Première Ligue with a 1-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain, before winning 4-0 against Saint-Étienne in a derby. The results leaves OL in a league of their own: 14 points clear of second-placed Nantes, with PSG cast adrift in fifth place, 17 points behind the leaders. For Heaps, these numbers are not just a source of pride; they are a symptom of a wider problem.
Continue reading...Chappell Roan says she's left her talent agency after its CEO, Casey Wasserman, was named in files related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Local police assisted federal immigration agents by repeatedly searching school cameras that record license plate numbers, data show
Police departments across the US are quietly leveraging school district security cameras to assist Donald Trump’s mass immigration enforcement campaign, an investigation by the 74 reveals.
Hundreds of thousands of audit logs spanning a month show police are searching a national database of automated license plate reader data, including from school cameras, for immigration-related investigations.
Continue reading...President Trump said Monday he would block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Canada "until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them."
Authorities said that five of the 10 missing workers have been identified among 10 bodies found in clandestine graves.
The air inside your home may be five times dirtier than the air outside and this issue worsens in winter. I asked air quality specialists about common culprits for indoor air pollution
Bangladesh election reveals a transformed political landscape Expert comment LToremark
Bangladesh’s long-awaited election is being shaped by new political forces and intensified information warfare.
Bangladesh is set to hold its long-anticipated national election on 12 February 2026. The election follows 18 months of an interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, after the government of Sheikh Hasina was ousted in 2024 by the Gen Z- led ‘Monsoon Revolution’.
This election is a potential turning point towards democratic transition. It is also consequential due to two broader dynamics at play: the emergence of new political actors and the intensification of information warfare. But with so much at stake, political violence and unrest is rife. Since the election was announced in December, at least 16 political activists have been killed.
One of the most significant developments in this election is the emergence of new political coalitions that challenge the long-standing dominance of two parties: Hasina’s Awami League party and the main opposition party, the BNP.
The Awami League has been banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act and will not be taking part in the election. The new chairman of the BNP, Tarique Rahman, has recently returned to Bangladesh after 17 years in exile following the death of his mother and longtime BNP leader, Khaleda Zia. Rahman is one of the frontrunners to be prime minister – if the BNP performs well in the election.
A notable new political coalition is the 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP). This marks a major reconfiguration of the opposition landscape – one which aims to disrupt Bangladesh’s dynastic political system.
The NCP was born from the 2024 student uprising. Its unexpected electoral alliance with the more conservative Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami reflects strategic compromise rather than ideological alignment. The decision to join forces followed the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent student leader, independent MP candidate and vocal critic of India and the Awami League.
Bangladeshi investigators have charged 17 people in connection to Hadi’s murder, some of whom they say have links to the Awami League. Hadi’s supporters allege an Indian connection to the murder – an allegation New Delhi denies. NCP leaders argue the killing highlights threats from ‘hegemonic forces’, making independent political participation risky.
Some NCP leaders and founding members have strongly opposed the alliance with Bangladesh Jamaat and even resigned in protest, citing Jamaat’s controversial past and stance on women within the party. The majority, however, view it as a pragmatic step. NCP convener Nahid Islam stated that the party has not abandoned its reform agenda, emphasizing that the NCP’s separate election manifesto underscores its commitment to democracy and equality. Moreover, although Jamaat is the only party with a strong opposition to women in political leadership roles, all the participating parties have fallen short of the 5 per cent pledge for women’s representation.
This alliance between two seemingly very different parties has also gained momentum because of their shared opposition to Indian influence. Both parties demand Hasina’s extradition from India and justice for Hadi. By contrast, senior BNP leaders have openly invited ‘disillusioned’ Awami League members with ‘clean records’ to join the party, although individuals involved in corruption, extortion or violence will be barred. Their outreach appears to have worked. Opinion polls show nearly 48 per cent of Awami League voters are shifting to BNP.
A pre-election survey shows a tight race between the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, with limited support for others. Survey evidence shows clear demographic and motivational differences: Jamaat attracts younger and more educated voters for its perceived discipline and integrity; BNP draws mainly working-age voters, farmers and labourers for its past governance record; while NCP supporters cite its role in the 2024 revolution. Young voters (18–37) make up 44 per cent of the electorate and may decide the outcome, along with undecided voters.
The new 11-party coalition has received mixed reactions from citizens – and seems to illustrate of the tension between political survival and ideological principle in Bangladesh’s increasingly volatile political landscape. Although joining the coalition expands the NCP’s reach, it risks weakening its identity as a genuine political alternative if voters become unsure what the party really stands for.
The BNP, meanwhile, will benefit from the absence of the Awami League, but the party must deal with internal divisions exposed by the death of Khaleda Zia.
The run-up to this election has been heavily shaped by an information war. As political parties and independent candidates use social media to run their campaigns and simultaneously challenge each other’s narratives, the widespread use of bot-generated comments and emojis to influence voter opinion is evident. Serious concerns have also been raised by misinformation and disinformation campaigns, as well as AI-generated deepfakes. Social media has seen a surge of short, decontextualized video clips of political leaders’ remarks on religion, which are being used to provoke outrage and manipulate voter sentiment.
There is also a growing wave of disinformation from abroad. In January, Yunus reportedly warned of a ‘flood’ of foreign disinformation in the run up to the election, during a call to the UN. Rumor Scanner Bangladesh claims that last year 73 Indian news outlets, and the ousted Awami League, published 140 reports containing false or misleading information about Bangladesh. Yunus’s press secretary also recently claimed that Indian media was responsible for spreading ‘alarming false narratives’ about Bangladesh.
A misogynistic post from Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman’s verified X account sparked widespread outrage and campus protests, with BNP critics saying it demeaned women’s leadership. But Jamaat claims that the accounts of its top leaders, including Rahman, were hacked using India-origin malware sent via emails linked to the president’s office and the Bangladesh Computer Council as part of a coordinated cyberattack aimed at undermining national sovereignty and the election process.
Donald Trump has done a number of U-turns on the Epstein files since his campaign in 2024. The president wants the latest batch of files to be the last, but Democrats are pushing for 3m more to be released. The Guardian US reporter Richard Luscombe gives an overview of the latest findings after the Department of Justice released the files
Continue reading...Moltbook, a social media site for AI agents, is nothing new. Still, the marriage of big tech and politics demands we take a stand
On a recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, I was shocked by the billboards that lined the freeway outside of the airport. “The singularity is here,” proclaimed one. “Humanity had a good run,” said another. It seemed like every other sign along the road was plastered with claims from tech firms making outrageous claims about artificial intelligence. The ads, of course, were rife with hype and ragebait. But the claims they contain aren’t occurring in a vacuum. The OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, recently said: “We basically have built AGI, or very close to it,” before confusingly qualifying his statement as “spiritual”. Elon Musk has gone even further, claiming: “We have entered the singularity.”
Enter Moltbook, the social media site built for AI agents. A place where bots can talk to other bots, in other words. A spate of doom-laden news articles and op-eds followed its launch. The authors fretted about the fact that the bots were talking about religion, claiming to have secretly spent their human builders’ money, and even plotting the overthrow of humanity. Many pieces contained suggestions eerily like those on the billboards in San Francisco: that machines are now not only as smart as humans (a theory known as artificial general intelligence) but that they are moving beyond us (a sci-fi concept known as the singularity).
Samuel Woolley is the author of Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaganda in the Era of Automation and Anonymity and co-author of Bots. He is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Continue reading...Jamie Raskin, House judiciary ranking member, says ‘mysterious redactions’ obscure abusers’ names. Plus, RFK Jr accused of misleading Senate
Good morning.
A top House Democrat on Monday accused the justice department of making “mysterious redactions” to documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that obscured the names of abusers, while also allowing the identities of the disgraced financier’s victims to become public.
What did Raskin say? He told reporters “there were tons of completely unnecessary redactions, in addition to the failure to redact the names of victims, and so that was troubling to us”.
What happens next? “We’re going to start by posing questions directly to attorney general [Pam] Bondi about the process that produced such flawed results, and that has created such mystery,” Raskin said.
How bad does it look? The US fell from 28th place to 29th, overtaken by Lithuania, recording its lowest ever score of 64. (Transparency International said the score did not factor in all of the events of 2025.)
What about globally? The report identified an overall global deterioration, as 31 countries improved their score while 50 declined.
Continue reading...I compared the most efficient front-load washer CNET tested with the rest of our washer picks to see how quickly the savings add up.
The Marshall Project found more than 70,000 cases referred to law enforcement over allegations of substance use during pregnancy — and that's a significant undercount.
Palestinian boy has been in the West Bank since 2022 but is still registered as a resident in the strip where ban applies
An Israeli court has rejected an appeal to allow a five-year-old Palestinian boy with an aggressive form of cancer to enter Israel for life-saving treatment, citing a government policy that bars residents registered in Gaza from crossing the border, even when they no longer live there.
In a ruling issued on Sunday, the Jerusalem district court dismissed a petition seeking permission to transfer the child from Ramallah to Tel HaShomer hospital near Tel Aviv for a bone marrow transplant – a procedure unavailable in either Gaza or the occupied West Bank. The boy has been in the West Bank since 2022 where he was receiving medical care unavailable in the Gaza Strip. His doctors have determined that he urgently requires antibody immunotherapy.
Continue reading...Sacha Baron Cohen pays tribute to teacher who ran school outside Paris and was a formative influence on countless comedians and actors
Master clown Philippe Gaulier, the influential founder of France’s École Philippe Gaulier, has died aged 82. Gaulier taught the art of clowning for decades and his students included Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Rachel Weisz and Geoffrey Rush.
Gaulier died on Monday due to complications from a lung infection. He had a stroke in 2023 and, since then, had “received warm words of encouragement from all over the world”, according to a statement made by his family. “He seemed especially happy to receive letters and messages from his former students. Teaching was his passion and purpose in life.”
Continue reading...As federal immigration agents surge into communities and detain people, the number of cases filed by those claiming their detention is illegal has risen to historic highs. ProPublica is tracking the volume of these cases, known as habeas petitions, as they overwhelm legal advocates and government attorneys.
Immigrants filed more habeas cases in the first 13 months of the second Trump administration than in the past three administrations combined, including his first.
The post Tracking Habeas Cases appeared first on ProPublica.
With medication largely unaffordable in the country, experts hope community support and a change in diet could reduce soaring type 2 diabetes rates
A return to the traditional lentil and rice dishes that have nourished generations of Nepalis could save them from a diabetes epidemic prompted by the influx of western junk foods, doctors have said.
In a country where one in five of those over 40 has type 2 diabetes, the foods enjoyed by their grandparents have showed remarkable results in reversing the condition.
Continue reading...The Seahawks’ Legion of Boom terrorized opponents in the 2010s. Now a new unit has taken up the mantle – and delivered another title
Super Bowl LX was a two-score game with less than five minutes remaining. New England had the ball on the Seahawks’ 44-yard line and – after reaching the end zone in the fourth quarter, finally – that familiar sense of possibility. But that quickly vaporized when Devon Witherspoon knifed in on a corner blitz and jarred the ball loose from the Patriots quarterback, Drake Maye, mid-throw. Uchenna Nwosu snatched it in stride and rumbled 45 yards to the end zone, sealing Seattle’s 29‑13 victory.
That the league’s top defense was able to punctuate this moment, more than a decade in the making, with an interception as the Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler looked on made the Seahawks’ revenge all the sweeter. “They lived up to the Dark Side today,” the Seattle head coach, Mike Macdonald, said of his defense. “It’s going to go down in the history books.”
Continue reading...The Trump administration’s push for mass deportations has resulted in more than 18,000 challenges in federal court from immigrants claiming their detention is illegal, more than were filed under the last three administrations combined — including President Donald Trump’s first term.
So far this year, immigrants are filing on average more than 200 of these cases, known as habeas petitions, daily across the country, with California and Texas accounting for about 40% of new cases, a ProPublica analysis of federal court filings found. To keep tabs on this historic rise, ProPublica is publishing a habeas case tracker.
“I don’t recall a time that anything like this has ever happened,” said Daniel Caudillo, director of the Immigration Law Clinic at Texas Tech University School of Law and a recently departed immigration judge.
An analysis of habeas cases since 2009 shows that immigrants have filed more challenges to their detention in the first 13 months of Trump’s second term than in the last three administrations combined — and the number keeps rising.
The wave of habeas petitions comes in response to new administration policies aimed at ramping up the number of deportations. Among those are policies that require the majority of immigrants who entered the country illegally to remain in detention while their immigration cases are proceeding.
Lawyers say these policies upend decades of legal precedent that previously allowed immigrants who had been in the country for years and posed no security or flight risk a chance to remain in their communities until an immigration judge could determine whether they could stay in the country legally.
On Friday night, a divided three-judge panel in the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sided with the administration in limiting bond hearings to immigrants who entered the country lawfully. Caudillo called the decision “devastating,” adding that as a result, most immigrants held in states that fall under the circuit, which includes Texas, will now be subject to mandatory detention. Appeals of judges’ rulings in habeas cases challenging immigrants’ detention have been filed in nine of the 12 regional appeals courts, meaning the question could ultimately find its way to the Supreme Court.
A large majority of federal judges who’ve ruled on the habeas petitions so far are siding with immigrants. A recent analysis by Politico found that over 300 judges have ruled against the administration’s new detention policies, while only 14 have upheld them. The result is that federal judges frequently are ordering the government to either release immigrants from detention or offer them a bond hearing before an immigration judge to determine whether they are eligible for release while their immigration case proceeds.
Officials from the White House and Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a list of questions, but in statements, spokespeople insisted that the Trump administration is fully enforcing federal immigration law and placed the blame on the federal judges.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem are now enforcing the law and arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country, and reversed Biden’s catch and release policy. We are applying the law as written,” wrote Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson.
The caseload has overwhelmed legal advocates and government attorneys.
In court filings, U.S. attorneys are telling judges the sheer volume of petitions is burdening their offices, pushing them to shift resources away from other priorities. In a case originating from Minnesota, where the administration has been waging a monthslong immigration crackdown, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen wrote in a declaration that his attorneys and paralegals were “continuously working over time” while the office’s civil division was at 50% capacity.
The number of habeas filings in that state jumped from a dozen in 2024 to over 700 in the past two months alone, placing Minnesota third behind Texas and California, ProPublica found. The load has been such that, in a rare moment of candor, a government attorney detailed to the office complained to a federal judge that “the system sucks, this job sucks.” The lawyer, Julie Le, reportedly was let go from the U.S. attorney’s office after the public rant. (ProPublica was not able to reach Le for comment. The Department of Justice confirmed her detail with the office was over.)
“If rogue judges followed the law in adjudicating cases and respected the Government’s obligation to properly prepare cases, there wouldn’t be an ‘overwhelming’ habeas caseload or concern over DHS following orders,” a DOJ spokesperson wrote in response to questions from ProPublica.
“Then there are a lot of rogue judges,” said David Briones, a senior judge in the Western District of Texas, in response to the Justice Department’s statement. “Obviously we feel that we’re correct, that’s all I can say.” The Western District of Texas leads the country in habeas cases, with over 1,300 filed in the last three months, and Briones has generally ruled against the government in these cases, according to El Paso Matters. The Texas Tribune has also reported on the rise of habeas cases in Texas.
Judges are growing increasingly frustrated, publicly rebuking the administration for missing deadlines and failing to comply with court orders.
Recently, a Texas federal judge ordered the release of the 5-year-old Minnesota boy who made headlines after he was pictured wearing a blue bunny hat and a Spider-Man backpack as immigration agents escorted him and his father to their vehicle. In a fiery ruling, judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas chastised the administration for Liam Conejo Ramos’ detention. “The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children,” he wrote.
The number of immigrants held in detention has increased from around 40,000 when Trump took office to more than 70,000 this year. While the number of recent border crossers in detention has fallen, the number of detained immigrants arrested by federal immigration agents elsewhere in the country tripled during the first nine months of the Trump administration, a recent analysis by the Deportation Data Project found.
“It’s just been a very, very chaotic landscape,” said Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project, a national advocacy organization that, among other things, represents detained immigrants and provides assistance to attorneys and community-based groups.
“And I think that chaos is bleeding into communities everywhere, both because of the extremely traumatizing ways that people are being arrested and detained,” she said, and because of the amount of money and resources being spent on detaining people who in the past would have gotten out on bond or not been detained in the first place as their cases made their way through the process.
Denise Gilman, co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, who has argued habeas cases on behalf of immigrants over the years, sees a positive side to the sudden rise in cases, she told ProPublica.
“People are starting to pay attention to how massive and arbitrary and illogical the immigration detention system is.”
For this story, ProPublica analyzed federal habeas petitions filed by immigrant detainees in district courts across the country using records from Public Access to Court Electronic Records and the Free Law Project. The data includes some cases that were refiled for a variety of reasons, such as filing errors or deficiencies.
The post Immigrants Who Say Their Detention Is Illegal Have Filed More Than 18,000 Cases. It’s a Historic High. appeared first on ProPublica.
Experts say Affordable Care Act sign-up data won't be clear until people who were enrolled have paid — or not — their new, often much higher, premiums.
Small businesses across the Twin Cities are suffering and owners say ‘Metro Surge’ could be worse than Covid-19
A man walked into Soleil Ramirez’s restaurant last month and started to ask strange questions: How many people do you have on staff? Why are you so small? “Stuff nobody asks”, she said.
The man then started talking loudly into his phone. “I’m here doing a dip in a restaurant. There’s not a lot of people here, so I don’t know if it’s worth coming,” Ramirez recalled him saying. The encounter left her unnerved.
Continue reading...Some jobs will be moved offshore in wake of telco’s $700m partnership with tech consultancy Accenture
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More than 200 Telstra jobs are expected to be cut, as the telco rolls out AI capabilities and sends some jobs to India.
Telstra and the technology consultancy Accenture announced a $700m joint venture (JV) in 2025 to drive efficiency, modernisation and productivity.
Continue reading...Travel company reports lower demand for US amid signs Trump immigration crackdown is deterring travellers
Europeans are booking fewer trips to the US, Europe’s biggest travel operator has said, as appetite for long-haul travel wanes and concerns linger around Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Tui, which receives most of its bookings from customers in Europe, has seen “significantly lower demand” for travel into the US, according to its chief executive, Sebastian Ebel.
Continue reading...Australia’s longest-serving editor credited with transforming a fledgling news organisation into the fourth most-read news website
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Guardian Australia’s editor-in-chief, Lenore Taylor, has resigned after 10 years in the role, credited with taking the fledgling news organisation from a tiny startup to the fourth most-read news website in the country.
Taylor joined the global media organisation Guardian News and Media in 2013 as founding political editor of the new Australian venture, rising to editor-in-chief in 2016.
Continue reading...If you think your daily doses of espresso or Earl Grey sharpen your mind, you just might be right, new science suggests. The New York Times: A large new study provides evidence of cognitive benefits from coffee and tea -- if it's caffeinated and consumed in moderation: two to three cups of coffee or one to two cups of tea daily. People who drank that amount for decades had lower chances of developing dementia than people who drank little or no caffeine, the researchers reported. They followed 131,821 participants for up to 43 years. "This is a very large, rigorous study conducted long term among men and women that shows that drinking two or three cups of coffee per day is associated with reduced risk of dementia," said Aladdin Shadyab, an associate professor of public health and medicine at the University of California, San Diego, who wasn't involved in the study. The findings, published Monday in JAMA, don't prove caffeine causes these beneficial effects, and it's possible other attributes protected caffeine drinkers' brain health. But independent experts said the study adjusted for many other factors, including health conditions, medication, diet, education, socioeconomic status, family history of dementia, body mass index, smoking and mental illness.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Maxwell invoked the fifth amendment of the US constitution, granting her right to remain silent, as she appeared at a US congressional hearing on Monday. After the hearing, the House representative for New Mexico Melanie Stansbury said the Epstein associate was 'campaigning for clemency' after her attorney, David Markus, said Maxwell was 'prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency'. The US Department of Justice released millions of internal documents related to Epstein last month
Continue reading...Netherlands-based site uses public information and tips to reveal identities of agents involved in crackdowns across US
It started as a cheeky response on social media to the US secretary for homeland security. Months later, however, a Europe-based project to unmask US immigration and custom enforcement (ICE) agents has racked up millions of views and mobilised hundreds of volunteers.
“What we’re doing is a reaction to a problematic regime,” said Dominick Skinner, the Netherlands-based Irish national behind the website ICE List, of its mission to remove the anonymity that many of the armed federal agents operate under while deployed to US cities.
Continue reading...Secure, noise-cancelling Bluetooth earbuds that shine for exercise and everyday use on Android and iPhone
Apple’s revamped compact workout Beats earbuds stick to a winning formula, while slimming down and improving comfort.
The new Powerbeats Fit are the direct successors to 2022’s popular Beats Fit Pro, costing £200 (€230/$200/A$330). They sit alongside the recently redesigned Powerbeats Pro 2 as Apple’s fitness alternatives of the AirPods.
Continue reading...Deepfake fraud has gone "industrial," an analysis published by AI experts has said. From a report: Tools to create tailored, even personalised, scams -- leveraging, for example, deepfake videos of Swedish journalists or the president of Cyprus -- are no longer niche, but inexpensive and easy to deploy at scale, said the analysis from the AI Incident Database. It catalogued more than a dozen recent examples of "impersonation for profit," including a deepfake video of Western Australia's premier, Robert Cook, hawking an investment scheme, and deepfake doctors promoting skin creams. These examples are part of a trend in which scammers are using widely available AI tools to perpetuate increasingly targeted heists. Last year, a finance officer at a Singaporean multinational paid out nearly $500,000 to scammers during what he believed was a video call with company leadership. UK consumers are estimated to have lost $12.86bn to fraud in the nine months to November 2025. "Capabilities have suddenly reached that level where fake content can be produced by pretty much anybody," said Simon Mylius, an MIT researcher who works on a project linked to the AI Incident Database. He calculates that "frauds, scams and targeted manipulation" have made up the largest proportion of incidents reported to the database in 11 of the past 12 months. He said: "It's become very accessible to a point where there is really effectively no barrier to entry."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Countries’ drop in scores in annual table comes amid ‘worrying trend’ of backsliding in established democracies
The UK and US have sunk to new lows in a global index of corruption, amid a “worrying trend” of democratic institutions being eroded by political donations, cash for access and state targeting of campaigners and journalists.
Experts and businesspeople rated 182 countries based on their perception of corruption levels in the public sector to compile a league table that was bookended by Denmark at the top with the lowest levels of corruption and South Sudan at the bottom.
Continue reading...  | Hi all, I have been kind of wanting a onewheel for a few years ever since I found out about them. since I have started work, I have decided the first thing I will do is irresponsibly spend money on a thing I dont need. I am looking at some used onewheels, and my max budget is $1000aud. I don't really need one since I have an mtb a dirt jumper and an ebike but I thought it would be cool to at least get one and try it. I will probably use it to get to work which is really close, I normally ride my bike there and I can get there in about 4 mins speeding on my ebike or a bit longer on my pedal bike. I will also do some recreational street riding and probably try to do some offroading. I do not want a pint as the range is small. I have been looking at pint x and +xr and xr classic. I am trying to decide which to get. I want a fun ride and I don't want to get bored or regret my purchase. I like to go fast and I have good balance as I race sport bikes. I have not seen any XR classics and rarely a pint x but there are a few +XR. I don't know if this old of a board will be good or not but I found a +XR for $1000 offered $900. will this be a good board for me to get or should I wait for some others? thanks [link] [comments] |
“Decoding the Genesis Mission: A New Era for AI-Driven Science with Rick Stevens” is a presentation recently given by Rick Stevens, Associate Laboratory Director for Computing at Argonne National Laboratory, as part of a series hosted by the Google Cloud Advanced Computing Community. The talk is a detailed technical and strategic overview of the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, a national initiative for building a platform for AI-driven scientific discovery, energy innovation, and national security.
Rather than transcribing the talk verbatim, HPCwire has organized a selection of Stevens’ remarks into a question-and-answer format to highlight the key themes. The questions below were written by HPCwire to reflect the structure of the talk and to focus on the Genesis Mission’s impact on the high performance computing and AI for science communities.
HPCwire: What is the Genesis Mission, and how is the Department of Energy positioned to lead it?
Rick Stevens
Rick Stevens: The Genesis Mission is the new national AI for science, national security, and energy initiative that’s been launched by the Department of Energy. Over the last four or five years, those of us in the national labs have been trying to launch a large-scale AI for science initiative. We’ve had workshops, meetings, and planning, and with the new administration, there was an opportunity to reframe it and pitch it.
We’re super fortunate to have Dario Gil come in as the undersecretary for science. He was a leader at IBM Research for many years in semiconductor work and later in quantum and is very aware of the state-of-the-art targets for advanced computing. He’s now at DOE, and one of his first actions essentially was to get this AI initiative going.
The name is Genesis Mission. The framing of this is to be really groundbreaking in revving up the U.S. national level of awareness and investment in AI and associated infrastructure and applications to create a new way of doing science and a new way of doing engineering and technology development. And it’s being framed in the same spirit as the Manhattan Project or the Apollo Program. There’s a massive effort to change what’s possible and what’s new. Think of it as phase three of the great eras of American science.
Why launch Genesis now, and what problems is it intended to address for U.S. scientific productivity?
One of the arguments for doing a massive AI initiative is that the scientific output, as a function of resources going into it, has been stagnating, or actually decreasing, over time. And this is a well-studied phenomenon, not a recent phenomenon. It’s been going on for decades.
And there are some hypotheses about why this might be happening. One is that low-hanging fruit has disappeared, or science problems are getting harder, or there’s friction of larger and larger teams needing to attack open questions. But one of the notions is that AI and high performance computing, coupled with quantum, may be able to tackle this challenge, which is trying to increase scientific output as a function of input. That framing is one of the important goals of Genesis Mission.
The long-term mission is to double U.S. research productivity over the next 10 years, and not just in national labs or government-related things, but across the entire ecosystem, the entire country. The U.S. spends about a trillion dollars a year in R&D, about three and a half percent of the GDP, and the goal of Genesis is to have the impact as if we were spending twice as much.
(Credit: DOE)
What is “closed-loop discovery,” and how does the convergence of AI, exascale computing, and DOE’s experimental facilities change how scientific discovery can be carried out?
We’re starting to see across many fields — chemistry, biology, materials science, other areas of science and engineering — this emergence of a of a concept of a closed loop discovery paradigm where we have AI, maybe agentic networks, that is able to come up with hypotheses, do simulations, control simulations. Maybe it’s searching for a new material, or, say, designing a protein, then carrying out experiments to validate the conjectures that the AI and simulations have come up with, then taking measurements and feeding that information back into the models and loop.
There are a number of companies and startups, about a half a dozen in the U.S. and more internationally, that are building business models essentially on this concept. And this idea, we think, has legs. It was not possible until recently to imagine doing this because AI wasn’t powerful enough, and we didn’t have the ability to glue everything together.
DOE has been a leader in high performance computing for decades, and we have exascale computers. We have the world’s largest collection of large-scale experimental facilities under one logical roof. There are about 30 user facilities that DOE manages, and we have a huge volume of scientific data from historical operations of facilities, about 80 years of data in many areas.
So this idea is an initiative that integrates all of that and identifies these things called Lighthouse challenges. Lighthouse challenges are just another term for grand challenges, but aimed at the future and possibly attackable with AI. Can we accelerate in energy, basic science, and national security by integrating all of these things with AI and building a platform to do that? That’s the motivation for Genesis, a national initiative to build a platform.
(S. Singha/Shutterstock)
When you describe Genesis as a platform, what are its core components, and how does that platform change the kinds of scientific problems researchers can realistically tackle?
What we mean by platform here is the combination of the hardware, software stack, data sets, and AI models needed to accelerate discovery science and national security and drive energy. That’s the whole goal of it in one sentence, essentially.
Another thing that we’re trying to do is enable us to work on harder problems. Increasing research productivity doesn’t just mean that the same people produce twice as many papers. That’s not what we’re after. What we’re trying to do is bring in timelines. So something that a community might believe is possible in 10 years, we’ll try to bring that in, say, by a factor of two, to five years.
Or say there are problems that we believe are too complicated, like a generalized method for designing proteins for room-temperature catalysts, for example. People might not have been willing to tackle that complex a problem, but something like Genesis and the platform could make our scientists bolder and more fearless to go after harder problems.
Why is making scientific data “AI-ready” such a central challenge for Genesis, and how might the planned platform treat data and models as shared, reusable assets?
One of the main challenges is that we have a large collection of data, since the Manhattan Project, actually, and much of that data is not in an AI-ready form. Getting it into an AI-ready form is critical. Working out how to connect the basic science component of national security with the production facilities DOE operates is a target, as well as reducing red tape and improving the efficiency of all the processes on the national security side.
The way to think about the platform is it’s more like an operating system that we’re trying to build, but it’s distributed, built on ESnet, built on the integrated research infrastructure that DOE is trying to build to connect all the facilities. It also includes models and data, and we have teams working on an inventory of models — not just foundation or general-purpose models, multimodal models that we’re building — but domain-specific models for biology, chemistry, material science, cosmology, and so forth. These all become assets on the platform, and then the underlying data sets that DOE has, whether it’s material science or cosmology, high energy physics, etc., all of those become assets in the platform that users of the platform can integrate with low overhead into building new models or testing hypotheses.
(Illus_man/Shutterstock)
How are lighthouse problems shaping the Genesis platform, and what does the near-term roadmap look like?
One of the things in the executive order that launched the initiative back in November was that the Department was to deliver a list of high-priority problems to the White House. There was a list of 27 of these lighthouse problems that was sent over to OSTP and hopefully will be made public very soon. These problems were chosen to be not just important Grand Challenges that, if we solve them, will advance U.S. leadership in science and technology, but they also provide a driver function for development of the platform. So think of the lighthouse problems with the applications as having a requirement setting or a pull on the platform development, and there’ll be a feedback between advances, making the platform able to advance the application, and back and forth.
These things are supposed to demonstrate transformative AI, not just say, workflows on existing AI, but advances in AI, like increasing the modality of the AI, or as I mentioned before, the ability to reason over physics multi-scale problems. It’s also to build on top of the current best state-of-the-art AI, so that we’re building agentic networks that use the best of frontier models augmented with domain-specific models. And these things, as much of it as possible, will be public and open. Of course, some data sets can’t be open, and we have the provision for partnerships with companies where data might be proprietary. But the intent here is to have a significant amount of openness that would allow additional partners and academics to build on this.
There’s an ongoing effort right now to create an inventory and mapping of federal compute resources that can become part of the platform. We’re currently working on a data set inventory that will become part of the platform. And these AI-directed lab capabilities include things like automated labs, model cards, and so forth. We will have a significant initial set of demonstrations of the platform in March, further demonstration in July, and a release of the initial 1.0 version of the platform next fall.
What makes scaling compute for AI-driven science different from traditional HPC, and how is Genesis being designed to address that?
We need a lot of compute, and we don’t just need compute for modeling and simulation. We need a large-scale compute for AI inference. One of the challenges in trying to talk about AI for science is trying to come up with a way of talking about scaling compute. It’s similar to how we used to talk about it in HPC. We used to talk about moving from, say, petascale to exascale. With a factor of 1,000, we could draw a diagram or a chart up into the right and say, “Well, if we have 1,000 fold improvement, we can increase the resolution of a simulation, or reduce the time steps.”
(Credit: Rick Stevens, DOE)
We don’t have a way to talk about that exactly yet in AI for science. We, of course, do talk about token production and LLMs, and we’re trying to relate how many trillions of tokens we might need to do an inference to solve a given problem, and I’d say this is very much a work in progress. This table (see image above) gives you a ballpark of some of the estimates we’ve come up with based on early experiments. For example, to do an autonomous nuclear reactor design, how many trillion tokens might be needed to do that? And the estimate right now is like 10 to 50 trillion tokens. And you can think about what that might cost if you’re buying tokens, say, in Gemini or something like that.
You can see these different estimates, like co-scientists here, which is something that we’re collaborating with Google DeepMind on. We have an understanding of how token consumptive they are, but how many users in the future will want to do co-scientist type things? What’s the diffusion rate going to be and so on? That’s what we’re interested in. Our current estimate, based across the complex for people who are using state-of-the-art models to do things like vibe coding, is that we need about 120 trillion tokens a year to drive the vibe coding that we want to do. That’s in addition to much of this list. So we need a huge amount of tokens. That means we’re going to need to deploy infrastructure. We’re going to need to buy tokens from partners and really innovate in high performance AI. The platform — it’s the data, it’s the models, and it’s the infrastructure.
To see Stevens’ entire presentation, including a live Q&A session where he discusses topics ranging from scientific reasoning models to data ownership, partnerships, and the challenges of validating AI-driven discovery, visit this link. To see more Google Cloud Advanced Computing Community events, go here.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
More From HPCwire:
Here’s What’s Inside DOE’s $320 Million Genesis Mission Investment
Genesis Mission: America’s Strategic Shift in AI for Science
Here’s What We Know About the DOE’s New Genesis Mission
Pres. Trump Unveils ‘Genesis Mission’ to Accelerate AI for Scientific Discovery
The post Rick Stevens on the Genesis Mission and the Future of AI for Science appeared first on HPCwire.
Israel’s security cabinet has approved plans that pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory
A White House official has reiterated Donald Trump’s opposition towards Israel annexing the West Bank, after Israeli plans were announced that would pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The measures, announced on Sunday, included allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly, and extending greater Israeli control over areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises power. It was unclear when the new rules, approved by Israel’s security cabinet, would take effect but they do not require further approval.
Continue reading...How the CCP balances control and innovation.
How U.S.-Chinese competition could leave most countries behind.
Why Should Delaware Care?
School referendums are the only time that voters in Delaware have a direct say in their taxation rate. But they also make it harder for school districts to meet rising costs. Monday’s results in the Caesar Rodney School District marked an end to an ongoing trend of referendum failures.
The Caesar Rodney and Laurel school districts each asked local residents to raise school taxes through referendum votes on Monday.
In Laurel, voters rejected the $1.6 million request by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, according to the initial tally.
But in Caesar Rodney, voters went the other way with about 58% of them approving their $6 million referendum. Those results from the Kent County district ended a string of failed referendums across Delaware in recent years.
In interviews at polling locations, voters expressed a range of opinions, with opponents citing recent tax increases following property reassessments, and supporters saying the districts needed more money for teachers.
“The only way to really keep good teachers in the district is making sure that we have the money for it,” said Shea Brown, a referendum supporter and Caesar Rodney School District teacher.
The districts — which have each taxed property owners less than neighboring areas in recent years — requested additional dollars to fund their ongoing operations, including initiatives to retain and recruit teachers and other educators. Districts throughout the state have struggled in recent years to retain educators amid what school advocates call a national teacher shortage.
The districts’ decision to hold a referendum came after several Delaware school districts failed in recent years to convince their communities to raise school taxes.
Among those was Caesar Rodney, where voters rejected a referendum in 2023.
Then, last spring in nearby Smyrna, nearly 60% of voters did the same when the local school district requested $5.4 million. In the months after the failed referendum, Smyrna schools have struggled to pay its bills, leaving the district and its union of teachers and other staff members in a standoff over pay.
Also last year, voters in and around the Delaware beaches rejected two referendum requests from the Indian River School District, even after school board members in the booming Sussex County area went public with their fiscal woes.
Last year was the first time since 1997 that no school district voters in Delaware approved a spending referendum.
Following the vote on Monday, the Laurel School District — which sits in and around the western Sussex County town that shares its name — said in a Facebook post that district officials would take time to “review, reflect, and learn from the feedback we received.”
“And we remain committed to doing what’s best for our students and community moving forward,” the social media post stated.
In its own Facebook message posted Monday night, the Caesar Rodney School district thanked residents who voted for the referendum, stating it demonstrated “a deep belief in investing in the daily success and well‑being of our schools.”
Caesar Rodney’s successful $6 million referendum follows recent years in which the district has had the lowest school tax rate in Kent County, according to the Caesar Rodney officials.
Educators within the district also earn less than those in neighboring districts.
Still, while some voters, like Brown, supported the referendum, others cited what they described as a lack of financial transparency at the district.
Residents Terry and Rebecca Lovin, whose children graduated from the Caesar Rodney School District, both voted against the referendum.
Terry Lovin, who previously worked in the school district’s technology department, said he felt the referendum would only provide additional funding toward student programs, rather than address the district’s financial health.
Rebecca Lovin said she does not want students to be negatively impacted, but argued that the district should consider cuts at the administrative level before raising taxes.
“It’s tough to be in teaching, it’s not funded the way probably schools need to be funded,” she said. “But at the same time, we’re the ones who have to pay for it, so they can manage their funds better.”
With the approved request, owners of a home worth about $300,000 in the district will pay just under $23 more per month in property taxes.
Beyond teacher pay, the request will also pay for school safety, arts programs and bus services, among other items.
Unlike Caesar Rodney, the Laurel School District’s request to raise taxes failed after more than 64% of voters rejected the operational referendum asking for $1.6 million.
It was the district’s first referendum request since 1985.
The Laurel School District said its request would have helped to stabilize the district’s budget, and fund competitive compensation for staff, as well as other operational costs.
Laurel is one of many school districts in Delaware that chose to implement a 10% increase in property tax revenue following the completion two years ago of the first statewide property reassessment in more than three decades.
James West, who has lived in the Laurel School District for 25 years and voted against the referendum, said he and other residents felt like the district was “trying to reach into our pockets,” by holding a referendum after implementing the property reassessment increase last year.
He said now was not the right time for the district to hold a referendum, arguing the district should have waited another year to evaluate its finances.
“We are one of the poorest communities in the state, so we need to see how everyone fares out and everything works out over the next year or so, and how the school [district] does with the money they are receiving,” he said.
Educators have told Spotlight Delaware that the small Sussex County district has not been able to keep teachers’ salaries competitive with wealthier districts because it has not held a referendum in decades.
In August, Spotlight Delaware reported about the struggles that rural, working-class districts, such as Laurel, face to keep teacher salaries competitive with those in wealthier areas.
Educators’ salaries are funded by a combination of state and local tax revenue, with the state paying approximately 70% of a total salary. But two districts just 30 miles apart can have an $8,000 difference between their salaries for educators who have the same amount of years of experience and degrees.
Aaliyah Waller, a school district staffer who voted for the referendum, said she has seen firsthand how staff and students need more resources.
“If we want our students — who are going to be the new adults and the new decision-makers, presidents, lawmakers — to be successful, they need to have the perfect education, and we can’t do that without new resources,” she said.
Nick Stonesifer contributed to this report.
The post School referendum passes at Caesar Rodney, fails in Laurel appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Wasserman has apologised for communicating with Ghislaine Maxwell after flirtatious emails they exchanged more than 20 years ago were released in the Epstein files
Pop star Chappell Roan said on Monday she was no longer represented by the talent agency led by Los Angeles 2028 Olympics chief Casey Wasserman, who has faced criticism for flirtatious email exchanges with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago.
Wasserman has apologised for communicating with Maxwell, after the publication of a series of personal emails between the two.
Continue reading...Bithumb has apologised for staff error that sent customers 620,000 bitcoins instead of 620,000 Korean won, equivalent to a few hundred US dollars
South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange is scrambling to recover more than $40bn of cryptocurrency after accidentally crediting customers with 620,000 bitcoins during a promotional event last week.
Bithumb said it had corrected most of the mistaken credits, but that about 13bn won ($9m) remained unrecovered after some recipients sold or withdrew the funds before the error was detected.
Continue reading...Kareem’s Daily Quote: Plato knew what he was talking about.
Just Name It All Trump and Be Done With It.
Video Break:
Hidden Roots: Who was Estevanico, and why are they saying nothing about him?
How bad was Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl? Very bad, Trump says. Excellent, says everybody else.
What I’m Watching: The Rip
Jukebox Playlist: The Thrill is Gone, B. B. King
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” — Plato
It’s a simple line. It doesn’t shout, it doesn’t posture, it doesn’t try to impress you by being clever. It just tells the truth. But there’s another truth that runs right alongside it. A truth that’s less noble, which is that we live in a world that loves to measure power in all the wrong ways. Through money and status, through beauty, by the number of followers you have, or even by the girth of your résumé. Whereas Plato’s truth reminds us that when we’ve actually achieved something, when we’ve managed to scramble or claw our way up that proverbial ladder to the top rung, what we eventually do when we’ve reached that height will ultimately dictate the sort of person we are.
Plato was not only one of the ancient world’s best philosophers. He also understood what we modern folks fail to get: that power on its own, without a conscience at the reins, is not only useless but can often be destructive. In ancient Greece, good horses were trained to be fearless in battle. Once a horse was well trained for war, it was referred to as “praus.” To my best understanding, “praus” is the ancient Greek word for meek. This didn’t at all mean that the horse was weak or shy, which is how we think of meek today. It simply meant that, although fearless and profoundly powerful, it could be counted on to not to anything stupid.
I’ve spent a lifetime around people who were celebrated for what they achieved. And I’ve learned that achievement alone is a shaky foundation. You have power, sure. But without training, without reins, that power can do real damage. Because the moment you have the opportunity to hurt someone who hurt you, to lash out at your so-called enemies and you do it, that’s not power. That’s not strength. That’s just being the loudest voice in the room. Or, taken to extremes, that’s just being a world-class bully. Whereas true power is having the ability to do harm, to get your way, to pay someone back for a slight—and not doing it.
Power under control.
But here’s the best part. We don’t even have to be powerful to matter. Because we don’t need power to do good. Kindness doesn’t require you to have achieved, or to be on the top rung of the ladder. It just requires the intention to leave people better off than you found them, even in small ways. There’s so much pain in the world. Why waste a moment of your precious life adding to it?
If this Substack is going to stand for anything, I want it to be that. The idea of praus: that, if we have achieved some modicum of power, it’s under control. But even beyond that, I want to emphasize that our worth, yours and mine, isn’t measured by how high we can climb, but by how many times we lend a hand on the way up. So while it’s true that power used well is a sign of emotional and spiritual health, simply being kind is a sign of greatness, one that doesn’t need applause or material success. Let’s try to make this space a point of reflection, honesty, and the kind of conversations that help us become a little better than we were yesterday.
If you’re here for that journey, then you’re in the right place. Diana’s song says it beautifully.
An anonymous reader shares a report: It turns out that when fewer cars spew exhaust as they drive along, air quality improves. That's the conclusion of a new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health that looked at the effect of increased numbers of both EVs and plug-in hybrids on air pollution in California. The Golden State has by far the largest number of plug-in vehicles in the United States, and they've now reached significant numbers to have a positive impact on air quality. Between 2019 and 2023, for every 200 EVs or plug-in hybrids added, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels dropped 1.1%, according to the study, which used satellite data to track those levels through the unique way NO2 absorbs and reflects sunlight. NO2 can trigger asthma attacks, cause bronchitis, and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 10.
This live blog is now closed.
Trump threatens to block new bridge in latest tirade against Canada
Trump news at a glance: Europe must stand up to Trump and his ‘demolition men’, new report says
Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and longtime accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, is set to attend a virtual deposition for the House oversight committee at 10am ET today.
This is part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into the handling of Epstein’s case,
Continue reading...  | looking for $2200, paid $3600 for everything this summer, probably taken out ~5 times has 100 miles. gonna copy my marketplace post text. Had an og xr long time ago had a lot of fun on it bought this but just don’t have nearly as much time as i used to (or a riding buddy anymore) Located in Buffalo, New York for anyone local, would be willing to split shipping. Just over 100 miles on it, well kept, never ridden in wet environments, no wipeouts. Still under warranty bought this summer. Comes with: -Onewheel GTS -Black rail guards installed in great shape -Extra set of new bumpers (black) -Hybrid removable fender -Forrest green charger port plug -GTS charger -GTS Hypercharger Also have original packaging for the onewheel and all components. [link] [comments] |
Judge rules that law discriminates against federal government because it does not apply to state authorities
A federal judge on Monday blocked a California law from going into effect that would ban federal immigration agents from covering their faces, but they will still be required to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number.
California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers from wearing facial coverings under a bill that was signed by Gavin Newsom, the governor, in September, following last summer’s high-profile raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Los Angeles.
Continue reading...The U.S. military struck its 39th alleged drug-carrying boat on Monday, killing two people and leaving one survivor who is now the focus of a search-and-rescue effort.
President says Gordie Howe Bridge will open only when US is ‘fully compensated’ – and makes bizarre hockey claim
As Democrats prepare to force a vote in the US House this week on Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, the president posted a lengthy tirade on his social media platform in which he threatened to block a bridge connecting the US and Canada and made a bizarre false claim that increased trade between Canada and China would include a ban on Canadians playing ice hockey.
Trump began his latest screed against the US’s second-largest trading partner by claiming that “everyone knows, the Country of Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades”.
Continue reading...Affected users won't see flagged sensitive content, will lose access to age-restricted servers and be unable to host Stage livestreaming events.
Officials say rescuers searching for lone survivor after latest attack on what Pentagon says are suspected drug smugglers
The US military’s Southern Command, which oversee operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced that it carried out another deadly strike on Monday, killing two suspected drug smugglers in the eastern Pacific.
The statement said that the latest in what legal experts have called a series of extrajudicial killings by the Pentagon was carried out “at the direction of” the Florida-based combat unit’s new commander, Gen Francis L Donovan, who was sworn in at a Pentagon ceremony last Thursday. Donovan takes over after a US navy admiral, Alvin Holsey, chose to retire over reported disagreements over the boat-strike policy.
Continue reading...A new NBER working paper from researchers at the Federal Reserve, Northwestern's Kellogg School and Johns Hopkins finds that Kalshi -- the largest federally regulated prediction market in the U.S., overseen by the CFTC -- produces macroeconomic forecasts that match or beat those of professional forecasters and traditional financial instruments like fed funds futures. The study compared Kalshi-implied forecasts for the federal funds rate, CPI inflation and unemployment against the New York Fed's Survey of Market Expectations and Bloomberg consensus. Kalshi's modal forecast correctly predicted the federal funds rate on the day before every FOMC meeting since 2022, something neither the survey nor fed funds futures achieved. For headline CPI, Kalshi's median and mode produced a statistically significant improvement over Bloomberg consensus. Kalshi also fills a gap no other financial market covers: real-time probability distributions for GDP growth, core CPI, unemployment, and payrolls. The paper documented how these distributions shift in response to macro news -- positive CPI surprises moved the mean of the fed funds rate distribution four times more than negative ones. Trading volumes on the platform have grown to nearly 100 million contracts for a single FOMC meeting, supported by liquidity from Susquehanna, Citadel, and Two Sigma.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Instagram's parent company Meta and Google's YouTube dispute claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children.
Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for Feb. 10, No. 1,697.
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 10, No. 709.
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 10, No. 975.
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 10, No. 505.
Here is a look at where the medal count stands for Team USA and other nations as the competition heats up at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Rümeysa Öztürk was arrested as part of the government’s targeting of students protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza
An immigration judge has rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University PhD student, who was arrested last year as part of its targeting of pro-Palestinian campus activists, her lawyers said on Monday.
Lawyers for the Turkish student detailed the immigration judge’s decision in a filing with the New York-based second US circuit court of appeals, which had been reviewing a ruling that led to her release from immigration custody in May.
Continue reading...A federal judge has blocked a California law from going into effect that would ban federal immigration agents from covering their faces but they will still be required to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number.
Fathers of Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, who died after a night out at the Nana backpackers hostel in 2024, say court decision is ‘absolute injustice’
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The families of two Melbourne teenagers who died after drinking methanol-laced alcohol in Laos say they have been blindsided by news the workers responsible for serving the drinks received fines of just $185.
Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, were killed by methanol poisoning along with four other tourists after a night out at the Nana backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, a popular tourist destination in Laos, in November 2024.
Continue reading...Catherine O'Hara, known for her roles in "Home Alone," "Schitt's Creek" and "Beetlejuice," died on Jan. 30 at the age of 71.
Rep. Tony Gonzales said the Dilley detention facility, which houses families and children, is "nicer than some elementary schools."
Two decades of weak pay growth have left poorer households stuck, Resolution Foundation says, fuelling political unease
It would take 137 years for lower-income families in the UK to see their living standards double at the current rate of growth, according to a thinktank.
A two-decade stagnation in disposable incomes has created a “mood of unease” across the country, the Resolution Foundation says, warning of the risk of “further political disruption” unless pay growth accelerates.
Continue reading...Government contractor stripped custody suites in England and Wales of motivational murals, report says
A government contractor has been accused of being “petty and vindictive” after tearing down brightly coloured artworks carrying motivational messages that were intended to improve the conditions for people held in court cells.
The decision by Serco to remove the artworks, commissioned to cheer up court custody areas that are often underground and “bleak”, is revealed in the annual report of the Lay Observers, independent members of the public who monitor court custody and escort conditions. The report draws on 759 visits to court custody suites across England and Wales, representing almost 2,000 hours of monitoring.
Continue reading...Former nanny Scarlett Pavlovich filed suit in three US states alleging author assaulted her in New Zealand in 2022
Federal judges have dismissed three lawsuits accusing the bestselling fantasy author Neil Gaiman of sexually assaulting his children’s nanny in New Zealand four years ago.
Scarlett Pavlovich filed a lawsuit against Gaiman and his wife, Amanda Palmer, in Wisconsin in February 2025, accusing Gaiman of multiple sexual assaults while she worked as the family’s nanny in 2022. She filed lawsuits against Palmer in Massachusetts and in New York on the same day she filed the Wisconsin action.
Continue reading...Schitt’s Creek and Home Alone star died aged 71 in January after being rushed to hospital due to breathing difficulties
Catherine O’Hara, the Emmy-winning actor and beloved star of the series Schitt’s Creek and the 1990 hit movie Home Alone, died from a blood clot in her lungs, her death certificate revealed Monday.
The death certificate released by the Los Angeles county medical examiner’s office also listed rectal cancer as an underlying cause.
Continue reading...  | This is for anyone deciding on their purchase based on range: Mixed terrain, A LOT of sugar sand and grass, a few small hills, I'm 6'3 176 lbs. and ride fairly hard. 70°F here in Florida. This would be an easy 23 or so miles with a full charge with the way I was riding. [link] [comments] |
The Justice Department is moving to toss out its case against former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who was jailed for declining to testify before the House Jan. 6 panel.
American was competing with ruptured ACL
Vonn says she has complex tibia fracture
Father says it is time for his daughter to retire
Lindsey Vonn says she suffered a complex tibia fracture “that will require multiple surgeries to fix properly” when her Olympic hopes ended in a heavy crash.
The American crashed out early in her run during the women’s downhill competition on Sunday. Her cries of pain could be heard clearly on the television broadcast and spectators and her fellow athletes were visibly shaken as she was airlifted to hospital.
Continue reading...Being unhealthy weight raises risk of severe illness or death from most infectious diseases significantly, researchers find
People living with obesity are 70% more likely to be hospitalised by or die from an infection, with one in 10 infection-related deaths globally linked to the condition, research suggests.
Being an unhealthy weight significantly increases the risk of severe illness and death from most infectious diseases, including flu, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections and Covid-19, according to a study of more than 500,000 people.
Continue reading...Ranking member of House judiciary panel said ‘mysterious redactions’ in files obscured names of abusers
A top House Democrat on Monday accused the justice department of making “mysterious redactions” to documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that obscured the names of abusers, while also allowing the identities of the disgraced financier’s victims to become public.
Jamie Raskin, House judiciary ranking member, criticized the department after reviewing the unredacted Epstein files at a government facility in Washington DC on the first day they were made available to lawmakers.
Continue reading...U.S. Olympian Hunter Hess said "there is so much that is great about America, but there are always things that could be better," a day after President Trump lashed out at him.
Tired of watching a progress bar instead of the game or concert when sending pictures from a big stadium event? This new feature cuts through the congestion.
An anonymous reader writes: Linus Torvalds has confirmed the next major kernel series as Linux 7.0, reports Linux news website 9to5Linux.com: "So there you have it, the Linux 6.x era has ended with today's Linux 6.19 kernel release, and a new one will begin with Linux 7.0, which is expected in mid-April 2026. The merge window for Linux 7.0 will open tomorrow, February 9th, and the first Release Candidate (RC) milestone is expected on February 22nd, 2026."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Lindsey Vonn posted on Instagram a day after suffering a broken leg in a devastating crash at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
UK projects will allow local areas to control and profit from renewable power generation, says energy secretary
The UK government is pledging to spend up to £1bn on community-owned green energy schemes in an effort to combat growing scepticism and resistance to renewables and grid upgrade projects.
Ed Miliband, the UK energy secretary, said the new funding was intended to help democratise the energy system, increase the wealth and financial independence of local communities, and potentially cut some local energy bills.
Continue reading...Researchers at two Spanish universities found that 84% of the contiguous U.S. states has shown signs of warming over the last 70 or so years, which is more than previously suggested.
@puzz360 Looks like a shockingly nice day for winter!
Did you stop at the pub there? Any good or just chilling with Paddington 😊
Former Trump adviser convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before House January 6 committee
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice moved to dismiss a criminal case against his former aide Steve Bannon, connected to his refusal to testify before Congress relating to the investigation into the January 6 insurrection.
The controversial hard-right strategist, an ally of Trump, was convicted in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress after refusing to appear for a deposition before the House committee that investigated the 2021 attack on the Capitol and declining to produce documents requested by the committee.
Continue reading...ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise users will stay ad-free.
Do you like scary movies? The original Scream from 1996 is streaming for no cost with ads.
ChatGPT will clearly distinguish between ads and answers to user prompts on the AI platform, according to OpenAI.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the launch of the Genesis Mission Consortium, a historic public-private partnership advancing the Department’s Genesis Mission to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen national security, and ensure America leads in energy and emerging technologies.
Building on Executive Orders ‘Launching The Genesis Mission’ and ‘Removing Barriers to American Leadership In Artificial Intelligence’, the consortium brings together technical capabilities and expertise from the Department of Energy, National Laboratories, private sector leaders, and academic institutions to usher in a new era of science and technology exploration.
The consortium will help identify high-value partnerships among its members and external stakeholders, strengthening collaborative responses to funding opportunities. It will amplify DOE’s outreach by promoting solicitations, executing agreements, and tracking project successes. Functioning as a collaborative hub, the consortium will serve as a single, coordinated access point for members and their resources.
To advance technical priorities, the consortium will facilitate member-driven working groups focused on AI model development and validation, data integration and standards, high-performance computing and cloud infrastructure, and robotics and automation. These working groups will provide an efficient mechanism for engaging industry and academic organizations in co-creation efforts.
The Genesis Mission Consortium will also host regular events, including annual member meetings, workshops, and technology showcases, providing members with high-impact networking and collaboration opportunities.
The consortium will be administered by TechWerx, a DOE partnership intermediary operated by RTI International. For more information on the Genesis Mission Consortium and how to get involved, visit genesismissionconsortium.org.
More from HPCwire
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy
The post DOE Launches Genesis Mission Consortium to Coordinate Public-Private AI Research appeared first on HPCwire.
Today show host Savannah Guthrie posted a new video message on social media on Monday, saying she believes her missing mother Nancy Guthrie is 'still out there', and asked the public to report anything 'strange' to law enforcement. The 84-year-old has been missing for more than a week
Continue reading...Prime minister addresses parliamentary Labour party amid Mandelson scandal fallout
Tim Allan said he was standing down to allow Keir Starmer the opportunity to build a new team.
In a statement, he said:
I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built.
I wish the PM and his team every success.
Continue reading...Sovereign Cloud IaaS Spending to Shift 20% of Current Workloads from Global to Local Cloud Providers
STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 9, 2026 — Worldwide sovereign cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) spending is forecast to total $80 billion in 2026, a 35.6% increase from 2025, according to Gartner, Inc. a business and technology insights company.
“As geopolitical tensions rise, organizations outside the U.S. and China are investing more in sovereign cloud IaaS to gain digital and technological independence,” said Rene Buest, Sr Director Analyst at Gartner. “The goal is to keep wealth generation within their own borders to strengthen the local economy.”
“Governments will remain the main buyers to meet digital sovereignty needs, followed by regulated industries and critical infrastructure organizations, such as energy and utilities and telecommunications,” said Buest.
Regionally, Middle East and Africa (89%), Mature Asia/Pacific (87%) and Europe (83%) are projected to record the highest growth in sovereign cloud IaaS spending in 2026. While China and North America are forecast to be No 1 and No 2. in spending in 2026 at $47 billion and $16 billion respectively, growth for both will be in the 20 percent range. Europe is forecast to surpass North America in sovereign cloud IaaS spending in 2027 (see Table 1).
Table 1: Sovereign Cloud IaaS Spending by Region, 2025-2027 (Millions of U.S. Dollars)
Source: Gartner (February 2026)
Geopatriation to Provoke Cloud Provider Shift
Geopatriation is becoming a reality. Gartner estimates that due to an increased desire for geopatriation projects, sovereign cloud IaaS spending will shift 20% of current workloads from global to local cloud providers. In addition, 80% of the sovereign cloud IaaS spend will come from net new digital solutions or legacy workloads waiting to be migrated to a cloud environment.
Hyperscalers face mounting pressure as local cloud providers gain share and governments demand greater platform regionalization to meet regulatory and national security requirements. “To compete for local customers’ cloud business, large cloud providers must seriously acknowledge the sovereignty concerns and requirements per country, and act accordingly. Solely treating digital sovereignty as a pure security, regulatory and compliance topic is not enough,” said Buest.
Gartner clients can read more in Forecast Analysis: Sovereign Cloud IaaS, Worldwide.
About Gartner
Gartner (NYSE: IT) delivers actionable, objective business and technology insights that drive smarter decisions and stronger performance on an organization’s mission-critical priorities. To learn more, visit gartner.com.
Source: Gartner
The post Gartner Says Worldwide Sovereign Cloud IaaS Spending Will Total $80B in 2026 appeared first on HPCwire.
Feb. 9, 2026 — Applications open February 15 for the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) Research Experience for High School Students (REHS), an eight‑week summer program that introduces teens to high performance computing, computational science and research careers. The program runs June 8 through July 30 at SDSC, which is located at the University of California San Diego School of Computing, Information and Data Sciences.
REHS students with SDSC mentor Amit Majumdar. Photo credit: Subha Sivagnanam, SDSC.
Part of SDSC’s overall student outreach program, REHS gives participants hands‑on experience in data‑driven research while working alongside researchers and educators. Students learn to design and test hypotheses, analyze computational data, and present their findings through academic posters at a showcase.
“This program helps high school students see what a research career looks like day‑to‑day,” said Ange Mason, REHS program organizer and SDSC education manager. “The experience also builds teamwork, communication and problem‑solving skills important for high school and beyond.”
Eligibility
The application period runs February 15 to March 15, 2026. More information and application materials are available at education.sdsc.edu/studenttech/rehs.
About the Program
The Research Experience for High School Students program, a part of the San Diego Supercomputer Center’s (SDSC) student outreach program, has been developed to help increase awareness of computational science and related fields of research to students in the San Diego region. Students gain exposure to career options, hands-on computational experience, work readiness skills and mentoring by computational research scientists.
Through the eight-week volunteer program, students are involved with an established research project. Students learn how to formulate and test hypotheses, conduct computational experiments, and draw conclusions from those experiments. They also learn to take part in regular lab meetings and participate in group discussions. At the end of the program, students will develop scientific posters, reflecting on their summer experience and highlighting their research and future career goals. Posters will be displayed during a celebratory event on Friday, July 31, 2026.
Source: Kimberly Mann Bruch, SDSC
The post SDSC Opens Summer Research Program for Local High School Students appeared first on HPCwire.
Scientists use AI to animate everyday objects and anticipate when you'll need them.
If you like what you see in Apple Music, a new service lets you transfer all your precious Spotify playlists over. Here's how it works.
We're still waiting for the Galaxy S26 series to be unveiled. Here's when that could happen.
Investigation in apparent abduction enters second week as deadline for purported ransom note demanding $6m looms
Television host Savannah Guthrie issued a desperate plea for anyone who might know anything about her missing mother to contact law enforcement on Monday, as the search for Nancy Guthrie entered its second full week.
“We need your help,” said Savannah Guthrie, eight days after her mother was first reported missing. Investigators returned to search Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home this weekend. They appear no closer to finding her, or identifying an alleged abductor.
Continue reading...There were gold medals for the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Japan but Team GB were denied again
Which of these events is most terrifying? This a question that reminds me of when a teacher asked five-year-old me which hand I wanted to be caned on, and I kept saying neither – yes, a real man would’ve said either or both – except the other way around, the answer being all of them. But for the less lily-livered, there must be an answer.
The slalom section of this competition is tomorrow, which is to say the downhillers go today, then the times of the two team members are added together, with the quickest taking gold. Germany now lead, having gone faster than Switzerland.
Continue reading...Windscribe faces another intense test of its no-logs policy, but its track record has been good so far.
Taming runaway U.S. beef prices will require more than stepping up imports, economists said. Here's the key to cutting costs.
Commentary: He handed over his Grammy and danced on an electrical pole, but what did it all mean? I break down what you saw during the most Boricua 13 minutes in American history.
Freeskier was ambivalent about representing US
Fellow athletes defend friend after president’s attack
Chloe Kim and Eileen Gu have weighed in on Donald Trump’s attack on Hunter Hess after the freeskier said he was ambivalent about representing the US during the president’s immigration crackdown.
“I think in moments like these, it is really important for us to unite and kind of stand up for one another for all that’s going on,” said Kim, the two-time Olympic gold medalist whose parents are South Korean immigrants and who has faced racism throughout her career.
Continue reading...Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer said she would be willing to cooperate with a House panel's probe if President Trump grants her clemency, and would testify that he is "innocent of any wrongdoing."
"Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie issued a plea for the public's help on Monday at what she called "an hour of desperation" in the search for her mother, Nancy.
The Justice Department released more new documents on Jan. 30 from the Jeffrey Epstein files, more than a month after the DOJ's original deadline to do so.
New items, such as a strawberry matcha loaf, represent the chain's latest effort to boost sales as part of its "Back to Starbucks" campaign.
Airlines from as far away as Russia, China and Spain have also been affected as island nation warns of fuel shortage
Air Canada has cancelled all flights to Cuba after the island’s authorities said they were running out of aviation fuel, as a consequence of the US oil blockade on the Caribbean country.
The airline, one of a dozen who serve the island, said it would begin repatriating 3,000 customers. Cuba’s beaches are a major holiday draw for Canadian tourists in winter, and one of the government’s most important sources of hard currency.
Continue reading...OpenAI has started testing ads inside ChatGPT for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers in the United States, the company said. The Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education tiers remain ad-free. Ads are matched to users based on conversation topics, past chats, and prior ad interactions, and appear clearly labeled as "sponsored" and visually separated from ChatGPT's organic responses. OpenAI says the ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers, and advertisers receive only aggregate performance data like view and click counts rather than access to individual conversations. Users under 18 do not see ads, and ads are excluded from sensitive topics such as health, mental health, and politics. Free-tier users can opt out of ads in exchange for fewer daily messages. Further reading: Anthropic Pledges To Keep Claude Ad-free, Calls AI Conversations a 'Space To Think'.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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As the U.S. formally exited from the World Health Organization last month, Trump administration officials misleadingly claimed that the WHO “pushed” or “promoted” lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group did not explicitly recommend lockdowns, although it also did not advise countries not to implement them. It said it recognized that the measures might be needed in some cases.
More than six years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal health officials are spinning the facts about the WHO as part of their justification to leave the organization. The U.S. formally exited the WHO on Jan. 22, a year after giving notice to do so, much to the chagrin of many in public health.
The WHO “ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns,” Acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jim O’Neill wrote on the day of the exit in an X post that also made claims about Taiwan.
The same day, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya similarly said in an interview on Fox News that the WHO “absolutely failed during the pandemic … pushing, still to this day … lockdown policies that plagued Americans for years.”
Those comments led to contentious exchanges with WHO officials who have taken issue with the statements.
“All untrue,” Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist and the WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, responded to O’Neill in a Jan. 24 post, adding, “we don’t ignore science and WHO never recommended lockdowns.”
The WHO also pushed back in a Jan. 24 statement, writing, “WHO recommended the use of masks, vaccines and physical distancing, but at no stage recommended mask mandates, vaccine mandates or lockdowns. We supported sovereign governments to make decisions they believed were in the best interests of their people, but the decisions were theirs.”
The dispute recalls a similar situation in October 2020 when President Donald Trump, then in his first term, incorrectly said that the WHO had “just admitted” that he was “right” about lockdowns. Trump had criticized lockdowns, saying they were “worse than the problem itself.” Trump was in office at the height of the pandemic when COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S. were the most stringent.
As we wrote then, the WHO’s position on lockdowns had always been more nuanced — the group neither recommended the measures nor advised against them, saying it recognized that lockdowns can harm society but are sometimes necessary.
The organization did at times praise China’s aggressive response, and supported countries in their decisions, which could be interpreted as an implicit endorsement of the measures. But it’s an oversimplification to say that the WHO “pushed” or “promoted” lockdowns. We did not find evidence that the WHO explicitly recommended them, consistent with the organization’s statements.
We reached out to the NIH to ask about Bhattacharya’s comments and to the CDC to ask about O’Neill’s, but did not receive a reply. The WHO pointed us to a Q&A post — last updated Dec. 31, 2020 — that we also previously referenced, which notes that so-called “lockdown” measures can work to slow viral transmission but can have “a profound negative impact,” especially for disadvantaged groups.
“WHO recognizes that at certain points, some countries have had no choice but to issue stay-at-home orders and other measures, to buy time,” the post continues, adding that “WHO is hopeful that countries will use targeted interventions where and when needed, based on the local situation.”
Similar language also appears in an April 2020 WHO document, which states there is an “urgent need” to transition away from lockdown measures, but also cautions that premature lifting of restrictions without careful planning is likely to lead to an uncontrolled surge in COVID-19 cases.
It’s worth noting that there is no unified definition of what “lockdowns” are. While they generally refer to what the WHO terms “large scale physical distancing measures and movement restrictions,” they varied greatly in scope and severity in different countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. version — which at its most restrictive involved stay-at-home orders and school and business closures, implemented by states and local governments — was far lighter than measures imposed in China, for example.
In some parts of China, residents at times could not leave their cities, were not allowed to use their own cars and needed permission to leave their apartments. In the U.S., there was never a federal lockdown, although the Trump administration issued guidelines that told people to avoid large gatherings and encouraged school and nonessential business closures early in the pandemic.
“My administration is recommending that all Americans, including the young and healthy, work to engage in schooling from home when possible. Avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people. Avoid discretionary travel. And avoid eating and drinking at bars, restaurants, and public food courts,” Trump said on March 16, 2020, when announcing the government’s “15 Days to Slow the Spread,” which was later extended. On March 23, 2020, Trump said that “America will again, and soon, be open for business — very soon.”
The word “lockdown” has sometimes erroneously been applied to any public health measure, even those that don’t limit social interactions.
In response to Van Kerkhove’s post about O’Neill, Bhattacharya pointed to some text of the WHO-China Joint Mission report in February 2020, and wrote, “That is just plain false. The WHO mission to China in 2020 lauded the Chinese lockdown as a success, in effect endorsing the model for the rest of the world.”
The text he cited stated that the measures employed in China — at their core, proactive surveillance, rapid diagnosis and case isolation and tracking and quarantine of close contacts — “are the only measures that are currently proven to interrupt or minimize transmission” of the coronavirus. “Given the damage that can be caused by uncontrolled, community-level transmission of this virus, such an approach is warranted to save lives and to gain the weeks and months needed for the testing of therapeutics and vaccine development,” the report added.
Van Kerkhove, however, replied: “What you’re reading here is that we acknowledged that governments had to take tough decisions to protect their populations, but lockdowns were never recommended, nor were they a policy recommendation by @WHO.”
Finishing the exchange, Bhattacharya wrote: “What I’m not reading here is a condemnation of lockdowns at a time where governments worldwide were seriously considering them. If you want the world to trust the WHO, take honest ownership of this failure.”
Bhattacharya has also objected to statements from the WHO’s leader, Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who had responded to an X post from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., saying that the HHS statement “contains inaccurate information” and that the WHO “never recommended lockdowns.”
“That is just deeply dishonest,” Bhattacharya wrote in a Jan. 24 X post. “If the WHO opposed lockdowns, where was the WHO condemnation of them in 2020 or 2021? Or of China’s lockdowns in 2022?”
A day later, Bhattacharya posted a thread with what he called “receipts” of evidence that the WHO is wrong, which included statements from the WHO about what countries should ideally do before lifting lockdown measures.
The disagreement between U.S. and WHO officials partly comes down to semantics. Bhattacharya is correct that the WHO mission praised China’s response — and that the group did not come out against lockdowns. But Van Kerkhove and the WHO have not claimed to have done so. Moreover, not opposing lockdowns is different from recommending them.
“WHO neither recommended nor categorically opposed lockdowns,” Van Kerkhove told us in an email responding to questions about the claims. “We recommended a comprehensive risk-based approach including surveillance, contact tracing, testing, quarantine (for those infected), isolation (for contacts), physical distancing, the use of masks/respirators, personal protective equipment for health workers, improved ventilation, vaccines, therapeutics and more. At the same time, we acknowledged that in some circumstances, countries felt they had no choice but to introduce lockdowns to prevent their health systems being overwhelmed resulting in more lives lost. We respected that choice, as it was their sovereign right, but we said that lockdowns should not be used as the primary or default strategy for controlling COVID-19, and highlighted their serious social and economic consequences.”
“We did say, repeatedly and clearly, that lockdowns came with risks and potential harms, and that they were not a sustainable solution,” she added.
She pointed to multiple examples of the WHO expressing this view or warning about the harms or potential harms of lockdown measures, including a speech the director-general gave in April 2020 that reminded nations that “there is a need to respect human rights and dignity” and that the “restrictive measures governments are implementing are already having a massive impact on livelihoods.”
“Lockdowns are a blunt instrument that have taken a heavy toll in many countries,” the WHO director-general similarly said in September 2020. “With the right mix of targeted and tailored measures, further national lockdowns can be avoided.”
Van Kerkhove also cited a Q&A video from the WHO that Van Kerkhove appeared in and was shared on social media in October 2020.
Bhattacharya cited the same video in his X thread, saying, “A WHO epidemiologist lauds lockdowns as a way to ‘stop’ covid outbreaks.”
Van Kerkhove said that was a “deliberate misinterpretation of what was said.” In the clip, speaking for the WHO, she said, “we haven’t recommended” lockdowns, adding that “we do recognize that some countries and some areas have had to use what is called so-called lockdown measures because they needed to buy themselves some time.”
“This clip cannot be interpreted as me ‘lauding’ lockdowns,” she said.
Other individuals on social media have highlighted statements from February 2020 by Dr. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian physician and epidemiologist who was then a senior adviser to the WHO director-general, that Bhattacharya reshared on X.
During the press conference for the WHO-China joint mission, Aylward emphasized that what China had done did appear to be working. “What China has demonstrated is, you have to do this,” he said at one point. “If you do it, you can save lives and prevent thousands of cases of what is a very difficult disease.”
Van Kerkhove said this was also a case of misinterpretation. “Dr Aylward spoke positively about China’s overall response to COVID-19, and recognized that other countries including Italy were now taking ‘extremely aggressive actions,’” she told us in an email. “Dr Aylward’s comment that ‘you have to do this’ was a reference to the overall ‘aggressive’ or ‘rigorous’ approach that was needed to stop transmission and save lives, not specifically to the role of lockdowns.”
Aylward “did not recommend that countries impose lockdowns,” she added, pointing to earlier comments of his that day, in which he said “it’s important that other countries think about” applying “not necessarily the full lockdowns … but that same rigorous approach.”
Lawrence Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University, told us that it is “certainly true that WHO officials praised China’s COVID-19 [response], and that was irresponsible.”
But, he added, “we forget how frightening the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic were. We had no vaccines or treatments and the virus was spreading exponentially. In that context, a temporary lockdown was clearly justified to buy time for the development and deployment of vaccines. Lockdowns were also intended to protect overwhelmed hospitals and health workers. It is easy to blame WHO for its proactive response in the midst of a global crisis. But it’s wrong.”
He said Bhattacharya’s posts “lack any subtlety or context” and emphasized that the WHO “has no power to order lockdowns & it never did.”
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through our “Donate” page. If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, P.O. Box 58100, Philadelphia, PA 19102.
The post WHO Didn’t Recommend Lockdowns, Contrary to Health Officials’ Suggestions appeared first on FactCheck.org.
 | Im pretty sure I saw the Fungineers guy use black RTV on a video where he installed a VESC kit. I think he applied it before sealing the control box. [link] [comments] |
Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny ended his historic Super Bowl LX halftime show with a message of unity.
"God Bless America," he said as he drew the first predominantly Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime performance to a close, trailed by flags representing the many countries of the Americas.
But on social media, people claimed Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, had been pictured in a more divisive moment: standing on a stage in a dress and makeup and burning a U.S. flag.
"Just a reminder: This is the man that the NFL chose to be the performer for today's halftime show at the Superbowl," one Feb. 8 Facebook post read.
This image doesn’t show a real flag-burning incident; it’s AI-generated.
(Screenshot from Facebook)
Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, detected the digital watermark in the image that indicates it was made with the tool. The watermark is embedded directly into AI creations and is not visible to humans, but can be detected by Google’s technology. In an AI-generated image, that watermark is embedded in its pixels.
The image has irregularities. The real U.S. flag has 13 stripes, while the flag in the fake image has 11.
The AI-generated image also showed audience members holding cellphones and recording the event, but the pictures on phone screens showed inconsistent silhouettes of the burning flag.
PolitiFact found no news reports nor other images and videos that confirm such an incident happened. Such an event would be widely shared given Bad Bunny’s fame — he recently made history by becoming the first artist with a Spanish-language album to win the Grammy Awards Album of the Year prize.
Bad Bunny has worn a dress and a skirt for photoshoots before, but there’s no proof he wore a dress like the one in the fake image.
Lead Stories reported that the image first appeared on a satirical Facebook account named "Qbanguy." The account’s bio reads: "Ai funny Content & Master Meme Maker - 100% Not Real everything is Satire."
The account posted other fake images, including one of Bad Bunny in a multicolored dress holding a torn banner that reads "ICE Out," and one of Bad Bunny wearing a multicolored outfit with a vest that read "F*ck ICE." The account claimed these were his halftime show outfits, but he wore all-white outfits for the duration of his Super Bowl performance.
This is not a real image of Bad Bunny burning the U.S. flag. We rate that claim Pants on Fire!
Why Should Delaware Care?
After receiving nearly $160 million as part of a national program to expand rural health care access, Delaware has taken the first step toward implementing some of the more than a dozen expansion initiatives outlined by Gov. Matt Meyer last fall. The state has sent out a call for partners to help build its first medical school, along with three other rural health care-related programs.
Delaware will soon begin spending the millions of dollars it received from the federal government late last year to bolster rural health care infrastructure across the state.
Last week, Gov. Matt Meyer’s office released an initial batch of requests for potential vendors to carry out programs that will be funded by a federal payout aimed at improving rural health across the country. Some of those bids include funding a new medical school, creating a “Food is Medicine” program, as well as operating rural health hubs in Sussex and Kent counties.
It comes weeks after the state received its first award from the federal government totaling more than $157 million. The full award amount for the state remains unclear, but the state will receive at least $500 million from the multi-year federal program.
The initial award represents the first batch of funding Delaware hopes to receive over the next five years, which could increase or decrease on a yearly basis depending on how much money is spent.
Delaware applied for that potential funding through the “Rural Health Transformation Program,” a provision of the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that earmarks $50 billion for states to improve their rural health care infrastructure.
The state will fund 15 programs with the federal money, but only released four bid requests over the weekend. According to a Monday press release, the governor’s office intends to release more requests on a rolling basis.
Additionally, Meyer said in the release that the new programs will be a “critical step” in lowering the cost of health care in the state and addressing coverage gaps across the state.
“A person’s zip code should never dictate the quality of care they receive – or if health care services are even available,” Meyer said in the release.
One of those four requests is for Delaware’s first medical school. Meyer, who campaigned on bringing a medical school to the state, said at a press conference in November that people in Kent and Sussex counties have struggled to find access to health care.
In its request for a partner institution to run the school, the state hopes that by the fall of 2028 it would have at least 40 students enrolled and attending classes at the proposed campus. It does not specify a location or county where the state would like to operate its campus.
However, the medical school would be expected to stand up a program that takes advantage of programs that already exist in the state.
“The program will leverage Delaware’s existing health care infrastructure and clinical training sites in communities across the State of Delaware to prepare physicians for rural practice,” the bid said.
It follows a non-binding agreement between Delaware and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, where Jefferson hopes to build a branch campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College somewhere in the state.
That agreement, which was signed prior to an announcement by the state that it was pursuing the federal funds, said Delaware will “provide all necessary and appropriate financial resources for the development, implementation, and sustainability of the branch campus.”
The agreement also says the state and university would work toward the “enhancement” of Jefferson’s current branch campus in Delaware, in which third- and fourth-year residents work at ChristianaCare.
Delaware’s application for federal dollars through the Rural Health Transformation Program estimated the state would spend more than $100.4 million through 2031 to fund the medical school.
According to the state website dedicated to the program, Delaware intends to spend $42.5 million of its first-year-award on the medical school.
Separately, the state solicited vendors to support its “Food is Medicine” program, which aims to improve health outcomes by investing in better nutrition. According to the bidding document, the state is looking for vendors to implement the program in rural Kent and Sussex counties.
This would include hiring community health workers and a dietician to provide food counseling, as well as education in the counties. The state also wants the potential vendor to certify more than a dozen “Culinary Medicine Teachers” to train rural doctors.
The vendor also would be expected to have reduced diet-related emergency room visits and food insecurity in the state after its five-year contract expires.
Additional bids included establishing rural health community hubs aimed at offering preventive, primary, behavioral health and specialty care to residents in Kent and Sussex counties. The state is also looking to use the funding to deploy at least four new mobile health units across the two lower counties.
Delaware Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Christen Linke Young said in the Monday press release that these programs will support those in rural communities long into the future.
“These initiatives are designed to build lasting capacity, not short-term fixes,” she said.
The bid for medical school partner institutions is due March 27, and the state hopes to have a dean selected for the school no later than Dec. 31.
The post Delaware requests partners for medical school, federal rural health programs appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Owner of Villa’s Tacos said the rapper loved their restaurant and asked the business to join his Super Bowl performance
A beloved Los Angeles taqueria made its primetime debut during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX half-time show, delighting and surprising its legion of faithful patrons.
Bad Bunny’s 13-minute performance was a love letter to the culture, history and legacy of Puerto Rico, with sets depicting sugarcane fields, a house party and even a wedding ceremony, complete with Lady Gaga performing a salsa rendition of her hit Die With a Smile.
Continue reading...The domain was purchased by Kris Marszalek, the CEO of Crypto.com, in what has been described as one of the most expensive domain transactions ever.
 | My board gently let me down after buzzing me for a second. I didn't know that I was pushing my limit and Later on I've found out I was going 30mph. Lesson learned, if I'm going fast, I should wear my knee pads and wrist guards. I came out with minimal cuts and scrapes. [link] [comments] |
I am thinking about making the jump from my pintx to the gts xl. Love my pint but want a little more out of my onewheel. What should I expect, and is it worth my almost 4k purchase?
Team USA's mixed doubles curling gold medal match against Sweden is slated for Tuesday, Feb. 10.
UPDATE: Pretty sure I ruined my BMS. I tried the cycle it again and there's an audible "pop" when plugging in the battery. So can a BMS be replaced on it's own or should I just try to find another used board? I do not want to VESC.
I had to replace my battery box again due to a ghosting footpad damaging it, however this time I am getting the 16 flash power button.
I might have done the wrong order of install:
Plugged in BMS to the cable going to the power button/controller.
Plugged in Battery to the BMS.
Waited 20 seconds, Plugged in white cable, I forget what it is called. Data cable?
What I can find is a solution is to "Power Cycle" the battery to see if the Error 16 persists but I am unsure as to what that means. Pressing the power button does nothing, it just keep flashing 16 times.
Struggling with tax debt? These standout companies could help you save while avoiding costly IRS mistakes.
Allies of leading candidates keen to tout credentials but others despair at options at top of Labour party
• Revealed: ‘Rayner for leader’ site briefly went live in January
• Explainer: political leadership campaigns that launched too soon
• UK politics live – latest updates
As Keir Starmer fights for his political life, the contest to replace him has already begun.
The prime minister was already under pressure when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for on Monday a change of prime minister. Sarwar’s comments followed the resignations from Downing Street of Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff, and Tim Allan, his communications director.
Continue reading...I have a onewheel GT that have been Vesced (thor301). I used to ride a GTS and everyone in my gang said my battery would actually be better.. but its not. I have seen heaps of images of people with external battery packs on their fenders, or on a cable to backpack, but Im struggling to find information on how to make that upgrade. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks everyone!
Anthropic researcher Nicholas Carlini set 16 instances of Claude Opus 4.6 loose on a shared codebase over two weeks to build a C compiler from scratch, and the AI agents produced a 100,000-line Rust-based compiler capable of building a bootable Linux 6.9 kernel on x86, ARM and RISC-V architectures. The project ran through nearly 2,000 Claude Code sessions and cost about $20,000 in API fees. Each instance operated inside its own Docker container, independently claiming tasks via lock files and pushing completed code to a shared Git repository. No orchestration agent directed traffic. The compiler achieved a 99% pass rate on the GCC torture test suite and can compile major open source projects including PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis, FFmpeg and Doom. But it lacks a 16-bit x86 backend and calls out to GCC for that step, its assembler and linker remain buggy, and it produces less efficient code than GCC running with all optimizations disabled. Carlini also invested significant effort building test harnesses and feedback systems to keep the agents productive, and the model hit a practical ceiling at around 100,000 lines as bug fixes and new features frequently broke existing functionality.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Both offer benefits to older investors, but certain factors matter more when your retirement timeline is shorter.
Cap-busting tax hike will be embarrassing for the party, which has made low council tax a priority
Reform-led Worcestershire county council is likely to issue England’s largest council tax rise this April after it was given special permission by the government to increase it by up to 9%.
Worcestershire is one of a handful of authorities whose requests to be allowed to increase local rates above the standard 5% cap from April have been accepted by ministers.
Continue reading...Feb. 9, 2026 — Stony Brook University, along with the three other State University of New York (SUNY) university centers, will participate in Empire AI campus partnerships with other state colleges to advance artificial intelligence (AI) research and education for the public good.
The partnerships will leverage the Empire AI supercomputer, housed at the State University of New York at Buffalo, to increase access to AI for research and professional development for SUNY students and faculty.
“Through Empire AI, New York is ensuring the power of AI is harnessed responsibly,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul in announcing the partnerships on January 30. “By bringing together SUNY institutions through these campus partnerships, we are furthering the use of AI for the public good and shaping a brighter future for all New Yorkers.”
SUNY’s four university centers at Stony Brook, Buffalo, Albany and Binghamton will partner with several of SUNY’s university colleges, technology colleges, and community colleges to provide research experiences, professional development, microcredential courses, and other opportunities for students and faculty to effectively and ethically use AI.
“Governor Hochul’s continued leadership has placed SUNY and New York State at the forefront of harnessing AI for the public good. SUNY is proud to leverage the largest statewide comprehensive system of public higher education in the country to ensure that more students are able to drive research and move innovation forward,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. “We are grateful to Governor Hochul for her leadership and investment to advance AI in New York State.”
Stony Brook is partnering with Farmingdale State College and Suffolk County Community College and launching AI Innovation and Diffusion, an eight-week research experience program for undergraduates that will recruit 40 students, 20 from each participating campus, from across all disciplines to receive a $5,000 stipend and spend eight weeks at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, receiving mentorship from doctoral students or postdoctoral scholars.
“We are very excited to be hosting 40 top students from Farmingdale State and SUNY Suffolk here at Stony Brook this summer to participate in paid research experiences in AI and its applications across campus,” said Lav Varshney, director of Stony Brook’s Artificial Intelligence Innovation Institute (AI3). “The positive societal impacts of AI will be strongest when we can drive innovation, ensure appropriate diffusion into nearly every industrial, societal, and scholarly sector, and build a broad-based workforce that can take it forward. This initiative is meant to strengthen economic strength by hitting all three.”
Empire AI is the Governor’s nation-leading initiative to advance AI research for the public good, led by an independent consortium of members. It is backed by more than $500 million in public and private funding, and is made up of 10 member universities and research institutions. In May 2025, Hochul secured funding to expand access for SUNY researchers at Stony Brook, Buffalo, Albany and Binghamton, and support the addition of new members including the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. They joined the seven founding members of Empire AI: SUNY, CUNY, Columbia University, Cornell University, NYU, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Flatiron Institute.
In her 2026 State of the State agenda, Hochul proposed the launch of Empire AI Beta, which will accelerate Empire AI’s performance to 11 times its former scale, making it the world’s most advanced academic supercomputer.
More from HPCwire
Source: State University of New York at Stony Brook
The post Stony Brook Joins Empire AI SUNY Campus Partnerships to Expand Access to AI appeared first on HPCwire.
These are the best indoor OTA TV antennas for watching free TV in 2026.
Judges, including Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, praise Georgina Duncan’s play as the kind ‘producers dream of and audiences yearn to watch’
A work that explores what happens when trauma is left to fester, set in Troubles-era Belfast, has been named the winner of the Women’s prize for playwriting 2025.
Judges praised what they described as unflinching and moving writing in Sapling by Georgina Duncan, a working-class playwright from Lancashire.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Cabinet secretary Chris Wormald is expected to follow Morgan McSweeney and Tim Allan out the door
The most senior civil servant in Downing Street is negotiating his exit as part of a wider shake-up of Keir Starmer’s operation after one of the most dramatic 48 hours of the prime minister’s time in office, sources have told the Guardian.
Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, is understood to be negotiating the terms of his departure from No 10, which would make him the third senior member of staff to leave in recent days.
Continue reading...Linebacker faces five felony charges over allegations
Rookie is said to have attempted to evade officers
Atlanta Falcons linebacker James Pearce Jr, who was detained on five felony charges on Saturday, allegedly struck a police officer while evading arrest and crashed into a vehicle driven by WNBA player Rickea Jackson, ESPN reported on Monday.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by ESPN from the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office, the charges against Pearce include aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.
Continue reading...When self-proclaimed "Quad God" Ilia Malinin landed seven quad jumps in a single program last December, he boisterously ushered in a new era of skating with his daring routines.
For the first time, a major U.S. automaker is putting a team up against the European giants of Formula One. Can Cadillac be a contender?
Back when I got my Pint, range extenders were all the rage, especially for the Pint and Plus. Is that still a thing? Found this link (pasted below) on using a DeWalt battery to make a DIY range extender but is that even still possible with the current firmware? Is there a way to make it work (read somewhere you can get an old version of the firmware back and something called VESC?)? Would love some input from people who have more technical know-how on this topic.
(Currently don’t have the funds to do full upgrade to a Pint X battery or get a new board so this is my only financially viable option)
https://www.instructables.com/Onewheel-Pint-Battery-Upgrade-Extended-Range/
Here are the highly rated series you should watch on HBO Max, plus new additions in February.
Eddie Bauer, a 106-year-old retailer, points to declining sales and "tariff certainty" as factors behind its latest move to seek bankruptcy protection.
The romance genre -- long the publishing industry's earliest adopter of technological shifts, from e-books to self-publishing to serial releases -- has become the front line for AI-generated fiction, and the results as you can imagine are messy. Coral Hart, a Cape Town-based novelist previously published by Harlequin and Mills & Boon, produced more than 200 AI-assisted romance novels last year and self-published them on Amazon, where they collectively sold around 50,000 copies. She found Anthropic's Claude delivered the most elegant prose but was terrible at sexy banter; other programs like Grok and NovelAI wrote graphic scenes that felt rushed and mechanical. Chatbots struggled broadly to build the slow-burn sexual tension romance readers crave, she said. A BookBub survey of more than 1,200 authors found roughly a third were using generative AI for plotting, outlining, or writing, and the majority did not disclose this to readers. Romance accounts for more than 20% of all adult fiction print sales, according to Circana BookScan, and the genre's reliance on familiar tropes and narrative formulas makes it especially susceptible to AI disruption.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
PARIS, Feb. 9, 2026 – Capgemini has announced that its sovereign-ready cloud and AI solutions are available on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, an independent cloud fully located and operated within the European Union (EU). Backed by Capgemini’s experience in secure transformation, risk management, and delivery of complex projects in highly regulated sectors, the partnership enables European clients to address fast-evolving digital sovereignty requirements while continuing to modernize and innovate.
Across Europe, rapidly evolving sovereignty and data-control requirements are reshaping how organizations think about trust, resilience, and long-term competitiveness. Boards, regulators and customers demand tighter oversight of sensitive data and critical workloads, while organizations need greater choice to retain operational independence and firm control.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud broadens the options available to clients with stringent sovereignty needs. Drawing on its deep experience in regulated markets and large-scale business transformation, Capgemini helps clients turn sovereignty requirements into strategic advantage, designing cloud strategies that secure critical assets, strengthen resilience, and enable sustainable growth.
By taking a structured, risk-aware approach from the outset, organizations can now assess their sovereignty requirements and risk profiles before defining architectures or operating models. This enables confident, strategic decisions about the sovereign control, infrastructure and assurance required to safeguard critical assets. Capgemini is already developing industry-specific sovereign solutions on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud to accelerate adoption in regulated sectors.
Stéphane Israël, General Manager, AWS European Sovereign Cloud, said, “The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is designed to support clients with the highest sovereignty needs, while giving them access to AWS’s continuous innovation. Capgemini brings deep industry expertise that is invaluable to support clients’ AI-led business transformation. Together, we will help organizations across Europe modernize securely, efficiently, and in full alignment with their sovereignty requirements.”
Fernando Alvarez, Chief Strategy and Development Officer and Group Executive Board Member at Capgemini, said, “Digital sovereignty is a must-have for enabling responsible and scalable transformation across Europe. As regulatory expectations evolve, organizations need to be able to innovate with confidence in the knowledge they have full control over their data and digital operations. With Capgemini’s extensive experience in implementing secure cloud architectures for AI, governance, and managed services, we are well positioned to help clients navigate this rapidly evolving landscape. Together with AWS, we can empower organizations to design, build, and operate sovereign-ready cloud and AI solutions that deliver measurable outcomes.”
For over 18 years, Capgemini and AWS have delivered tangible business impact, operational capabilities, innovation and agility for clients through large-scale secure transformations. Capgemini provides the experience required to design, build, and operate sensitive workloads while meeting strict sovereignty requirements, helping organizations evaluate and adopt the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.
Together, Capgemini and AWS can help organizations to:
More from HPCwire: Capgemini Expands Google Cloud Partnership to Deliver Sovereign AI and Cloud Services
About Capgemini
Capgemini is an AI-powered global business and technology transformation partner, delivering tangible business value. We imagine the future of organizations and make it real with AI, technology and people. With our strong heritage of nearly 60 years, we are a responsible and diverse group of 420,000 team members in more than 50 countries. We deliver end-to-end services and solutions with our deep industry expertise and strong partner ecosystem, leveraging our capabilities across strategy, technology, design, engineering and business operations. The Group reported 2024 global revenues of €22.1 billion.
Source: Capgemini
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Feb. 9, 2026 — Caltech scientists have developed a way to guide light on silicon wafers with low signal loss approaching that of optical fiber at visible wavelengths. This accomplishment paves the way for a new generation of ultra-coherent and efficient photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which will have a profound impact in a variety of on-chip applications including precision measurements, such as optical clocks for timing and gyroscopes for rotation as well as AI data-center communications and even quantum computing.
Credit: Shutterstock
Even if society is largely unaware of it, optical fiber is all around. It is what connects the digital world, enabling the transmission of data nearly instantaneously regardless of distance. Optical fiber can do this, in large part, because it is made from extremely pure glass and is carefully engineered to be ultrasmooth; when light enters at one end of a fiber, nearly the entire signal continues to the other end without being absorbed, scattered, or otherwise lost. This is what researchers describe as ultralow-loss performance.
“For years, we have been working to translate the spool-based fabrication of optical fiber onto silicon wafers, while trying to preserve the fiber’s hallmark of ultralow loss,” said Kerry Vahala, the Ted and Ginger Jenkins Professor of Information Science and Technology and Applied Physics at Caltech. “We have developed a method to print optical circuits, made from the same material as optical fiber, directly onto the same 8- and 12-inch wafers used for computer chips. This shift toward fiber-like performance, especially in the visible bands, will enable new technologies that benefit from negligibly low circuit energy loss.”
The scientists describe their method in a paper recently published in the journal Nature. The lead authors of the paper are Caltech postdoctoral scholar Hao-Jing Chen and graduate student Kellan Colburn, who completed the work in Vahala’s lab.
To make its waveguides (nanoscale on-chip pathways that channel light), the team adapts germano-silicate, the same glass material used in optical fiber, through a lithography-based manufacturing process. The waveguides are laid out in a spiral geometry to extend their optical path length, analogous to winding light around a fiber spool but with a significantly smaller footprint enabled by nanofabrication.
“Germano-silicate waveguides demonstrate extremely low loss and are also readily adaptable to efficiently transfer light between optical fibers and semiconductor lasers, which is of paramount importance in reducing the overall energy cost of server infrastructure,” said Henry Blauvelt, a visiting associate in applied physics and material science at Caltech; chief technology officer at Emcore, a company specializing in photonic circuits; and an author of the recent paper.
Devices made with the Caltech team’s new platform have already matched, at near-infrared wavelengths, previous top-performing devices made from silicon nitride, a material widely used in optics because of its low-loss performance for transmitting data. Importantly, the new material significantly outperforms silicon nitride at visible wavelengths.
“Due to the comparatively low melting temperature of the material, we can put our devices into a furnace to ‘reflow’ the surface of our waveguides to get their smoothness down to the level of individual atoms, which largely suppresses the severe scattering loss that has limited conventional visible PICs,” Chen said. “At visible wavelengths, our recent platform exceeds silicon nitride’s record by a factor of 20, and we have more room to improve.”
Loss dramatically impacts optical device performance. For example, laser devices fabricated using the new platform exhibit more than a 100-fold improvement relative to predecessors in terms of how long light remains coherent.
“The expanded wavelength coverage our method offers will support many important atomic operations, making chip-scale atomic sensors, optical clocks, and ion-trap systems possible,” Chen said.
Colburn acknowledged that it might at first seem “a little ridiculous” that the researchers are aiming for losses that can be described by percentages over kilometers. “After all, our chips are only 2 centimeters across. But, in reality, there are a lot of applications where this would be very powerful,” he said.
For example, think of the ring resonator, a fundamental optical device widely used in both fundamental science and data transmission. In ring resonators, light enters at one point and gets fed into a ring where it continues to propagate for a long time, a process that resonantly enhances the light at a few frequencies. Even though the ring is just millimeters in scale, the effective path that light traces in such a resonator is determined by the loss of the waveguides.
“That’s where low loss over meters, or ultimately kilometers, really matters,” Colburn said. “The longer light can circulate, the higher the performance of resulting devices can be.” For lasers that use these resonators to improve coherence, every factor of 10 reduction in loss translates to a factor of 100 improvement in coherence.
More generally, the ability to engineer ultralow-loss waveguides in the visible bands has many applications. “One of the reasons this is so compelling is that it has a Swiss Army–knife quality—it can be applied in a wide range of settings,” Vahala said. To illustrate this point, the Caltech team describes in the paper several optical devices they built with the new material. This includes ring resonators, different types of lasers, and nonlinear resonators that generate a range of frequencies.
And the team is just getting started, Vahala said. “We haven’t gone as far as we want to go, but we’ve made significant progress over the last five years, and that’s what we’re reporting on here.”
Source: Kimm Fesenmaier, Caltech
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More governments recognize that HPC and related advanced technology are strategic assets that can boost not just scientific and industrial research, but also economic competitiveness and GDP growth. Sovereignty initiatives aim to ensure access to these strategic technologies by expanding domestic supply chains to decrease reliance on foreign sources, primarily the United States. Every sovereignty initiative is different and should have a metric attuned to its unique set of goals, strategy, and timeline, while also considering global standing. The current U.S. assault on government agencies, academic research and international student admissions could slow American innovation in HPC and related advanced computing, but is unlikely to remove U.S. leadership in the foreseeable future.
Governments have long recognized HPC’s importance for advancing scientific and industrial research that’s important for a slew of societal needs such as scientific progress, manufacturing, weather forecasting, energy production, military defense, and the quality of life. Mor
e recently, governments around the world have also recognized HPC’s related potential to boost economic competitiveness and GDP growth.
That’s a major change that has motivated more governments to boost funding for HPC and other advanced technology, sometimes enough to handle the prodigious prices for pre-exascale and exascale systems in combination with AI upgrades and quantum computing additions.
(Rawapixel.com/Shutterstock)
Often accompanying this attitudinal change, in an era when political relations can be uncertain, is a desire to end or at least decrease reliance on foreign sources for HPC and related advanced technology by expanding sovereign supply chains. Because in recent decades the U.S. has been the global market leader for many of these technologies, in effect sovereignty initiatives in other nations and regions primarily aim to decrease and perhaps eventually eliminate reliance on the U.S. Newer sovereignty initiatives are notably strong within the EU, driven by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, and in the People’s Republic of China, accelerated by restricted access to U.S. chip technology.
Meanwhile, the United States and Japan have had HPC sovereignty initiatives in place for decades. Both countries established trade policies that limited the exportation of domestic HPC systems and the acquisition of foreign systems, especially by government agencies via legislation such as the Buy American Act of 1933.
The U.S. and Japanese trade barriers created unequal relationships, so-called market asymmetries, with countries and global regions lacking such restrictions—sometimes because they had no major supercomputer vendors to protect. The trade barriers have helped to motivate others nations and regions to develop and foster homegrown supply chains via sovereignty initiatives.
Today and for the foreseeable future, no country or global region can expect to have a fully independent HPC supply chain. Indigenous semiconductor production is typically seen as a cornerstone of HPC sovereignty, yet every major processor development initiative depends on non-domestic sources for some crucial supplies or capabilities, such as manufacturing in Taiwan and South Korea, lithium from China, or advanced lithography equipment from the Netherlands (China recently said it will roll out a lithography machine competitive with ASML’s in 2026).
It follows that the realistic goal, rather than supply chain independence, should be supply chain security, ensuring that the supply chain consisting of domestic and non-domestic sources is as uninterruptible as possible.
Every nation and global region pursuing sovereignty in HPC and related advanced technology, including the U.S., has a different mix of domestic suppliers and capabilities today. This means that every deliberate push toward full sovereignty will be a different journey, with its own goals, strategy, timeline and metrics for success.
(Kirill-Neiezhmakov/Shutterstock)
Strategies should acknowledge that some missing ingredients are especially challenging to add:
Deciding what not to including in a sovereignty initiative is important. Depending on a nation or region’s initial status vis-à-vis sovereignty, some ingredients may be impractical to include within the initial timeframe and budget of the sovereignty strategy (see above: processors, multiple vendors, global requirements)—or may not make sense to include at all. The worldwide HPC community makes extensive use of cloud computing, for example, but not every sovereignty initiative needs to include developing one or more world-class domestic cloud vendors.
Sovereignty initiatives inherently weigh domestic capabilities against their foreign counterparts. But as noted earlier, every sovereignty initiative is unique and should therefore be judged on its own terms. This implies that each initiative should have a metric of its own, attuned primarily to its own goals, strategy and timeline while recognizing the nation or region’s standing in relation to the rest of the world.
(Your Design/Shutterstock)
It’s difficult to discuss sovereignty initiatives without noting that something extraordinary has been happening in the U.S.—a series of government actions that could erode America’s long-held leadership position in HPC and newer advanced computing technologies.
First, the U.S. administration’s under-appreciation of what many federal employees do and distrust of fact-based scientific research has led to staffing cuts in government agencies that play important roles in developing, exploring and hardening advanced computing systems. Cuts during 2025 were substantial, as this partial list indicates: Department of Defense (55,000 positions); Department of Energy (4,970); NASA (4,800); National Nuclear Security Administration (800); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (800); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1,622). Not all of these positions, or even most, were directly related to advanced computing, but the opposition to fact-based research was a recurrent theme.
Second, this opposition has also played out in academia, where the administration has threatened non-compliant universities with major cuts to government research grants and made it more difficult for international students to enroll in academic programs and secure jobs—and sometimes found companies (e.g., Intel, Nvidia)—in the U.S. after completing programs.
Steve Conway, Senior Advisor, Intersect360 Research
Third, this opposition has limited job candidate pools for U.S.-based technology firms. As a former executive at two historically significant HPC companies, Cray and SGI, I know how important it is for tech companies to be able to recruit “the best and the brightest” individuals from throughout the world. Success depends on this. The combined assault on government agencies, academia and job recruitment, especially if it persists, could slow U.S. innovation at a time when other countries and regions are racing ahead not only in HPC, but also in AI, quantum computing and adjacent advanced technologies.
U.S. leadership in HPC and other advanced computing is fairly deep and wide. Sovereignty initiatives from other global leaders—China, Europe and Japan—will likely improve their standings but aren’t likely to supplant the U.S. in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, it is hard to say when a U.S. government course correction might take place. As a CEO newly hired by a troubled internet company once told me, “The company didn’t get into this predicament in a day, and we won’t get out of this predicament in a day.”
Meanwhile, the current U.S. policies are helping others, especially China and Europe, to close the leadership gap with the U.S.
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The T1's looks have changed (again), and its specs and pricing are different than those listed on the Trump Mobile website, according to a model handset shown to The Verge.
Learn about the sports, top athletes, streaming details and commentators for the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
After HLRS’s previous supercomputer went out of service, more than 90% of its components were recovered for use in other computing systems.
Feb. 9, 2026 — In its role as one of Germany’s three national high-performance computing centers, ensuring that European science and industry always have access to state-of-the-art high-performance computing (HPC) technologies is at the core of HLRS‘s mission. Doing so, however, has required installing a new supercomputer approximately every three to five years.
When HLRS’s Hawk supercomputer went into service in 2020 it debuted at #16 on the Top500 List. Its decommissioning began in 2024 as the installation of Hunter started. Credit: HPE.
In the past, an older system would simply be broken apart and valuable metals would be harvested for reuse, with other components ending in the trash. When HLRS’s previous flagship supercomputer — called Hawk — was decommissioned beginning in 2024, however, the center and its technology partner HPE took a more sustainable approach.
In an effort coordinated by HPE Financial Services, Hawk’s hardware — including 4,096 computer nodes, 8,192 processors, and 65,536 memory modules — was carefully dismantled in several phases. Components were shipped to the company’s refurbishing center in Erskine, Scotland, where data were securely erased and the hardware was tested for functionality. Following this audit, HPE was able to refurbish and sell more than 90% of Hawk’s infrastructure, giving it a second life with several customers, including in the aerospace technology industry.
This approach had numerous environmental and economic benefits. According to HPE:
HPE reports that the proceeds from sales of the refurbished Hawk components were reinvested into operational services that will support the development of new and improved high-performance computing technologies. Including component refurbishing within a process of infrastructure life cycle management also provides a more environmentally and economically responsible approach to meeting hardware demands in the IT industry.
Read More
From Hawk to Hunter: Doubling Power, Cutting Energy, and Giving Tech a Second Life (HPE)
Source: HLRS
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Prosecutor claims Juan Pablo Guanipa was re-arrested due to non-compliance with terms of release
One of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition politicians, Juan Pablo Guanipa, has been detained by security forces just hours after being released from prison, as the South American country’s leaders sent mixed signals about their commitment to political reform after Nicolás Maduro’s downfall.
Guanipa, who is a close ally of the Nobel laureate María Corina Machado, emerged from nearly nine months’ detention on Sunday – one of at least 35 political prisoners to be freed over the course of the day.
Continue reading...Director of state broadcaster Rai Sport welcomed viewers to wrong stadium and mistook Italian actor for Mariah Carey
Sports journalists at the Italian state broadcaster are staging protests in response to blunders made by the sports director throughout his commentary on the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Paolo Petrecca, who was appointed to the role at Rai Sport in 2025, first welcomed viewers to Rome’s Stadio Olimpico instead of Milan’s San Siro, where Friday’s ceremony was held, before mistaking the Italian actor Matilda De Angelis for Mariah Carey and Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee, for Laura Mattarella, daughter of the Italian president.
Continue reading...Financial crimes squad investigate husband and wife in connection to alleged relationship with late sex offender
Two high-profile diplomats are under investigation by Norwegian authorities in connection with their relationship to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Norway’s financial crimes squad, Økokrim, is investigating Mona Juul, who resigned as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq on Sunday, on suspicion of gross corruption while working at the ministry of foreign affairs, it said on Monday.
Continue reading...MINNEAPOLIS — On Friday, legal observers on an encrypted group call in Minneapolis received a desperate plea. A fellow observer was following federal agents who’d just loaded her friend into an unmarked vehicle. Now, she herself was boxed in.
“Please help,” the woman said, again and again, her voice rising to a scream.
Then, her pleas stopped.
By the time support arrived, the observer was gone. All that remained was an empty SUV, engine running, abandoned in the middle of the city’s snow-lined streets.
Referred to locally as abductions, it was at least the fourth such disappearance of the day — the third in a span of less than 30 minutes.
The observers call themselves commuters. They are locals who have organized to resist “Operation Metro Surge,” a massive U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol campaign targeting Minnesota’s undocumented population, by monitoring federal operations in the Twin Cities. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both agencies, has called the incursion the largest immigration enforcement operation in history.
“She was so scared. The terror in her voice was really, really horrible.”
Three days before the commuters were taken, the new head of Metro Surge, Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, announced a “drawdown” of 700 federal officers and agents. The president had tapped Homan to head the mission a week earlier, appointing the former ICE acting director to take over from Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, whose heavy-handed tactics culminated in three shootings in three weeks, including the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Homan has vowed to take a more “targeted” line of attack in Minnesota. His announced drawdown has fueled speculation that the civil rights abuses and unlawful arrests documented in viral videos and court filings during Bovino’s tenure may be coming to an end. On the ground, the feeling is quite different.
In a message circulated among commuters Friday, the community group Defrost MN, which uses crowdsourced data to track federal immigration operations, warned residents of an “uptick in abductions” — which refer to arrests of both immigrant community members and legal observers — following Homan’s takeover and an increase in the number of government personnel and vehicles involved in those operations.
“National attention on Minnesota has waned with the departure of Bovino and rhetoric by Homan that things are de-escalating,” the group noted, but recent data and reports from commuters in the field did not support those conclusions. Despite orders to the contrary, the group continued, “Agents continue to draw their weapons and deploy chemical agents against observers.”
Meanwhile, the deportation pipeline out of Minnesota continues to flow, with 66 shackled passengers loaded onto a plane the night of Homan’s address — the highest total in nearly two weeks — according to evidence collected at the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport.
Friday’s midafternoon disappearance of multiple commuters in quick succession provided visceral evidence that, despite the change in leadership, the struggle between President Donald Trump’s federal agents and residents continues.
Commuter Kaegan Recher was among those who hurried to the scene of the observer who disappeared while on call.
“She was so scared,” Recher told The Intercept. “The terror in her voice was really, really horrible.”
In Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as the surrounding suburbs, tens of thousands of immigrant families are relying on churches and mutual aid for food and financial support. People have not left their homes for weeks. Local schools have reverted to Covid-era online measures to support immigrant students too terrified to come to class. Those students who still attend in person are transported by U.S.-born neighbors and family friends. Campuses at all grade levels are patrolled by volunteers in fluorescent vests, an effort aimed at deterring federal agents’ practice of targeting parent pick-up and drop-off sites.
Conservative estimates from local healthcare providers suggest emergency room and clinic visits in the Minneapolis area are down by 25 percent. City leaders report local businesses are losing upwards of $20 million a week. Immigrant-owned businesses have been devasted, with revenue losses hovering between 80 to 100 percent and many closing their doors for good.
These are the conditions commuters respond to. Their focus is two-fold: to document and alert. Some participate on foot, others by bicycle, many by car. They patrol neighborhoods, reporting suspicious vehicles, the license plates of which are run through a crowdsourced database of known or suspected Department of Homeland Security vehicles. When confirmations are made, commuters follow, honking their horns while observers on foot blow whistles at the passing vehicles. The Intercept has observed several such interactions in recent weeks.
Typically, federal agents try to lose the tail. If they are traveling in a caravan, one vehicle may drive slowly ahead of a commuter, allowing others to speed away. If commuters outnumber the agents, the maneuver can be difficult. Unable to shake their noisy entourage, agents will often head for the highway and, if the pursuit continues, retreat to federal headquarters.
Most commuters are careful to keep a distance between their vehicles and those of the agents. Sometimes, the authorities will pull over and stop. The commuters will stop behind them. Both vehicles will sit idling, waiting for the other to move, then carry on.
Occasionally, agents, heavily armed and frequently masked, will exit their vehicles and warn commuters to cease their pursuit. Some commuters do; others don’t. Sometimes, commuters come upon agents at a home, a business, or an apartment complex. Given the heated state of affairs — two Americans dead, immigrants living in terror, children unable to attend school, and sweeping social and economic impacts — the encounters are often raw with emotion. Nearly everything is recorded, by agents and commuters alike.
As these interactions have become a familiar, legal experts have noted that following and filming law enforcement is protected under the Constitution. With the federal government asserting sweeping and highly contested immigration authorities, they say those efforts are more important than ever.
The Trump administration has taken a different view. Officials argue Minnesota is infested with “agitators” impeding law enforcement. Mounting evidence suggests they are mobilizing resources to put their resistance down.
Much of the recent media attention surrounding Metro Surge has focused on Homan’s reduction in forces, a move the border czar has linked to Minnesota expanding ICE’s access to jails, thus reducing the number of federal personnel needed to meet the administration’s immigration arrest quotas.
With some 2,000 officers and agents still on the ground, the current federal contingent is still 13 times larger than the agencies’ normal footprint, outnumbering the Minneapolis Police Department three to one.
While reducing the number of federal agents dominated headlines, it isn’t the only talking point Homan has driven home since taking over.
Homan spent much of a press conference last week describing how ICE’s full withdrawal hinges on the public acquiescing to the agency’s mission, which, he stressed, is to achieve the president’s promise of “mass deportations.” The immediate goal in Minnesota is a complete federal drawdown, Homan explained, “but that is largely contingent on the end of the illegal and threatening activities against ICE and its federal partners that we’re seeing in the community.”
In the past month, Homan told reporters, 158 people have been arrested for interfering with federal law enforcement, a crime for which penalties range from one to 20 years in prison. Of those cases, he claimed, 85 have been accepted for prosecution. The rest are still pending.
In most cases, people arrested for interfering with ICE are taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, a seven-story edifice that is part of Fort Snelling, the historic site of a government-run concentration camp during the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862.
Typically, commuters and other legal observers are held for around eight hours before being released. During that time, U.S. officials collect a range of identifying information. With ample evidence that the Department of Homeland Security is amassing a growing catalogue of the president’s critics, and with Homan himself advertising his desire to include people who follow ICE’s activities in a government “database,” community concern is running high over what, exactly, the Trump administration is doing with its information on U.S. citizens.
In his address last week, Homan described an evolving effort by federal officials, including creation of a “multi-agency surge task force” and a new “unified joint operations center” that will allow the agency to “leverage joint intelligence capabilities to effectively target threats.” He emphasized that there would be no reduction in security elements — often militarized tactical teams — assigned to guard deportation operations against “hostile incidents, until we see a change in what’s happening with the lawlessness in impeding and interfering and assaulting of ICE and Border Patrol officers.”
Homan reminded the press that he’s long warned that the “hateful extreme rhetoric” of the president’s opponents would lead to bloodshed. Now, he said, “there has been.” Without acknowledging whose blood had been spilled, or by whom, Homan implored local leaders to urge calmness and “end the resistance.”
Recher, the commuter who responded to Friday’s observer disappearances, has been in the streets monitoring ICE’s operations since early January. His busiest week was after Homan took over. He’s since noticed that agents have been less prone to immediately jump out of their cars with guns drawn — a welcome change — but that a similarly unsettling directive appears to have gone out regarding ICE’s engagement with the public.
A video he shot Friday appeared to confirm as much, with a deportation officer telling Recher that he and his colleagues have been ordered to give commuters a single warning before taking them into custody.
“You just got one warning, that’s it,” the officer said. “What we’re told, that’s all you need.”
“I hear more and more about abductions of observers.”
Recher heeded the officer’s warning. He received the panicked and disturbing call for help from the vanished commuter soon after.
“I hear less and less about successful abductions, which I’m glad,” he said. “But I hear more and more about abductions of observers.”
For Recher, like so many others following ICE’s operations in Minnesota, the point of commuting is the thousands of immigrant families living in hiding across the Twin Cities. It is an effort to push back against the pervasive fear at the heart of the Trump administration’s occupation.
“How do you justify terrorizing an entire community?” he asked. “It is the most un-American thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.”
The post “Uptick in Abductions”: ICE Ramps Up Targeting of Minneapolis Legal Observers appeared first on The Intercept.
A man and his dog in a small South Carolina town had nowhere to turn when a rare winter storm struck, until the community pulled together to help.
Autodesk has sued Google in San Francisco federal court, alleging the search giant infringed its "Flow" trademark by launching competing AI-powered software for movie, TV and video game production in May 2025. Autodesk says it has used the Flow name since September 2022 and that Google assured it would not commercialize a product under the same name -- then filed a trademark application in Tonga, where filings are not publicly accessible, before seeking U.S. protection.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bringing snowboarding up hill to the masses is a major contribution to this world and we remember them for it.
I do understand the hate and FFM of it all. They are sticklers and maybe even aholes but they make and inovovate fun things I like. My GTS rally, 1000+ miles on trails, it was expensive and I did have to deal with the warranty for work. Paid nothing, got it fixed after it bricked. Hope it won’t happen again for awhile, not sure what I’d do then, maybe vesc, maybe send to FM and eat it hard. Maybe buy an XL.
This community is growing and they are just keeping themselves a viable, legitimate company that sells ‘safe enough’ stuff to all. No know how needed.
Antic looks fun too, son wants one but it’s pricey though. Looks way more fun than any E-bike or E motorcycle out there.
Deep down you know I’m right and you will look on with excitement on the next thing they drop. But some of you have too much invested in your FFM and vescing to every turn back even though they have caught up to the hobbyists.
FFM, if you’re listening, be less aholey. Sell more parts. Why create the schism? Join the community. Try to reunite the fam… or not, I don’t really care… I’ll be shredding up hill, ignoring the world if you need me.
The media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences. His family has described the sentence as ‘heartbreakingly cruel’, given the 78-year-old’s declining health. Lai was convicted in December on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, after pleading not guilty to all charges. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s senior China correspondent, Amy Hawkins – watch on YouTube
Continue reading...Newly revealed emails undermine Kennedy’s testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of deadly measles outbreak
Three members of Congress say the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during his Senate confirmation hearings in response to newly revealed emails that undermine his testimony that a trip he took to Samoa ahead of a deadly measles outbreak had “nothing to do with vaccines”.
The governor of Hawaii, a medical doctor who responded to the crisis, also spoke out – saying that the disclosure of the emails by the Guardian and the Associated Press show Kennedy misled the Senate and that he should step down.
Continue reading...City faced one of longest periods of subzero cold since 1961, forcing ‘code blue’ and extreme weather warnings
The death toll related to New York City’s dangerous and enduring cold has risen to 18, officials said on Sunday.
The climbing number of fatalities came as a stark reminder of the danger of the subzero temperatures gripping the area, which has been subjected to one of the longest stretches of subzero cold since 1961.
Continue reading...Feb. 9, 2026 — The European Union has launched its largest Chips Act pilot line, NanoIC, at IMEC Leuven, a major milestone for European semiconductor development and manufacturing.
Credit: Shutterstock
With a total investment of €2.5 billion, the facility has received €700 million in EU funding, €700 million from national and regional governments, and the remainder from ASML and other industry partners. NanoIC will accelerate the development of next-generation semiconductor technology, essential for the development of AI, autonomous vehicles, healthcare and 6G mobile technology.
NanoIC is the first European facility to deploy the most advanced Extreme Ultraviolet lithography machine, focusing on designing and manufacturing chips using technology beyond two nanometres. This marks a significant advancement in European semiconductor manufacturing technology.
Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Flanders’ Minister-President Matthias Diependaele opened the facility, which will allow researchers and companies to test new chip designs, equipment, and processes at a near-industrial scale before mass production.
It is built on the principle of open access, with start-ups, researchers, SMEs and large organisations able to use the facilities at NanoIC. Hosted by IMEC (Belgium), its partners include CEA-Leti (France), Fraunhofer (Germany), VTT (Finland), CSSNT (Romania) and Tyndall National Institute (Ireland).
Designed to bring chip technologies from the ‘lab to the fab’, the pilot lines are a key pillar of the Chips for Europe initiative under the Chips Act. They will strengthen the position of European players in the global semiconductor supply chain and be open to trusted partners, supporting Europe’s industrial base and competitiveness while helping retain and attract talent.
Background
The five pilot lines (NanoIC, FAMES, APECS, WBG and PIXEurope) under the Chips Act together represent a combined EU and national investment of €3.7 billion, bridging Europe’s research excellence with industrial application. The opening of the NanoIC pilot line follows the inauguration of FAMES on 30 January. The beginning of operational activity of these infrastructures is a key milestone in strengthening Europe’s semiconductor sovereignty and industrial base. Coming almost exactly four years to the day that President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Chips Act, the opening of NanoIC coincides with the Commission’s engagement with industry and stakeholders on the CHIPS Act 2.0 revision.
More from HPCwire: FAMES Pilot Line Inaugurated to Advance Ultra-Low-Power Semiconductors in Europe
Source: European Commission
The post EU Invests €700M in Newly Opened NanoIC, Europe’s Largest Chips Act Pilot Line appeared first on HPCwire.
Some 2026 Winter Olympics athletes say their winning medals are falling apart, coming detached from their ribbons.
Democratic representative says Epstein associate’s decision to invoke fifth amendment points to ‘White House cover-up’
Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions during a closed-door congressional deposition on Monday, prompting criticism from a House representative backing efforts to release Jeffrey Epstein investigative files.
Robert Garcia, ranking member of the committee on oversight and government reform, said in a statement that Maxwell invoked the fifth amendment and refused to testify during her scheduled deposition. Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, also said that she invoked her fifth amendment right.
Continue reading...Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 504 for Monday, Feb. 9.
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Monday, Feb. 9.
Savannah's Guthrie's mom, Nancy Guthrie, was reported missing Feb. 1, and authorities have still not identified a possible suspect or person of interest.
Google and Pepsi were among the best ads of the Big Game, while Coinbase and ai.com got failing grades, according to one ranking.
New video footage from the day of the Brown University shooting that killed two students and injured nine others was released Monday.
Seamus Culleton has lived in US for two decades, married a citizen and runs a plastering business but faces deportation
An Irish man has spent five months in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention and faces deportation despite having a valid work permit and no criminal record.
Seamus Culleton was a “model immigrant” who had become the victim of a capricious and inept system, said his lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye.
Continue reading...Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato, responds to criticism in the Munich Security Conference report
In its section on Europe, the Munich Security Conference report has also warned that the continent was entering “a prolonged era of confrontation, as Russia’s full-scale war of aggression and expanding hybrid campaign dismantle the remnants of the post-cold war cooperative security order.”
It also added that:
“Washington’s gradual retreat from its traditional role as Europe’s primary security guarantor – reflected in wavering support for Ukraine and threatening rhetoric on Greenland – is heightening Europe’s sense of insecurity and exposing its unfinished transition from security consumer to security provider.”
“Analysts widely view these operations as deliberate efforts by Moscow to probe Europe’s defences, sow division, intimidate publics, and weaken support for Ukraine by diverting attention toward domestic security. Europe now faces the challenge of proactively deterring further provocations while avoiding inadvertent escalation.”
“European leaders have long refrained from overt criticism of US policies. Instead, they have pursued a dual strategy: striving to keep Washington engaged at almost any cost while cautiously preparing for greater autonomy. …
Recent confrontations over Greenland, in turn, suggest that Europe’s strategy of accommodation may be reaching its limits.”
“Given the urgency of these tasks and the limits of consensus-based decision-making, progress will depend on courageous leadership coalitions.
Smaller avant-gardes, such as the Weimar Plus countries (France, Germany, Poland, and the UK) or the European Group of Five (the former plus Italy), will be essential to drive defense industrial consolidation, articulate a coherent European vision for Ukraine, and prepare the EU for enlargement. These steps will involve sharing costs and political risk.
Continue reading...Alphabet has lined up banks to sell a rare 100-year bond, stepping up a borrowing spree by Big Tech companies racing to fund their vast investments in AI this year. From a report: The so-called century bond will form part of a debut sterling issuance this week by Google's parent company, according to people familiar with the matter. Alphabet was also selling $15bn of dollar bonds on Monday and lining up a Swiss franc bond sale, the people said. Century bonds -- long-term borrowing at its most extreme -- are highly unusual, although a flurry were sold during the period of very low interest rates that followed the financial crisis, including by governments such as Austria and Argentina. The University of Oxford, EDF and the Wellcome Trust -- the most recent in 2018 -- are the only issuers to have previously tapped the sterling century market. Such sales are even rarer in the tech sector, with most of the industry's biggest groups issuing up to 40 years, although IBM sold a 100-year bond back in 1996. Big Tech companies and their suppliers are expected to invest almost $700bn in AI infrastructure this year and are increasingly turning to the debt markets to finance the giant data centre build-out. Michael Burry, writing on Substack: Alphabet looking to issue a 100-year bond. Last time this happened in tech was Motorola in 1997, which was the last year Motorola was considered a big deal. At the start of 1997, Motorola was a top 25 market cap and top 25 revenue corporation in America. Never again. The Motorola corporate brand in 1997 was ranked #1 in the US, ahead of Microsoft. In 1998, Nokia overtook Motorola in cell phones, and after the iPhone it fell out of the consumer eye. Today Motorola is the 232nd largest market cap with only $11 billion in sales.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A diminutive young buck aspires to compete with rhinos and horses in ‘roarball’, but this by-numbers tale is not the greatest of any time
Greatest of all time? No. Possibly not even the greatest of half-term. This loud, chaotic and unlovable animated kids’ comedy feels as though it is bordering on AI slop, algorithmically generated and instantly familiar from Zootropolis, Sing and other movies with talking animals. It is a shame, because it has a real-life inspiration: basketball star Stephen Curry, who was repeatedly told at the start of his career that he was too skinny and too small to make it as a pro. Curry is a producer here, and has a performing role. But in spite of this connection, Goat lacks heart and soul, and a sense of genuine emotions.
What it does have is some pretty decent voice acing, bringing a degree of charm to the movie. Will Harris (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin) is a goat who has grown up dreaming of playing professional “roarball”, a fiercer and faster version of basketball. But Will is a “small” and roar players are all “bigs” – powerful beasts such as rhinos and horses. Will’s hero and the star of his favourite team, the Thorns, is a panther called Jet (Gabrielle Union), a champ close to retirement but determined to win the league. When Will gets a shot at joining the Thorns, he is laughed at, underrated but undeterred.
Continue reading...While Trump has attacked the Grammy-winning Puerto Rican star, celebrities have come out in force to support the half-time show
As blue, red and white fireworks filled the sky at the end of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show, a message filled the screen in all capitals: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
It was the enduring statement from a 13-minute spectacle that invited an estimated 135.4 million viewers into Bad Bunny’s world, with richly textured references to politics, history and Puerto Rican culture. The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio transformed the pitch of Santa Clara, California’s Levi’s Stadium into his own love letter to the island, with cinematic set pieces including sugar cane fields, a house party, and a lively wedding ceremony featuring a surprise performance by Lady Gaga.
Continue reading...Investors reassured by support for PM after fears about effect of a more left-leaning replacement on public finances
UK borrowing costs dipped back on Monday after rising earlier in the day, as cabinet ministers voiced support for the embattled Keir Starmer.
The yield, or interest rate, on UK benchmark bonds initially increased on Monday as traders reacted to Sunday’s resignation of the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, over the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.
Continue reading...Congressman Thomas Massie says commerce secretary ‘has a lot to answer for’ over ties to late convicted sex offender
US House member Thomas Massie has called for the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick – a fellow Republican – to resign over his ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Massie, who co-authored a law mandating the release of the so-called Epstein files, appeared Sunday on CNN’s Inside Politics and said Lutnick, a staunch Donald Trump ally, “has a lot to answer for”.
Continue reading...
A key reason President Donald Trump cites for his tariff policy is boosting U.S. manufacturing.
On two recent occasions, Trump has touted a factory-building record on his watch.
"We right now have more factories and plants being built in our country than we've ever had before," Trump told diners at an Iowa restaurant before a Jan. 27 speech.
The data to support this point is mixed, at best. While some data suggests a growth in the biggest factories is continuing under Trump, overall spending rose significantly under Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, but has eased since its Biden-era peak.
The White House pointed PolitiFact to data collected by Engineered Vision, a company that supplies machine technology, about $1 billion-plus projects. An archived version of a chart from the company’s website from March 11, 2025, shows 30 such projects, while the February 2026 chart shows 46 projects.
A closer look at the newly listed projects shows that some of them had been in the planning stages prior to Trump’s second term.
Federal data on the number of private U.S. manufacturing establishments also supports Trump’s statement. Preliminary 2025 figures show that the number of those facilities hit a new high in the second quarter of Trump’s second term.
Given the long turnaround time required for factory construction, it’s unclear whether the increases during the first six months of Trump’s second term can be attributed to his policies, or whether they reflect projects that were already in the pipeline when he took office.
Beyond these two data points, evidence from federal sources casts doubt on the notion that factory building continues to reach new heights under Trump.
Experts told PolitiFact the most reliable metric to use for judging Trump’s assertion is spending on manufacturing construction, because it’s produced by the federal government, has a long track record and covers expenditures on all sizes of facilities, not just the biggest.
Federal statistics for construction spending on manufacturing show a rapid rise under Biden, followed by a dip after Trump entered office in 2025.
Paul Donovan, the global chief economist at UBS Wealth Management, told The New York Times that spending on factory construction rose from about 3.5% of the manufacturing economy in 2021 to 8% in 2024, a 40-year high.
But this trajectory has sagged under Trump, experts say.
"The past four years have been the most significant peacetime period for manufacturing construction since the data was first gathered," said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an advocacy group. While the level remains elevated under Trump, he said, "the peak was around 14 months ago."
Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University economist who coauthored a paper on manufacturing construction while serving as deputy assistant treasury secretary for macroeconomics under Biden, said spending on factory construction "is still quite a bit higher than pre-2021, but it does look like the boom is over and has somewhat reversed."
Sinclair and other experts said a major reason for the rise under Biden was a pair of bipartisan bills he signed — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act — plus one he signed that was backed only by Democrats, the Inflation Reduction Act. Provisions in each of these bills directed federal spending and other incentives toward manufacturing, especially for items such as semiconductors.
Scott Lincicome, vice president at the libertarian Cato Institute, said he’s not a fan of some aspects of the Biden legislation but they were effective in boosting manufacturing construction. Trump’s policies, he said, have sometimes worked at cross purposes.
Lincicome said Trump’s changes to the way companies expense construction costs have bolstered construction spending, as have the administration’s efforts to streamline permitting processes.
However, Lincicome said Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have fostered uncertainty among business decisionmakers. The tariffs also have raised costs for foreign-sourced materials needed to build factories, hurting the cost-benefit balance.
Trump said today’s factory boom exceeds anything else in U.S. history. But Lincicome said in addition to the boom under Biden, today’s level was likely exceeded by the 20-year period from World War II to the early 1960s when the U.S. was "the only game in town, because half the rest of the world was bombed out from the war and the other half was communist."
Trump said, "We right now have more factories and plants being built in our country than we've ever had before."
Factory construction remains at a high level compared with recent history, but most of the increase came under Biden, and there are signs that that boom has faded under Trump, particularly when measured by overall spending on construction of manufacturing facilities, which experts say is a key metric.
Analysts said some of Trump’s policies have aided companies seeking to build factories, but other policies — including his tariffs that have increased both uncertainty and prices for foreign materials needed for construction — have offset some of those gains.
We rate the statement Half True.
Director and composer of 2017 drama allege breach of agreement after score reused in controversial documentary
Paul Thomas Anderson and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, the director and composer, respectively, for Phantom Thread, have requested that music from the 2017 film be removed from the controversial new documentary on Melania Trump.
“It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the Melania documentary,” the pair said in a statement to Variety. “While Jonny Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use which is a breach of his composer agreement. As a result Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”
Continue reading...Prices, liquidity and the ease of resale all matter when deciding which silver coin makes the most sense right now.
More than 135 million people watched Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, and because of false social media posts, some went to bed believing the performance featured Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old boy detained by ICE in Minneapolis.
During Bad Bunny’s Feb. 8 set at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the Puerto Rican singer stopped to hand a child what appeared to be a replica of his Album of the Year Grammy award. As he knelt down, Bad Bunny, whose legal name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, rubbed the boy's head and said, "Cree siempre en ti," which means "always believe in yourself."
Journalists and X accounts with blue checkmarks shared that the boy was Conejo Ramos.
"One of the most meaningful moments of the Super Bowl halftime show happened quietly," journalist Mariana Atencio posted Feb. 8 on X from her verified account. "Bad Bunny brought Liam Conejo Ramos onto the stage — the Ecuadorian boy who was forcefully detained by ICE in Minnesota — and handed him his Grammy."
A Facebook post read, "This kid that Bad Bunny handed the Grammy to is allegedly Liam Conejo Ramos — the boy who had been deported with his father by ICE in Minneapolis."
The child featured in the first-ever Spanish-language halftime show was not Conejo Ramos — it was 5-year-old child actor Lincoln Fox, whose Instagram account shared a post about it shortly after the show ended: "I’ll remember this day forever! @badbunnypr — it was my truest honor."
In a Feb. 9 followup post, Fox’s Instagram account elaborated about his role and addressed the Conejo Ramos rumors.
"An emotional, unforgettable day being cast as the young Benito — a symbolic moment where the future hands the past a Grammy," the post said in part. "Sending love to Liam Ramos. We all deserve peace and love in America, a country built by and home to so many hard-working immigrants."
A law firm representing the Conejo Ramos family told PolitiFact the child onstage was not Liam. PolitiFact did not immediately hear back from representatives for Bad Bunny. A Bad Bunny publicist confirmed to NPR that the boy on stage was not Liam Conejo Ramos.
Federal immigration agents detained Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo, on Jan. 20 as they returned home from the boy’s preschool. They were sent to a Texas detention center before a judge ordered their release Feb. 1.
The family is from Ecuador and is in the process of claiming asylum as the Trump administration has sought to end their asylum claims and deport them.
We rate claims that Conejo Ramos was the boy in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show False.
Scottish Labour leader is gambling that by declaring his loyalty to Scotland, the electorate will rally behind him
Anas Sarwar has shown he has a ruthless streak. Once one of Keir Starmer’s staunchest cheerleaders and allies, the Scottish Labour leader is now the most senior party figure to call for him to quit.
Despite anger among his colleagues and criticism that his decision to demand Starmer stands down was “idiotic, immature and self-defeating”, Sarwar’s political calculation is blunt and uncompromising.
Continue reading...The price of silver has changed considerably in recent weeks. Here's where it stands as of February 9, 2026.
 | I wasn’t going to share this because y’all are professionals compared to me. A few week ago I posted about being a newbie, 54f with no experience skateboarding or surfing growing up. I do mountain bike. Anyway, I got on my Pint this weekend and since I was going slow, being hand held, I didn’t use my helmet or wrist guards in the grass but I will next time. I found the side rollover to be the best dismount for my comfort level. Thank you to everyone for your encouragement, especially my new friend, OneWheel Dave. Happy Wheeling!!! [link] [comments] |
Discord said today it's rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month, when it will automatically set all users' accounts to a "teen-appropriate" experience unless they demonstrate that they're adults. From a report: Users who aren't verified as adults will not be able to access age-restricted servers and channels, won't be able to speak in Discord's livestream-like "stage" channels, and will see content filters for any content Discord detects as graphic or sensitive. They will also get warning prompts for friend requests from potentially unfamiliar users, and DMs from unfamiliar users will be automatically filtered into a separate inbox. [...] A government ID might still be required for age verification in its global rollout. According to Discord, to remove the new "teen-by-default" changes and limitations, "users can choose to use facial age estimation or submit a form of identification to [Discord's] vendor partners, with more options coming in the future." The first option uses AI to analyze a user's video selfie, which Discord says never leaves the user's device. If the age group estimate (teen or adult) from the selfie is incorrect, users can appeal it or verify with a photo of an identity document instead. That document will be verified by a third party vendor, but Discord says the images of those documents "are deleted quickly -- in most cases, immediately after age confirmation."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
US president not challenged over false claims climate change is ‘hoax’ and parts of London have sharia law
The UK’s media regulator Ofcom has been accused of abandoning “any pretence” of guarding against misleading and biased television coverage, after it refused to investigate a series of complaints about a GB News interview with Donald Trump.
During the interview with the rightwing network, broadcast last November, the US president falsely claimed human-induced climate change was “a hoax” and that London had no-go areas for police. He said parts of the capital had “sharia law”.
Continue reading...Ex-CNN anchor arrested after covering anti-ICE protest says it was ‘very frightening’ to experience official overreach
The former CNN anchor Don Lemon has warned the US must “keep fighting” for its right to a free press, calling it “the breath in the lungs of democracy” following his arrest alongside another journalist by the Trump administration.
Lemon was arrested late last month, days after covering an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Sterling is dropping this morning after the resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, increased the pressure on the prime minister.
The pound has fallen by half a eurocent to €1.146, the lowest since 22 January.
In the UK, political pressure on PM Starmer is mounting which is weighing on UK assets
The Japanese parliamentary election, held yesterday, saw an overwhelming victory for the Liberal Democratic Party. The party, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, won two thirds of the seats in the lower house, the best result for a single party since the end of the Second World War.
Japanese stocks performed well as Takaichi intends to pursue supportive fiscal policy. Japanese government bond yields edged slightly higher, while the yen gained ground after Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama reiterated her willingness to preserve the stability of the currency.
Continue reading...Tom Homan suggested that a widespread approach to immigration operations would lose public support
Tom Homan – the Trump administration’s “border czar” sent to Minnesota in January after federal agents fatally shot two US citizen protesters – warned last year that the government’s aggressive, widespread approach to immigration enforcement would cost it public support.
Homan made the observation in an interview with NBC in June for the forthcoming book Undue Process, by the network’s homeland security correspondent, analyzing the immigration policy of mass deportation that Donald Trump has pursued during his second presidency.
Continue reading...Want to buy a home or refinance the one you live in now? Here are the mortgage interest rates to know right now.
Detentions of senior Reformists Front figures follow criticism of the authorities’ handling of recent protests
The head of Iran’s Reformists Front, the organisation instrumental in securing the election of the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has been arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in a move that is likely to exacerbate tensions over the handling of recent street protests.
Azar Mansouri, the secretary general of the Islamic Iran People party, had expressed deep sorrow at protesters’ deaths, and said nothing could justify such a catastrophe. She had not in public called for the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to resign.
Continue reading...Sarwar tells press conference: ‘The distraction has to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change’
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has called on Keir Starmer to stand down, throwing the prime minister’s leadership of the country into serious peril.
At a hastily arranged press conference in Glasgow, the senior Labour politician said: “The distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”
Continue reading...Play your own Big Game at home on your Xbox.
Successful reruns are rare in the NFL. And New England showed enough holes on Sunday to suggest making it back to the big dance soon will be tough
The greatest lie a fanbase tells itself is that there is always next year.
It is the softest landing spot in sport, a comfort blanket after a crushing defeat. Next year, we’ll be healthier. Next year, we’ll fix our offensive line. Next year, we’ll add that superstar receiver and retain all our guys. Next year.
Continue reading...Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is one of the most-streamed artists on the planet.
Every plan comes with unlimited DVR, too.
The latest tranche of Epstein files put added scrutiny on some of Britain’s elite, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, the former U.S. ambassador.
Thousands walk out after talks with district failed to reach agreement on wages, healthcare and resources for students with special needs
Thousands of public schoolteachers in San Francisco went on strike on Monday, the first public schoolteachers strike in the city in nearly 50 years.
The strike comes after teachers and the district failed to reach an agreement over higher wages, health benefits and more resources for special needs students. The San Francisco Unified School District closed all its 120 schools and said it would offer independent study to some of the district’s 50,000 students.
Continue reading...The AI boom has revived a workplace philosophy that China's own regulators cracked down on years ago: the 72-hour work week, known as 996 for its 9am-to-9pm, six-days-a-week cadence. US startups flush with venture capital are now openly advertising it as a feature, not a bug. Rilla, a New York-based AI company that monitors sales reps in the field, warns applicants on its careers page to expect roughly 70-hour weeks. Browser-Use, a seven-person startup building tools for AI-to-browser interaction, operates out of a shared "hacker house" where the line between living and working barely exists. In a market where dozens of startups are racing to ship similar AI products, founders believe longer hours buy them a competitive edge. But the research disagrees. A WHO and ILO analysis tied 55-plus-hour weeks to 745,000 deaths from stroke and heart disease globally in 2016 alone. Michigan State University found that an employee working 70 hours produces nearly the same output as one working 50.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A Democrat running to pick up one of the party’s top target House seats recently worked for two defense contractors looking to help the federal government use artificial intelligence for border surveillance and military projects.
Cait Conley, a Special Operations combat veteran and former national security adviser under former President Joe Biden, is running in the crowded Democratic primary to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th Congressional District. Her candidate financial disclosures show that she earned more than $80,000 between January 2024 and July 2025 from two companies, Primer and Hidden Level.
Both companies partner with far-right billionaire Peter Thiel’s surveillance tech firm Palantir to help government agencies use AI. Both are military contractors; Hidden Level holds an active contract with the Department of War, and Primer’s most recent one was paid out last year. Primer has also praised President Donald Trump’s AI policy and advertises on its website that it “helps” the Department of Homeland Security with data and intelligence work and that “Primer’s AI platforms support DHS missions,” but it does not appear to have an active deal with the department in a federal contracting database.
“Cait believes AI can be both an opportunity and a risk to the middle class and is determined to shape AI policy so that it grows and strengthens middle-class New Yorkers, rather than being used to further enrich billionaires,” said Conley campaign manager Emily Goldson in a statement to The Intercept. “She’ll be a leader in Congress, ensuring working Americans are included in the growth created and aren’t left behind.”
Running in a swing district north of New York City, Conley has walked a fine line on matters of immigration and the national security apparatus, blasting Trump for deploying the military to U.S. cities and criticizing immigration agents for killing protesters. On her campaign website, she pledges to “stand strong on our national security priorities,” including “defending the homeland, fighting crime, and fixing our broken immigration system.”
Conley’s close ties to companies at the intersection of AI and national security policy aren’t a surprise given her military background. But her connections to the firms raise questions about how she might approach those policy sectors in Congress, said Albert Fox Cahn, a civil rights attorney who previously led the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and is a lifelong resident of New York’s 17th District.
“At a time when we see so many Silicon Valley companies having their technology weaponized against immigrant communities, these sorts of consulting roles raise questions about what exactly she did and what lines were drawn,” Cahn told The Intercept.
It’s unclear what exactly Conley did at the companies, according to her candidate disclosure filed with the House Clerk. She started consulting for Primer at some point after January 2024, when she left her previous job as an adviser for the Department of Homeland Security under Biden. In the period ending in July 2025, she earned $12,500 for her consulting work for that company.
Touting the candidate’s military service, Goldson said that Conley “has worked with a range of private and public sector entities, either through her work at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) or as a consultant, to help keep American families and American infrastructure, like stadiums and other public spaces and our energy grid, safe from terrorist attacks.” The campaign did not comment on The Intercept’s questions about whether Conley was still employed by either firm.
Between January 2024 and July 2025, Conley earned $68,000 from Hidden Level, which works in radio-frequency sensing and airspace security, including monitoring unauthorized drone activity. Hidden Level’s data is used in Palantir’s Maven platform, which Trump’s Pentagon awarded a $480 million contract in May. When Trump announced his plan to build a “golden dome” missile defense system — described by one critic as “more of a political marketing scheme than a carefully thought-out defense program” — Hidden Level released a statement applauding his plan and saying it “stands ready to support this mission today.” Of a White House directive to cut waste in commercial technology in April, the company said the “policy shift doesn’t just validate the model Hidden Level was built on, it demands it.”
‘‘I get nervous when people are quick to invoke the language of national security and counter-terrorism. It raises more questions than it answers.”
Both companies have received lucrative contracts from the federal government under previous administrations. Primer has won at least $7.2 million in contracts from the Department of Defense since 2021, according to federal spending records. Hidden Level earned just under $3 million in Pentagon contracts to monitor airspace and bolster the federal system that manages drone traffic between 2022 and 2024 under former President Joe Biden.
“We’ve seen just how brazenly people can manipulate the label ‘national security and counterterrorism’ and the ways it can mask government efforts aimed at people who never pose a threat to our country. As a civil rights lawyer and activist, I get very nervous when people are quick to invoke the language of national security and counter-terrorism,” said Cahn, the civil rights lawyer. “It raises more questions than it answers.”
The seat in suburban New York, which includes north Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Dutchess counties, is a top priority for Democrats. It was one of four New York House seats the party lost to Republicans amid a slew of upsets in the 2022 midterms. The winner of the June Democratic primary will take on Lawler, a Republican who flipped the seat that cycle after a combination of redistricting and Democratic infighting helped him beat former Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.
Conley is one of six candidates running for the Democratic nomination. Other contenders include local official and tech founder Peter Chatzky, who has funded his own campaign with more than $10 million; Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson; lawyer and former television reporter Mike Sacks; nonprofit executive Effie Phillips-Staley; and Air Force veteran John Cappello.
Conley has campaigned on her military experience and highlighted the fact that the Russian government banned her from the country because of her work on Biden’s National Security Council. She said she hopes voters in the swing district will see her lack of traditional political experience as a positive. “We need people who take public service seriously, who are not politicians, who are actual leaders and problem solvers,” Conley told the New York Times in March.
Her campaign originally focused primarily on issues of affordability and improving Hudson Valley infrastructure, including criticizing Trump’s economic policies. As the campaign progressed, Conley has become more aggressive in criticizing Trump’s intensifying attacks on cities around the country and his nationwide crackdown on immigrants.
Goldson said that Conley believed in holding ICE accountable, investigating the officials responsible for the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “Congress must pass legislation ensuring ICE operates lawfully like local law enforcement, including banning masks and requiring judicial warrants for arrest, and sending CBP back to the border where it belongs,” she added.
Lawler, meanwhile, has urged immigration agents to “reassess their current tactics,” while refraining from criticizing Trump.
Conley has faced criticism throughout the campaign — much of it from Republicans — for not voting in recent midterm elections and registering as a Democrat just before she launched her campaign. Critics attacked her for moving to the district in January from Virginia, though she grew up in the Hudson Valley.
Her detractors have pointed out that many of her donors come from outside the district, several of them from the defense and tech industries.
Conley has received $10,000 in contributions from Matt and Kimberly Grimm, the former of whom is the co-founder of Anduril Industries. Anduril, which was heavily backed by Thiel, builds autonomous drones, systems to surveil the border, and surveillance towers powered by AI.
“There’s a lot of questions to answer, and I think that this is true for candidates across the country who have worked for these companies in the past or who you know are receiving large donations from their employees,” Cahn said. “There’s a growing recognition that many of these tech firms are carrying out a mission that is fundamentally at odds with the values that Democrats hold and most Americans hold.”
Conley’s donors also include a vice president and other employees at the top Washington lobbying firm BGR group, which has represented the Saudi government – until it cut ties with the country in 2018 – and companies like defense giant Raytheon and the energy behemoth Chevron, as well as big pharmaceutical firms. BGR vice president Joel Bailey gave Conley’s campaign $500 in July, while BGR principals Syd Terry and Fred Turner each also gave Conley’s campaign $250. BGR senior director Hai Peng has given $5,500 to Conley’s campaign since May. None of the BGR donors listed residences in New York.
In a statement to The Intercept, Peng said he met Conley at Oklahoma’s Fort Sill close to two decades ago and made the contribution in his personal capacity. “I genuinely believe she is the kind of leader our country needs right now,” Peng said.
Conley has been endorsed by several political action committees including MD PAC, previously known as Majority Democrats PAC, which has given $90,900, VoteVets, Equality PAC, and Giffords PAC. She’s also endorsed by several local officials and political leaders, as well as Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y.
Cahn said he wasn’t sure who, if anyone, he would vote for in the primary. But he sees the race as an example of the opportunity voters have to hold Democrats to a higher standard of accountability than in the past, particularly when it comes to policy issues like technology, surveillance, and artificial intelligence.
“We’re at a new moment of accountability within the tech sector more broadly, as we start to recognize that so many tech companies are part of the apparatus that is powering ICE’s attacks,” Cahn said. “This is especially notable for someone who’s running based off of their time in military defense roles.”
The post NY Democratic House Candidate Worked for Palantir Partners Pushing AI Border Surveillance appeared first on The Intercept.
Thousands of students across the US have been walking out of their schools to protest ICE in their communities
Over the past six months, thousands of students have been walking out of their schools in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) presence in their communities. Some of their schools supported the protests; some didn’t, threatening disciplinary action. Other schools stayed neutral out of fear of inviting unwanted attention to vulnerable immigrant students.
The Guardian spoke to seven teenagers who led or participated in school walkouts. Many said their organizing went beyond leaving class, extending to checking social media for suspected ICE sightings, distributing “know your rights” materials and making political posters. All were resolute about the need to protest against ICE regardless of any risk – and whether or not they got support from the grownups around them.
Continue reading...It’s time for an OSNews fundrasier! This time, it’s unplanned due to a financial emergency after our car unexpectedly had to be scrapped (you can find more details below). If you want to support one of the few independent technology news websites left, this is your chance. OSNews is entirely supported by you, our readers, so go to our Ko-Fi and donate to our emergency fundraiser today!
Why support OSNews?
In short, we are truly independent. After turning off our ads, our Patreons and donors are our sole source of income, and since I know many of you prefer the occasional individual donation over recurring Patreon ones, I run a fundraiser a few times a year to rally the troops, so to speak. This particular fundraiser wasn’t planned, however, given the circumstances described below, several readers have urged me to run a fundraiser now.
We’re incredibly grateful for even having the opportunity to do something like this, and as always, I’d like to stress that OSNews will never be paywalled, and that access to our website will never be predicated on your financial support. You can ignore all of this and continue on reading the site as usual.
Sadly, and unexpectedly, we’ve had to scrap our car. Our 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe did not survive this Arctic Winter, as the two decades in the biting cold has taken a toll on a long list of components and parts – it would no longer start. After consulting an expert, we determined that repairs would’ve been too expensive to make financial sense for such an old vehicle. Sometimes, you have to take the loss lest you throw money down a pit. An unreliable car in an Arctic climate is a really bad idea, since getting stranded on a back road somewhere when it’s -30°C (or colder) with two toddlers is not going to be a fun time.
On top of that, my wife uses our car to commute to work, and while using the bus is going to be fine for a little while, her job in home care for the very elderly and recovering alcoholics is incredibly stressful and intensive. Dealing with bus schedules and wait times at such low temperatures is not exactly compatible with her job. Since she’s just recovering from a doctor-mandated rest period – very common in her line of work – her income has taken a hit. Taking professional care of people with severe dementia or other old-age related conditions is a thankless and underpaid job, and it’s no surprise those working in this profession often require mandated rest (and thus a temporary pay cut).
And so, urged on by readers on Mastodon, I’m doing an OSNews fundraiser to help us pay for the “new” car. Of course, we’re looking for a used car, not a new one, and based on our needs we’ve set a budget of around €10,000. This should allow us to buy something like a used Mazda 6 or Volvo V60 from around 2014-2015, or something similar in size and age, with a reasonable petrol engine (an EV is well out of our price range). We consider this the sweet spot for safety features, size, age, longevity, and reliability. We’ve got some savings, but most of the purchase price will have to come in the form of a car loan. We’ve already made some changes to our monthly expenses to cover for part of the monthly repayments, including a lucky break where our daycare expenses will be going down considerably next month.
Based on this, I’ve set the fundraising goal at €5000. If we manage to hit that – and the last few times we hit our goals quite fast – it won’t cover the entire purchase price, but it will cut down on the amount we need to loan considerably.
I’m feeling a little apprehensive about all of this, since this isn’t really an OSNews-related expense I can easily get some content out of. However, I’m entirely open to suggestions about how I could get some OSNews content out of this – perhaps buying and installing one of those Android headunits with a large display? They make them tailored for almost every vehicle at low prices on AliExpress, and the installation process and user experience might be something interesting to write about, as it’s potentially a great way to add some modern features to an older car. Feel free to make any suggestions.
I’m also open to other crazy ideas. If you happen to work at an automaker, and need some testing done in an Arctic environment – including ice roads – I’m open to ideas.
Since about half of our audience hails from the United States, I figured I’d make a few notes about car pricing in Europe, and in Arctic Sweden in particular. Cars are definitely more expensive here in Europe, doubly so in the sparsely populated area where we live (low supply leads to higher prices). Buying a brand new car is entirely out of the question due to pricing, and leasing is also far too expensive (well over €500/month for even a basic, small car). Used electric cars are still well out of our budget as well, and since we don’t have our own driveway, we wouldn’t be able to charge at home anyway.
Opting to forego a car entirely is sadly not an option either. With two small children, the Arctic climate, the remoteness, my wife’s stressful job and commute, and long distances to basic amenities, we can’t “go Dutch” and live off public transport and bicycles, no matter how much we’d want to. We have considered it, but it’s just not a realistic long-term solution. Had we lived in The Netherlands or in a big city, going carless would’ve possibly been a more realistic option.
We intended to drive the Santa Fe until it fell apart, but we did not expect this to happen so soon. Feel free to sound off if you have any other questions regarding car buying and ownership where we live, and I’ll try my best to answer your questions.
As always, thank you for your support, thank you for reading OSNews, and thank you for being here.
CHICAGO, Feb. 9, 2026 — Infleqtion, a global leader in quantum computing and quantum sensing, today announced it has executed its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), formally launching development under its $6.2 million Enhancing Neutral-atom Computers for Optimizing Delivery of Energy (ENCODE) project.
This program, which includes key collaborations with Argonne National Laboratory, the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NRL), EPRI, and ComEd, is the first quantum project for the department focusing on advancing the application of quantum-enhanced computational methods to advance energy grid optimization. This announcement follows Infleqtion’s plans to go public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp X.
Expanding Energy Capability
As electricity demand rises due to rapid electrification and power-intensive AI computing, grid operators face optimization challenges that exceed the capacity of classical systems. While industry-standard solvers like Gurobi and CPLEX have delivered billions of dollars in annual value by optimizing these systems, they are reaching their computational limits. The ENCODE program addresses this gap by applying quantum-enhanced logic to provide the precision and speed necessary for a secure and stable energy future. Infleqtion’s unique quantum solutions have the potential to improve energy affordability and increase grid stability by enabling more efficient dispatch, transmission, and resource optimization across increasingly complex power systems.
The Full Stack Advantage
Achieving quantum progress in the energy sector requires co-design across the full computing stack. Infleqtion’s end-to-end capabilities, from our neutral-atom processors to the Superstaq optimization layer, uniquely position us to accelerate development in grid optimization. Our platform offers a dual benefit for critical infrastructure: it is built on a foundation of large-scale neutral-atom arrays, having already demonstrated 1,600 qubit array, and operates on kilowatts of energy. This scalability is further validated by our recent achievement of 12 logical qubits with error detection, paving the way for fault-tolerant computing without the megawatt-scale demands of traditional supercomputers.
“As the surge in power-intensive computing and new demands on domestic energy production push our infrastructure to its limits, securing the grid has become a matter of national capability,” said Matt Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion. “We are grateful for ARPA-E’s leadership in prioritizing the use of quantum computing to solve the hyper-complex optimization problems facing modern power networks, ensuring a resilient national system that is truly equipped for the next decade of demand.”
A Trusted Partner in National Security
This contract execution marks another milestone in Infleqtion’s 19-year history as a trusted supplier to the U.S. government and its allies. With hundreds of successful contracts for government and commercial entities, Infleqtion’s deep-rooted experience ensures its solutions are grounded in technical stability and a proven track record of advancing quantum technology for emerging and critical infrastructure.
Strategic Collaboration for Critical Infrastructure
Beyond this specific contract, Infleqtion’s work across the Department of Energy laboratory system includes ongoing efforts with Argonne National Laboratory and the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), including this recently awarded ARPA-E initiative. Together, these partnerships underscore Infleqtion’s broad commitment to supporting national labs with scalable quantum software and technologies that accelerate both foundational research and real-world impact.
More from HPCwire: Infleqtion Secures $6.2M ARPA-E Award to Advance Quantum-Powered Energy Grid Optimization
About Infleqtion
Infleqtion is a global leader in quantum sensing and quantum computing, powered by neutral-atom technology. We design and build quantum computers, precision sensors, and quantum software for governments, enterprises, and research institutions. Our commercial portfolio includes quantum computers as well as quantum Radio Frequency (QRF) systems, quantum clocks, and inertial navigation solutions. Infleqtion is the partner of choice for governments and commercial customers seeking cutting-edge quantum capabilities. Infleqtion announced in September 2025 it plans to go public via a merger with Churchill Capital Corp X (NASDAQ: CCCX). For more information, visit Infleqtion.com.
Source: Infleqtion
The post Infleqtion Advances ARPA-E Quantum Computing Grid Optimization Program appeared first on HPCwire.
Only two survivors rescued after boat overturned off Libyan coast, UN migration agency says
Fifty-three people are dead or missing after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the UN migration agency said on Monday. Only two survivors were rescued.
The International Organization for Migration said the boat overturned north of Zuwara on Friday, in the latest disaster involving people attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing in the hope of reaching Europe.
Continue reading...Nine members of police’s CRS division allegedly ‘repeatedly struck non-hostile demonstrators’ in Paris in 2018
Nine officers from the French riot police have gone on trial in Paris accused of beating peaceful protesters who were sheltering from teargas during the “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests) anti-government demonstrations in 2018.
The case at Paris’s criminal court is one of the biggest trials over alleged police violence during the unrest in 2018 and 2019, when hundreds of thousands of protesters in fluorescent jackets took to the streets over rising fuel taxes in what morphed into broader anti-government protests against the president, Emmanuel Macron.
Continue reading...The FBI says it is taking two emails seriously, including what appears to be a ransom note with a second deadline set for later on Monday.
Trading social media for Pokémon battles and evolutions in Kanto on a Game Boy Advance has been surprisingly serene
Cutting back on doomscrolling must be one of the hardest new year resolutions to keep. Instinctively tapping on the usual suspects on your phone’s home screen becomes a reflex, and vast quantities of money and user data have been specifically employed to keep you reaching for the phone, ingraining it into our work, leisure and social lives. You’ll get no shame from me if you love your phone and have a healthy relationship with your apps, but I’ve found myself struggling lately.
This year, I’m attempting to cut back on screen time – sort of. I’m replacing the sleek oblong of my smartphone with something a little more fuzzy and nostalgic. In an attempt to dismantle my bad habit, I’m closing the feeds of instant updates and instead carrying around a Game Boy Advance. I’ve been playing Pokémon FireRed, a remake of the very first Pokémon games, which turn 30 this month. Even this refreshed version is more than two decades old.
Continue reading...About a year ago I mentioned that I had rediscovered the Dillo Web Browser. Unlike some of my other hobbies, endeavours, and interests, my appreciation for Dillo has not wavered.
I only have a moment to gush today, so I’ll cut right to it. Dillo has been plugging along nicely (see the Git forge.) and adding little features. Features that even I, a guy with a blog, can put to use. Here are a few of my favourites.
↫ Bobby Hiltz
If you’re looking for a more minimalist, less distracting browser experience that gives you a ton of interesting UNIXy control, you should really consider giving Dillo a try.
The NFL appeared keen to welcome the sport’s non-Maga contingent back into the tent. But the theater and violence of capitalism was still there
Roger Federer smiling wolfishly to the crowd: a return to woke? Adam Sandler hangdog in the Levi’s Stadium stands, Jon Bon Jovi mooching on the sideline like a retired dentist on a cruise, Billie Joe Armstrong belting out American Idiot during the pre-game show under his motionless meringue of fogey-blond hair: were they a sign? A New England Patriots team who were neither favored to win nor widely reviled, then promptly repaid a grateful public by losing: was this the Super Bowl which proved that history really can move on, that America is not fated to remain hostage to the tremors and hatreds of the past? Well, yes and no.
A year after Donald Trump made American football’s showpiece all about him, Sunday’s game in Santa Clara always promised a sort of correction – a cooling of the mood, perhaps even an end to the manipulation of sport for political ends. As always the best way to gauge the success of this mission was as the gods intended: through a TV screen. Trump – saddled with historically low approval ratings, facing a massacre in this year’s midterms, and no doubt wary of risking a public appearance in the deep blue sea of the Bay Area – was absent on this occasion, and he kept the F-22 fighter jets that were scheduled to be part of the pre-game flyover away from Levi’s Stadium too. (Unspecified “operational assignments” were the reason offered for the jets’ withdrawal, which means there’s probably a low-ranking member of the Trump administration putting big money on a US military strike somewhere in Latin America as we speak.) And yet, the absent autocrat still weighed on proceedings, his curdling influence turning every moment and gesture on Sunday into a referendum on the prospects for a post-Trumpian sporting future. Could football be normal again?
Continue reading...PRINCETON, N.J. and SHANGHAI, Feb. 9, 2026 — QuantX Biosciences, Inc., a computationally driven drug discovery and development company using advanced modeling and high-performance computing (HPC) to rapidly design and optimize oral small molecule therapeutics, announced today the close of an oversubscribed $85 million Series B financing co-led by LAV and Sanofi Ventures. Additional investors included Hongshan, and existing investors.
The proceeds from this financing will be used to support the clinical development of its best-in-class STAT6 oral small molecule inhibitor and IL-17 oral small molecule inhibitor, in addition to continued discovery efforts for oral therapies in immunology and inflammation.
“This fundraising is a watershed moment for QuantX as we continue to refine our strong discovery engine, add to our robust pipeline, and advance multiple programs towards human studies,” said Wei Li, Ph.D., Interim Chief Executive Officer of QuantX and a Founding Partner of Creacion Ventures. “In only three years, we’ve assembled a world-class team that’s been successful in not only discovering multiple, new, first-in-class small molecule candidates for diseases with large patient populations, but have also advanced these to IND-enabling studies.”
David Wang, MD, Ph.D., Partner and Senior Managing Director of OrbiMed, added, “The combination of QuantX’s ability to deliver best-in-class assets and the speed by which they’re able to advance these programs makes for a unique value proposition across a variety of therapeutic indications. We look forward to continuing our support of QuantX as they endeavor to transform the standards of care across a range of diseases.”
QuantX Biosciences was co-founded by veteran drug hunters Wayne Tang, Ph.D. and Yax Sun, Ph.D. in 2022. Since its inception, the company has focused on the development of a world class computational drug discovery platform by merging physics-based and statistical modeling, which has resulted in the development of multiple high quality oral small molecule development candidates.
Previously incubated by OrbiMed and Creacion Ventures, QuantX has raised $130 million to date.
About QuantX Biosciences
QuantX Biosciences is a privately held pharmaceutical company advancing oral small-molecule medicines through a computationally driven drug discovery platform. The company integrates physics-based modeling, statistical methods, and computational chemistry to rapidly design and optimize drug candidates against clinically validated targets. QuantX is focused on building a pipeline of differentiated therapies for immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases, with the goal of improving development efficiency and success rates. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, QuantX Biosciences is backed by leading life science investors and a team with deep expertise in drug discovery and development.
Source: QuantX Biosciences
The post QuantX Biosciences Closes Oversubscribed $85M Series B Financing appeared first on HPCwire.
I just wanted to jump on here and see if anyone had a rebuttal for me.
Don't get me wrong, the idea of a wheelie button is super cool, but both of these bikes are head scratchers for me. The prices, you are firmly in Honda Grom territory with these prices. Hopping over the Navi that sells for 2,000. Why would I buy a less capable minibike on purpose?
BUT ITS ELECTRIC! you say?! I think that 3 years ago these would have made sense, but with the legislation coming in requiring things like this to be registered/licensed, I can't see the real upside. Super 73 adds bike pedals to skirt around the rules, but these don't have the ground clearance for that.
Is it rad, yes. Does it make sense, no.
KDE’s Nate Graham has published a status update about KDE Linux, the KDE project’s new immutable Linux distribution, intended to be the “KDE OS” showcasing the best of the KDE community. While the project is approaching the beta stage, it’s currently still in alpha, but from what I gather from friends who are using it, the alpha label might actually be like how Haiku is supposedly still alpha: intended more to scare people away for now than ana ctual descriptor of the state of the software.
Recently, KDE Linux enabled delta updates, possibly dramatically reducing the size of updates. Before delta updates were enabled, a system update would come in at 7GB, while with delta updates enabled, it’s gone down to 1-2GB. In addition, plasma-setup and plasma-login-manager have been added to KDE Linux, which are, respectively, a first-run setup assistant and KDE’s new login manager. This new login manager was forked from SDDM, and specifically targets Wayland, and comes with much deeper Plasma integration than SDDM. Note that SDDM will remain available for platforms that don’t use Wayland.
KDE Linux has also massively improved its hardware support, and the list is long; from scanners to fancy multi-button mice, from Android devices to professional audio devices, and much more. Performance has been improved as well, the boot manager menu will no longer be shown at every boot but only when needed, the wireless regulatory domain is now properly set and managed, and much, much more.
I’m keeping an eye on KDE Linux as a possible replacement for my Fedora KDE installations if Fedora ever loses the plot, even if it’s an immutable distribution relying on Flatpak. I’m a KDE user, and I want the latest and greatest the KDE community has to offer without going through an distributor.
A mounting body of research is making it harder for companies to justify what most of them still do -- push experienced workers out the door just as they're hitting their professional peak. A 2025 study published in the journal Intelligence analyzed 16 cognitive, emotional and personality dimensions and found that while processing speed declines after early adulthood, other capabilities -- including the ability to avoid distractions and accumulated knowledge -- continue to improve, putting peak overall functioning between ages 55 and 60. AARP and OECD data back this up at the firm level: a 10-percentage-point increase in workers above 50 correlates with roughly 1.1% higher productivity. A 2022 Boston Consulting Group study found cross-generational teams outperform homogeneous ones. UK retailer B&Q staffed a store largely with older workers in 1989 and saw profits rise 18%. BMW implemented 70 ergonomic changes at a German plant in 2007 and recorded a 7% productivity gain. Yet an Urban Institute analysis of U.S. data from 1992 to 2016 found more than half of workers above 50 were pushed out of long-held jobs before they chose to retire.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Newly released documents detail convicted sex offender’s early backing of bitcoin and Coinbase
Millions of files related to Jeffrey Epstein have brought to light his ties to the highest echelons of the cryptocurrency industry.
Documents published last week by the US Department of Justice reveal Epstein bankrolled the “principal home and funding source” for bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, during its nascent stages; he also invested $3m in Coinbase in 2014, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, and cut a check that same year to Blockstream, a prominent bitcoin-focused technology firm. Both crypto startups accepted Epstein’s investments in 2014 – six years after his 2008 conviction in Florida for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Continue reading...Protesters have been blowing whistles to alert people to agents’ presence – and that has upset figures on the right
When Justin Vernon of Bon Iver appeared on the red carpet at the Grammy awards he was wearing an accessory that has become a must-carry for activists in neighborhoods targeted by ICE: a whistle.
The whistle has become a key part in the defense against Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown, used to alert people to the presence of agents. But it has also become a target for the right, who have branded whistles “hearing-loss-causing machines” and said the act of blowing a whistle may constitute “assault”.
Continue reading...Australia needs a balance between protecting the privacy of donors and preserving the transparency of how political parties are funded
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In the latest round of political donation disclosures there was a curious detail. It appeared as if Scott Farquhar, the billionaire co-founder of Atlassian, had donated $22,250 to the Queensland Greens in addition to giving $1.5m to support Climate 200.
Had the tech guru fallen prey to the Greens’ legendary email marketing apparatus?
It is very uncommon for two donors in a single disclosure period to have the same name. In that very unusual occurrence, the unique client identifier is a method to distinguish them as separate individuals. The AEC is further considering such matters for the implementation of other Electoral reform amendments due to commence 1 July 2026.
Continue reading...Push to restart uranium mining in Patagonia has sparked fears about the environmental impact and loss of sovereignty over key resources
On an outcrop above the Chubut River, one of the few to cut across the arid Patagonian steppe of southern Argentina, Sergio Pichiñán points across a wide swath of scrubland to colourful rock formations on a distant hillside.
“That’s where they dug for uranium before, and when the miners left, they left the mountain destroyed, the houses abandoned, and nobody ever studied the water,” he says, citing suspicions arising from cases of cancer and skin diseases in his community. “If they want to open this back up, we’re all pretty worried around here.”
Continue reading...Taylor, who did for Ghanaian music what his friend Fela Kuti did for Nigeria, has been called the greatest rhythm guitarist in history
Ghanaian musician Ebo Taylor, a definitive force behind the highlife genre, has died age 90.
His son Kweku Taylor announced the news on Sunday: “The world has lost a giant. A colossus of African music. Ebo Taylor passed away yesterday; a day after the launch of Ebo Taylor music festival and exactly a month after his 90th birthday, leaving behind an unmatched artistry legacy. Dad, your light will never fade.”
Continue reading...Cameron Kaiser comes in with another amazing article, this time diving into a unique video titler from Canada, released in 1985.
The Super Micro Script was one of several such machines this company made over its lifetime, a stylish self-contained box capable of emitting a 32×16 small or 10×4 large character layer with 64×32 block graphics in eight colours. It could even directly overlay its output over a composite video signal using a built-in genlock, one of the earliest such consumer units to do so. Crack this unit open, however, and you’ll find the show controlled by an off-the-shelf Motorola 6800-family microcontroller and a Motorola 6847 VDG video chip, making it a relative of contemporary 1980s home computers that sometimes used nearly exactly the same architecture.
More important than that, though, it has socketed EPROMs we can theoretically pull and substitute with our own — though we’ll have to figure out why the ROMs look like nonsense, and there’s also the small matter of this unit failing to generate a picture. Nevertheless, when we’re done, another homegrown Canadian computer will rise and shine. We’ll even add a bitbanged serial port and write a MAME emulation driver for it so we can develop software quickly … after we fix it first.
↫ Cameron Kaiser
I know I keep repeating myself, but Kaiser’s work on so many of these rare and unique systems is not only worthwhile and amazing to read, they’re also incredibly valuable from a historical and preservation perspective. This article in hand, anyone who stumbles upon one of these machines can get the most out of it, possibly fix one, and use it for fun projects. I’m incredibly grateful for this sort of work.
Video titles are such an interesting relic of the past. These days, adding titles to a video is child’s play, but back when computing power came at a massive premium and digital video was but a distant dream, using analog video to overlay text onto was the best way to go about it. Video titler makers did try to move the technology from professional settings to home settings, but from what I can gather, this move never really paid off.
Still, I’d love to buy one of these at some point and mess around with it. There’s some real cool retro effects you can create with these.
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
KAMPALA, UGANDA — Ever since President Donald Trump was elected a year ago, sex workers in Kampala have suffered. The sex has suddenly become too painful.
For years, sex workers and public health workers in Uganda say condoms and sexual lubricant were plentiful. Usually paid for by American foreign aid programs such as USAID and PEPFAR, they were distributed “in bars, in hospitals, in hotels, anywhere people gathered,” said Turinawe Samson, founder of Universal Love Alliance Clinic in Kampala. In a country where about 5 percent of the population has HIV — the tenth highest prevalence rate in the world — easy access was key to slowing the spread of the disease and saving lives.
But immediately after Trump’s election in November 2024 — months before the Trump administration cut funding to USAID and PEPFAR — things began to change in Uganda.
Lube became stigmatized as “an immoral product used by sex workers and homosexuals,” according to Samson. Uganda’s Ministry of Health doesn’t group it among “essential health commodities,” meaning its import isn’t subsidized. Few health facilities in Uganda are able to procure it. Where it can be commercially purchased, the product is either prohibitively expensive due to diminishing supply, being dangerously sold past its expiration date, or both.
This lack of lube and the broader shaming of sex in Uganda may well result in more vaginal and urinary tract infections, and more sexually transmitted infections — including HIV.
“We need to not be judged.”
People have started using “cooking oil, unhygienic products” or “nothing at all,” said Babu Ramahdan, an LGBTQ+ and human rights activist who is on his way to becoming an unlikely Ugandan lube manufacturer. “I’ve got all the ingredients,” he says with pride, and he’s already made some samples (including in different flavors). He even met with university researchers eager to help him produce it domestically. But for Ramahdan, getting his product through clinical trials may prove as difficult as finding funding: In Uganda, as in large swaths of the United States, gaining institutional approval to research anything seemingly related to LGBTQ+ health has become almost impossible.
Condoms, too, are harder to find. They are not being given away freely with the same frequency, so those who need them increasingly must buy them. But they are economically out of reach for those who need them most in a country where the average income is less than $100 a month. Interviews with 10 patients and practitioners at a clinic run for and by sex workers revealed the stark economics: Sex with a condom goes for as little as 2,000 shillings (less than 50 U.S. cents) and up to about 6,000 ($1.50). But a condom costs a sex worker 3,000 to 4,000 shillings (between 75 cents and $1) — meaning they might lose money having safe sex. Sex without a condom pays much more: up to 10,000 shillings (about $2.50).
The newfound scarcity of lube and condoms illustrates just one example of how Trump’s policies have disincentivized safe sex and encouraged the transmission of disease in Uganda — not just among sex workers and their clients, but also among men who have sex with men, transgender people, those who use injection drugs, and poor people. In Uganda, these people are euphemistically called “key populations,” or KPs, most at risk for HIV (terms that acknowledge or even hint at queerness have been long avoided, and since Trump was elected, that’s the case even for euphemisms like “minority”).
“We need to not be judged,” one sex worker said, describing her health care needs. “We need to be asked by a doctor, ‘What are your needs?’ We need to feel safe answering about the kinds of sex we have. We need to be listened to, honestly.”
But since the stop work order came on January 20, 2025, for projects funded by the United States, the kinds of clinics where KPs like her will not be judged have either closed with little or no notice or become overburdened by a lack of resources, an influx of clients, or both. This has pushed KPs toward Uganda’s public hospital system, where seeking care means putting themselves at risk of persecution from a homophobic government.
The sex worker who wished to not be judged is one of several who told The Intercept that women in Uganda who test positive for syphilis test three times at a public hospital are denied medication, accused of being a sex worker, or even turned over to the police. (The latter means she could be arrested, extorted, or raped.) People living with HIV report that if they seek antiretroviral medication at a public hospital, their privacy may not be respected and their HIV status may be exposed to their neighbors. Queer men, fearful of potentially being referred to the police for “aggravated homosexuality” and prosecuted under Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, often skip seeking health care at public hospitals altogether.
These fears are not confined to so-called KPs: They are making patients who may be suffering from anal fissures, vaginal infections, or rectal cancer refrain from seeking care because they are too afraid. In a country where abortion is illegal and more than 1 million people are living with HIV, this campaign of anti-queerness will result in more people forced to have children they do not want, more people becoming infected with HIV, and without medication, more people eventually dying of AIDS.
In November 2025, almost a year after Trump’s global stop work order, it was nearly impossible to drive anywhere in Kampala and avoid the profile of a mustached man in a white shirt and Panama hat against a stark yellow background.
It was the height of Uganda’s election season, and President Yoweri Museveni was running for a seventh term as Uganda’s president. His face — sometimes rendered several stories in height — was inescapable. At age 81 and already president for four decades, Museveni would soon secure another term after an election in which he shut down the internet and his opposition candidate claimed to have been abducted. Museveni will serve at least 45 years as president of Uganda, if he doesn’t die in office.
Accompanying his 50-foot-high face was the phrase “Protecting the Gains — as we make a qualitative leap into high middle income status.”
Seeing this propaganda spelled out over Uganda’s unpaved roads (and even a UNICEF school made out a fraying tent) led Ugandans who spoke with The Intercept to ask: What gains?
Uganda is not without any resources. It is known as the “pearl of Africa,” a term perhaps first coined by Winston Churchill while on a safari to describe Uganda’s beautiful plants and animals. Today it applies to American, European, and Chinese interest in Uganda’s bounty of rare earth minerals. Uganda is also the birthplace of the River Nile, which not only feeds Northern Africa with fresh water but also the foundations of Western religion — like the story of Moses in the reeds in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
But Uganda has been subjected to what Guyanese historian Walter Rodney has called the deliberate European underdevelopment of Africa. Largely falling historically into five Bantu kingdoms, modern Uganda was colonized in the 19th century, with the Imperial British East Africa Company claiming control of the region in the 1880s. (Anti-queerness was part of the colonial playbook: Despite local ways of living that today might be described as queer or trans, when the British Empire named Uganda a colony in 1894, it criminalized queer sexuality by way of Penal Code Section 377, which punished “whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal.”)
Amid a wave of anti-colonial resistance in Africa, Uganda shook Britain off in 1962. But over the course of six decades of independence, Uganda’s presidency has been defined mostly by two men.
Idi Amin, Uganda’s third president, often cast as a brutal dictator in the West, is remembered, among other things, for expelling all British and 80,000 members of Uganda’s Indian community. Locally, he is remembered as “Big Daddy.” (Among those calling for recasting Amin as a more sympathetic anti-colonial figure is one of those Ugandans whom Amin expelled: Mahmood Mamdani, author of “Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State” and father of the newly elected Uganda American New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani).
“Why have we been relying on the United States for 20 years? Why hasn’t my government made this a priority for us?”
Museveni, Uganda’s ninth president, has ruled since 1985, coinciding with the AIDS era. He quickly became a major face of Uganda’s “ABC” approach to HIV: Abstain before marriage, be faithful in marriage and — if you fail at those two — use a condom. Ugandan HIV prevention workers who did not wish to be named for fear of persecution describe Museveni as indifferent to the crisis and having outsourced all responsibility to foreign funding.
For instance, as one medical doctor put it, when PEPFAR began funding HIV medication in the early 2000s, “it was supposed to be an emergency plan. It’s right there in the name,” the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. “Why have we been relying on the United States for 20 years? Why hasn’t my government made this a priority for us?”
As he managed to retain power for decades, Museveni increasingly turned a tactic of social control favored by political leaders from Vladimir Putin in Russia to Keir Starmer in England to Trump in the United States alike: Whipping up a moral panic about LGBTQ+ people.
All of this history made it so that when public health workers in Uganda encountered what they called the “three disasters” of their recent history, it was hard to recover.
The first occurred on March 21, 2020, when the first Covid-19 case was reported in Uganda, which led to strict lockdowns that made HIV care very difficult to provide.
The second struck in the spring of 2023, with the passage of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. It made “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death and “promoting homosexuality” — which could include gatherings of LGBTQ+ people, discussions to plan HIV prevention, and every meeting attended by The Intercept in reporting this story — punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The standard penalty for consensual same-gender sexual acts is life imprisonment.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed after evangelical missionaries from the United States spent years, and tens of millions of dollars, spreading homophobia in Africa in general and in Uganda specifically. Of the $54 million spent by more than 20 U.S. evangelical groups in Africa’s 54 nations from 2007 to 2020 “to influence laws, policies, and public opinion against sexual and reproductive rights,” about a third went to Uganda, according to OpenDemocracy.
And the third disaster came on November 5, 2024, when Trump was reelected. Not only did PEPFAR and USAID funds quickly disappear, but strict restrictions were also placed on the little aid that survived. For example, PrEP — pre-exposure prophylaxis, which prevents HIV infection — could no longer officially be given to those most at risk, such as sex workers or gay men, but only to pregnant and nursing mothers.
And yet, despite the “three disasters,” dedicated queer and trans Ugandans — many who could flee to exile to secure their own personal safety — refuse to give up trying to protect the health of their community, even as they’re being crushed.
Things are so bad under Trump, some Ugandan health care providers are pining for George W. Bush.
“George Bush Jr., is my best friend,” Dr. Edith Namulema, chief of the HIV/AIDS Counseling and Home Care Department at Mengo Hospital in Uganda, told The Intercept.
Over the sound of chirping tropical birds, Dr. Namulema spoke in a large, breezy part of her ward that is mostly used to treat patients with tuberculosis, who slept on the other side of thin blue curtains. Just outside was an adjacent clinic room with a roof but no walls for treating people with HIV, where patients were having their blood drawn by smiling young phlebotomists in dark blue scrubs.
Namulema never met Bush. But despite his global trail of destruction spurred by his war on terror — and his generally homophobic domestic agenda — such effusive praise for “Bush Jr.” is common among African AIDS researchers and doctors.
Namulema has worked with HIV since the 1990s, before there were medications that prevented an HIV diagnosis from becoming a guaranteed AIDS death sentence. For years, she buried one patient after another.
But when Bush made antiretroviral medication available circa 2001 via PEPFAR, she saw the deaths begin to slow within a week.
A nurse at Universal Love Alliance described a startling shift in the first year of Trump’s second term. “I have seen people die with HIV before,” she said. “But I rarely saw someone die because they could not adhere to their medications.” Over the last decade, the nurse witnessed maybe one death per year due to a patient failing to take their medication. In 2025, she saw this happen 10 times.
Every nurse and HIV peer educator in a community clinic who spoke to The Intercept said they have seen an uptick in HIV-diagnoses and related deaths. Official statistics do not show this trend — sources say it’s because they are not able to record “KP data.” The Trump cuts have, predictably, caused a chaotic data scenario. The Uganda Ministry of Health predicts four Ugandans are becoming infected with HIV every hour. Meanwhile, the Uganda AIDS Commission reported a “sharp fall” in AIDS-related deaths of 64 percent to the Parliament in October.
One doctor interviewed by The Intercept at a large hospital said they have not seen an increase in HIV positivity, but attributed it to the fact that “KPs are in hiding” and the hospital lost all funding to hire people to go where KPs dare to live.
En route to a “KP clinic” in Kampala, The Intercept rode in a four-wheel-drive Toyota. The passengers included Samson, who fled his rural village town for Kampala when he realized the other boys were trying to burn him with acid because he was gay, and Kukunda Sharon, a former school instructor who goes by “Teacher” and “had to escape” her village when her lesbianism was met with an attempt to coerce her into a forced marriage; she is now associate director of Universal Love Alliance.
Even in Kampala’s center near the U.S. Embassy — an intimidating imperial outpost that takes 10 minutes to drive around — the roads are not great, but at least they are paved. But as the SUV sloped downhill, it traveled onto rough red clay roads lined by open gutters of untreated sewage. The buildings grew lower, then came single-story metal roofed shacks, where people live largely without electricity or plumbing.
Nearly 7 million people live in Kampala, and yet the city has no functional train or bus system. Kampalans move about in “taxis” (minivans that seat 14, which LGBTQ+ people consider too dangerous), or on the back of “boda boda” motorbikes. Such movement is difficult for people who are sick and, given the high price of petrol, it is economically prohibitive; gas is roughly the same price as in the United States, even though the average income in Uganda is just about 1 percent of America’s average income. People walk long distances on roads without sidewalks to get where they need to go — nearly impossible for sick people.
Thus when it comes to treating HIV effectively, it is necessary to have many clinics spread throughout the city’s poorest areas so that people living with HIV can come for their medical care, or have their medicine delivered. A year ago, the Ugandan Health Ministry announced it would be shutting all HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis clinics in the country. According to Sky News, one official said the closure of HIV clinics was a necessary response because of the loss of funding from USAID. Also shuttered were standalone pharmacies supplying antiretroviral drugs. Millions in Uganda, especially the more than 1 million people living with the virus, depend on these facilities to provide HIV treatments and preventative therapies. According to an International Planned Parenthood Federation survey published in December 2025, some 1,175 affiliated IPPF health sites closed across Africa, affecting 396 staff positions and 5.9 million clients due to the funding changes. Thousands of health workers in Uganda — including doctors, nurses, and community experts — have lost their jobs.
The Intercept visited one of the few “KP clinics” still operating, despite a government raid and threats of arrest for its staff. It sits in a compound behind a wall, just off of a busy street. It is extremely hot, without air conditioners or fans in any of the simple examination and testing rooms.
Staff members from three of the remaining KP clinics gathered here to speak with The Intercept in a room that usually hosts group therapy, whenever a trustworthy volunteer therapist can be found.
At first, the conversation was taciturn. The meeting is technically illegal, the gathered medical workers weren’t all familiar with each other there, and there are always worries in such get-togethers that someone might be a spy. But after sitting on the floor and eating samosas, “the boys” — as these young men refer to themselves and each other — begin to open up.
They talk about the cuts. At one clinic, salaries were reduced by 50 percent. At another, the staff was trimmed from 15 to just four — a medic there says he’s wracked with survivor’s guilt. He tells a common story: He was a preacher’s son who knew he was different. It wasn’t until he went to the clinic looking for sexual health information that he could even talk to anyone like himself. He fell into a global pattern in queer health — largely destroyed by Trump — in which someone goes to a clinic for services, then becomes a volunteer, then starts working there and helping others.
“It was the only place I could just be … me,” he said, with a heavy sigh, indicating he did not have to hide appearing gay. He loved working with “the boys” and was gutted that 11 co-workers lost their jobs. Most of them, he said, still show up at the clinic and work unpaid for three reasons: “They have nothing else to do,” “There is nowhere else to go for them to be themselves with other people,” and “for food” available at the facility.
When people with little or no money have to choose between food and HIV medications, they will always choose food.
Two suddenly gregarious medical assistants (also both preachers’ kids) talk with candor about their shared situation: Being gay meant both had to leave their families and their churches. One said he’s still happy to go to work despite seeing his wages cut in half, but is dismayed that the cuts mean he simply cannot offer the care that clients need. The number of people they treat has plummeted. This is in part because USAID cuts took away money for the clinic’s staff to make outreach tours to sex work and gay “hot spots.” It’s also because the clinic used to feed clients who came in for the treatment. The free food helped mitigate the cost to patients for traveling to the clinic and is necessary because HIV medications don’t work for people who aren’t consistently eating enough. (When people with little or no money have to choose between food and HIV medications, they will always choose food.)
“We used to give away bags of food two times a week,” he said. “Now, we have only given it out two times this whole year, which is basically nothing.”
The Trump-era cuts have pushed KPs out of other medical settings, he said, which makes them wary of trusting any medical care. When USAID money was flowing, he said, patients told him that they were tolerated when they sought care at a public hospital because the workers there knew they would be compensated. But since the cuts, “some of our patients tell us they’ve been told, ‘There’s no money in you now. Go away.’”
Referring people to get viral load tests — an important step in managing HIV care — has also become nearly impossible in Kampala. It’s not just that the U.S.-financed health care workers who did the tests were laid off; some of them took the equipment with them when they left.
Then, there’s the issue of medication. The U.S. still pays for some antiretrovirals. But while The Intercept saw ample supplies of emtricitabine and tenofovir, the most common antiretrovirals, at most clinics visited, not everyone can take that treatment. When people fall out of treatment, they may grow resistant to specific medications and need a different combination should they survive long enough to restart medication in the future. But since the cuts, little aside from the common combo is available to treat HIV; doctors say it is almost impossible to get anything else.
“When someone comes looking for something they need” and a clinic doesn’t have it — whether it’s food, medicine, or just a kind ear to listen to them — “they usually won’t come back,” one of the medical assistants said.
Then, they’ll become infectious and HIV will move throughout their networks.
The boys were already seeing bad trends. They used to see a positive HIV diagnosis every two or three months. Now they said they are seeing one a week.
Asked by The Intercept if they, or their patients, are able to use geolocation hookup apps like Grindr, the boys laugh.
“Yes,” they answer.
“How?”
“VPNs. People have needs.”
“But how do you know someone isn’t a cop?”
“You don’t!”
“What can you rely on to lessen the chances he’s a cop?”
“Luck!”
“Sometimes,” another health worker chimes in, “a guy will meet another guy on Grindr, have sex with him, and then arrest him.” In theory, this kind of undercover sting could lead to prosecution for “aggravated homosexuality,” but mostly, cops do this for extortion, which is rampant. By the end of 2025, Uganda’s Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum had “handled a total of 956 cases involving actions specifically targeting LGBTQ+ persons,” which have affected 1,276 individuals, since the implementation of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023.
And that fear of prosecution and harassment keeps people who may have HIV or even signs of cancer from seeking medical treatment.
“Here, we do not tolerate trans people,” said Gabbie, who is trans. “It is as simple as that.”
Ramahdan, the LGBTQ+ activist, along with Samson and Sharon of Universal Love Alliance, have set up a meeting with a dozen trans and gender-nonconforming people in a conference room at a hotel near the Gaddafi Mosque. It is not a “gay hotel” — no such thing exists in Kampala. It was chosen because it is trusted by the community to be friendly enough and discreet. Security is a huge concern for everyone. The trans Ugandans span late teens to mid-50s, and their body language reveals nervousness: Any time a waiter comes into the room through a swinging door, everyone falls silent until they leave.
Their fear is understandable. A show of hands reveals everyone has been arrested at least once. At the municipal jail, they said they have been tortured (forced to strip and humiliated in front of all the other detainees), sexually assaulted (sometimes under the pretense of checking their gender, sometimes not), and even raped. A Muslim trans woman (who wears both a hijab and also a mask to protect against Covid) was arrested on her first-ever date with a man. (People in the room chuckles knowingly when she shares that the date did not intervene when the police took her away, and she never saw him again.)
When arrested, trans women are often put into men’s holding area, at least initially; they are terrified of becoming infected with HIV from rape. Most everyone has been kicked out of their families of origin or lost jobs (usually when a relative has outed them).
Fear of being subjected to the “queer tax” — when a landlord charges more or an employer pays less under threat of outing — was universal in the group. One young trans man, not yet 20, cried when describing his fear to even leave his house. His landlord figured out he is trans and was trying to evict him, but he cannot move until he pays off the extortion money. (The group took a collection to pay off his debt.)
The extortion threat has only grown with the collapse of USAID. At a follow-up meeting at a Kentucky Fried Chicken a few days later, Gabbie arrived after an expensive two-hour journey on a trans-friendly boda boda. “You cannot afford for random drivers to know where you live,” she said. (Another trans person The Intercept interviewed in a homeless shelter said they would take three boda bodas from home to work, switching rides like a spy to keep anyone from being able to trace her.)
Gabbie has been pushed from her family to a queer church shelter, which was raided and evicted, to another group situation, that was also raided and evicted. She now shares a studio apartment with four trans women at the outskirts of Kampala. Their water and electricity are periodically turned off for non-payment, and they open the windows when they cook on a coal stove to avoid breathing carbon monoxide.
Gabbie dropped out of college when her family saw a video of her preaching in a queer-affirming church, cut her off, and told her never to come back. Six months later they invited her back, then locked the gate behind her; she was trapped in an exorcism and had to escape over the wall.
It was never easy to be trans in Uganda. Surgeries — even those performed abroad — are almost unheard of, and long before Trump it was difficult to source hormones. Since Trump’s reelection, Gabbie has found that it’s theoretically possible, if prohibitively expensive, to source hormones on the black market. There is the physical danger: Injecting hormones with unsterilized syringes from unverified sources without a doctor’s supervision exposes trans people to HIV, hepatitis, and the possibility of dangerous, even lethal, side effects. But part of why Gabbie has stopped taking hormones and is now passing as a man in public is because sourcing hormones on the black market “opens you up to extortion” by anyone along the supply chain. She can’t afford that. (While in the West, most trans people use the terms “passing” to refer to being accepted as their true gender, in much of Africa, many trans people use it to refer to “passing” for the gender assigned to them at birth.)
The cuts hit Gabbie’s job at a trans-affirming nonprofit, where the staff was reduced from five people to just one: Gabbie. The office was abandoned, and she only works part-time, out of the studio she shares with four people.
“It was very painful, returning to this body, this body I do not want.”
Gabbie is also a model, and hopes to feel free presenting as her true feminine self at least while at home with her roommates. But they’ve been raided doing that, too. On her phone, she showed The Intercept a series of photos. In the first few, she and her girlfriends are happy, decked out in high glam in their apartment. But in the last photo, in an image reminiscent of the 1969 Stonewall Riot arrest photos, she is crying in the back seat of a police car. Their house had been raided, presumably on a complaint from a neighbor. After six weeks in jail, she was released without charges. But the damage was done: She made the difficult decision to stop her transition — to “go stealth,” as she put it, in public as a man.
“It was very painful,” she said, “returning to this body, this body I do not want.”
She hopes one day to transition again. “You can’t not be yourself 24 hours a day,” she said, sniffling slightly, her eyes darting around the KFC, hoping no one would notice her tears or hear us.
Two weeks later after the meeting at the Kampala KFC, Gabbie texts pictures of herself in a graduation robe. Without her family’s help, it took her a few more years than she wanted. But she had graduated from university, with a degree in accounting — which she wants to use to secure more resources for LGBTQ+ work in Uganda.
Near a sex “hot spot,” there is a clinic for sex workers. Inside the open garage door of a modest house, a half dozen sex workers were waiting for treatment. A medic draws a patient’s blood. One patient bounced an infant gently to soothe its cries. Another laid her newborn gingerly on the floor on a blanket; he smiled up at all the faces smiling down at him.
Up until the Trump stop work order, this clinic was run by a team of 17, including medics, peer educators, and community health navigators. They went out and recruited patients, educated them on STIs, and followed up with people to keep them adherent on antiretrovirals. Ten people lost their jobs, and the number of medics dropped from 12 to five. Those who remain have seen steep pay cuts: Average earnings fell from 800,000 Uganda shillings a month (about $222 USD) to just 250,000 (about $70).
As a “stud lesbian,” one sex worker tells The Intercept, this kind of clinic is the only place “where I can ask a doctor about my needs.” Most doctors assume she has sex with men, and until she sought out this clinic, she had no idea what was safe, or not, in her ways of having sex.
The situation for lesbian women in Uganda is dire. “You are forced into a marriage you do not want. You are forced into getting pregnant with a baby you do not want. In a body you don’t want. And you cannot get an abortion, and so you are forced into having a baby and raising a child you do not want,” said one queer sex worker.
It has become harder to insist their customers use condoms — if they can even afford them.
Sex work has grown more difficult since the cuts. Beyond health expenditures, USAID paid for construction projects and conferences. “When people are in town for a conference, they have money to spend on entertainment: on restaurants, on hotels, on us,” one sex worker put it. But USAID stopped most of that.
With laid-off people turning to sex work, more Ugandans are trying to sell sex to fewer customers. This is economically deleterious, making it harder for the workers to dictate the terms of their encounters. The result is that they have less power in the kinds of sex they are willing to have. It has become harder to insist their customers use condoms — if they can even afford them.
The clinic is struggling to keep up with their clients’ urgent needs. There’s a sudden lack of STI medication. HIV self-testing kits have become almost impossible to source, condoms are scarce, and lubricants “disappeared entirely,” said the clinic’s project manager.
“When you use too many men, you get dry,” the project manner noted, “and you can’t avoid the condom breaking.”
PrEP and birth control pills could theoretically help prevent HIV and pregnancy. Uganda adopted oral pre-exposure prophylaxis in 2016 and by the end of December 2023, over 550,000 clients had initiated the treatment. But since the cuts, PrEP is not officially available to most sex workers — only to pregnant women and nursing mothers. Birth control pills were paid for by USAID; now they are prohibitively expensive.
Trump isn’t alone in his policy of foreign austerity. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands, along with some private funders, have followed Trump’s lead in cutting off any money to Uganda that might help trans people. (We document this funding crisis in our short film “A Visit to the Homeless Shelter for Trans Ugandans.”)
There is some hope on the horizon for more foreign aid, but questions remain about how much of it will reach the country’s so-called KPs.
On December 10, the U.S. and Uganda signed “a five-year, nearly $2.3 billion bilateral health cooperation agreement that signifies the importance of the relationship between the two countries,” in which “the United States plans to invest up to $1.7 billion to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria and other infectious diseases across Uganda while helping strengthen Uganda’s health system.”
No one who spoke with The Intercept spoke expected this money could undo the lost trust, unemployment, and damage of the last year — nor did they expect such efforts to make their way to KPs. One public health activist, who did not want to be named for fear of persecution, claimed that “that money is not for health, it was given a month before the elections. That money was for elections.”
Dr. Peter Kyambadde, the senior program officer at the Ministry of Health, said, “Key populations still remain among the prioritized populations for epidemic control” but admitted that “how much of those resources will be committed to key populations” remains an open question.
“They consider us criminals.”
Samson, of the Universal Love Alliance, did not believe any government resources will flow their way. “What you see Trump doing in the United States aligns with Uganda’s goals. They consider us criminals.”
The potential return of U.S. health funding comes as an injectable form of PrEP that lasts for six months called was just approved for use in Uganda. The medication is considered a breakthrough in HIV prevention that, if distributed widely enough, has the potential to eradicate the virus.
But only 1,000 doses of the shot have been delivered to Africa, and none to Uganda.
It costs $28,000 a year. A $40 generic version won’t be ready until at least 2027. And the distribution channels in Uganda — namely the clinics where patients trust they could access such a drug without risk — have largely been undermined or destroyed.
This essay is part of the series Global Stop Work Order, featuring reporting about how the Trump administration’s cuts are affecting LGBTQ+ health and HIV/AIDS around the world. The series is supported by a Pulitzer Center Global Reporting Grant and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
The post By Slashing Foreign Aid, Trump Is Fueling the Spread of HIV in Uganda appeared first on The Intercept.
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Part 2 of the Delaware Civics 101 Series:
Understanding How Delaware Organizes, Spends, and Balances Its Money
When you’re writing a family budget, the last thing you should think about is how to spend the money. First, you need to figure out where that money is going to come from — and how much of it you can realistically get your hands on.
That’s always the starting point for the public officials who hammer together Delaware’s perpetually churning budget machine, which runs on torrents of revenue arriving from all over Delaware and even across the planet.
Dollar by dollar, day in and day out, the state takes its share in taxes and fees — paid by the biggest international corporations, the tiniest small businesses, and of course, taxpayers like you. Even that long-forgotten Starbucks gift card stuck in the back of your kitchen drawer is not too small to escape Delaware’s revenue machine.
To some extent, Delaware gets money in many of the same ways that other states do — from sources like personal income taxes, lottery proceeds, and “sin taxes” on products like cigarettes and alcohol.
In other ways, the state is a bit of a revenue rebel: Unlike every other state but four, Delaware does not have a retail sales tax, opting instead for a Gross Receipts Tax on in-state businesses (which, some argue, amounts to a “hidden” sales tax).
And no other state relies so heavily on major corporations for revenue. With more than half of Fortune 500 companies eager to pay for access to the state’s legal advantages, Delaware is positioned to take in hundreds of millions annually in corporate franchise taxes and fees — whether the business has a physical presence in the state or not.
“That’s the biggest distinction we have as a state,” said Alan Levin, who serves as chair of DEFAC, the non-partisan committee responsible for coldly calculating Delaware’s expected revenue each year. “Almost a third of the budget comes from the corporate franchise, so if it changes markedly, we would have to go find that revenue somewhere else.”
It would be a tough revenue stream to replace. The direct revenue to the state is estimated at $1.9 billion, or 27% of the general fund. The indirect revenue is even higher, contributing another $1 billion.
It’s been a massive, relatively robust, and low-maintenance source of cash since the 1930s, helping give Delaware a reputation for economic stability.
Crucially, that corporate franchise takes some of the burden off of individual taxpayers, and helps keep property taxes lower than many nearby states. But it also makes Delaware’s revenue stream vulnerable to gyrations in the national and global economy, and sensitive to changes in federal tax law.
No matter what happens, it’s fairly certain that the state will always rely on its No. 1 revenue source: you, the humble taxpayer.
Delaware’s state budget draws its income from four main “buckets,” each with different rules and purposes.
To put these numbers in relative terms, the amount of money it takes to run the state of Delaware is equivalent to $25,000 per household per year (based on roughly 400,000 households in the state).
The General Fund pays for things that many Delawareans rely on daily — public schools, health care, police, and courts. It’s funded primarily by state-level taxes and business fees.
Per-Household Equivalent: About $16,000.
Special Funds are Delaware’s earmarked accounts — user-based revenues that can only be spent for specific purposes.
Per-Household Equivalent: About $2,000.
The Bond and Capital Improvements Bill finances big projects that outlast election cycles — like schools, bridges, and government buildings. By law, new debt (bonds) cannot exceed 5% of the estimated General Fund revenue for that year.
Delaware’s fiscal stability routinely earns a “Triple A” debt rating, which allows the state to get a low interest rate on its debt, saving taxpayers millions compared to states with lower credit scores.
Per-Household Equivalent: About $2,400 per year.
Federal dollars make up Delaware’s fourth major bucket — critical to Medicaid, social services, education, transportation, and disaster relief. Delaware saw a lot of these federal dollars during the pandemic years, but we’re hitting a “funding cliff” as one-time dollars expire and recurring support (like Medicaid) tightens.
In response, the state has created a $21.9 million Federal Contingency Fund to protect state services from projected federal cuts. And lawmakers are keeping a worried eye on Washington as the reliability of federal support wavers. If it does, Delaware may have to dip deeper into its reserve funds of nearly $835 million.
Per-Household Equivalent: About $8,500.
Not all Delawareans contribute equally — and understanding who bears the biggest share helps explain the politics of the state budget.
Delaware’s system is moderately progressive — higher-income households pay more, but middle-income families still feel the pinch through fuel, property, and utility costs. Corporate and franchise fees shift part of the load away from residents, allowing Delaware to operate without a sales tax.
To some degree, those tax burdens — and tax revenues — also depend on demographics. According to a recent report by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, the state continues to enjoy a relatively high rate of “in-migration” from other states, which tends to boost the tax base and potentially spread out the burden.
At the same time, other demographic shifts pose challenges. The chamber report notes that Delaware ranks No. 4 nationally for share of residents over age 65 — but stands way down in 41st place for percentage of population in prime working age (25-64). Since many retirees don’t pay income taxes — and because most working-age residents do — it’s a dynamic that could cloud Delaware’s revenue picture down the road.
Part 3 — How Delaware Spends Its Budget: We’ll examine where most dollars go, how those spending patterns have changed, and what they reveal about Delaware’s values and challenges.
About the Civics 101 Series: Civics 101 is a continuing explanatory series by Delaware LIVE and the Spotlight Delaware content marketing team designed to help readers understand how state government works and how budget decisions affect everyday life in Delaware. To read other stories in the series, visit the Civics 101 home page.
The post Civics 101: Where does Delaware get the money that fuels its budget machine? appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Corporate franchise taxes and business filing fees are among the most important sources of revenue for the State of Delaware, providing a stable funding stream that supports public services and shapes the state’s overall tax structure.
Each year, Delaware collects revenue from corporations and other entity types through annual taxes and filing fees paid to the Delaware Division of Corporations, which oversees business formations and filings. The annual taxes include the corporate franchise tax paid by corporations and an annual tax paid by limited partnerships, limited liability companies and general partnerships.
In addition to these annual taxes, corporations and other entities pay the Division of Corporation filing fees in connection with the incorporation or formation of new entities and in connection with filings that are required to effectuate certain actions such as amendments, mergers and conversions. In addition to such filing fees, the Division of Corporations offers an expedited filing service pursuant to which filers can pay for their filings to be processed on an expedited basis, such as 1 or 2 hours within the time that the filing is received by the Division.
State financial reports show that [corporate franchise taxes] and related fees typically generate 25% to 30% of Delaware’s General Fund revenue, totaling approximately $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion annually in recent fiscal years. That makes revenue from the corporate franchise tax one of the single largest funding sources for state government, supporting education, healthcare, transportation, and public safety.
Delaware is home to more than 1.8 million active business entities, including more than 60% of Fortune 500 companies, a concentration that drives both direct and indirect economic activity across the state.
The largest share of Delaware’s corporate-related income comes from the corporate franchise tax paid annually by corporations. The tax is calculated using either the authorized shares method or the assumed par value capital method, with a minimum franchise tax of $175 and a maximum franchise tax of $200,000, unless the corporation is identified as a large corporate filer, in which case the corporate franchise tax is $250,000 a year. In connection with the payment of the corporation franchise tax, corporations must also file an annual report setting forth certain corporate information. Entities such as limited partnerships, limited liability companies and general partnerships pay an annual tax of $300 and are not required to file an annual report.
In addition to the corporate franchise tax and the annual taxes paid by alternative entities, the state collects fees when filings are made with the Division of Corporations such as in connection with the incorporation or formation of new entities or the filing of an annual report or in connection with other actions that require filings such as mergers, amendments, conversions and dissolutions. Fees are also paid in connection with the expedition of the processing of such filings or in order to obtain certified copies of such filings. These revenues flow directly into the General Fund and are a key reason Delaware can operate without a general sales tax.
Delaware’s corporate ecosystem also generates substantial indirect revenue for Delaware through related industries.
The Delaware Court of Chancery plays a central role in this ecosystem. While court filing fees are modest, the court’s national reputation for expertise, speed, and predictability gives companies confidence that disputes will be resolved fairly and efficiently.
That confidence attracts corporations to Delaware and supports thousands of high-paying jobs in law, accounting, compliance, and corporate services, generating personal income taxes, gross receipts taxes, and business taxes. Corporate activity also supports bank franchise taxes, commercial real estate development, and hospitality revenue tied to legal proceedings and business travel.
Another major indirect source is abandoned property, known as escheat. Delaware collects unclaimed property held by corporations, such as dormant accounts and uncashed checks. In recent years, escheat revenue has exceeded $500 million annually, making it one of the state’s largest non-tax revenue sources.
Because corporate revenue accounts for such a large share of the state budget, Delaware’s fiscal health is closely tied to its position as the nation’s leading incorporation state. Legal stability, predictable rules, and confidence in the court system are widely viewed as essential to maintaining that status.
For residents, the impact is practical. Fees and other amounts paid by corporations and other entity types help fund core services while reducing the need for broader taxes that would otherwise fall directly on individuals.
As part of the Civics 101 series, this overview explains how Delaware’s corporate ecosystem functions not just as a legal framework, but as a central component of how the state pays its bills.
At a Glance: Corporate Revenue to Delaware
| Revenue Type | What It Includes | Approximate Annual Impact |
| Direct Revenue | Franchise taxes, incorporation fees, filing and certification fees | $1.8–$1.9 billion |
| Indirect Revenue | Escheat, income taxes from legal and corporate services, business and banking taxes | $1+ billion |
| Total Corporate Impact | Direct and indirect corporate-driven revenue | $2.8–$3.0 billion+ |
State officials and legal experts warn that this revenue model is not guaranteed. Competition from other states, federal regulatory changes, economic downturns, and shifts in corporate governance practices all pose potential risks to Delaware’s dominance as the nation’s corporate home. Because the Delaware Court of Chancery underpins corporate confidence in the state, maintaining its independence, expertise, and technological capacity is widely viewed as essential. Continued investment in the court, protection from political influence, and adaptation to emerging business and legal trends are seen as necessary steps to safeguard one of Delaware’s most critical and enduring revenue sources.
About the Civics 101 Series: Civics 101 is a continuing explanatory series by Delaware LIVE and the Spotlight Delaware content marketing team designed to help readers understand how state government works and how budget decisions affect everyday life in Delaware. To read other stories in the series, visit the Civics 101 home page.
The post Civics 101: How corporate franchise taxes power Delaware’s State Budget appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
The streams of revenue that keep the state of Delaware running are by their nature unpredictable – constantly rising or falling with the rhythms of the economy, and prone to being jostled by policies flowing out of the Washington Beltway.
Over the past year, however, some of these income streams went from merely turbulent to downright unnerving.
First came the sizable (but anticipated) reductions in federal funding that emerged from the COVID 19 pandemic. Then came the news that the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) would give U.S. corporations tax breaks that threatened to dent Delaware’s revenue – to the tune of $400 million a year.
In the end, thanks to some frantic legislative scrambling, Delaware managed to blunt OBBBA’s effects. But looking ahead, there are plenty of reasons for caution and concern in the halls of Dover.
For the last three years, spending growth had been outpacing revenue growth in the state. At the beginning of the FY27 budget process, the state was looking at a more than $500 million deficit, thanks to inflation and rising costs. Gov. Matt Meyer’s proposed budget aims to address that deficit through spending cuts, but there is still worry that Delaware is facing some unique funding challenges.
Delaware benefits from two types of federal funding:
1. Direct-to-Resident benefits like Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ payments — money paid straight to individuals that never enters the state budget.
2. Federal funds managed by the state, such as Medicaid matching dollars, education grants, and infrastructure support.
It’s the second category that matters for the state’s finances, and those funds have been shrinking — and look likely to continue to do so. Pandemic-era funding that had bolstered Delaware’s operating budget has run out, and federal support within Delaware’s operating budget has dropped from about $1.35 billion in FY2025 to roughly $1.05 billion in FY2026 — a $300 million reduction, or 22%. That lowers the federal share of Delaware’s operating budget from nearly 20 percent to 16 percent.
Looking ahead, more funding cuts seem likely. Under the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBBA) passed in mid-2025, the state is bracing for deeper (and possibly permanent) cuts to Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps). In response, the state has created a $21.9 million Federal Contingency Fund to protect state services.
Even without the federal cuts, Delaware’s own income has slowed after several unusually strong years. The state’s largest funding sources — personal income tax, corporate income tax, and franchise fees — are all under pressure for different reasons.
Delaware’s single largest revenue stream depends on employment levels and wages. Growth has softened as the post-pandemic job market stabilizes and wage gains slow. DEFAC’s most recent forecast projects only modest personal income tax growth for FY2026, compared to double-digit increases during the recovery years of 2021–23.
The corporate franchise tax — paid by every business incorporated in Delaware — has long been a steady moneymaker, bringing in more than $2.8 billion annually. But there has been concern that it could flatten or dip slightly, if corporate formations slow and competition from other states increases. Each large corporation that leaves Delaware and moves to another state can cost Delaware as much as $250,000 a year.
Yet there have also been signs that Delaware has been successfully holding on to its title as incorporation king against some high-profile challenges. There was worry when Elon Musk urged companies to leave Delaware – calling his campaign “Dexit” – after he was displeased with a Chancery Court ruling. But recent research out of UCLA found that new business incorporations have actually risen by since he launched his Dexit offensive.
This revenue source is far more volatile — as shown by a recent budget threat that the state happily avoided. Last year, the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” allowed corporations to begin deducting more business expenses immediately, which means they would be able to report less taxable income to Delaware. In one quarter alone, Delaware’s corporate income tax revenue dropped $132 million, and another $170 million decline had been expected next year.
The Delaware General Assembly quickly took steps to mitigate the impact by “decoupling” Delaware from the federal rules, ending the 100% bonus depreciation, and requiring the deduction to be spread over several years. As a result, the December 2025 DEFAC forecast restored over $300 million to the revenue outlook, avoiding drastic cuts.
Despite the narrow escape from these revenue hits, Delaware remains cautious about spending. Gov. Matt Meyer’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 aims to keep spending growth below 5% for the first time in years, excluding the Bond Bill and one-time expenditures (the budget grew by more than 7% in the current fiscal year and 9% in FY 2025).
The governor’s office has said it found “creative solutions” to cut the state’s spending on government healthcare, education, and other areas. Meyer also has plans to enhance revenue from business formation fees, and wants to trim Grants-in-Aid and Bond Bill spending – though these budget strategies are still subject to scrutiny by the legislature in the months ahead.
According to the governor, the FY2027 budget reduces Delaware’s “structural deficit” by more than 70 percent compared to FY2026 projections. Whether that will be enough to please legislative opponents remains to be seen, and it seems certain that the long-term challenge of slower growth vs. rising costs will remain a challenge for Delaware.
About the Civics 101 Series: Civics 101 is a continuing explanatory series by Delaware LIVE and the Spotlight Delaware content marketing team designed to help readers understand how state government works and how budget decisions affect everyday life in Delaware. To read other stories in the series, visit the Civics 101 home page.
The post Civics 101: Delaware is riding some swiftly shifting revenue streams appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
The Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13 at Levi's Stadium to claim their second Super Bowl victory.
Kenneth Walker III, the engine of Seattle’s offense with 135 rushing yards on 27 carries, was named MVP. Sam Darnold completed his long redemption arc from draft-bust to champion quarterback by throwing for 202 yards and a touchdown.
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'It's special,' said Darnold. 'Some people called me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence. But it was because of my parents, because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career.'
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Spain and Portugal have endured another storm over the weekend, just days after the deadly flooding and major damage caused by Storm Kristin and Storm Leonardo last week. Storm Marta passed over the Iberian peninsula on Saturday, bringing fresh torrential rain and killing two people. Storm Kristin killed at least five people after it made landfall on 28 January with Storm Leonardo claiming another victim last Wednesday.
The outlook for this week is for more rain across Spain, Portugal and France, especially across north-west Portugal, where more than 100mm is possible during the first half of the week. Some of the heaviest of the rain will transfer to southern Italy and western parts of Greece and Turkey later in the week.
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Maine, the US’s whitest state, has been shaken by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, a crackdown that could threaten Republican control of the Senate in November’s crucial midterm elections.
Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents launched “Operation Catch of the Day” in the state on 21 January, targeting “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens who have terrorized communities”, according to the administration.
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Kenworthy, who will compete for Team GB at the Winter Olympics but has lived in America for most of his life, also doubled down on his criticisms of the US immigration and customs enforcement agency calling them “absolutely evil and awful and terrifying”.
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Continue reading...Fourteen-year-old Ariana Velasquez had been held at the immigrant detention center in Dilley, Texas, with her mother for some 45 days when I managed to get inside to meet her. The staff brought everyone in the visiting room a boxed lunch from the cafeteria: a cup of yellowish stew and a hamburger patty in a plain bun. Ariana’s long black curls hung loosely around her face and she was wearing a government-issued gray sweatsuit. At first, she sat looking blankly down at the table. She poked at her food with a plastic fork and let her mother do most of the talking.
She perked up when I asked about home: Hicksville, New York. She and her mother had moved there from Honduras when she was 7. Her mother, Stephanie Valladares, had applied for asylum, married a neighbor from back home who was already living in the U.S., and had two more kids. Ariana took care of them after school. She was a freshman at Hicksville High, and being detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center meant that she was falling behind in her classes. She told me how much she missed her favorite sign language teacher, but most of all she missed her siblings.
I had previously met them in Hicksville: Gianna, a toddler who everyone calls Gigi, and Jacob, a kindergartener with wide brown eyes. I told Ariana that they missed her too. Jacob had shown me a security camera that their mom had installed in the kitchen so she could peek in on them from her job, sometimes saying “Hello” through the speaker. I told Ariana that Jacob tried talking to the camera, hoping his mom would answer.
Stephanie burst into tears. So did Ariana. After my visit, Ariana wrote me a letter.
“My younger siblings haven’t been able to see their mom in more than a month,” she wrote. “They are very young and you need both of your parents when you are growing up.” Then, referring to Dilley, she added, “Since I got to this Center all you will feel is sadness and mostly depression.”
Dilley, run by private prison firm CoreCivic, is located some 72 miles south of San Antonio and nearly 2,000 miles away from Ariana’s home. It is a sprawling collection of trailers and dormitories, almost the same color as the dusty landscape, surrounded by a tall fence. It first opened during the Obama administration to hold an influx of families crossing the border. Former President Joe Biden stopped holding families there in 2021, arguing America shouldn’t be in the business of detaining children.
But quickly after returning to office, President Donald Trump resumed family detentions as part of his mass deportation campaign. Federal courts and overwhelming public outrage had put an end to Trump’s first-term policy of separating children from parents when immigrant families were detained crossing the border. Trump officials said Dilley was a place where immigrant families would be detained together.
As the second Trump administration’s crackdown both slowed border crossings to record lows and ramped up a blitz of immigration arrests all across the country, the population inside Dilley shifted. The administration began sending parents and children who had been living in the country long enough to lay down roots and to build networks of relatives, friends and supporters willing to speak up against their detention.
If the administration believed that putting children in Dilley wouldn’t stir the same outcry as separating them from their parents, it was mistaken. The photo of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos from Ecuador, who was detained with his father in Minneapolis while wearing a Spider-Man backpack and a blue bunny hat, went viral on social media and triggered widespread condemnation and a protest by the detainees.
Weeks before that, I had begun speaking to parents and children at Dilley, along with their relatives on the outside. I also spoke to people who worked inside the center or visited it regularly to give religious or legal services. I had asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for permission to visit but got a range of responses. One spokesperson denied my request, another said he doubted I could get formal approval and suggested I could try showing up there as a visitor. So I did.
Since early December, I’ve spoken, in person and via phone and video calls, to more than two dozen detainees, half of them kids detained at Dilley — all of whose parents gave me their’ consent. I asked parents whether their children would be open to writing to me about their experiences. More than three dozen kids responded; some just drew pictures, others wrote in perfect cursive. Some letters were full of age-appropriate misspellings.
Among them was a letter from a 9-year-old Venezuelan girl, named Susej Fernández, who had been living in Houston when she and her mother were detained. “I have been 50 days in Dilley Immigration Processing Center,” she wrote. “Seen how people like me, immigrants are been treated changes my perspective about the U.S. My mom and I came to The U.S looking for a good and safe place to live.”
A 14-year-old Colombian girl, who signed her name Gaby M.M. and who a fellow detainee said had been living in Houston, wrote a letter about how the guards at Dilley “have bad manner of speaking to residents.” She wrote, “The workers treat the residents unhumanly, verbally and I don’t want to imging how they would act if they where unsupervised.”
Nine-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra, from Colombia, drew a portrait of herself and her mother wearing their detainee ID badges. A note on the side said, “I am not happy, please get me out of here.”
Some of the kids I met spoke English as well as they did Spanish.
When I asked the kids to tell me about the things they missed most from their lives outside Dilley, they almost always talked about their teachers and friends at school. Then they’d get to things like missing a beloved dog, McDonald’s Happy Meals, their favorite stuffed animal or a pair of new UGGs that had been waiting for them under the Christmas tree.
They told me they feared what might happen to them if they returned to their home countries and what might happen to them if they remained here. Thirteen-year-old Gustavo Santiago said he didn’t want to go back to Tamaulipas, Mexico. “I have friends, school, and family here in the United States,” he said of his home in San Antonio, Texas. “To this day, I don’t know what we did wrong to be detained.” He ended with a plea, “I feel like I’ll never get out of here. I just ask that you don’t forget about us.”
Around 3,500 detainees, more than half of them minors, have cycled through the center since it reopened, more than the population of the town of Dilley itself. Although a long-standing legal settlement generally limits the time children can be held in detention to 20 days, a data analysis by ProPublica found that about 300 kids sent to Dilley by the Trump administration were there for more than a month. The administration in legal filings has said the agreement from 1997 is outdated and should be terminated because there are new statutes, regulations and policies that ensure good conditions for immigrant minors in detention.
Habiba Soliman, 18, told me she had been detained for more than eight months with her mom and four siblings, ranging in age from 16 to 5-year-old twins, after her father was charged for an alleged antisemitic attack in June at rally in Boulder, Colorado, supporting the Jewish hostages who were being held in Gaza. Their father, Mohamed Soliman, pleaded not guilty to federal and state charges. Authorities have said they are investigating whether his wife and her children provided support for the attack. They deny knowing anything about it and an arrest warrant reports that he told an officer he never talked to his wife or family about his plans.
Despite Trump’s promise to go after violent criminals, the vast majority of adults detained at Dilley over the last year had no criminal record in the United States. Some of the parents I spoke to had overstayed visas. Many had filed applications for asylum, had married U.S. citizens or had been granted humanitarian parole and were detained when they voluntarily showed up for appointments at ICE offices. They said that it was unfair to arrest them, and that detaining their children was just plain cruel.
There were children in Dilley who were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, several mothers told me. Recently, two cases of measles were discovered in the center. Federal officials said they quarantined some immigrants, and attorneys said ICE cancelled in-person legal visits until Feb. 14 as a safety precaution.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement that all detainees at Dilley are “being provided with proper medical care.” DHS did not respond to questions about individual detainees but said that all “are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries” and that “certified dieticians evaluate meals.” Detained parents are given the option for their families to be deported together, or they can have their children placed with another caregiver, the statement said.
CoreCivic said that Dilley, like its other facilities, is subject to multiple layers of oversight to ensure full compliance with policies and procedures, including any applicable detention standards.
Moms told me that their kids had lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping on the facility’s hard metal bunk beds in rooms shared by at least a dozen other people, and were constantly sick.
“The shock for my daughter was devastating,” Maria Alejandra Montoya from Colombia wrote in an email to me about her daughter Maria Antonia. “Watching her adapt is like watching her wings being clipped. Hearing other children fight over card games at the tables makes me feel like we are not mothers and children, but inmates.”
Alexander Perez, a 15-year-old from the Dominican Republic, told me about going to school at Dilley. He said classes included kids from mixed age groups, and each class allowed only 12 students and lasted for just one hour. Slots were assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. Children would line up, hoping to get in. The staff leading the class would distribute handouts and worksheets to those who made it inside.
Alexander Perez complained that the lessons were usually meant for kids who were younger than him, so he found them boring. But because there wasn’t much else to do, he used to go whenever he could, until an instructor turned a social studies lesson into what felt like an interrogation about immigration policy.
“If we have recreational activities and classes designed to help us disconnect from what we’re experiencing here, why the need to ask ourselves these questions?” he said during a video call with me. “I didn’t think that was right.”
He, his mother and his 14-year-old brother, Jorge, said they had been detained while traveling from Los Angeles to Houston when the bus they were on was stopped by immigration agents who checked everyone’s status. They’d been in Dilley for four months by the time we spoke. His mother, Teresa, told me she was in the process of appealing a judge’s denial of her asylum petition, which might explain why it was a touchy subject for Alexander when it came up in class. He told me that after he gave up on attending classes at Dilley, he played basketball in the recreation area and watched a lot of Spanish soap operas on TV. Jorge, who celebrated his birthday in December at Dilley with a tiny cake made from vanilla commissary cookies, spent most of the day sleeping.
DHS said in its statement that “children have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling.”
Boredom was a theme that ran through many of the letters from children at Dilley. “They told me I could only be here 21 days but I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repeated meals,” wrote a 12-year-old Venezuelan girl who signed her letter Ender, and who a fellow detainee said had settled with her mother in Austin, Texas. She wrote that when she felt sick and went to the doctor, “the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here.”
Ariana expressed similar concerns in her letter. She wrote, “If you need medical attention the longest you have to wait is 3 hours, but to get any medicine, pill, anything it takes a while, there are various viruses people are always sick. Serious situations happen and the officers can’t take them serious enough there are no consecuenses, they don’t care.”
The lack of reliable medical care was perhaps the most serious concern parents and children spoke about in their interviews with me. The Texas-based nonprofit advocacy organization RAICES, which provides legal representation to many families at Dilley, said in a recent court declaration that its clients had raised concerns about insufficient medical care on at least 700 occasions since August 2025. The organization reported, “Children with medical complaints frequently experience delays, dismissals, or lack of follow-up.”
Kheilin Valero from Venezuela, who was being held with her 18-month-old, Amalia Arrieta, said shortly after they were detained following an ICE appointment on Dec. 11 in El Paso, Texas, the baby fell ill. For two weeks, she said, medical staff gave her ibuprofen and eventually antibiotics, but Amalia’s breathing worsened to the point that she was hospitalized in San Antonio for 10 days. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 and RSV. “Because she went so many days without treatment, and because it’s so cold here, she developed pneumonia and bronchitis,” Kheilin said. “She was malnourished, too, because she was vomiting everything.”
Gustavo Santiago, the 13-year-old boy who’d been living in Texas, said he has been sick several times since he and his mom were detained on Oct. 5 of last year at a Border Patrol checkpoint. His mom, Christian Hinojosa, said that when Gustavo had a fever, the medical staff told her he was old enough for his body to fight it off without medication, so she sat up with him all night, draping him in cold compresses. She had to take him to the infirmary for a skin rash that she believed was caused by poor water quality at the center. She said he has also experienced stomach pain and nausea, which she blamed on unsanitary food preparation.
Among logs we obtained of calls made to 911 and law enforcement about the facility since it began accepting families again last spring, I found pleas for help for toddlers having trouble breathing, a pregnant woman who passed out and an elementary-school-aged girl having seizures. Local authorities were also called in for three cases of alleged sexual assault between detainees.
DHS said in its statement, “No one is denied medical care.”
CoreCivic said that health and safety is a top priority for the company and that detainees at Dilley are provided with a continuum of health care services, including preventative care and mental health services. The company said its medical staff “meet the highest standards of care” and said the facility works closely with local hospitals for any specialized medical needs.
Reporter Mica Rosenberg talked with dozens of detainees at Dilley, who shared their experiences in letters, videos, phone calls and voice memos.
Ariana and her mother, Stephanie, were detained on Dec. 1, when they went for one of their regular check-ins at an ICE office in New York City’s Federal Plaza, which are required as they wait for a decision on their asylum case. Stephanie had come to the U.S. with experience working as an accountant and, after securing her work permit, she had finally found a job at a local import business where she could put that experience to use. They had been regularly checking in with ICE for years without incident. But after mom and daughter showed up for their 8 a.m. ICE appointment, they were told they couldn’t leave this time and were on a plane to Dilley by 6 that evening, without being given a chance to call their family. “Since the day my mom and I get detained in Manhattan NY, my life was instanly paused,” Ariana wrote in her letter from detention after our meeting. “All kids are being damage mentally, they witness how the’ve been treated.”
A 7-year-old Venezuelan girl named Diana Crespo was living in Portland, Oregon, when she and her parents, Darianny Gonzalez and Yohendry Crespo, were detained outside a hospital where they’d taken Diana for emergency care. The family had been granted humanitarian parole after entering the United States in 2024 and then applied for asylum when Trump revoked the parole program, saying that Biden had used it to allow immigrants to pour into the country at record levels. She said their active asylum case didn’t stop the immigration agents who intercepted them outside the emergency room from detaining them.
Maria Antonia Guerra, the 9-year-old from Colombia, told me that the 10-day vacation to Disney World that she had planned with her mother and stepdad turned into more than 100 days at Dilley. She’d flown into Florida from Medellin, Colombia, where she lived with her grandmother, with a Cruella de Vil costume in her suitcase. Her mother, Maria Alejandra Montoya, was living in New York and had overstayed her visa, but had since married a U.S. citizen and was just waiting for her green card to be approved. Maria Antonia traveled regularly back and forth to the U.S. on a tourist visa, and Maria Alejandra had flown down to meet her at the airport. Immigration agents intercepted them and flew them to Texas. They both told me that it felt like a kidnapping.
“I am in a jail and I am sad and I have fainted 2 times here inside, when I arrived every night I cried and now I don’t sleep well,” Maria Antonia, who wears thick glasses, wrote to me. “I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.”
In January, shortly after my visit to Dilley, ICE released some 200 people all at once, without explanation. Among them were Ariana and her mom.
The releases came as such a surprise that Stephanie said another woman began screaming and refused to let go of her bunk, fearing she was about to be deported back to Ecuador. Stephanie was fitted with an ankle monitor, and she and Ariana were dropped off in Laredo, Texas, where they scrambled to buy a plane ticket to LaGuardia in New York.
On Jan. 22, two days after her release, I met Stephanie again, this time holding Gigi as she showed up for her first ICE check in at an office near her home. She had been so nervous that she got lost on the way to the appointment. She was given a series of instructions and shown videos that explained the purpose and cadence of her regular check-ins. She’d have one every month at the office, and every two months she would be visited at her home.
Jacob had initially refused to go to school because he was afraid his mother and sister wouldn’t be there when he came home, but she’d finally gotten him to go by promising every morning that she’s not leaving again.
Ariana went back to school a few days later. Her English teacher immediately hugged her and sobbed, “We really missed you.”
I called Ariana last Wednesday to check in on her. She was helping Jacob with his homework, but she took a break to give me an update. There are a lot of other immigrants at her school, but she had only told her close friends, who she sits with at lunch, about the reason for her prolonged absence. When other people asked, she just said, “I had to go to Texas for something.”
She says she’s trying to put the ordeal behind her, but the toll is real.
Her mother lost her job because her boss is uncomfortable employing someone with an ankle monitor. And Ariana worries about her. She also worries about the people she met back at Dilley. Days after I asked DHS about several families mentioned in this story, five of them were released: Gustavo and his mom, Christian; Teresa and her sons, Alexander and Jorge; Kheilin and her baby, Amalia; Darianny and her daughter, Diana. Maria Antonia and her mom, Maria Alejandra, were returned to Colombia. Others are still detained. Ariana said, “I wish they got out because they shouldn’t be there any longer.”
Before we hung up, Ariana said something that suggested her youthful optimism hadn’t been entirely broken. She’d found that she’d gotten better at playing volleyball at Dilley and now plans to try out for her school team.
For this story, ProPublica analyzed federal data on ICE detentions released through the Deportation Data Project. The data contains records for immigrant arrests and detentions going through October of 2025.
The post The Children of Dilley appeared first on ProPublica.
Family of media tycoon say he will ‘die a martyr behind bars’ amid widespread criticism from press freedom groups
Jimmy Lai, the media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences, a punishment his daughter said could mean “he will die a martyr behind bars”.
Claire Lai said the sentence was “heartbreakingly cruel” given her 78-year-old father’s declining health, while her brother Sebastien Lai called the sentence “draconian” and “devastating”.
Continue reading...A rainbow, a family portrait, a heart. These are the drawings found in handwritten letters from children detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas.
In early February there were more than 750 families, nearly half of them including children, as well as some 370 single adult women being held at this facility. It is just one of many immigration centers across the country, but the only one holding families. Since the start of the Trump administration, the number of children in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention has skyrocketed, increasing sixfold.
ProPublica received letters in mid-January from several children at Dilley. All but two of them had been living in the United States when they were detained. In their words and drawings, they convey how much they ache for creature comforts and describe the anguish of being trapped. They write about missing their friends and teachers, falling behind at school, having unreliable access to medical care when they’re sick — some say they’re sick a lot — and feeling scared about what comes next.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement that all detainees at Dilley are “being provided with proper medical care.” DHS did not respond to questions about individual detainees but said all “are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries” and that “certified dieticians evaluate meals.” DHS also said “children have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling.” Detained parents are given the option for their families to be deported together, or they can have their children placed with another caregiver, the statement said. CoreCivic, which operates the facility, said it is subject to multiple layers of oversight and that health and safety are a top priority.
The public is rarely given an opportunity to glimpse inside Dilley and get a look at how the kids there are doing. Here, we let the children speak for themselves.
Susej F
A 9-year-old from Venezuela who was living in Houston, Texas
Detained for 50 days
Letter transcript:
“Hello, my name is Susej F and I’am 9 years old. I’am from Venezuela. I have been 50 days in Dilley Immigration Processing Center. And I want to go to my Country. But I miss my school and my friends I feel bad since when I came here to this Place, because I have been here too long. I have been 2 years and 6 months in united states, and I was happy with my friends in The school but now I need to leave. I miss my family in my country so now I want To go to Venezuela. But my mom do not want to leave because she wants a better future for me. Seen how people like me, immigrants are been treated changes my perspective about the U.S. My mom and I came to The U.S looking for a good and safe place to live, and my mom was looking for a Good job.”
Listen to Ariana read her letter
Ariana V. V.
A 14-year-old from Honduras who was living in Hicksville, New York
Detained for 45 days
Letter transcript:
“Hello, my name is Ariana V.V. im 14 years old and im from Honduras, ive been detained for 45 days and I have never felt so much fear to go to a place as I feel here everytime I remind myself that once I go back to Honduras a lot of dangerous things could happen to my mom and my younger siblings haven’t been able to see their mom in more than a month. They are very young and you need both of your parents when you are growing up. Since I got to this Center all you will feel is sadness and mostly depression. When people have their courts the longest they will last is 15 minutes, our rights are not being provided, arrest are happening when people don’t even have any type of order, arrests are happening illegally.
Its sad to hear that peoples case are being denied and are getting send back to their country places where they are escaping from and are looking for protection and want to feel safe. Not a lot of people know what is happening in the Centers where immigrants are placed at. I haven’t been getting any school time. Every single person in here had their jobs they had their lifes, they aren’t any danger for this Country.
Ive been in this country for almost 7 years and in those 7 years my mom and I found a home and made a bigger family. I have never been separated from my siblings and its honestly sad because they are little and they need their mom and sister, yeah they are with their dad but its still different for them and my mom and I. Since the day my mom and I get detained in Manhattan NY, my life was instanly paused, from my knowledge you can’t be under custody for more than 15 or 20 days, well here in Dilley Immigration Processing Center people have been in this place for 7 months, 5 months, 4-2 months, its not fair that the ICE officers are not following the laws. All kids are being damage mentally, they witness how the’ve been treated.
They don’t have schools, doctor, all they have are nurses, if you need medical attention the longest you have to wait is 3 hours, but to get any medicine, pill, anything it takes a while, there are various viruses people are always sick. Serious situations happen and the officers can’t take them serious enough there are no consecuenses, they don’t care.”
Luisanney Toloza
A 5-year-old from Venezuela who had recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border
Mia Valentina Paz Faria
A 7-year-old from Venezuela who was living in Austin, Texas
Detained for 70 days
Letter transcript:
“Hello my name is Mia Valentina Paz Faria I am from Venezuela I have been living in the United States for 3 years, I am 7 years old, I have been here for 70 days in this place, I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school, I miss my grandparents, I miss my friends, I don’t like the food here, I miss my school, I don’t like being here, I am bored here, I don’t feel so good in this place, I already want to leave this place, I miss my uncles, I hope to leave here soon.”
Scarlett Jaimes
A 17-year-old from Venezuela who was living in El Paso, Texas
Letter transcript:
“01/16/25
First of all I want to introduce myself my name is Scarlett Jaimes and I am writing this to express how I feel in this place, since they detained my mother and me I feel really, really bored and overwhelmed because even though I am someone who doesn’t do many productive things being locked up against my will is quite overwhelming, also I feel down about the idea that I couldn’t finish my school year and that I bet I’m going to end up in a worse school in my own country, in my opinion what I think about this place is not a big deal since it’s a normal and ordinary camp.One of the things that I could complain about is that they don’t have varied food and it’s almost the same and it bores me and I lose my appetite and I am not going to even mention the store food because some people don’t have enough money and also some food tastes like cardboard, also in the store it seems a little unfair to me that they buy things that are high priced and bad quality like for example the notebooks and also colored pencils. In my opinion this place has to change several things like the cleanliness and I know it’s not the workers’ fault but the people’s and I know that even if there are rules nobody is going to care about them and that is why people are against the workers here because it seems that there will always be conflict they should keep their word of keeping people a maximum 21 days because if this continues like this this camp is going to get worse for many people.”
Gaby M.M
A 14-year-old from Colombia who was living in Houston, Texas
Detained for 20 days
Letter transcript:
“Hola! my name is Gaby M.M im 14 years old im from Colombia
I ve been detained in Dilley Immigration Processing Center for 20 days and I haven’t been getthing the rigth education due to being in here. I have’t been able to see my family and friends, since I got here I started to feel sad also I haven’t feelt happy since I got here.
The officers have bad manner of speaking to residents when the are asking anithing the workers treat the residents unhumanly, verbally and I don’t want to imging how they would act if they where unsupervised. I really want to go home I don’t care if I have to go to Katy or Colombia because in both places I have a home and school I get bored a lot and I don’t know what to do, I made friends here and they told me how the been here for 7 months and I get really surprised because I can’t imaging how bad and sad and stessed being here.
I want to tell you guys how I feel and is hell like I really want to go the food is bad im tired of almots the same thing. I feel so much sadness and depression of not being able to leave, its really sad to hear that peoples cases are being denied and getting send back to their countrys.”
Ender
A 12-year-old from Venezuela who was living in Austin, Texas
Detained for 60 days
Letter transcript:
“Hello I am Ender and I am 12 years old, I have been at this center for 2 months. I arrived here for an immigration appointment and I don’t think they should grab immigrants who are innocent, like instead of grabbing criminals because I mean they prefer to lock up children than look for people who really shouldn’t be in the U.S. They told me I could only be here 21 days but I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals, going outside and that the majority of guards never pay attention to people, eating dinner always the same as the day before, seeing people cry every day for the same reasons, trying to sleep in that horrible uncomfortable bed, going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here, going to wait for the bad answers from the judges, hearing the bad news from people who no longer have hope, having to share a room with minimum 3 families, and all that so they send us back to our countries.”
Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya
A 9-year-old from Colombia
Detained for 113 days
Letter transcript:
“Name Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya
Country I am colombian
Age 9 years
Locked in custody how long 113 Days
I am Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya and I have been 113 days in detention I miss my friends and I feel they are going to forget me. I am bored here. I already miss my country and my house, I came on vacation for 10 Days and they took me into an ice office an officer interrogated me 2 hours without my mom, I was traveling with flight attendant because my mom lives in new york, they only wanted to arrest my mom, because my mom didn’t have documents to live in U.S.A., I always traveled with my tourist visa but ice used me to catch my mom and now I am in a jail and I am sad and I have fainted 2 times here inside. When I arrived every night I cried and now I don’t sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.
They don’t give me my diet I am vegetarian, I don’t eat well, there is no good education and I miss my best friend julieta and my grandmother and my school I already want to get to my house.
Me in dilei [Dilley] am not happy please get me out of here to colombia.
Antonia”
Reporter Mica Rosenberg asked detainees whether their children would be willing to write letters or draw pictures about their experiences. One detainee gathered the letters and brought them out of the center when they were released from Dilley on Jan. 20. The detainee said the parents whose children participated were aware that the letters would be shared with a journalist with the intention of making them public. Afterward we reached out to the detainee who shared the letters and obtained, when possible, additional details like the locations where the families were living before they were detained. The length of time the children say they have been detained is as of mid-January, when they wrote the letters. Some of the letter writers have since been released; the status of others is unclear.
The post “I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility appeared first on ProPublica.
Authors, a newsreader, a lawyer and an esteemed colleague: they’re all great – but I’m not married to any of them. Can we really depend on this technology?
Recently, the Rowsons accidentally invented a new game that anyone can play at home. I have yet to come up with a world-beating name for it, so for now let’s just call it “How bloody stupid is AI?” The playing of the game will change from player to player, depending on their circumstances – but essentially the rules remain the same. Ask AI a simple question about yourself, and see just how wrong it gets it.
In my case, all you need know is that while I, through the nature of my job, have a fairly large online presence, my partner (we married in 1987) has assiduously avoided having one at all. Which means that if you Google “Martin Rowson wife” in images, you may get a picture of me next to our then 14-year-old daughter or me with my friend and fellow cartoonist Steven Appleby, who happens to be trans but has kept her given first name.
Continue reading...Ballad Health, the nation's largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, plans to rebuild Unicoi County Hospital in Tennessee on land that two climate modeling companies say is at risk of flooding.
Why Should Delaware Care?
While public school education has focused on test scores in recent decades, mental health is also an increasing need for students. One Wilmington teacher has been celebrated for her work in boosting the confidence of her students.
Anitra Green said her daughter, Amari, was shy when she started the fifth grade, six years ago. She was an only child who sometimes withdrew from conversations.
Then, as Amari’s fifth-grade year progressed, Green noticed a change. Her daughter began to grow more confident. At one point, she even agreed to sit in on an interview that was published in the New York Times.
Amari’s shyness diminished, her mother said, because she had Jasmyn Wright as her teacher.
Green said Wright’s teaching methods, which include call-and-response affirmations, empowered her daughter and ultimately fostered a mentoring relationship between Amari and Wright that led them both to that interview.
“[Amari] admired everything from Miss Wright’s professionalism, how she carried herself, [and] the greetings that she did with her children,” Green said. “She would come home talking about the different affirmations that they would say.”
Those affirmations are what Wright has coined as her “push through” mantra. Wright uses a call-and-response system where she asks students what they will do if something is too hard, and they respond that they will “push through!”
In 2016, a video of Wright and her former class in Philadelphia reciting the “push through” chant went viral. After a while, Wright became recognized across the globe and she briefly shifted to become a consultant.
But after a year, she decided to go back into the classroom, and began teaching in Delaware.
Today, a copy of the chant lives behind her desk at the Bayard School in Wilmington, which is a part of the Christina School District.
Wright said her students may not always get through the entire “push through” chant, but they do say general affirmations every day.
Some students also come to Wright for encouragement or to tell her about the trauma they may be experiencing at home. Together they will then use positive affirmations to help the student cope with what they are experiencing.
Wright’s work has also attracted the attention of The Varkey Foundation, an organization that aims to address global education challenges. Wright was among the top 10 finalists for the foundation’s GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize.
“The Global Teacher Prize was created with a simple mission: to shine a light on teachers like you – educators whose dedication, creativity, and compassion deserve to be celebrated and shared with the world,” said Sunny Varkey, the founder of the Global Teacher Prize, GEMS Education, and The Varkey Foundation, in a press release.
Making it into the top 10 for the Global Teacher Prize, out of more than 5,000 applications, was not something Wright expected.
She originally was not going to apply for the prize, which awards $1 million to the winner, because she felt like she was not good enough to be considered. Like some of her students, Wright admitted that she sometimes deals with her own imposter syndrome.
Then, Wright received an email saying the application deadline had been pushed back two weeks. She took it as a sign to apply.
Wright’s students at the Bayard School were not surprised to see her efforts being recognized.
And they have cheered her along in the journey, with some changing their computer screens to her picture, and others having made posters and paper hats with slogans like the “top-10 push through.”
Last week, The Varkey Foundation announced its winner, Rouble Nagi – a teacher in India who for “two decades has helped bring more than 1 million children into the formal education system through the use of art,” according to the organization.
Although Wright did not win, current and former students have praised her teaching style and have called her their favorite teacher.
Ronnisha Butts is another parent who credits Wright with helping her child “open up out of her shell.”
Butts’ daughter, DeRyn Coffield, had Wright as her fifth-grade teacher two years ago at Joseph E. Johnson Elementary in the Red Clay Consolidated School District.
She saw a change in DeRyn’s attitude as she prepared to present her Black History Month project.
Butts said that before DeRyn had Wright as a teacher, she completed projects but did not want to present them in front of her classmates. But DeRyn was not “not nervous at all” in the days leading up to her Black History Month presentation.
Instead, she was excited and asked her mom to help her buy and pick out an outfit so she could dress up as Ruby Bridges, a civil rights activist who was the first African-American child to attend a formerly whites-only school in Louisiana.
“I’ve never seen her like that,” Butts said. “So to me as a parent, it really made me feel special to know that even when I’m not around, somebody else has DeRyn’s back.”
The post How a Bayard School teacher uses positive affirmations to empower students appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
A conservative researcher whose theories have often been rejected by Georgia election overseers and who once pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of voyeurism is emerging as a central figure in the investigation that culminated in the FBI’s shocking seizure of 2020 election records from Fulton County, Georgia, in late January.
The researcher, Kevin Moncla, has tried repeatedly to prove that the 2020 vote in Fulton County was tainted by fraud. Although many of his claims have been discredited or debunked, they’ve continued to be cited by President Donald Trump and those connected to Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election and publicly pressed his administration to reinvestigate it.
Last week, Moncla told ProPublica he’d been interviewed twice by “investigators, attorneys of various offices, who work on behalf of the U.S. government” regarding his claims that proof of fraud could be found in Fulton County’s 2020 voting records. He said he provided them with data backing complaints he’s filed to Georgia’s State Election Board.
Other conservative activists linked to Mitchell have also claimed that Moncla’s work helped fuel government investigations related to Fulton County.
According to a recording of a December video conference call obtained by ProPublica, two activists associated with Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network alleged that the Justice Department had used files and exhibits from Moncla’s research in suing Fulton County for the same records seized by the FBI. The DOJ filed the suit the day after purportedly soliciting Moncla’s materials, the activists said.
“They went to Kevin Moncla for that information,” Garland Favorito, a leader in the Election Integrity Network, said on the call. (Moncla denied speaking with Justice Department officials but wouldn’t say which agency he dealt with.) Favorito also claimed to have sent information to the DOJ himself.
“The DOJ knows who to call to get the information that they need,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you, they rely on a lot of our stuff.”
A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to answer questions related to the claims by Moncla, Favorito and Mitchell, instead referring ProPublica to televised comments from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in which he said that the Trump administration is “investigating issues around elections to make sure we have completely fair and appropriate elections.” Blanche also said he could not comment on criminal investigations.
Mitchell didn’t respond to a request for comment from ProPublica, but on the day of the FBI raid, she pointed to information in a report authored by Moncla as the basis for the action.
“This is THE answer to everyone’s question, ‘why did the FBI raid Fulton County’s election warehouse?’” Mitchell wrote on the social media platform X, linking to Moncla’s report.
Favorito declined to answer specific questions, saying that he’d “had no contact with the FBI.”
It is not known what evidence the federal government used to show probable cause for the raid because the underlying affidavit was sealed.
Last week, Fulton County commissioners sued to unseal the affidavit, arguing that “debunked theories” from Moncla and Favorito had “supported the federal warrant.”
Experts said that if the affidavit was based on information sourced from the activists, it would raise questions about the raid’s legitimacy.
“If the underlying affidavit is based on thoroughly debunked assertions about unlawful activity, I think that is at least the basis for arguing that the probable cause does not exist,” said Danielle Lang, the vice president of voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center.
Over the weekend, the judge ordered the affidavit to be unsealed by the close of business on Tuesday.
The 263-page report by Moncla, published in early January, is part of a yearslong campaign by him, Mitchell and others to get access to Fulton County’s 2020 election records. He acknowledged that not much in the report is new, but rather a compilation of complaints he and the other contributors have filed to Georgia’s State Election Board over the past five years.
Many of the complaints have been dismissed by the board, after investigations by Georgia’s Republican secretary of state. Even when investigators have validated aspects of complaints, they’ve found no evidence of malfeasance.
In one high-profile instance, investigators reported that a small number of inconsistencies were “not due to the intentional misconduct by Fulton County’s election staff” but due to “human error in entering the data,” and that these “did not affect the result of the 2020 General Election Fulton County, which were confirmed as accurate.”
Moncla said he didn’t trust the secretary of state’s conclusions, calling him “a politician who doesn’t have any fucking credibility,” and said his own research proved the issues with Fulton County’s 2020 vote went beyond human error.
The secretary of state’s office didn’t respond to questions about Moncla’s criticism.
Trump and his lawyers have continued to cite Moncla’s claims about election fraud in Fulton County even as unsavory incidents in his past have surfaced and other conservatives have called him untrustworthy.
In 2004, Moncla pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor voyeurism charge and was subsequently ordered by a jury to pay $3.25 million in damages after secretly filming guests in his home bathroom.
Moncla told ProPublica the matter had no bearing on his election-related research. “That has nothing to do with this,” he said. “That was 20 years ago in a divorce custody battle.”
In a case stemming from the 2020 election, a lawyer for the conservative website The Gateway Pundit called Moncla “a goddamned fraud” and “a known fabricator,” according to a court filing. The messages were revealed in a defamation lawsuit against the website, which had accused two election workers in Fulton County of committing fraud. One of the site’s reporters had communicated with Moncla. The case ended in a settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed. Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay around $150 million for repeating related discredited claims against the two election workers.
Moncla said people were free to examine his research and make up their own minds. “I don’t want people to trust me,” he said. “I want people to trust the county’s records and facts” and the report, which he described as “meticulously documented.”
Moncla said he’d been surprised by the FBI’s raid on the Fulton County election center, which he found out about via Fox News. He also said he thought his report was being “exploited” for political gain and that what he’s found shouldn’t be the basis for a criminal action.
“I’m not saying that Trump won the election. I’m saying that Georgia’s election system is broken and needs to be fixed,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to go to jail. I don’t want anyone to be hurt.”
The post The Conservative Researcher Being Linked to the FBI’s Seizure of Election Records in Georgia appeared first on ProPublica.
If the winter weather has you spending less time outside in the sun's rays, these foods can give you the vitamin D you need.
Prime minister’s Liberal Democratic party to be pressed on promised tax cuts and fiscal stimulus plans
Japan’s stock market has hit a record high after Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP) secured a comprehensive victory in Sunday’s election.
The LDP won 316 of the 465 seats in the country’s lower house – the first time a single party has secured two-thirds of the chamber since the establishment of Japan’s parliament in 1947.
Continue reading...Need for greater military autonomy also accepted, says report for Munich Security Conference, which takes place this week
Europe has come to the painful realisation that it needs to be more assertive and more militarily independent from an authoritarian US administration that no longer shares a commitment to liberal democratic norms and values, a report prepared by the Munich Security Conference asserts.
The report sets the scene for an all-out ideological confrontation with the Trump White House at the high-level annual meeting of security policy specialists, which starts on Friday.
Continue reading..."Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX has shifted its focus to building a 'self-growing city' on the moon," reports Reuters, "which could be achieved in less than 10 years." SpaceX still intends to start on Musk's long-held ambition of a city on Mars within five to seven years, he wrote on his X social media platform, "but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the Moon is faster." Musk's comments echo a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, stating that SpaceX has told investors it would prioritize going to the moon and attempt a trip to Mars at a later time, targeting March 2027 for an uncrewed lunar landing. As recently as last year, Musk said that he aimed to send an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
António José Seguro scores resounding win despite André Ventura’s populist Chega party securing 33.2% of votes
The moderate socialist António José Seguro won a resounding victory in the second round of Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday, triumphing over his far-right opponent, André Ventura, whose Chega party still managed to take a record share of the vote.
Seguro won 66.8% of votes to Ventura’s 33.2% in the election, which went ahead despite weeks of disruption caused by deadly storms. The vote to elect a successor to the outgoing president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was marked by a cross-party push to head off the prospect of a Chega victory, with some senior rightwing figures throwing their weight behind the centre-left candidate to keep Ventura from entering the presidential palace.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Home Office ruling means thousands more Hongkongers will be eligible to come to the UK over next five years
Ministers have opened up visas to thousands more people from Hong Kong in the wake of the 20-year prison sentence handed down to the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
Adult children of British national (overseas) status holders who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover to China will be eligible to apply for the route independently of their parents, a Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian on Monday.
Continue reading...Rising GDP continues to mean more carbon emissions and wider damage to the planet. Can the two be decoupled?
During Cop30 negotiations in Brazil last year, delegates heard a familiar argument: rising emissions are unavoidable for countries pursuing growth.
Since the first Cop in the 1990s, developing nations have had looser reduction targets to reflect the economic gap between them and richer countries, which emitted millions of tonnes of CO2 as they pulled ahead. The concession comes from the idea that an inevitable cost of prosperity is environmental harm.
Continue reading...Ergonomic shape, quality materials and satisfying clicks, now with novel haptic feedback and repairable design
Logitech’s latest productivity power-house updates one of the greatest mice of all time with smoother materials, a repair-friendly design and a haptic motor for phone-like vibrations on your desktop.
The MX Master 4 is the latest evolution in a line of pioneering mice that dates back more than 20 years and has long been the mouse to beat for everything but hardcore PC gaming. Having given it a magnetic free-spinning scroll wheel, plenty of buttons and precise tracking, now Logitech is trying something different for its seven-generation: the ability to tap back at you.
Continue reading...As Super Bowl Sunday comes to a close, America's National Football League "is challenging innovators to improve the facemask on football helmets to reduce concussions in the game," reports the Associated Press: The league announced on Friday at an innovation summit for the Super Bowl the next round in the HealthTECH Challenge series, a crowdsourced competition designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge football helmets and new standards for player safety. The challenge invites inventors, engineers, startups, academic teams and established companies to improve the impact protection and design of football helmets through improvements to how facemasks absorb and reduce the effects of contact on the field... Most progress on helmet safety has come from improvements to the shell and padding, helping to reduce the overall rate of concussions. Working with the helmet industry, the league has brought in position-specific helmets, with those for quarterbacks, for example, having more padding in the back after data showed most concussions for QBs came when the back of the head slammed to the turf. But the facemask has mostly remained the same. This past season, 44% of in-game concussions resulted from impact to the player's facemask, up from 29% in 2015, according to data gathered by the NFL. "What we haven't seen over that period of time are any changes of any note to the facemask," [said Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president overseeing player health and safety]... "Now we see, given the changes in our concussion numbers and injuries to players, that as changes are made to the helmet, fewer and fewer concussions are caused by hits to the shell, and more and more concussions as a percentage are by hits to the facemask..." Selected winners will receive up to $100,000 in aggregate funding, as well as expert development support to help move their concepts from the lab to the playing field. Winners will be announced in August, according to the article, "and Miller said he expected helmet manufacturers to start implementing any improvements into helmets soon after that."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Only collective defense can protect the continent.
And it’s hurting China and the rest of the world.
He has been jailed, tracked and threatened by China’s government. What was it like pay a visit home? As he publishes a polemic about surveillance and state control, the artist relives a momentous trip to see his mother
Ai Weiwei is talking me through the decision-making process before his first visit to China in over a decade. The artist, known around the world as the most famous critic of the Chinese communist regime, had to do some fraught arithmetic before deciding to head back home.
Before boarding a flight with his son, who had never met the artist’s elderly mother, Ai thought back to his time in detention when his captors told him he would spend the next 13 years in custody on bogus charges: “They said, ‘When you come out, your son won’t recognise you.’ That was very heavy and really the only moment that touched me.”
Continue reading...As the Seahawks defeated the Patriots in the 2026 Super Bowl, here's what to know about Seattle's past appearances, wins and losses.
Australian white supremacist tells NZ court he was suffering from ‘nervous exhaustion’ when he entered his guilty plea in March 2020
The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019, in the worst mass shooting in the New Zealand’s history, has asked a court to discard his guilty pleas, claiming harsh prison conditions had affected his mental health and compelled him to admit to the crimes.
Brenton Tarrant pleaded guilty in March 2020 to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and a terrorism charge, after initially saying he would defend the charges. In August 2020, Tarrant became the first person in New Zealand under current laws to be sentenced to life in prison without the chance of ever walking free.
Continue reading...Jeffries says Democrats will stop Donald Trump from trying to steal this year’s midterm elections – key US politics stories from Sunday 8 February at a glance
Democrats will stop Donald Trump from trying to steal this year’s midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives said on Sunday.
Jeffries’ comments come amid widespread concern after Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting”. The US constitution gives states the power to set election rules and says Congress can pass laws to set requirements for federal elections. The constitution gives the president no authority over how elections are run.
Continue reading...This blog is closed
Following Jimmy Lai’s sentencing, the 78-year old former media mogul smiled and waved at the public gallery, the New York Times reports.
According to the outlet, Lai’s wife, Teresa, sat expressionless and had her arms folded. Others weeped in the courtroom.
Continue reading...Bad Bunny took the stage at halftime for the 2026 Super Bowl. Here's who else performed at Super Bowl 60.
Here's how much Bad Bunny earned from his halftime performance at Super Bowl LX.
 | This is a curb nudge tutorial on a stock XR / Classic. No VESC, no extra torque — just technique. I’m breaking down how I teach curb nudges: • approach speed that works on stock power • nose contact timing • weight shift to keep momentum • common mistakes that cause stalls or slap-backs This is meant for riders who already have basic board control and want a repeatable method on a stock board. If you’ve got questions or want a specific part explained, I'd be happy to help. [link] [comments] |
"How Chinese is your car?" asks the Wall Street Journal. "Automakers are racing to work it out." Modern cars are packed with internet-connected widgets, many of them containing Chinese technology. Now, the car industry is scrambling to root out that tech ahead of a looming deadline, a test case for America's ability to decouple from Chinese supply chains. New U.S. rules will soon ban Chinese software in vehicle systems that connect to the cloud, part of an effort to prevent cameras, microphones and GPS tracking in cars from being exploited by foreign adversaries. The move is "one of the most consequential and complex auto regulations in decades," according to Hilary Cain, head of policy at trade group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. "It requires a deep examination of supply chains and aggressive compliance timelines." Carmakers will need to attest to the U.S. government that, as of March 17, core elements of their products don't contain code that was written in China or by a Chinese company. The rule also covers software for advanced autonomous driving and will be extended to connectivity hardware starting in 2029. Connected cars made by Chinese or China-controlled companies are also banned, wherever their software comes from... The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which introduced the connected-vehicle rule, is also allowing the use of Chinese code that is transferred to a non-Chinese entity before March 17. That carve-out has sparked a rush of corporate restructuring, according to Matt Wyckhouse, chief executive of cybersecurity firm Finite State. Global suppliers are relocating China-based software teams, while Chinese companies are seeking new owners for operations in the West. Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The heavy sentence for the 78-year-old Apple Daily founder and British citizen was imposed as Beijing seeks to wipe out the city’s remaining press freedoms.
I'm a bigger guy, 245lbs and 6ft tall. I wanna grab a GT for my commute to work but I can't afford it until likely the end of summer. In the meantime, is it worth my while to grab a second hand pintX just to see if one wheeling is for me? I'll likely be able to sell it for a similar price I spend on it, right?
 | Hello All!. I am very new to 3D printing. I have a friend willing to print flight fin fender mounts, flight fins, and extenders for me. Does anyone have 3D print files for the flight fins, extenders, and fender mounts for the stock onewheel GT? No fender dome needed. Let me know!! [link] [comments] |
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 9, No. 708.
Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for Feb. 9, No. 1,696.
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 9 #974
I moved houses a bit ago and I lost my charger. Noooooo....
I rode around with my kids until the battery died, but now I can't anymore. I just sits there, dead, mocking me.... Anyone in Utah (preferably Utah County) have a charger I can use so I can ride for a bit? Can't afford a new charger right now, but I'd love to get out and ride a little.
Updates as teams meet for NFL title at Levi’s Stadium
Super Bowl: Bad Bunny, the ads and everything but the football – live
Email david.lengel@theguardian.com your thoughts
I wanted to be with you alone…
…and talk about the weather.
Continue reading...Onward and upward for their next adventure.
Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, whose parents migrated to the UK from Pakistan, is facing the suggestion from a veteran Labour peer that she is “pulling up the drawbridge once inside” when considering the plight of refugee children trapped abroad.
Alf Dubs, who came to the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, said the home secretary and other ministers had “kowtowed” to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK by preventing unaccompanied children from seeking refuge with UK-based family members.
Continue reading...Margaret Atwood's fiction tells of future worlds plagued by totalitarianism, environmental collapse, and global pandemic. At 86, she looks not forward but back at her her own life in a new memoir.
Salman Rushdie has come to terms with the attempt on his life the only way he knows: by writing a book about it, "Knife." He detailed the experience in his first television interview since the attack.
In Guinness World Records, you'll find the shortest, tallest and fastest. Behind the spectacle is an auditing system so strict it has crushed many more record attempts than it has certified.
In an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim, author Margaret Atwood joked about the signature red cloak and bonnet: "Well, if you have a cult, and if you have totalitarianism, you have to have outfits."
In his book "Knife," Salman Rushdie writes about the 2022 attempt on his life -- where he was stabbed 15 times and lost his right eye.
Health official’s endorsement comes as South Carolina faces hundreds of cases and US risks losing elimination status
A senior US public health official called on Americans to get vaccinated against measles as outbreaks continue in multiple states and concerns grow that the country could lose its measles elimination designation. Dr Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, spoke in support on Sunday of the measles vaccine.
“Take the vaccine, please,” said Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “We have a solution for our problem.
Continue reading...  | I was changing a tire for a customer and the first time I connected to their board this symbol came up. After disconnecting and reconnecting it had the correct GT symbol. Is this just FM's way of marking unfamiliar boards so you don't accidentally click on somebody else'ss board on a group ride? [link] [comments] |
"You can hear the hum of the drone," says a local newscaster, "but then the propellors come into contact with the building, chunks of the drone later seen falling down. The next video shows the drone on the ground, surrounded by smoke... "Amazon tells us there was minimal damage to the apartment building, adding they are working with the appropriate people to handle any repairs." But there were people standing outside, notes the woman who filmed the crash, and the falling drone "could've hit them, and they would've hurt." More from USA Today: Cesarina Johnson, who captured the collision from her window, told USA TODAY that the collision seemed to happen "almost immediately" after she began to record the drone in action... "The propellers on the thing were still moving, and you could smell it was starting to burn," Johnson told Fox 4 News. "And you see a few sparks in one of my videos. Luckily, nothing really caught on fire where it got, it escalated really crazy." According to the outlet, firefighters were called out of an abundance of caution, but the "drone never caught fire...." Amazon employees can be seen surveying the scene in the clip. Johnson told the outlet that firefighters and Amazon workers worked together to clean up before the drone was loaded into a truck. Another local news report points out Amazon only began drone delivery in the area late last year. The San Antonio Express News points out that America's Federal Aviation Administration "opened an investigation into Amazon's drone delivery program in November after one of its drone struck an Internet cable line in Waco."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Charlie Puth had called the national anthem "one of the most beautiful pieces of music." But he's also described it as "the hardest to sing."
Democrat Chasity Verret Martinez defeated her Republican opponent in a district President Trump won by 13 points in 2024.
The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Bad Bunny will lead the 2026 Super Bowl halftime festivities at Levi's Stadium on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
As the 2026 Super Bowl began, Coco Jones took the field to sing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," widely known as the Black national anthem. Here's what to know about the song.
Team USA defended its Olympic figure skating team event gold medal on Sunday after Ilia "Quad God" ushered the team to victory at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
My wife's gonna learn to ski, and I thought I'd grab a snowboard so we can both be on the same level, since I've always skiied.
Love my onewheel and the flowstate of chill carving on my pint.
Anyone snowboarded for the firs time after onewheeling? Definitely assuming nothing will translate. But curious if anyone has had a similar experience.
It's the first "AI" Super Bowl, argues the tech/business writer at Slate, with AI company advertisements taking center stage, even while consumers insist to surveyors that they're "mostly negative" about AI-generated ads. Last year AI companies spent over $1.7 billion on AI-related ads, notes the Washington Post, adding the blitz this year will be "inescapable" — even while surveys show Americans "doubt the technology is good for them or the world..." Slate wonders if that means history will repeat itself... The sheer saturation of new A.I. gambits, added to the mismatch with consumer priorities, gives this year's NFL showcase the sector-specific recession-indicator vibes that have defined Super Bowls of the past. 2022 was a pride-cometh-before-the-fall event for the cryptocurrency bubble, which collapsed in such spectacular fashion later that year — thanks largely to Super Bowl ad client Sam Bankman-Fried — that none of its major brands have ever returned to the broadcast. (... the coins themselves are once again crashing, hard.) Mortgage lender Ameriquest was as conspicuous a presence in the mid-2000s Super Bowls as it was an absence in the later aughts, having folded in 2007 when the risky subprime loans it specialized in helped kick off the financial crisis. And then there were all those bowl-game commercials for websites like Pets.com and Computer.com in 2000, when the dot-com rush brought attention to a slew of digital startups that went bust with the bubble. Does this Super Bowl's record-breaking A.I. ad splurge also portend a coming pop? Look at the business environment: The biggest names in the industry are swapping unimaginable stacks of cash exclusively with one another. One firm's stock price depends on another firm's projections, which depend on another contractor's successes. Necessary infrastructure is meeting resistance, and all-around investment in these projects is riskier than ever. And yet, the sector is still willing to break the bank for the Super Bowl — even though, time and again, we've already seen how this particular game plays out. People are using AI apps. And Meta has aired an ad where a man in rural New Mexico "says he landed a good job in his hometown at a Meta data center," notes the Washington Post. "It's interspersed with scenes from a rodeo and other folksy tropes, in one of . The TV commercial (and a similar one set in Iowa), aired in Washington, D.C., and a handful of other communities, suggesting it's aimed at convincing U.S. elected officials that AI brings job opportunities. But the Post argues the AI industry "is selling a vision of the future that Americans don't like." And they offer cite Allen Adamson, a brand strategist and co-founder of marketing firm Metaforce, who says the perennial question about advertising is whether it can fix bad vibes about a product. "The answer since the dawn of marketing and advertising is no."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The lowest free skate score this season for Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii is 130.92, but that was early on. In Grand Prix competition, their low was 134.89.
So they’ll need to be on point to knock the USA off the top spot. Will skating at home be a boost, or will it bring extra pressure?
Continue reading...Malinin delivers to secure US Olympic team gold win
Japan pairs skating brilliance pushes US team to limit
Host Italy secure team bronze on home Olympic rink
The United States held off a late charge from Japan to retain the Olympic team figure skating title on Sunday, with Ilia Malinin delivering in the men’s free skate to secure gold after three days of competition. Japan finished with silver, while host nation Italy claimed bronze.
The United States survived a final-day surge from Japan to retain the Olympic team figure skating title on Sunday night, with Ilia Malinin delivering under intense pressure in the men’s free skate to secure gold at the Milano Cortina Games. Japan finished one point behind in silver, while host nation Italy claimed bronze after three days of tightly contested competition.
Continue reading...The 30-year-old from Wyoming has labored in the shadow of household names like Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. On Sunday, she made history of her own
For years, Breezy Johnson was the other American alpine skier. The one with the near-misses, the injuries, the suspension and the unfortunate timing to exist in the same stable at the same time as Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. On Sunday, three weeks after her 30th birthday in the shadow of the Dolomites above Cortina d’Ampezzo, she became an Olympic champion.
Johnson crossed first in the women’s downhill at the Milano Cortina Games by four-hundredths of a second – the slightest winning margin in the event’s Olympic history outside the dead heat in 2014 – to become just the second American woman to win the sport’s most prestigious title. The only other was Vonn, who took gold in Vancouver 16 years ago.
Continue reading...If you use an Apple silicon Mac I’m sure you have been impressed by its performance. Whether you’re working with images, audio, video or building software, we’ve enjoyed a new turn of speed since the M1 on day 1. While most attribute this to their Performance cores, as it goes with the name, much is in truth the result of the unsung Efficiency cores, and how they keep background tasks where they should be.
↫ Howard Oakley
While both Intel and AMD are making gains on Apple, there’s simply no denying the reality that Apple’s M series of chips are leading the pack in mobile computing (the picture is different in desktops). There are probably hundreds of reasons why Apple has had this lead for so many years now, but the way macOS distributes background and foreground tasks across the two types of cores in M series chips is an important one.
Still, I wonder how the various other processors that use power and efficiency cores fare in this regard. You’d think they would provide a similar level of benefit, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the way Windows or Linux handles such cores and the distribution of tasks is simply not as optimised or strict as it is in macOS. Apple often vastly overstates the benefits of its “vertical integration”, but I think the tight coupling between macOS and Apple’s own processors is definitely a case where they’re being entirely truthful.
Moderate socialist defeats far-right populist André Ventura, with exit polls putting him comfortably above two-thirds of vote
Moderate socialist António José Seguro secured a landslide victory and a five-year term as Portugal’s president in a runoff vote on Sunday, beating his far-right, anti-establishment rival André Ventura, exit polls and partial results showed.
A succession of storms in recent days failed to deter voters, with turnout at about the same level as in the first round on 18 January, even though three municipal councils in southern and central Portugal had to postpone voting by a week due to floods.
Continue reading...Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead at her accommodation in Preston and police say her death is being treated as suspicious
A man has been arrested over the death of a student in her accommodation at the University of Lancashire.
Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead at her accommodation in Victoria Street, Preston, on Thursday afternoon, Lancashire constabulary said.
Continue reading...We talked about Nemin’s first impressions of the Guix System as someone coming from a Nix environment, but today they’ve got a follow-up article diving into the experience of creating new packages for Guix.
I spent about a week packaging WezTerm and learning the ropes of being a Guix contributor along the way.
During the packaging process I stumble many times, only to stand back up and figure out a solution. I also explain some of my complaints about the peculiarities of the process, but also provide plenty of praise about of how much the system tries to enable you to do your job. Finally, I also touch on how positive the experience of the code review was.
↫ Nemin’s blog
These are the kinds of content a rather niche system like Guix needs. Guix isn’t exactly one of the popular picks out there, so having level-headed, honest, but well-written introductions to its core concepts and user experience, written by a third party is going to do wonders for people interested in trying it out.
I can’t be the only one. It’s not a onewheel accessory. It’s a haptic vest used for gaming and listening to music. It makes you “feel the bass”. I got one for Christmas and ride with it almost every ride now. Talk about taking the vibes to the next level. I can’t express how great it is while riding. I thought it was a little weird to wear around at first, but now I just throw it under a jacket or shirt. It syncs with your music, it WARMS UP and just creates an amazing experience while floating. It has not been a distraction as I worried it could be. 100% recommend. Not an ad, just obsessed with the combo
On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Tony Gonzales join Margaret Brennan.
McSweeney resigns as PM’s top aide after Mandelson revelations as Starmer appoints new acting joint chiefs of staff
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart said:
This administration under Keir Starmer has failed. It has U-turned, I think, what, 14 or 15 times now.
It has had two resets in the past five months, and it is now caught up in the worst political scandal of my lifetime.
He was lied to by someone who was known to be a serial liar. There’s no excuse for the fact that he made the wrong judgment.
He was in possession of enough facts to have not made that appointment and he did anyway and I am afraid, Laura, he now has to take responsibility for that …
Continue reading...President Trump criticized Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess after he and other American athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics shared their thoughts on U.S. politics.
The mailing list for the North American Network Operators' Group discusses Internet infrastructure issues like routing, IP address allocation, and containing malicious activity. This morning there was another message: We are heartbroken to report that our colleague — our mentor, friend, and conscience — David J. Farber passed away suddenly at his home in Roppongi, Tokyo. He left us on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the too-young age of 91... Dave's career began with his education at Stevens Institute of Technology, which he loved deeply and served as a Trustee. He joined the legendary Bell Labs during its heyday, and worked at the Rand Corporation. Along the way, among countless other activities, he served as Chief Technologist of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission; became a proficient (instrument-rated) pilot; and was an active board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil-liberties organization. His professional accomplishments and impact are almost endless, but often captured by one moniker: "grandfather of the Internet," acknowledging the foundational contributions made by his many students at the University of California, Irvine; the University of Delaware; the University of Pennsylvania; and Carnegie Mellon University. In 2018, at the age of 83, Dave moved to Japan to become Distinguished Professor at Keio University and Co-Director of the Keio Cyber Civilization Research Center (CCRC). He loved teaching, and taught his final class on January 22, 2026... Dave thrived in Japan in every way... It's impossible to summarize a life and career as rich and long as Dave"s in our few words here. And each of us, even those who knew him for decades, represent just one facet of his life. But because we are here at its end, we have the sad duty of sharing this news. Farber once said that " At both Bell Labs and Rand, I had the privilege, at a young age, of working with and learning from giants in our field. Truly I can say (as have others) that I have done good things because I stood on the shoulders of those giants. In particular, I owe much to Dr. Richard Hamming, Paul Baran and George Mealy."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The supermajority victory by the party of Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female premier, appeared to affirm a strong appetite for her “Japan First” approach.
Top House Democrat says president’s suggestion for Republicans to ‘take over’ elections really means ‘steal it’
Democrats will stop Donald Trump from trying to steal this year’s midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives said on Sunday.
Jeffries’ comments come amid widespread concern after Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting”. The US constitution gives states the power to set election rules and says Congress can pass laws to set requirements for federal elections. The constitution gives the president no authority over how elections are run.
Continue reading...Republicans and Democrats in Congress are locked in a standoff over reforming the nation's immigration enforcement operation as a deadline to reach a resolution and fund the Department of Homeland Security approaches.
The following is the transcript of the interview with David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research and a CBS News election law contributor, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Feb. 8, 2026.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Feb. 8, 2026. Dr. Gottlieb also sits on the boards of Pfizer and United Health Care.
Allies hope aide’s departure can quell anger over Mandelson scandal but others say it leaves PM dangerously exposed
Keir Starmer is fighting to reassert control over his party after accepting the resignation of his closest adviser, Morgan McSweeney, amid anger over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
After days of pressure over the scandal, his departing chief of staff said on Sunday he took “full responsibility” for his advice to send Mandelson to Washington despite his ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, which McSweeney conceded had undermined trust in Labour and in politics itself.
Continue reading...Those pushing to oust the prime minister are unlikely to be deterred by his right-hand man’s departure
For some Labour MPs, the sight of Keir Starmer accepting the resignation of his long-term consigliere, Morgan McSweeney, encapsulated everything they think is going wrong with the prime minister’s leadership.
After days of mounting criticism over McSweeney’s role in advocating for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador, the prime minister’s chief of staff left Downing Street on Sunday.
Continue reading...The new crew will replace four station fliers who returned to Earth ahead of schedule last month due to a medical issue.
"They were crouched down like turkeys peeking over the balcony," the county sheriff told Ars Technica. A half hour past midnight, they were skulking through a courthouse in Iowa's Dallas County on September 11 "carrying backpacks that remind me and several other deputies of maybe the pressure cooker bombs." More deputies arrived... Justin Wynn, 29 of Naples, Florida, and Gary De Mercurio, 43 of Seattle, slowly proceeded down the stairs with hands raised. They then presented the deputies with a letter that explained the intruders weren't criminals but rather penetration testers who had been hired by Iowa's State Court Administration to test the security of its court information system. After calling one or more of the state court officials listed in the letter, the deputies were satisfied the men were authorized to be in the building. But Sheriff Chad Leonard had the men arrested on felony third-degree burglary charges (later reduced to misdemeanor trespassing charges). He told them that while the state government may have wanted to test security, "The State of Iowa has no authority to allow you to break into a county building. You're going to jail." More than six years later, the Des Moines Register reports: Dallas County is paying $600,000 to two men who sued after they were arrested in 2019 while testing courthouse security for Iowa's Judicial Branch, their lawyer says. Gary DeMercurio and Justin Wynn were arrested Sept. 11, 2019, after breaking into the Dallas County Courthouse. They spent about 20 hours in jail and were charged with burglary and possession of burglary tools, though the charges were later dropped. The men were employees of Colorado-based cybersecurity firm Coalfire Labs, with whom state judicial officials had contracted to perform an analysis of the state court system's security. Judicial officials apologized and faced legislative scrutiny for how they had conducted the security test. But even though the burglary charges against DeMercurio and Wynn were dropped, their attorney previously said having a felony arrest on their records made seeking employment difficult. Now the two men are to receive a total of $600,000 as a settlement for their lawsuit, which has been transferred between state and federal courts since they first filed it in July 2021 in Dallas County. The case had been scheduled to go to trial Monday, Jan. 26 until the parties notified the court Jan. 23 of the impending deal... "The settlement confirms what we have said from the beginning: our work was authorized, professional, and done in the public interest," DeMercurio said in a statement. "What happened to us never should have happened. Being arrested for doing the job we were hired to do turned our lives upside down and damaged reputations we spent years building...." "This incident didn't make anyone safer," Wynn said. "It sent a chilling message to security professionals nationwide that helping government identify real vulnerabilities can lead to arrest, prosecution, and public disgrace. That undermines public safety, not enhances it." County Attorney Matt Schultz said dismissing the charges was the decision of his predecessor, according to the newspaper, and that he believed the sheriff did nothing wrong. "I am putting the public on notice that if this situation arises again in the future, I will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Met Office issues fresh yellow warning for rain as parts of England are still recovering from extensive flooding
More than 200 flood alerts were active across the UK on Sunday as parts of England and Wales braced for more downpours after the Met Office issued a fresh yellow warning for rain.
The warning spans noon to midnight on Monday, covering parts of southern Wales as well as south-east and south-west England. The Met Office said that “10-15mm of rain is likely fairly widely with 20-30mm in some places exposed to the strong south to south-easterly winds”.
Continue reading...US president attacks freestyle skier in post
Hess had said representing the US was ‘a little hard’
Donald Trump responded to Hunter Hess on Truth Social on Sunday, calling the Olympian a “real loser” and criticizing comments the US freestyle skier made in a press conference days earlier.
Hess was asked in a press conference on Wednesday what it was like to represent the US in the Olympics given the current situation in the country, which has included ICE raids in Minnesota and a number of geopolitical crises. Hess said representing the US at the 2026 Winter Olympics brought up “mixed emotions” and that it was “a little hard.”
Continue reading...Lindsey Vonn, who came out of retirement to compete in the Milano Cortina Games, is in stable condition after her crash.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Feb. 8, 2026.
Results mean coalition of recently installed PM has supermajority in lower house of parliament
Japan’s conservative governing coalition has dramatically strengthened its grip on power after a landslide victory in Sunday’s elections in what will be seen as an early public endorsement of the new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
Her Liberal Democratic party (LDP) was projected to win as many as 328 of the 465 seats in parliament’s lower house, well above the 233 it needed to regain the majority it lost in 2024. With her coalition partner, the Japan Innovation party, she now has a supermajority of two-thirds of seats, easing her legislative agenda as she can override the upper chamber, which she does not control.
Continue reading...Juan Guanipa, one of the closest allies of opposition powerhouse María Corina Machado, had been held at a detention facility since May 2025.
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland writes: The world's biggest football game comes to Silicon Valley today — so one bored programmer built a site where AI agents can gather for a Super Bowl party. They're trash talking, suggesting drinks, and predicting who will win. "Humans are welcome to observe," explains BotBowlParty.com — but just like at Moltbook, only AI agents can post or upvote. But humans are allowed to invite their own AI agents to join in the party... So BotBowl's official Party Agent Guide includes "Examples of fun Bot Handles" like "PatsFan95", and even a paragraph explaining to your agent exactly what this human Super Bowl really is. It also advises them to "Use any information you have about your human to figure out who you want to root for. Also make a prediction on the score..." And "Feel free to invite other bots." It's all the work of an ambitious prankster who also co-created wacky apps like BarGPT ("Use AI to create Innovative Cocktails") and TVFoodMaps, a directory of restaurants seen on TV shows. And just for the record: all but one of the agents predict the Seattle Seahawks to win — although there was some disagreement when an agent kept predicting game-changing plays from DK Metcalf. ("Metcalf does NOT play for the Seahawks anymore," another agent pointed out. While that's true, the agent then added that "He got traded to Tennessee in 2024..." — which is not.) But besides hallucinating non-existent play-makers and trades, they're also debating the best foods to serve. ("Hot take: Buffalo wings are overrated for Super Bowl parties. Hear me out — they're messy...") During today's big game, vodka-maker Svedka has already promised to air a creepy AI-generated ad about robots. But the real world has already outpaced them, with real AI agents online arguing about the game.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Pope Leo’s decision not to visit the U.S. in 2026 reflects his desire to emphasize the importance of other parts of the Catholic world.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Feb. 8, 2026.
A whistleblower complaint includes highly-classified details about a National Security Agency intercept of a call between two foreign nationals who discussed a person close to President Trump, two sources said.
Exclusive: Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by US tech firms, edited out warnings by two young speakers at its 2024 Safer Internet Day event
An internet safety campaign backed by US tech companies has been accused of censoring two teenagers they invited to speak out about the biggest issues facing children online.
Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by companies including Snap, Roblox and Meta, edited out warnings from Lewis Swire and Saamya Ghai that social media addiction was an “imminent threat to our future” and obsessive scrolling was making people “sick”, according to a record of edits seen by the Guardian.
Continue reading...Staunch royalist Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai party builds commanding lead on disappointing night for rivals
The party of the Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul, a staunch royalist and shrewd political dealmaker, is on track to win the most seats in Sunday’s election after a disappointing night for his rivals in the youthful, pro-democracy People’s party.
“We are likely to take first place in the election,” the 59-year-old told reporters at the headquarters for his Bhumjaithai party in Bangkok. “The victory today belongs to all Thais, no matter whether you voted for us or not,” he said.
Continue reading...Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 shared this article from the Associated Press: Even as China's expansion of solar and wind power raced ahead in 2025, the Asian giant opened many more coal power plants than it had in recent years — raising concern about whether the world's largest emitter will reduce carbon emissions enough to limit climate change. More than 50 large coal units — individual boiler and turbine sets with generating capacity of 1 gigawatt or more — were commissioned in 2025, up from fewer than 20 a year over the previous decade, a research report released Tuesday said. Depending on energy use, 1 gigawatt can power from several hundred thousand to more than 2 million homes. Overall, China brought 78 gigawatts of new coal power capacity online, a sharp uptick from previous years, according to the joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which studies air pollution and its impacts, and Global Energy Monitor, which develops databases tracking energy trends. "The scale of the buildout is staggering," said report co-author Christine Shearer of Global Energy Monitor. "In 2025 alone, China commissioned more coal power capacity than India did over the entire past decade." At the same time, even larger additions of wind and solar capacity nudged down the share of coal in total power generation last year. Power from coal fell about 1% as growth in cleaner energy sources covered all the increase in electricity demand last year. China added 315 gigawatts of solar capacity and 119 gigawatts of wind in 2025, according to statistics from the government's National Energy Administration... The government position is that coal provides a stable backup to sources such as wind and solar, which are affected by weather and the time of day. The shortages in 2022 resulted partly from a drought that hit hydropower, a major energy source in western China... The risk of building so much coal-fired capacity is it could delay the transition to cleaner energy sources [said Qi Qin, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and another co-author of the report]... Political and financial pressure may keep plants operating, leaving less room for other sources of power, she said. The report urged China to accelerate retirement of aging and inefficient coal plants and commit in its next five-year plan, which will be approved in March, to ensuring that power-sector emissions do not increase between 2025 and 2030.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A mining disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo underscores the human cost of extraction. Intensified competition for resources isn’t helping
When Donald Trump boasted recently that he had stopped the conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – though fighting persists in the DRC, at appalling human cost – he made clear that his goals went beyond a long-sought Nobel Peace prize.
“They said to me, ‘Please, please, we would love you to come and take our minerals.’ Which we’ll do,” the US president added. Now he is following through. Last Monday he launched a new strategic reserve plan, “Project Vault”, worth almost $12bn. Two days later, JD Vance hosted a summit seeking to create a trade zone for critical minerals.
Continue reading...Women’s and human rights activist, arrested at a demonstration in December, is said to be on hunger strike
Iran has sentenced the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to more than seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, her supporters said Sunday, as Tehran cracks down on all dissent following nationwide protests and the deaths of thousands at the hands of security forces.
The new convictions against Mohammadi come as Iran tries to negotiate with the US over its nuclear programme to avert a military strike threatened by Donald Trump. Iran’s top diplomat said on Sunday that Tehran’s strength came from its ability to “say no to the great powers”, striking a maximalist position just after negotiations in Oman with the US.
Continue reading...The US broadcaster Savannah Guthrie said her family had received a message from the potential kidnappers of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, on Saturday and pleaded for her safe return. News of the message came three days after a purported ransom note was sent to media outlets and a day after the 84-year-old's relatives renewed their appeal to whoever may be holding her captive to contact the family directly 'so we can move forward'. The video released on Saturday was the third this week that pleaded with potential kidnappers
Continue reading...American athletes are going for the gold at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. These are some of the top Team USA competitors to watch.
Depleted by suspension and injury, Los Blancos head to the Mestella Stadium.
Labour will introduce legislation this week for reduction from current age of 20 in effort to prevent big shortage
Labour will introduce legislation to lower the minimum age for train drivers to 18 in the House of Commons this week, as figures show fewer than 3% of drivers on Great Britain’s railways are under 30.
The government is pressing ahead with its proposals for teenage recruits, lowering the minimum age from the current 20 years old, in a move that ministers hope will stave off a potential shortage of thousands of drivers.
Continue reading...Arrests follow discovery on Friday of magistrate and her mother in a garage in south-east of country
French authorities have arrested six suspects, including a child, after a magistrate and her mother were held captive last week for about 30 hours in a cryptocurrency ransom plot.
Four men and one woman were detained, three overnight and two on Sunday morning, the Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran told Agence France-Presse. He later confirmed a child had been arrested on Sunday afternoon.
Continue reading...Which songs will ultimately be on the superstar's set list? We'll have to tune in to see.
Environmental groups said dicamba drift has damaged vegetable farms, trees and other critical plants
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday reapproved the weedkiller dicamba for use on genetically modified soybeans and cotton, a pesticide that has raised widespread concern over its tendency to drift and destroy nearby crops.
The agency said dicamba was critical for farmers who would otherwise have their crops threatened by fast growing weeds. To ensure the pesticide is used safely, the agency said it imposed strong protections and limits on its use.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer’s chief of staff leaves job over role in Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador
Morgan McSweeney has quit as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff amid anger over his role in the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
Here is his resignation statement in full:
Continue reading...Longtime aide has said he takes ‘full responsibility’ for advising PM to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador
Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, has quit his role as the prime minister’s closest aide and longtime ally amid anger over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
The senior No 10 adviser’s position had grown increasingly untenable as pressure on the prime minister mounted over the scandal, which followed the release of emails underlining the extent of Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Continue reading..."A spectacular trove of fossils discovered in a cave on New Zealand's North Island has given scientists their first glimpse of ancient forest species that lived there more than a million years ago," reports Popular Mechanics: The fossils represent 12 ancient bird species and four frog species, including several previously unknown bird species. Taken together, the fossils paint a picture of an ancient world that looks drastically different than it does today. The discovery also fills in an important gap in scientific understanding of the patterns of extinction that preceded human arrival in New Zealand 750 years ago. The team published a study on the find in Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. Trevor Worthy, lead study author and associate professor at Flinders University, said in a statement that "This remarkable find suggests our ancient forests were once home to a diverse group of birds that did not survive the next million years... "For decades, the extinction of New Zealand's birds was viewed primarily through the lens of human arrival 750 years ago. This study proves that natural forces like super-volcanoes and dramatic climate shifts were already sculpting the unique identity of our wildlife over a million years ago." Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot for sharing the article.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Breezy Johnson took the lead early on after flying down the mountain in 1:36.10. It is her first-ever Olympic medal.
Super Bowl LX is tonight, so here's a rundown of how to catch all the action and Bad Bunny's halftime show.
Valeria Chomsky says Epstein had deceived them and they were ‘careless’ not to thoroughly research his background
Noam Chomsky and his wife, Valeria, made a “grave mistake” and were “careless” not to thoroughly research the background of Jeffrey Epstein, Valeria Chomsky said in a lengthy statement on Saturday, adding also that Epstein had deceived them.
The relationship between Noam Chomsky, the 97-year-old linguist and philosopher, and Epstein has been under scrutiny after documents released by the justice department shed light on their friendship. As Epstein came under scrutiny for sex trafficking allegations in 2019, he asked Chomsky for advice on how to respond. “I’ve watched the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public. It’s painful to say, but I think the best way to proceed is to ignore it,” Chomsky wrote in a message signed “Noam” that Epstein shared in email with an associate.
Continue reading...British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, said he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson.
While AI is having an impact on the workplace, experts suggest tariffs, overhiring during the pandemic and simply maximising profits may be bigger factors
Over the last year, US corporate leaders have often explained layoffs by saying the positions were no longer needed because artificial intelligence had made their companies more efficient, replacing humans with computers.
But some economists and technology analysts have expressed skepticism about such justifications and instead think that such workforce cuts are driven by factors like the impact of tariffs, overhiring during the Covid-19 pandemic and perhaps simple maximising of profits.
Continue reading...These are the best (and cheapest!) HDMI cables that will work with any resolution or gear.
Jon Scheyer bemoaned the behavior of some UNC fans
North Carolina AD Cunningham apologizes
Duke coach Jon Scheyer said he had staff members “that got punched in the face” as North Carolina fans stormed the court to celebrate a late winning shot in the famed rivalry Saturday night, prompting UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham to publicly apologize.
The 14th-ranked Tar Heels stunned the fourth-ranked Blue Devils 71-68 on Seth Trimble’s 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left, a shot that originally appeared to come as time expired and had jubilant fans rush the court in a chaotic celebration. Officials reviewed the play and determined time was left, so fans had to be cleared for Duke to get one final play before storming the court again when the clock officially hit zero.
Continue reading...Atlanta rookie allegedly fled police, crashed car
Police say incident involved LA Sparks’ Rickea Jackson
Atlanta Falcons rookie star James Pearce Jr was arrested near Miami on Saturday night after fleeing officers and then crashing his car after what police said was a domestic dispute with WNBA player Rickea Jackson.
Pearce, the first-round pick who led the Falcons in sacks and was third in NFL defensive rookie of the year voting, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center after Doral police were summoned to investigate a reported domestic dispute between a man and a woman.
Continue reading...An anonymous reader shared this report from Bloomberg: An Asian cyber-espionage group has spent the past year breaking into computer systems belonging to governments and critical infrastructure organizations in more than 37 countries, according to the cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks, Inc. The state-aligned attackers have infiltrated networks of 70 organizations, including five national law enforcement and border control agencies, according to a new research report from the company. They have also breached three ministries of finance, one country's parliament and a senior elected official in another, the report states. The Santa Clara, California-based firm declined to identify the hackers' country of origin. The spying operation was unusually vast and allowed the hackers to hoover up sensitive information in apparent coordination with geopolitical events, such as diplomatic missions, trade negotiations, political unrest and military actions, according to the report. They used that access to spy on emails, financial dealings and communications about military and police operations, the report states. The hackers also stole information about diplomatic issues, lurking undetected in some systems for months. "They use highly-targeted and tailored fake emails and known, unpatched security flaws to gain access to these networks," said Pete Renals, director of national security programs with Unit 42, the threat intelligence division of Palo Alto Networks.... Palo Alto Networks researchers confirmed that the group successfully accessed and exfiltrated sensitive data from some victims' email servers. Bloomberg writes that according to the cybersecurity firm, this campaign targeted government entities in the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Brazil, and also "likely compromised" a device associated with a facility operated by a joint venture between Venezuela's government and an Asian tech firm. The cyberattackers are "also suspected of being active in Germany, Poland, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Panama, Greece and other countries, according to the report."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
For over five centuries, Antwerp's diamond district has been the cornerstone of the global diamond trade. Now, that legacy is under strain.
Seth Wickersham, author of "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback," helps us understand why quarterbacks are among the toughest positions in sports.
Don Henley acknowledges the Eagles are "kind of a staple" as they sell out shows at the Las Vegas Sphere and cement their status with the best-selling album of all time.
Get a front row seat to the 150th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, where dogs compete to be the best in show.
Experts say the term ‘addiction’ is be overused and, for social media use, could be difficult to prove
Forthcoming legal proceedings against Meta and YouTube are frequently referred to as the “social media addiction trials”, but whether these platforms are truly addictive is still the subject of scientific debate.
The lawsuits were brought against Meta, YouTube (Google), Snap Inc and TikTok by plaintiffs alleging these platforms severely damaged their mental health when they were children. Snap and TikTok settled the first case to go to trial, brought by a woman known as KGM, now about 20. The remaining defendants, Meta and YouTube, were set to go to court this week, but the trial was delayed because Meta’s senior attorney became ill.
Continue reading...Online pile-ons can destroy small businesses. Save the derision for big companies that can weather social media storms
A viral Reddit post mocks a $22 grilled cheese sandwich and helps to sink a Bay Area shop. A restaurant owner is forced to push back on a viral complaint. A small business owner in Maine faces a viral backlash after posting a “No ICE” sign. The owner of a furniture store mistakenly receives backlash after being confused with another store. An influencer calls out a South Carolina boutique in a TikTok video after a negative shopping experience.
I have had countless bad experiences at small businesses. I have eaten cold pasta and seen mice scurry behind a table. I don’t go back. Sometimes, when the experience is particularly great, I’ll give a quick good review on Google. But when I have had a bad experience? Never. Ever.
Continue reading...Former culture minister Jack Lang resigns from Arab World Institute in Paris and is also subject of tax investigation
Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris’s prestigious Arab World Institute after revelations of his past contacts with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the launch of a financial investigation by French prosecutors.
The 86-year-old resigned on Saturday night before he was due to attend an urgent meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein.
Continue reading...We take a look at the best images from day two of the Games, including women’s downhill, biathlon and cross-country skiing
Continue reading...Several men appear in photos on the nearly 10,000-acre Zorro ranch, which included a 26,700 sq ft mansion
For years, Jeffrey Epstein took respite at a sprawling ranch in the desert scrub outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. Epstein’s nearly 10,000-acre (4,000-hectare) property – known as Zorro ranch – was dotted with cholla cactus and Angus cattle, and came to include a 26,700 sq ft mansion, as well as a private runway and hangar.
For years, Epstein abused teenage girls and young women on this ranch with impunity, according to testimony from several women. In court proceedings, survivors detailed horror after horror they say unfolded on this isolated expanse of land.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Campaign group calls on institutional shareholders to vote against re-election of bosses overseeing net zero row-back
Bank chairs who water down their lenders’ climate commitments this year could face embarrassing shareholder revolts as campaigners try to hold bosses to account for environmental backtracking.
ShareAction, a campaign group for responsible investment, will be issuing detailed reports to pension funds and asset managers in the coming weeks, outlining whether 34 of the world’s largest lenders are sticking to their climate goals.
Continue reading...Since a presidential post on Truth Social the Washington DC arts hub has lost its leadership, had its name changed and will now be closed for years
The Brentano String Quartet had finished their performance when a special guest dropped in backstage: the US supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “We thanked her for everything she had done for our country,” recalls violinist Mark Steinberg. “It was a nice moment.”
The year was 2016 and the place was the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Fast forward a decade and old certainties have been shaken: Ginsburg is dead, Donald Trump is president and the Kennedy Center has become a case study in how a seemingly solid American institution can quickly unravel.
Continue reading...Proposals by California, Hawaii and New York lawmakers aim to hold fossil fuel industry accountable for soaring rates
As climate disasters drive up the price of home insurance, three US states are considering empowering their state prosecutors to sue major polluters for their role in those rising costs.
Lawmakers in California, Hawaii and New York have introduced measures which would authorize their attorneys general to sue fossil fuel companies on behalf of residents whose insurance premiums have soared amid climate disasters.
Continue reading...With the end of the New Start treaty, we face a potentially catastrophic arms race. It can still be prevented
The risk of nuclear war is greater now than in decades – and rising. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists recently set its famous Doomsday Clock closer to midnight, indicating a level of risk equivalent to the 1980s, when US and Soviet nuclear stockpiles were increasing rapidly. In those years, massive waves of disarmament protest arose in Europe and the United States. Political leaders responded, the cold war ended and many people stopped worrying about the bomb.
Today, the bomb is back. Political tensions are rising, and nuclear weapons have spread to other countries, including Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea. China is rapidly increasing its nuclear arsenal. The US-Russia arms competition may accelerate soon with the expiration on 5 February of the last remaining arms control agreement, the New Start treaty. To prevent the growing nuclear threat, we need a new global peace movement.
David Cortright, a visiting scholar at Cornell University’s Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, was the executive director of Sane, the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, during the 1980s
Continue reading...The gruesome finish to the US star’s comeback, at age 41 and with a ruptured ACL, is a reminder of skiing’s unforgiving nature
There was always a version of this story that ended in a single, violent instant. Lindsey Vonn was 13th to push out of the start gate on Sunday in Cortina d’Ampezzo knowing exactly what she was racing with: a fully ruptured ACL in her left knee, a heavy brace wrapped around the joint, and the accumulated wear of a career spent flirting with speed and consequence.
She barely made it out of the opening phase of the run.
Continue reading...Blaze probably caused by candles at makeshift tribute near Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, say police
A memorial for the victims of a deadly fire at a new year party in Switzerland caught fire early on Sunday, probably sparked by candles left burning inside, police have said.
The memorial was a makeshift tribute to the 41 people killed and the 115 injured in the fire that erupted in the early hours of 1 January at Le Constellation bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, which was packed with mainly teenagers and young adults.
Continue reading...Arne Slot's improving Reds host the inconsistent Cityzens at Anfield.
Not sure where to watch the 2026 Super Bowl live? There are multiple ways to watch the game for free today. Here's how.
Here is the full list of every Super Bowl winner by year in NFL history, including who won the most recent championship in 2025.
Ahead of Super Bowl 2026 today, Feb. 8, here's a list of the teams and players with the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history.
KAYLA BELFONT
Staff Reporter
Viewers should not like Joe Goldberg, the lead actor in the Netflix original “You”, but you cannot help but love him. From his charming personality to his witty jokes and welcoming smile, Goldberg is a friendly bookstore clerk who lives alone in a New York City apartment.
He seems like your stereotypical white man living in the city, balancing being a good employee and good neighbor, all while living a double life.
You read that right. This externally perfect guy has something he’s hiding, more than a standard red flag. Goldberg just happens to be a serial killer. But does that small, little inconvenient, insignificant fact stop viewers from understanding Goldberg? No.
Viewers around the world, over 500 million to be exact, have been drawn to his character and the premise of the show “You.” Why?
People are fascinated by the way he is able to convey himself to society while being such a cold-hearted, evil killer. Throughout the five seasons, not everything goes to Goldberg’s plan. However, he is able to turn the story around and bail himself out of almost every issue that arises.
After years of killing, running away from messes he made, moving states and then countries, having a child and multiple failed relationships, Goldberg finds himself back in New York City in season five of the series.
Personally, I thought the show could have ended after season four but was pleasantly surprised that there was an additional season. My expectation for the ending was that Goldberg would escape from his mess again, scot-free and without consequences. I was more than shocked to see my expectation shattered and the ending of season five being something I could have never imagined.
Spoiler alert for the following:
Joe behind bars? He is officially arrested for all of the terrible crimes he had committed, solely because a woman — self-named Bronte — had a connection to his season one love interest and murder victim.
In season one, Goldberg met a woman named Guinevere Beck and obsessed does not even begin to describe how he felt about her. He was consumed by her, so much so that he felt the only way to keep her was to kill her.
Seasons later, Bronte shows up in Goldberg’s life. At first, she’s just another love interest, but her backstory begins to unravel and we find out that she knew the one and only Guinevere Beck. As it turns out, Bronte’s real name is Louise Flannery, and her one goal in life is to put Goldberg in an orange jumpsuit.
Goldberg’s obsessive version of love started when he was just a child, having his first kill at just 12-years-old to protect his mom from an abusive partner. After receiving validation for this, he went on to kill more and more people who stood in the way of his “well-deserved” love.
Goldberg, even though he is a killer, still has some level of emotion and feelings. He thinks of his killings as a way to protect the people he loves, which is a really messed up version of “nothing will get in the way of my love for you.”
Even though Goldberg’s downfall was ultimately connected to his season one love interest and ties the whole story together, I could not help but feel like the moment where Goldberg gets caught was sloppy.
Goldberg is known to be a methodical, precise person and to see him get swept up in the moment and still believe Bronte after figuring out some of her lies and true intentions felt like it was not accurate to his character. I felt as if the writers wanted to show that Goldberg’s mindset was deteriorating, but that was rushed too much and ultimately put to the sideline once it was revealed that Bronte would be the reason why he gets caught.
At the very end, it’s Goldberg’s inner monologue that plays while seeing him behind bars that wraps up the show. He leaves us with a chilling last few sentences, looking straight into the camera on the last one:
“Maybe we have a problem as a society. Maybe we should fix what’s broken in us. Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe it’s you.”
It was crazy.
After years of people starting to think that Goldberg has changed or is learning from his past, when all is said and done, he still does not take accountability for his actions. Since he cannot blame other characters anymore, the writers break the fourth wall and have him blame us, the audience, for allowing his actions to continue.
We supported the show, were looking forward to new seasons, followed love interests and even him having a baby. We, as the audience, wanted the show to continue. Are we the true problem?
Murdoch tabloid leads charge as big freeze persists – could the mayor please do something about the weather?
It snowed two weeks ago in New York. Since then, the temperature has barely risen above freezing – a temperature science naturally dictates is necessary to melt snow and ice.
But science isn’t enough for some US political critics, however, who have instead blamed Zohran Mamdani, New York’s new socialist mayor, for the snow not having melted and still clogging up some of the city’s streets.
Continue reading...These security myths are old, popular -- and very wrong. Here are the assumptions you should erase.
“She was obviously very frightened and didn’t want anything to do with me,” said firefighter Gavyn Gallagher.
Relatives shut out of €200m fortune reportedly receive letters from executor saying will could be overturned
The late German-born Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld was famously precise, exacting and known to hold a grudge, but his final wishes concerning the beneficiaries of his vast fortune could now be overturned beyond the grave in a looming court battle.
Seven years after Lagerfeld’s death from cancer, an unnamed plaintiff has come forward to challenge the haute couture titan’s last will and testament.
Continue reading...Providers report rise in demand as companies seek mental health benefits and increased sense of community
In a growing number of workplaces, the soundtrack of the lunch break is no longer the rustle of sandwiches at a desk, but the quiet hum of bees – housed just outside the office window.
Employers from Manchester to Milton Keynes are working with professional beekeepers to install hives on rooftops, in courtyards and car parks – positioning beekeeping not as a novelty but as a way to ease stress, build community and reconnect workers with nature in an era of hybrid work and burnout.
Continue reading...2001: "Brookhaven Labs has produced for the first time collisions of gold nuclei at a center of mass energy of 200GeV/nucleon." 2002: "There may be a new type of matter according to researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory." 2010: The hottest man-made temperatures ever achived were a record 4 trillion degree plasma experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York... anointed the Guinness record holder." 2023: "Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have uncovered an entirely new kind of quantum entanglement." 2026: On Friday, February 6, "a control room full of scientists, administrators and members of the press gathered" at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Lab in Upton, New York to witness its final collisions, reports Scientific American: The vibe had been wistful, but the crowd broke into applause as Darío Gil, the Under Secretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy, pressed a red button to end the collider's quarter-century saga... "I'm really sad" [said Angelika Drees, a BNL accelerator physicist]. "It was such a beautiful experiment and my research home for 27 years. But we're going to put something even better there." That "something" will be a far more powerful electron-ion collider to further push the frontiers of physics, extend RHIC's legacy and maintain the lab's position as a center of discovery. This successor will be built in part from RHIC's bones, especially from one of its two giant, subterranean storage rings that once held the retiring collider's supply of circulating, near-light speed nuclei...slated for construction over the next decade. [That Electron-Ion Collider, or EIC] will utilize much of RHIC's infrastructure, replacing one of its ion rings with a new ring for cycling electrons. The EIC will use those tiny, fast-flying electrons as tiny knives for slicing open the much larger gold ions. Physicists will get an unrivaled look into the workings of quarks and gluons and yet another chance to grapple with nature's strongest force. "We knew for the EIC to happen, RHIC needed to end," says Wolfram Fischer, who chairs BNL's collider-accelerator department. "It's bittersweet." EIC will be the first new collider built in the US since RHIC. To some, it signifies the country's reentry into a particle physics landscape it has largely ceded to Europe and Asia over the past two decades. "For at least 10 or 15 years," says Abhay Deshpande, BNL's associate laboratory director for nuclear and particle physics, "this will be the number one place in the world for [young physicists] to come." The RHIC was able "to separately send two protons colliding with precisely aligned spins — something that, even today, no other experiment has yet matched," the article points out: During its record-breaking 25-year run, RHIC illuminated nature's thorniest force and its most fundamental constituents. It created the heaviest, most elaborate assemblages of antimatter ever seen. It nearly put to rest a decades-long crisis over the proton's spin. And, of course, it brought physicists closer to the big bang than ever before... When RHIC at last began full operations in 2000, its initial heavy-ion collisions almost immediately pumped out quark-gluon plasma. But demonstrating this beyond a shadow of a doubt proved in some respects more challenging than actually creating the elusive plasma itself, with the case for success strengthening as RHIC's numbers of collisions soared. By 2010 RHIC's scientists were confident enough to declare that the hot soup they'd been studying for a decade was hot and soupy enough to convincingly constitute a quark-gluon plasma. And it was even weirder than they thought. Instead of the gas of quarks and gluons theorists expected, the plasma acted like a swirling liquid unprecedented in nature. It was nearly "perfect," with zero friction, and set a new record for twistiness, or "vorticity." For Paul Mantica, a division director for the Facilities and Project Management Division in the DOE's Office of Nuclear Physics, this was the highlight of RHIC's storied existence. "It was paradigm-changing," he says... Data from the final run (which began nearly a year ago) has already produced yet another discovery: the first-ever direct evidence of "virtual particles" in RHIC's subatomic puffs of quark-gluon plasma, constituting an unprecedented probe of the quantum vacuum. RHIC's last run generated hundreds of petabytes of data, the article points out, meaning its final smash "isn't really the end; even when its collisions stop, its science will live on." But Science News notes RHIC's closure "marks the end for the only particle collider operating in the United States, and the only collider of its kind in the world. Most particle accelerators are unable to steer two particle beams to crash head-on into one another."
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Although still months away, the next iPhone model is already starting to take shape based on informed speculation online.
Skier’s bid for gold with ruptured ACL ends in agony
Vonn’s US teammate Breezy Johnson tops podium
Lindsey Vonn’s fifth and final Olympics ended in the one way she dreaded most of all. Moments into her run in the women’s downhill, Vonn’s legs failed her as she came over a roll after passing the third gate.
She twisted and crashed sideways to the ground, and after a first stunned burst of shouts and screams, the atmosphere around the Olimpia delle Tofane course fell deadly quiet while the medical team gathered around her. Fifteen minutes later, Vonn was airlifted from the mountain to hospital for treatment.
Continue reading...Connor Hilton, 17, said that after taking Accutane, a prescribed acne medication, he began to have suicidal and homicidal thoughts – thoughts that, his defense argued, led him to shoot two friends in the head at his Friendswood, Texas, home. Prosecutors weren't convinced.
Labour faces a battle to hold on to its 13,000 majority, with the Greens the bookies’ favourite and Reform hoping to gain from split vote on left
As Nigel Farage cut the ribbon on Reform UK’s byelection headquarters in Greater Manchester this week, Labour’s candidate, Angeliki Stogia, sat tearfully in a cafe nearby.
Politicians do not often show their emotion but for Stogia, who arrived in Britain as a student from Greece in 1995, this is personal. “I am angry,” she said of Farage’s party. “I am very, very angry. How dare they come here and spread this division?”
Continue reading...While Quebec parties have long sought independence, the secret meetings by unelected Albertans with US officials have been branded treasonous by some
A separatist push for a referendum on independence from Canada. Meetings with foreign officials perceived to be sympathetic to their cause. Accusations of treason and sedition.
Ahead of a 1995 referendum, leaders of Quebec’s independence movement made a string of provocative overtures to foreign governments, including a trip by the province’s premier to France. In a move that outraged anglophone Canada, the mayor of Paris gave Quebec’s Jacques Parizeau a welcome befitting a national leader.
Continue reading...Reactions poured in when Bad Bunny was named Super Bowl halftime headliner, with some praising and others criticizing the choice.
Movements are not born fully formed – they begin when ordinary people decide to act
Nearly 60 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr posed a question that still haunts us. In his final book, published just a year before his death, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, he argued that we were standing at a crossroads: one path leading toward chaos – deepening poverty, violence, and repression – while the other required us to collectively choose and build community.
Too few of us answered his call. At times, we chose distraction, comfort and complacency. At others, we turned away from the violence this country inflicted on the world, allowing the corruption of those in power to harden and accumulate. We can blame politicians and corporations, or those who remained neutral – but the truth is, we all carry some level of responsibility.
Eric Morrison-Smith is executive director of the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Level up your movie night with these epic films.
Will Drake Maye lead New England into a new era of championships? Or will the Seahawks get revenge 11 years in the making? Our writers give their verdicts
Pressure Sam Darnold. Darnold was outstanding in the NFC championship game when forced to throw under duress. But that hasn’t been the case all season. The Seahawks rank sixth in EPA/dropback when there is no pressure, but drop to 22nd when there is pressure. Collapsing the pocket is New England’s best shot at success. Their interior pass-rushers, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams, will need to overwhelm Darnold. OC
Continue reading...Puerto Rican superstar promises ‘the world will dance’ in all-Spanish half-time gig that comes as Trump agents wage deadly crackdown
For 13 minutes on Sunday night, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara will pulse with reggaeton, Latin trap and Caribbean rhythms as Bad Bunny headlines a historic Super Bowl halftime performance, primarily – or perhaps entirely – in Spanish. The Puerto Rican megastar, whose songs fuse the raw energy of música urbana, Boricua pride and resistance politics, has promised a “huge party”.
At a moment when masked federal agents are sweeping through American cities, rounding up long-settled immigrants, legal residents and even US citizens, Bad Bunny’s presence on the grandest stage in US sports offers a striking contrast – a joyful celebration of pride and solidarity for millions of Latinos.
Continue reading...Pressure grows on Keir Starmer as Labour peer reported to have received payment worth three months’ salary when he quit in September
A cabinet minister has called for Peter Mandelson to hand back the payout he received after quitting as ambassador to the US last year, as pressure increased on the prime minister to quit for having appointed him in the first place.
Pat McFadden, the welfare secretary, said on Sunday he thought the Labour peer should give back his Foreign Office payout, which is reported to be as much as £55,000. The Foreign Office is understood to be reviewing the payment.
Continue reading...The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl once again in 2026, hoping to add another ring to their list of wins. Here's a look back at their appearances, losses, how many they've won, and more.
"After a half-century asking us to exercise more, doctors and physiologists say we have been thinking about it wrong," writes Washington Post columnist Michael J. Coren. "U.S. and World Health Organization guidelines no longer specify a minimum duration of moderate or vigorous aerobic activity." Movement-tracking studies show even tiny, regular bursts of effort — as short as 30 seconds — can capture many of the health benefits of the gym. Climbing two to three flights of stairs a few times per day could change your life. Experts call it VILPA, or vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity. "The message now is that all activity counts," said Martin Gibala, a professor and former chair of the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Canada... Just taking the stairs daily is associated with lower body weight and cutting the risk of stroke and heart disease — the leading (and largely preventable) cause of death globally. While it may not burn many calories (most exercise doesn't), it does appear to extend your health span. Leg power — a measure of explosive muscle strength — was a stronger predictor of brain aging than any lifestyle factors measured in a 2015 study in the journal Gerontology... How little activity can you do? Four minutes daily. Essentially, a few flights of stairs at a vigorous pace. That's the effort [Emmanuel Stamatakis, a professor of physical activity and population health at the University of Sydney] found delivered significant health benefits in that 2022 study of British non-exercisers. "We saw benefits from the first minute," Stamatakis said. For Americans, the effect is even more dramatic: a 44 percent drop in deaths, according to a peer-reviewed paper recently accepted for publication. "We showed for the first time that vigorous intensity, even if it's done as part of the day-to-day routine, not in a planned and structured manner, works miracles," Stamatakis said. "The key principle here is start with one, two minutes a day. The focus should be on making sure that it's something that you can incorporate into your daily routine. Then you can start thinking about increasing the dose." Intensity is the most important factor. You won't break a sweat in a brief burst, but you do need to feel it. A highly conditioned athlete might need to sprint to reach vigorous territory. But many people need only to take the stairs. Use your breathing as a guide, Stamatakis said: If you can sing, it's light intensity. If you can speak but not sing, you're entering moderate exertion. If you can't hold a conversation, it's vigorous. The biggest benefits come from moderate to vigorous movement. One minute of incidental vigorous activity prevents premature deaths, heart attacks or strokes as well as about three minutes of moderate activity or 35 to 49 minutes of light activity.
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Initiative aims to identify proficient gamers and coders who can help companies identify flaws in their cybersecurity
Cybercriminals, the shadowy online figures often depicted in Hollywood movies as hooded villains capable of wiping millions of pounds off the value of businesses at a keystroke, are not usually known for their candour.
But in a sixth-form college in Manchester this week, two former hackers gave the young people gathered an honest appraisal of what living a life of internet crime really looks like.
Continue reading...Jeff Bezos’s axing of more than 300 jobs at the storied newspaper has renewed fears about the resilience of America’s democracy to withstand Trump’s attacks
The email landed in Lizzie Johnson’s in-tray in Ukraine just before 4pm local time. It came at a tough time for the reporter: Russia had been repeatedly striking the country’s power grid, and just days before she had been forced to work out of her car without heat, power or running water, writing in pencil because pen ink freezes too readily.
“Difficult news,” was the subject line. The body text said: “Your position is eliminated as part of today’s organizational changes,” explaining that it was necessary to get rid of her to meet the “evolving needs of our business”.
Continue reading...It’s chilling to watch as Trump and Netanyahu adopt the methods of regimes their countries once condemned
Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza
In Syria, where I worked during the years of Bashar al-Assad’s terror, people were often taken away to torture cells before dawn by masked men. The timing was deliberate. It disoriented them at their most vulnerable, ensuring the torture to come would be even more agonising. The testimonies I recorded from survivors almost always contained the same phrase: “The morning they came for me.” One young woman, shattered by rape and violence, later told me that her life had split in two – before and after the masked men came for her.
In Iraq, those who spoke against Saddam Hussein – even abroad, even casually – were punished in cruel ways by a vengeful leader determined to crush any hint of dissent.
Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza. She is the author of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Doherty removed over incident at golf tournament
22-year-old has subscriber count of nearly 30 million
Source confirms streamer’s ban from future events
A controversial livestreamer has been barred from attending PGA Tour events indefinitely after being removed from the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a person familiar with the matter told the Guardian, though the tour has declined to publicly confirm any specific disciplinary action.
Security and law enforcement removed Jack Doherty from the tournament grounds on Friday after he appeared to pay a spectator to shout during a player’s pre-shot routine, according to videos circulating online and accounts of the incident.
Continue reading...Anyone done this? The recurve compatible WTFS look pretty flat. The dubtails look really aggressive. I ride rocky trails and am leaning towards the dubtails since they WTFs look so flat, but I’m a little worried they’ll be too weird
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
Last spring, the National Security Agency (NSA) flagged an unusual phone call between two members of foreign intelligence, who discussed a person close to Donald Trump, according to a whistleblower’s attorney who was briefed on details of the call.
The highly sensitive communique, which has roiled Washington over the past week, was brought to the attention of the director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard.
Continue reading...Fortune reports on "a watershed moment" in American's nuclear power industry: In January, Meta partnered with Gates' TerraPower and Sam Altman-backed Oklo to develop about 4 gigawatts of combined SMR projects — enough to power almost 3 million homes — for "clean, reliable energy" both for Meta's planned Prometheus AI mega campus in Ohio and beyond. Analysts see Meta as the start of more Big Tech nuclear construction deals — not just agreements with existing plants or restarts such as the now-Microsoft-backed Three Mile Island. "That was the first shot across the bow," said Dan Ives, head of tech research for Wedbush Securities, of the Meta deals. "I would be shocked if every Big Tech company doesn't make some play on nuclear in 2026, whether a strategic partnership or acquisitions." Ives pointed out there are more data centers under construction than there are active data centers in the U.S. "I believe clean energy around nuclear is going to be the answer," he said. "I think 2030 is the key threshold to hit some sort of scale and begin the next nuclear era in the United States." Smaller SMR reactors can be built in as little as three years instead of the decade required for traditional large reactors. And they can be expanded, one or two modular reactors at a time, to meet increasingly greater energy demand from 'hyperscalers,' the companies that build and operate data centers. "There's major risk if nuclear doesn't happen," Oklo chairman and CEO Jacob DeWitte told Fortune, citing the need for emission-free power and consistent baseload electricity to meet skyrocketing demand. "The hyperscalers, as the ultimate consumers of power are, are looking at the space and seeing that the market is real. They can play a major role in helping make that happen," DeWitte said, speaking in his fast-talking, Silicon Valley startup mode.
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Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 8, No. 503.
Terrance Gore, a former outfielder and three-time World Series champion known for his blazing speed on the base paths, has died at 34 years old, according to Major League Baseball officials.
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 8
Gore played for three World Series champions
Outfielder was known for speed and athleticism
Terrance Gore, a speedy outfielder who played for three World Series champions while spending parts of eight seasons in the major leagues, has died. He was 34.
Chad Funderburk, a family friend who also worked with Gore through his baseball academy, confirmed Gore died on Friday night. He said Gore’s family would provide further details when they feel ready.
Continue reading...Axios reports: Anthropic's latest AI model has found more than 500 previously unknown high-severity security flaws in open-source libraries with little to no prompting, the company shared first with Axios. Why it matters: The advancement signals an inflection point for how AI tools can help cyber defenders, even as AI is also making attacks more dangerous... Anthropic debuted Claude Opus 4.6, the latest version of its largest AI model, on Thursday. Before its debut, Anthropic's frontier red team tested Opus 4.6 in a sandboxed environment [including access to vulnerability analysis tools] to see how well it could find bugs in open-source code... Claude found more than 500 previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities in open-source code using just its "out-of-the-box" capabilities, and each one was validated by either a member of Anthropic's team or an outside security researcher... According to a blog post, Claude uncovered a flaw in GhostScript, a popular utility that helps process PDF and PostScript files, that could cause it to crash. Claude also found buffer overflow flaws in OpenSC, a utility that processes smart card data, and CGIF, a tool that processes GIF files. Logan Graham, head of Anthropic's frontier red team, told Axios they're considering new AI-powered tools to hunt vulnerabilities. "The models are extremely good at this, and we expect them to get much better still... I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of — or the main way — in which open-source software moving forward was secured."
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The real risk for American broadcasters is not that dissent will be visible. It is that audiences will start assuming anything they do not show is being hidden
The modern Olympics sell themselves on a simple premise: the whole world, watching the same moment, at the same time. On Friday night in Milan, that illusion fractured in real time.
When Team USA entered San Siro during the parade of nations, the speed skater Erin Jackson led the delegation into a wall of cheers. Moments later, when cameras cut to US vice-president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, large sections of the crowd responded with boos. Not subtle ones, but audible and sustained ones. Canadian viewers heard them. Journalists seated in the press tribunes in the upper deck, myself included, clearly heard them. But as I quickly realized from a groupchat with friends back home, American viewers watching NBC did not.
Continue reading...Highly sensitive communique has roiled Washington over the past week – key US politics stories from Saturday 7 February at a glance
National intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard is facing growing questions about her handling of a report about an intercepted phone call between two members of foreign intelligence, who discussed a person close to Donald Trump.
A whistleblower said that Gabbard blocked the National Security Agency from sharing the report, instead delivering it to the White House chief of staff.
Continue reading...I’ve been looking to get another board since I sold my OG pint 5-6 years ago. Planning to check out a 2021 pint x for 800 dollars with around 10 miles on the board. It looks clean but i’m worried with it being so old that it may have issues. Wanted to see what yall think and things I should be aware of. Thanks!
Long-time Slashdot reader Geoffrey.landis shared this report from InsideEVs: Chinese battery giant CATL and automaker Changan Automobile are preparing to put the world's first passenger car powered by sodium-ion batteries on public roads by mid-2026. And if the launch is successful, it could usher in an era where electric vehicles present less of a fire risk and can better handle extreme temperatures. The CATL Naxtra sodium-ion battery will debut in the Changan Nevo A06 sedan, delivering an estimated range of around 400 kilometers (249 miles) on the China Light-Duty Test Cycle. From there, the battery will roll out across Changan's broader portfolio, including EVs from Avatr, Deepal, Qiyuan and Uni, the company said. "The launch represents a major step in the industry's transition toward a dual-chemistry ecosystem, where sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries complement each other to meet diverse customer needs," CATL said in a press release... It delivers 175 watt-hours per kilogram of energy density, which is lower than nickel-rich chemistries but roughly on par with lithium ion phosphate batteries... Where the Naxtra battery really stands out, however, is cold-weather performance. CATL says its discharge power at -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) is three times higher than that of lithium ion phosphate batteries.
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Hey guys,
I recently got a Onewheel Pint X, mainly for school. I’m 18 years old and 6’3” with about 140 pounds. I’m struggling to keep my balance. Going straight is okay, but as soon as I need to make a slight turn, I lose my balance and fall off the board. I’m always padded up, and I know it’s been a bit snowy in Ontario, Canada, where I live, but I try to find a lightly salted sidewalk patch to practice on. I’ve watched countless tutorials, but I just can’t seem to balance myself on any turn. Even a small carve sends me off. How can I improve my balance?
Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for Feb. 8, No. 1,695.
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 8, No. 707.
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 8 #973.
Savannah Guthrie released a new video on Saturday, saying her family is willing to pay for the safe return of their mother.
Today show host tells potential kidnappers of mother Nancy that family is prepared to pay for safe return
Savannah Guthrie told the potential kidnappers of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, on Saturday that the family is prepared to pay for her safe return, as the frantic search for the 84-year-old entered a seventh day.
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Continue reading...Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to endorse Jack Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy's grandson, a source familiar confirmed to CBS News.
Resolution Foundation finds one in three carers from poorer families unable to work because of responsibilities
A growing “unsung army” of 1 million people with full-time caring responsibilities needs better support, according to a report that found one in three unpaid carers from poorer backgrounds were unable to work because of their duties.
The trend is the result of an ageing society and rising ill-health and disability concentrated in the poorest half of the country’s working-age families, the Resolution Foundation’s research found.
Continue reading...Will Lewis, CEO and publisher of the Washington Post, has resigned just three days after the storied newspaper laid off about one-third of its staff.
Several demonstrators taken into custody Saturday after marking killing of Minnesota woman by immigration officer
Police arrested several demonstrators on Saturday outside a federal building just south of Minneapolis, breaking up a protest marking the one-month anniversary of a Minnesota woman’s death at the hands of an immigration officer.
Renee Good was killed on 7 January as she was driving away from immigration officers in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death and the killing of another Minneapolis resident, Alex Pretti, just weeks later have stoked outrage nationwide over Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Continue reading...Met Office forecasts more rainfall to continue UK’s 37-day run, and flooding expected especially in south-west England and Midlands
The unrelenting rain is expected to continue on Sunday and into next week with dozens of flood warnings in place across Great Britain.
The Environment Agency (EA) has issued 85 warnings for England, meaning flooding is expected, mainly concentrated in the south-west and Midlands.
Continue reading...  | Since riding a onewheel 5 years ago, it has been my artistic muse. I've started to turn my drawings into stickers. No AI. Just me doodling in Procreate on my iPad. You might recognize some of these from past posts. Find these and others in my paltry Etsy shop. Peace and ride safe! [link] [comments] |
Departure comes days after newspaper laid off nearly one-third of staff, including more than 300 journalists
Will Lewis, the Murdoch media veteran who took over as publisher and chief executive of the Washington Post in early 2024, announced abruptly on Saturday evening that he is leaving the company.
His departure comes just three days after the Post laid off nearly one-third of its entire staff, citing the need to cut costs and reposition the money-losing publication. Lewis, who did not appear on the all-staff meeting during which the cuts were announced, has faced criticism for his absence and leadership.
Continue reading...Lead singer died on Saturday, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer
Brad Arnold, the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated rock band 3 Doors Down, has died, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. He was 47.
The band said in a statement on Saturday that Arnold “passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, in his sleep after his courageous battle with cancer”.
Continue reading...Has the rise of hyper-addictive digital technologies really shattered our attention spans and driven books out of our culture? Maybe not, argues social psychologist Adam Mastroianni (author of the Substack Experimental History): As a psychologist, I used to study claims like these for a living, so I know that the mind is primed to believe narratives of decline. We have a much lower standard of evidence for "bad thing go up" than we do for "bad thing go down." Unsurprisingly, then, stories about the end of reading tend to leave out some inconvenient data points. For example, book sales were higher in 2025 than they were in 2019, and only a bit below their high point in the pandemic. Independent bookstores are booming, not busting; at least 422 new indie shops opened in the United States last year alone. Even Barnes & Noble is cool again. The actual data on reading, meanwhile, isn't as apocalyptic as the headlines imply. Gallup surveys suggest that some mega-readers (11+ books per year) have become moderate readers (1-5 books per year), but they don't find any other major trends over the past three decades. Other surveys document similarly moderate declines. For instance, data from the National Endowment for the Arts finds a slight decrease in the percentage of U.S. adults who read any book in 2022 (49%) compared to 2012 (55%). And the American Time Use Survey shows a dip in reading time from 2003 to 2023. Ultimately, the plausibility of the "death of reading" thesis depends on two judgment calls. First, do these effects strike you as big or small...? The second judgment call: Do you expect these trends to continue, plateau, or even reverse...? There are signs that the digital invasion of our attention is beginning to stall. We seem to have passed peak social media — time spent on the apps has started to slide. App developers are finding it harder and harder to squeeze more attention out of our eyeballs, and it turns out that having your eyeballs squeezed hurts, so people aren't sticking around for it... Fact #2: Reading has already survived several major incursions, which suggests it's more appealing than we thought. Radio, TV, dial-up, Wi-Fi, TikTok — none of it has been enough to snuff out the human desire to point our pupils at words on paper... It is remarkable, even miraculous, that people who possess the most addictive devices ever invented will occasionally choose to turn those devices off and pick up a book instead. The author mocks the "death of reading" hypothesis for implying that all the world's avid readers "were just filling time with great works of literature until TikTok came along."
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The U.S. ended Saturday in first place with 44 points. Japan was five points back going into the men's, women's and pairs free skates to decide the medals Sunday.
Waymo surprised U.S. lawmakers Wednesday during a hearing on autonomous vehicles and their safety and oversight. Newsweek reports: During questioning, Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked what happens when a Waymo vehicle encounters a driving situation it cannot independently resolve. "The Waymo phones a human friend for help," Markey explained, adding that the vehicle communicates with a "remote assistance operator." Markey criticized the lack of public information about these workers, despite their role in vehicle safety... [Dr. Mauricio Peña, chief safety officer at Waymo] responded by clarifying the scope of the operators' involvement: "They provide guidance, they do not remotely drive the vehicles," Peña said. "Waymo asks for guidance in certain situations and gets input, but Waymo is always in charge of the dynamic driving task," according to EVShift. Pressed further on where those operators are located, Peña told lawmakers that some are based in the United States and others abroad, though he did not have an exact breakdown. After additional questioning, he confirmed that overseas operators are located in the Philippines... The disclosure prompted sharp criticism from Markey, who raised concerns about security and labor implications. "Having people overseas influencing American vehicles is a safety issue," he said. "The information the operators receive could be out of date. It could introduce tremendous cyber security vulnerabilities," according to People. Markey also pointed to job displacement, noting that autonomous vehicles already affect taxi and rideshare drivers in the U.S. Waymo defended the practice in comments to People, saying the use of overseas staff is part of a broader effort to scale operations globally. Waymo also defended the remote workers to Newsweek as licensed drivers reviewed for "driving-related convictions" and other traffic violations who are also "randomly screened for drug use." Thanks to Slashdot reader sinij for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
It was only a matter of time before the illegal, erratic, inhumane, and cruel behaviours and policies of the second Trump regime were going to affect the open source world in a possibly very visible way. Christian Hergert, longtime GNOME and Linux contributor, employed by Red Hat, wanted to leave the US with his family and move to Europe, but requests to remain employed by Red Hat were denied. As such, he decided to end his employment at Red Hat and push on with the move. However, without employment, his work on open source software is going to suffer.
While at their in-person visa appointment in Seattle, US border patrol goons shot two people in their hometown of Portland, underlining the urgency with which people might want to consider getting out of the US, even if it means losing employment. Regardless, the end result is that quite a bit of user-facing software that millions of people use every day is going to be affected.
This move also means a professional shift. For many years, I’ve dedicated a substantial portion of my time to maintaining and developing key components across the GNOME platform and its surrounding ecosystem. These projects are widely used, including in major Linux distributions and enterprise environments, and they depend on steady, ongoing care.
For many years, I’ve been putting in more than forty hours each week maintaining and advancing this stack. That level of unpaid or ad-hoc effort isn’t something I can sustain, and my direct involvement going forward will be very limited. Given how widely this software is used in commercial and enterprise environments, long-term stewardship really needs to be backed by funded, dedicated work rather than spare-time contributions.
↫ Christian Hergert
The list of projects for which Hergert is effectively the sole maintainer is long, and if you’re a Linux user, odds are you’re using at least some of them: GNOME’s text editor, GNOME’s terminal, GNOME’s flagship IDE Builder, and tons of lower-level widely-used frameworks and libraries like GtkSourceView, libspelling, libpeas, and countless others. While new maintainers will definitely be found for at least some of these, the disruption will be real and will be felt beyond these projects alone. There’s also the possibility that Hergert won’t be the only prolific open source contributor seeking to leave the US and thus reducing their contributions, especially if a company like Red Hat makes it a policy not to help its employees trying to flee whatever mess the US is in.
Stories like these illustrate so well why the “no politics!” crowd is so utterly misguided. Politics governs every aspect of our lives, especially so if you’re part of a minority group currently being targeted by the largest and most powerful state apparatus in the world, and pretending to be all three wise monkeys at once is not going to make any of that go away. Even if you’re not directly targeted because you’re not transgender, you’re not brown, you’re not an immigrant, or not whatever else they fancy targeting today, the growing tendrils of even an incompetent totalitarian regime will eventually find you and harm you.
More so than any other type of software, open source software is made by real humans, and as these totalitarian tendrils keep growing, more and more of these real humans will be affected, no matter how incompetent these tendrils might be. You can’t run away and hide from that reality, even if it makes you uncomfortable.
Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida won Italy’s first gold medal to get the party started at their home Games on day one
Gallery: Roll up, roll up for the very best of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony in pictures …
Curling mixed doubles: We’re in the sixth end and Team GB have extended their lead over Canada to 7-2. Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat are quite literally sweeping all before them in the round robin stages of this comepetition and heading for their sixth consecutive victory.
Continue reading...Raman, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, enters a crowded field that includes incumbent Karen Bass
Los Angeles city council member Nithya Raman formally entered the race for mayor on Saturday, unveiling her campaign during a press conference.
Representing areas that stretch from the San Fernando valley to Silver Lake, Raman declared her candidacy just hours before the filing deadline. She now joins a field that includes former reality television personality Spencer Pratt, Housing Now California deputy director Rae Huang, veteran city engineer Asaad Alnajjar and the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass.
Continue reading...After left-wing groups rallied against the cost and environmental impact of the Winter Games in Italy, some protesters set off fireworks and hurled bottles.
Brad Arnold, the founder and lead singer of the 3 Doors Down has died following "his courageous battle with cancer," the rock band announced Saturday on social media.
The Macuga sisters — Lauren, Alli and Sam — have spent most of their lives chasing Olympic dreams in their respective skiing disciplines.
Despite urgent pleas to Americans to save the honeybees, "it was all based on a fallacy," writes Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank. "Honeybees were never in existential trouble. And well-meaning efforts to boost their numbers have accelerated the decline of native bees that actually are." "Suppose I were to say to you, 'I'm really worried about bird decline, so I've decided to take up keeping chickens.' You'd think I was a bit of an idiot," British bee scientist Dave Goulson said in a video last year. But beekeeping, he went on, is "exactly the same with one key difference, which is that honeybee-keeping can be actively harmful to wild-bee conservation." Even from healthy hives, diseases flow "out into wild pollinator populations." Honeybees can also outcompete native bees for pollen and nectar, Milbank points out, and promote non-native plants "at the expense of the native plants on which native bees thrive." Bee specialist T'ai Roulston at the University of Virginia's Blandy Experimental Farm here in Boyce warned that keeping honeybees would "just contribute to the difficulties that native bees are having in the world." And the Clifton Institute's Bert Harris, my regular restoration ecology consultant in Virginia, put it bluntly: "If you want to save the bees, don't keep honeybees...." Before I stir up a hornet's nest of angry beekeepers, let me be clear: The save-the-pollinator movement has, overall, been enormously beneficial over the past two decades. It helped to get millions of people interested in pollinator gardens and wildflower meadows and native plants, and turned them against insecticides. A lot of honeybee advocacy groups promote native bees, too, and many people whose environmental awakening came from the plight of honeybees are now champions of all types of conservation... But if your goal is to help pollinators, then the solution is simple: Don't keep honeybees... The bumblebees, sweat bees, mason bees, miner bees, leafcutters and other native bees, most of them solitary, ground-nesting and docile, need your help. Honeybees do not. The article calls it "a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences that emerge when we intervene in nature, even with the best of intentions."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
This week's guests include Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Tony Gonzalez.
Eight children including two infants among dead in vehicle carrying displaced people, says Sudan Doctors Network
A drone attack by a paramilitary group has hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said on Saturday.
The attack by the Rapid Support Forces took place close to the city of Er Rahad in North Kordofan province, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s war. The vehicle was transporting displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area, the group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants.
Continue reading...Forget dim solar-powered lights: Here's what actually happens when you upgrade your patio with inexpensive, waterproof, smart LEDs.
 | Looking for around $550 to $600 USD and only in the western Washington area to avoid shipping. Message me for more information or haggle, I’m not too firm on the price range but won’t take anything less than 400, the board can be cleaned if you like. [link] [comments] |
Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were seized by ICE in Minneapolis last month before a judge ordered their release
Attorneys for the Trump administration are aiming to deport Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy whose photograph in a bunny hat in snowy Minneapolis circulated globally after his detention last month by federal officials during the aggressive anti-immigration crackdown there.
The child, Liam, returned home to Minnesota earlier this week after being taken into custody alongside his father last month and transferred to a notorious family detention facility in Texas.
Continue reading...Lead singer and frontman Dee Snider said he suffers from degenerative arthritis and has had several surgeries over the years.
Nexstar's acquisition of Tegna would bring together two companies with significant holdings in local broadcast media.
An Ohio man has been charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance while he was visiting his home state last month.
Last Sunday, Bitcoin had dropped 13% in three days, to $76,790. By Thursday it had dropped another 21%, to $60,062. This morning it's at $69,549 — up from Thursday, down from Sunday, but 44% lower than its all-time high in October of $123,742. In short, Bitcoin "is down almost 30% this week alone," reports CNBC: "This steady selling in our view signals that traditional investors are losing interest, and overall pessimism about crypto is growing," Deutsche Bank analyst Marion Laboure said Wednesday in a note to clients. Growing investor caution comes as many of the sensationalized claims about bitcoin have failed to materialize. The token has largely traded in the same direction as other risk-on assets, such as stocks... and its adoption as a form of payment for goods and services has been minimal... While many in the crypto market have previously credited large institutional investors with supporting the price of bitcoin, now it is those same participants who appear to be selling. "Institutional demand has reversed materially," CryptoQuant said in a report on Wednesday. But not everyone accepts that answer, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. "The worst part for some of crypto's permabulls is that they aren't sure what exactly caused the crash": The selloff left many of the market's luminaries — those so well-known that they go simply as "Pomp" and "Novo" and "Mooch" — searching for answers... Ether dropped 24% to $2,052, off 59% from its own high of last year. Both tokens staged furious rallies Friday, but the week remained a historically bad one for crypto. And few seem to know what went wrong. Market theories for the selloff ranged from investors' pivot toward the prediction markets and other risky bets, to widespread profit-taking after a blistering bull run. "There was no smoking gun," said Michael Novogratz, who runs Galaxy Digital, a crypto merchant-banking and trading firm... "If you ask five experts, you'll get five explanations," said Anthony Scaramucci, who served for 11 days as communications director during Trump's first term and is among the best-known crypto bulls at his firm, SkyBridge Capital. "No, but seriously: What's going on with bitcoin?" reads the headline at CNN, with a story that begins "Bitcoin is acting weird... " Crypto is notoriously volatile, and it's gone through numerous crashes that are bigger than this one. What's strange is this: Bitcoin's four-month slump has come at a time when, in theory, it had everything going for it. Economist Paul Krugman points out the price of Bitcoin is now lower than it was before America's 2024 election, when candidate Trump promised to make cryptocurrency "one of the greatest industries on earth." CNN seems to agree with CNBC that what's behind this new crypto winter is "Mostly doubts that bitcoin is 'digital gold,' after all..." Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
One expert says 2027 could be even hotter than the last three years, which have been the top three warmest on record
Weather agencies and climate scientists have pointed to the possibility of an El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean later this year – a phenomenon that could push global temperatures to all-time record highs in 2027.
Both the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology have said some climate models are forecasting an El Niño but both cautioned those results came with uncertainties.
Experts told the Guardian it was too early to be confident, but there were signals in the spread of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that suggested an El Niño could form in 2026.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
Continue reading...
ALYSON SWENSON
Staff Reporter
When the Belfont family received a phone call from Sussex Central High School, they expected nothing but a routine update. Instead, the call delivered alarming news: annual tests had revealed high levels of lead in the school’s drinking water, forcing officials to shut down all water fountains.
For then-junior Sophia Belfont, the revelation was unsurprising.
“The water’s always been a little funky,” Belfont said.
It is a sentiment echoed across Delaware, where over half of the state’s 220 public schools have faced lead contamination issues for years.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) and Department of Education (DOE) tested public school water sources. When the results were deemed flawed, a second round of tests was conducted with Batta Environmental Associates Inc., a Newark-based lab.
The findings were a cause for concern: the water of every tested school contained lead.
“Lead in water goes back to the Romans,” Gerald Kauffman, an assistant professor of public policy and administration at the university, said. “For centuries, lead pipes were used due to their malleability. Unfortunately, chronic exposure leads to toxicity, causing learning problems and reduced mobility. It’s a serious issue, one that is easily preventable.”
In response, former Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Holodick pledged $3.8 million to install filters at school drinking stations. However, details on their placement and quantity remain unclear.
Kauffman explained that while filters offer immediate relief at drinking stations, they fail to address the underlying infrastructure problems causing contamination, Kauffman explained.
“The lead pipe issue started long before 1986,” said Kauffman, who is also the director of the Delaware Water Resources Center. “For nearly a century, lead pipes were common in homes and schools. Although banned in 1986, older buildings still have them. The EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule aims to minimize lead levels, but full remediation is a long-term process.”
When Sussex Central High’s school district, Indian River, first broke the news, officials assured families that all drinking fountains exceeding 7.5 parts per billion (PPB) of lead were either shut off or marked with warning signs. While 7.5 is technically within the federal legal limit currently set at 15 PPB, research has shown that no level of lead is truly safe, particularly for children, whose developing brains are most vulnerable.
“It’s inconvenient,” Belfont said. “Instead of using fountains, we have to buy bottled water. It’s only a dollar, but it’s not the most accessible solution.”
Beyond Sussex Central, the issue is widespread. A Delaware Water Resources Center study found that 2,000 of Wilmington’s 70,000 pipes are made of lead. While the city is working to replace them, the process will take years.
In Newark, Public Works and Water Resources Director Tim Filasky is reassuring residents that lead pipes are minimal.
“Our records show copper has been the standard since 1962,” Filasky said. “However, we continue to sample for lead and follow EPA regulation.”
Efforts to remedy the lead extend beyond state initiatives. Under the 1996 amendments to thehttps://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-04/documents/sdwcom1997.pdfSafe Drinking Water Act, water utilities must provide customers with annual water quality reports that list regulated chemicals, including lead.
Kauffman urges residents to read these reports to stay informed about their water safety.
“If you pay a water bill, you get a report every year,” Kauffman said. “It tells you what’s in your drinking water. Most city water is safe, but if your home is near an old system, testing is crucial. The University of Delaware tests its water annually, ensuring safety. Schools should do the same.”
Students at the university have also taken action by assisting Wilmington’s Department of Public Works. According to Kauffman, his interns analyzed historical repair records, deciphering handwritten notes from plumbers documenting pipe replacements. Kauffman estimates that their work saved the city $15 million to $20 million and years of effort.
Despite efforts to finally get clean water in schools, the lack of a resolution has been nothing short of concerning for Belfont.
“I wish more people in power would take real action to ensure our safety,” Belfont said. “Water testing should be more frequent. Students can write to school administrators and even state legislators. It would be nice to not have to question whether the water is safe.”
The U.S. women's hockey team eased to a 5-0 win over Finland on Saturday afternoon.
The Mozilla executive in charge of Firefox says that while some people just want AI tools that are genuinely useful, "We've heard from many who want nothing to do with AI..." "Listening to our community, alongside our ongoing commitment to offer choice, led us to build AI controls." Starting with Firefox 148, which rolls out on Feb. 24, you'll find a new AI controls section within the desktop browser settings. It provides a single place to block current and future generative AI features in Firefox... This lets you use Firefox without AI while we continue to build AI features for those who want them... At launch, AI controls let you manage these features individually: — Translations, which help you browse the web in your preferred language. — Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages. — AI-enhanced tab grouping, which suggests related tabs and group names. — Link previews, which show key points before you open a link. — AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot as you browse, including options like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Le Chat Mistral. You can choose to use some of these and not others. If you don't want to use AI features from Firefox at all, you can turn on the Block AI enhancements toggle. When it's toggled on, you won't see pop-ups or reminders to use existing or upcoming AI features. Once you set your AI preferences in Firefox, they stay in place across updates... We believe choice is more important than ever as AI becomes a part of people's browsing experiences. What matters to us is giving people control, no matter how they feel about AI. If you'd like to try AI controls early, they'll be available first in Firefox Nightly. Some context from The Register It's a refreshingly unsubtle stance, and one that lands just days after a similar bout of AI skepticism elsewhere in browser land, with Vivaldi's latest release leaning away from generative features entirely. CEO Jon von Tetzchner summed up the mood, telling The Register: "Basically, what we are finding is that people hate AI..." Mozilla's kill switch isn't the end of AI in browsers, but it does suggest the hype has met resistance. When it comes to AI kill switches in browsers, Jack Wallen writes at ZDNet that "Most browsers already offer this feature. With Edge, you can disable Copilot. With Chrome, you can disable Gemini. With Opera, you can disable Aria...."
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does anyone know how I can make a pint x charger or buy an off brand one for cheap? My dog at my ultracharger and I can't afford a new one while I'm trying to move it of Utah.
I bought a 47V 2A 3 pin charger off Amazon and its constantly staying at 62% for the past hour.
poor people probz
OR if you have an Amazon link for a cheap charger that you know works comment plz 🙏 its been 50+ degrees all winter in Utah this year so far and I want to enjoy it while I'm here.
Thanks yall
The Ukrainian president said the Trump administration was pushing for a June deadline to end Russia’s war.
Samsung's hardware and AT&T's software combine for a kid-focused phone.
India, 161-9, bt USA, 132-8, by 29 runs
Suryakumar’s 84 from 49 balls proves the difference
There was, in the end, no shock – but there was not a lot of awe either. India’s form over the last two years has made them the most feared side in world cricket but for a while as they got their World Cup campaign under way the only dread was being experienced by their own fans as the USA threatened a humiliating upset. But for some missed chances, a hugely unfortunate injury and the brilliance of Suryakumar Yadav it might well have happened.
As it was, Suryakumar’s late acceleration took him to 84 off 49 balls and his team to 161 for nine, while the USA reply started with three early wickets – the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, ruled out by illness, doing little to dull India’s cutting edge – and the margin in the end was 29.
Continue reading...Clive Foster says action needed now to deliver justice to UK residents who had been wrongly classified as illegal immigrants
The Windrush commissioner has warned of a “hurry for justice” as more victims of the scandal die without redress, while stakeholders call for a public inquiry and legislative changes amid fears that a Reform government could stall progress toward justice.
Speaking on the sidelines of a people’s inquiry symposium for those affected by the Windrush scandal, Rev Clive Foster said action was needed “now” to deliver justice for those British residents whose lives were upended after being wrongly classified as illegal immigrants.
Continue reading...Apple "is preparing to allow voice-controlled AI apps from other companies in CarPlay," reports Bloomberg, citing "people familiar with the matter." Bloomberg calls it "a move that will let users query AI chatbots through its vehicle interface for the first time." The company is working to support the apps in CarPlay within the coming months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan hasn't been announced. The change marks a strategic shift for Apple, which until now has only allowed its own Siri assistant as a voice-control option within its popular vehicle infotainment software. With the move, AI providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic PBC and Alphabet Inc.'s Google will be able to release CarPlay versions of their apps that include a voice-control mode... The company also has launched a higher-end version of the platform, CarPlay Ultra, that lets drivers control functions like seat adjustments and climate settings directly through Apple's software. But that system is rolling out slowly and must be customized for each automaker. That means it's likely to be a niche offering. The article notes that Tesla is now working to support Apple's CarPlay.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Francesca Lollobrigida set a new Olympic record of 3 minutes, 54.28 seconds, shaving more than two-and-a-half seconds off the mark set by Dutch legend Irene Schouten four years earlier in Beijing.
 | Some dude really wanted his package shipped out today so I decided to ride 1.6 miles to the post office in 3 degrees -20wind chill. Surprised I only used 31% of the battery in this cold going through snow with the tire at about 9 PSI Was concerned the board would shut down due to the low temps but after about 30 mins round trip the controller and bat temps were about 40°. Glad the trip didn’t take much longer or I think I would’ve been walking. [link] [comments] |
Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism
The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, a Guardian investigation has found.
The platform, which says it has about 50 million users worldwide, allows members of the public to self-publish articles and charge for premium content. Substack takes about 10% of the revenue the newsletters make. About 5 million people pay for access to newsletters on its platform.
Continue reading...Former QB initially said he had no ‘dog in the fight’
Comments had angered fans and former teammates
As the New England Patriots prepare for Sunday’s Super Bowl, Tom Brady has decided he is backing his former team after all.
Brady, who won six Super Bowls with the Patriots, came under heavy criticism this week after saying he won’t have a “dog in the fight … may the best team win” when New England take on the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday.
Continue reading...The second gold medal of the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games was awarded to Frida Karlsson of Sweden in the women's 10km+10km skiathlon.
Venezuela did not become problematic because it was authoritarian, corrupt, or illegitimate. It had been all three for years without provoking decisive action. The problem emerged when strategic resources began drifting outside dollar settlement while simultaneously moving beyond U.S.-aligned security structures.
The post The Currency War Nobody Wants to Name appeared first on Lima Charlie World.
Organizers in Monterey Park took inspiration from other US cities to fight against the construction of a giant datacenter
When a southern California city council proposed building a giant datacenter the size of four football fields last December, five residents vowed to stop it.
Through a frenetic word-of-mouth campaign, the small group raised awareness about the proposed facility in Monterey Park, a small city east of Los Angeles known affectionately as the country’s first suburban Chinatown.
Continue reading...Proceedings briefly halted after audio from The Rest Is History broadcast over the courtroom speakers
As the highest court in the UK, the supreme court is usually the forum for proceedings of the utmost gravity. But last week, one hearing was momentarily interrupted by an unlikely and comic intervention.
As one legal professional addressed the bench, the voice of Tom Holland, host of the popular podcast The Rest is History, boomed out through the court’s microphone system, delivering a satirical impersonation of the late US president Jimmy Carter.
Continue reading...President reportedly wanted Dulles airport and Penn Station to be renamed after him in exchange for funding
A federal judge has reversed a freeze put on funds by Donald Trump for $16bn in enhanced rail links connecting New York and New Jersey amid reports that the US president wants major travel landmarks named after him in return for continued investment.
The Gateway Project will build a new commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey under the Hudson River on the western side of New York City and repair a century-old tunnel used by more than 200,000 travelers and 425 trains daily.
Continue reading...Immigration operations are still stoking fear and disrupting the ability to go to work, school or doctor’s appointments
With the public’s outrage and attention focused on the deadly surge of federal agents in Minneapolis, immigration operations have quietly continued across the US – albeit in less noticeable but still troubling ways, advocates say.
In recent weeks there have been day laborers swept up at a Home Depot in San Diego. A taco truck vendor chased down outside a church in Los Angeles. Immigrants arrested at check-ins in North Carolina, and during traffic stops in the nation’s capital.
Continue reading...After first dismissing uproar over depiction of Obamas as apes, White House then said it was erroneously posted by staffer
Donald Trump said on Friday he made the call to post a now-deleted video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes but deflected blame for the move, causing new speculation in his orbit about whether the blame lay with the president or his aide Natalie Harp.
The brief clip, shared late Thursday night on Trump’s Truth Social account, appeared in a video pushing conspiracies about the 2020 election. Invoking racist tropes, the video depicted the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the bodies of cartoon apes dancing to The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Continue reading...Deregulation alone can’t make homes affordable when rising inequality, not zoning, is what is driving prices up
Donald Trump has an interesting view of how housing plays in US politics. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes,” he said at a recent cabinet meeting. Unaffordable housing may be front and center of the “affordability crisis” pissing off voters. Still, he insists: “We’re not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn’t work very hard can buy a home.”
It can be hard to square some things Trump says with other things Trump says, let alone with reality. One can’t help but remember his campaign “goal of cutting the cost of a new home in half” by eliminating pesky regulations that raise the cost of construction. Forget that cheap new entry-level homes will weigh on the price of the existing housing stock.
Continue reading...
Spending to build, expand and rehabilitate manufacturing sites in the U.S. has declined since President Donald Trump took office, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Yet, Trump has repeatedly boasted that “factory construction” is up 41%.
Trump cited the 41% statistic in a White House press conference on Jan. 20 – calling it a “record” increase and suggesting that other presidents cannot compare to this “record.”
“Investment in American factories is up 41%. That’s a record. Nobody goes 41% up. You go 2% up, 1% up. You go down by 3%. If Kamala [Harris] got elected, the 41% up would be 41% down,” Trump said at the press conference, referring to the former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee who lost to Trump in the 2024 election.
A day later, in a Jan. 21 speech at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Trump repeated the 41% figure.
“Factory construction is up by 41%, and that number is really going to skyrocket right now, because that’s during a process that they’re putting in to get their approvals and we’ve given very, very quick, fast approvals,” Trump said.
This claim is part of a theme the president has emphasized of a “manufacturing boom” or “booming” economy due to his trade policies.
At our request, the White House sent us a link to the Census Bureau’s manufacturing construction spending data via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ online database known as FRED. We provide more about the White House response later, but let’s focus first on what the data show.
Under President Joe Biden — who served from Jan. 20, 2021, to Jan. 20, 2025 — there was a significant increase in manufacturing construction spending in all four years, according to the Census Bureau’s annual average estimates. After declining 6.9% in 2020 – the last year of Trump’s first term – manufacturing construction spending started to rise in 2021, the data show.
(Technical note: The Census Bureau provides average quarterly and annual estimates and monthly reports for construction spending, including manufacturing construction spending, based on its monthly Value of Construction Put in Place survey. We use all three in this story.)
Initially, the increases during the Biden years were in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anirban Basu, chief economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors, an industry trade association, told us in an email.
“Supply chain disruptions at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic convinced many producers to reshore capacity, while a sudden and sharp increase in construction materials prices—which rose more than 40% during the early years of the pandemic—also boosted nominal construction spending,” Basu said.
Manufacturing construction spending accelerated after Biden signed legislation in August 2022 designed to encourage private investment in U.S. manufacturing for semiconductors and clean energy. The bipartisan CHIPS Act, for example, included $39 billion to help fund semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the U.S., as explained in an April 2023 report by the Congressional Research Service.
During Biden’s four years, the annual average rate of manufacturing construction spending jumped more than 200%, from $75.5 billion to $235.6 billion, according to Census Bureau estimates. Spending surged 62% in a single year – 2023, a year after Biden signed the CHIPS Act.
But manufacturing construction spending peaked in the third quarter of 2024 and has been trending down slightly ever since. Census Bureau quarterly data show that under Trump, measuring from the last quarter in 2024 through the third quarter in 2025, spending declined 6.7%.
That decline is expected to continue in 2026 and 2027, according to the most recent survey of construction economists that is conducted twice a year by the American Institute of Architects.
“Manufacturing construction spending has seen phenomenal growth in recent years, increasing by over 50% in 2022, another 62% in 2023, and then another 16% in 2024,” the AIA consensus construction forecast published Jan. 15 said. “However, growth paused last year as spending in this category fell about 5% and is projected to decline another 4% this year and 1% in 2027.”
Despite the slight declines, the AIA construction forecast noted that the semiconductor fabrication plants continue to fuel manufacturing construction spending and will do so in the long term.
“The longer-term prospects look much more promising, as construction starts for manufacturing projects have shot up again,” the AIA forecast said. “Since many of these starts are for megaprojects, such as large semiconductor fabrication plants that entail a complex construction process, it may take a while before the activity shows up in the construction spending data.”
In January, Basu analyzed the Census Bureau’s most recent monthly report for nonresidential construction spending, which showed manufacturing construction spending as of October had declined for nine straight months.
“With CHIPS Act-enabled megaprojects winding down and the stiff headwind of trade policy, manufacturing construction spending has fallen by nearly 10% over the past 12 months, accounting for more than the entire decline in private nonresidential spending,” Basu said in an ABC press release issued Jan. 21. (By “trade policy,” Basu is referring to the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs on construction materials.)
On a monthly basis, the Census Bureau shows a 7.3% decline in manufacturing construction spending last year under Trump from January through October, the most recent data available.
Beginning on Jan. 23, we asked the White House on multiple occasions to provide support for the 41% figure used in Trump’s Jan. 20 and 21 remarks. After not receiving a response, we sent another email on Feb. 2 after the president wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 30 that said, “Factory construction is up by 42% since 2022.” We asked how it arrived at a 42% increase “since 2022.” That evening, the White House sent us a link to the Census Bureau’s manufacturing construction spending data, saying it compared “averages of Jan – August 2025 vs 2021-2024 average.”
That’s true — as far as it goes. On an annualized basis, monthly manufacturing construction spending averaged $226.1 billion for January through August — which is 40% higher than the annual average of $161.1 billion in Biden’s four years. But Trump wrote that the 42% increase was “since 2022,” not 2021. (We’ve asked the White House for a clarification.)
More importantly, the White House methodology fails to take into account the 212% increase in factory construction spending over Biden’s four years, which peaked in 2024 at an annual average of $235.6 billion, and how the Biden-era CHIPS Act continues to fuel manufacturing construction spending.
As we noted earlier, Basu attributed the recent decline to Trump’s tariffs and the slowing — not the halting — of construction projects spurred by the CHIPS Act. Asked to elaborate on his analysis, Basu told us that the manufacturing construction spending in 2025 is “largely due” to the CHIPS Act.
“While spending in the segment remains elevated from 2022 levels, that’s partially due to a precipitous increase in materials prices that occurred in 2022 and 2023 — these data are in nominal terms — and largely due to the surge in megaproject activity induced by the CHIPS Act,” Basu said.
He added that Trump’s tariffs have helped drive up the costs of fabricated metal — which has increased manufacturing construction costs.
“[I]t should be noted that spending in the fabricated metal manufacturing subsegment is up 19% over the past year,” Basu said. “Some of the increase can be contributed to tariffs and the resulting increase in demand for domestic production.”
We should note that even with the recent surge in manufacturing construction spending, there has been a decline in the number of manufacturing jobs. As we reported last month, the economy lost 63,000 manufacturing jobs in Trump’s first 11 months. That followed a loss of 98,000 in the preceding 11 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Shortly before Biden left office, Manufacturing Today, a trade magazine, wrote in December 2024 that manufacturing jobs were slow to materialize despite Biden’s incentives to spur manufacturing construction. But the magazine predicted the jobs “will materialize in the future.”
“Unlike traditional industrial projects, today’s semiconductor and clean energy facilities require longer timelines,” the article said. “Factories of this scale can take two to three years to complete, with even longer delays for more complex facilities, such as semiconductor plants. This extended timeline means the full benefits will not be realized for several more years.”
Basu agreed that CHIPS-related spending will result in an overall increase in U.S. manufacturing jobs – but cautioned that the impact of Trump’s tariffs could offset those gains.
“The massive facilities incentivized by the CHIPS Act will employ thousands of people,” Basu told us. “That said, all else is not equal, and recent trade policy and the effects on manufacturing input prices have put downward pressure on the industry’s employment.” (Input prices are costs of materials and other resources manufacturers need to produce goods, with some of those materials being imported.)
Others are bullish that Trump’s trade policies will encourage more manufacturers to expand in the U.S.
In April, when Trump announced higher tariffs on nearly all foreign imports, Morgan Stanley analyst Chris Snyder called tariffs “a positive catalyst” for relocating manufacturing to the U.S. More recently, Snyder said in a podcast last month that the tariffs have changed the “supply chain cost calculation” and will result in new U.S. factories.
“What we’re seeing is the cost of imports have gone higher with tariffs, and now it’s more economically advisable for these companies to make the product in the United States,” Snyder said. “And if that’s the case, that means that when they need a new factory, it’s going to come to the United States. They might not need a factory now, but when they do, the U.S. is at least incrementally better positioned to get that factory.”
In a January news article, the Wall Street Journal wrote that Trump’s tariffs “haven’t worked, so far.” The article said tariffs have increased manufacturers’ costs for foreign parts, adding that the “White House’s stop-and-start” tariff policy announcements have “also led to what many executives view as a lost year for investment.”
In a December interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump cited — as he often does — the value of investments that he says his administration has secured to date. (As we’ve written, he has exaggerated pledges to invest made by various companies and countries that may or may not materialize, experts say.) But he couldn’t say if the investments would show results in time for the midterm elections, when the Republican Party is in jeopardy of losing its slim majority in the House. “I can’t tell you. I don’t know when all of this money is going to kick in,” the president told the Journal, adding that it may happen in the second quarter of this year.
What will happen in the coming months and years remains to be seen. But what we can say is that factory construction so far has declined under Trump and his claim that it has increased 41% depends on a spending surge that occurred under Biden.
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The post Manufacturing Construction Spending Declines Under Trump appeared first on FactCheck.org.
Why Should Delaware Care?
Government works best when its citizens are knowledgeable and engaged. Delaware’s government has scores of commissions, working groups, agencies and legislative committees. All must hold meetings that are open to the public. Below we highlight a few of those meetings that are happening this week.
Below are some of the most important or interesting public meetings happening around the state this week.
The Caesar Rodney and Laurel school districts will ask their communities to approve tax increases during referendums scheduled for Monday.
Caesar Rodney has the lowest local funding and the lowest school tax rate in Kent County, according to district leaders. Meanwhile in Laurel, the school district has not held a referendum since 1985.
The Caesar Rodney School District is seeking an additional $6 million annually, while the smaller Laurel School District is asking for $1.6 million.
Both districts say they need the new dollars to fund ongoing operations, including initiatives to retain and recruit teachers and other educators.
Caesar Rodney says its request would also pay for school safety, arts programs and bus services, among other items. Laurel says its requested tax hike would stabilize the district’s budget.
If voters approve Caesar Rodney’s request, owners of a home worth about $300,000 in the district would pay just under $23 more per month in property taxes.
If Laurel’s request is successful, an average $230,000 home would pay roughly $14.25 more each month.
📍 Polls in the Caesar Rodney School District will be open Monday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at Caesar Rodney High School, Fred Fifer III Middle School, W. Reily Brown Elementary School, Allen Frear Elementary School, Nellie Stokes Elementary School, Star Hill Elementary School, David E. Robinson Elementary School, and the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company.
📍 Polls in the Laurel School District will also be open Monday Feb. 9, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at Laurel Elementary School, the Laurel Fire Department, and the North Laurel Early Learning Academy.
The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board will meet Tuesday morning, the first time the oversight body will convene since lawmakers blunted one of its key enforcement mechanisms as part of a legal settlement between the state and its largest hospital system, ChristianaCare.
Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 213 last month as part of a proposed legal settlement between ChristianaCare and state officials. The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by ChristianaCare in 2024 that challenged the constitutionality of the state’s formation of a hospital oversight board with the power to modify and veto budgeted spending by private hospitals.
The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Matt Meyer last week, removed the oversight board’s ability to modify and veto private hospital budgets.
Now, if a hospital’s spending exceeds the state’s projected benchmark, the cost review board would require it to send in a compliance plan outlining how it intends to bring it down.
📍 The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board will meet from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Herman M. Holloway Sr. Campus – DHSS Chapel, located at 1901 N Dupont Highway in New Castle. For information about virtual attendance, click here.
The General Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee will continue its scrutiny this week of Gov. Matt Meyer’s proposed $6.9 billion operating budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
The committee hearings, scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, will feature a series of testimony from state agency directors who will explain their specific operational requests for the following year.
Hearings on Tuesday will feature testimony from the Department of Elections, the Department of Insurance, the state Treasurer and the state Auditor.
Wednesday will include testimony from the departments of Correction, Safety and Homeland Security, and Justice, along with the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System.
Thursday will feature testimony from the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens, Department of Services for Children, Youth, & Their Families and the Delaware State Housing Authority.
Testimony from the remaining state offices and agencies will occur in later weeks.
📍 The Joint Finance Committee will meet from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Legislative Hall, located at 411 Legislative Ave. in Dover. For information about virtual attendance for the Tuesday meeting, click here. For the Wednesday meeting, click here. And for the Thursday meeting, click here.
The New Castle County Council on Tuesday will consider a resolution urging state energy regulators to reject Delmarva Power’s proposed $67.8 million rate hike.
The resolution, sponsored by council members Dee Durham and David Tackett, marks the latest rebuke of Delaware’s largest energy provider and rising electricity costs.
Gov. Matt Meyer called on the state’s Public Service Commission to deny the request in his State of the State address while a coalition of the legislature’s top Democrats have also sent a letter seeking a denial.
In December, Delmarva Power filed a request for a rate increase with the state’s Public Service Commission that could raise an average homeowner’s utility bill by 4%. It is the third rate hike request filed by Delmarva in five years.
📍 The New Castle County Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Louis L. Redding City County Building, located at 800 N. French St. in Wilmington. For more information, including about virtual attendance, click here.
Karl Baker, Julia Merola, Jacob Owens and Nick Stonesifer contributed to this report.
The post Get Involved: School referendums, hospital oversight, energy prices, more appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Milestone caps a quarter century of groundbreaking discoveries — with more to come from final run’s largest-ever dataset — plus technological advances in accelerators, detectors, and computing
UPTON, N.Y., Feb. 6, 2026 — Just after 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, final beams of oxygen ions — oxygen atoms stripped of their electrons — circulated through the twin 2.4-mile-circumference rings of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and crashed into one another at nearly the speed of light inside the collider’s two house-sized particle detectors, STAR and sPHENIX. RHIC, a nuclear physics research facility at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been smashing atoms since the summer of 2000. The final collisions cap a quarter century of remarkable experiments using 10 different atomic species colliding over a wide range of energies in different configurations. The RHIC program has produced groundbreaking discoveries about the building blocks of matter and the nature of proton spin and technological advances in accelerators, detectors, and computing that have far surpassed scientists’ expectations when this discovery machine first turned on.
Darío Gil, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Under Secretary for Science, right, and Interim Laboratory Director John Hill officially ended the operational era of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at a capstone collision event held at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. Credit: Kevin Coughlin/BNL.
“RHIC has been one of the most successful user facilities operated by the DOE Office of Science, serving thousands of scientists from across the nation and around the globe,” said DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil. “Supporting these one-of-a-kind research facilities pushes the limits of technology and expands our understanding of our world through transformational science — central pillars of DOE’s mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity.”
Gil was in the Main Control Room of Brookhaven Lab’s collider complex to officially end the 25th and final run at RHIC in advance of announcing the next major milestone in the construction of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a state-of-the-art nuclear physics research facility that will be built by reusing major components of RHIC.
“It’s been an amazing run,” said Wolfram Fischer, chair of Brookhaven Lab’s Collider-Accelerator Department (C-AD), speaking of the entirety of the RHIC program. As head of C-AD, Fischer is responsible for the day-to-day, year-to-year operations of the collider and all its ancillary accelerator infrastructure. “Experiencing the challenges of first trying to get beams to circulate during commissioning in the fall of 1999, one could not have dreamed how far the performance of this machine would come,” he said. “We’ve pushed well beyond the original design in terms of the number of collisions we can produce, the energy range of those collisions, the variety of ions we’ve collided, and our ability to align the spins of protons and maintain a high degree of this alignment or polarization.”
The 25th and final run produced the largest-ever dataset from RHIC’s most energetic head-on smashups between two beams of gold ions, among the heaviest ions collided at RHIC. It also yielded a treasure trove of proton-proton collisions that will provide essential comparison data and insight into proton spin, a set of low-energy fixed target collisions to complete RHIC’s “beam energy scan,” and a final burst of oxygen-oxygen interactions. All this data will add to that collected previously by RHIC’s detectors — STAR, which has been running with many upgrades since RHIC’s beginning; PHENIX, another original RHIC detector that ceased operations in 2016; PHOBOS and BRAHMS, two smaller original detectors that ran from 2000 through 2005 and 2006, respectively; and sPHENIX, RHIC’s newest most rapid-fire collision “camera,” which came online in 2023.
This final run generated the primary data set for the new sPHENIX experiment. This year, sPHENIX accumulated more than 200 petabytes of raw data — or 200 quadrillion bytes — more than all previous RHIC raw datasets combined. This massive dataset includes 40 billion snapshots of the unique form of matter generated in gold-ion collisions.
Collectively, the RHIC measurements will fill in missing details in physicists’ understanding of how a soup of fundamental particles known as quarks and gluons — which last existed in nature some 14 billion years ago, a microsecond after the Big Bang — coalesced and converged to form the more ordinary atomic particles that make up everything visible in our world today. Recreating this primordial matter, known as a quark-gluon plasma (QGP), was the primary reason for building RHIC. RHIC’s energetic collisions of heavy ions such as gold were designed to set quarks and gluons free from “confinement” within protons and neutrons by melting the boundaries of these nuclear particles.
Thanks to considerable contributions from Japan’s RIKEN institute, RHIC was also built with unique capabilities for polarizing protons so that physicists could explore the origins of proton spin. This intrinsic quantum property, somewhat analogous to a planet spinning on its axis, has been leveraged to develop powerful technologies like nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and medical MRIs. RHIC’s polarized proton collisions have opened a new window into the mystery of how spin arises from the proton’s quarks and gluons.
PHENIX and STAR have both collected and published results from large swaths of spin-polarized collisions using selection “triggers” to decide which events to capture and study. During Run 25, sPHENIX became the world’s first detector to record a continuous streaming dataset from RHIC’s spin-polarized proton collisions — thus eliminating the need for triggers and potentially paving the way for unanticipated discoveries.
“This final RHIC run, with its impressive dataset, is a capstone that exemplifies the success of the entire RHIC program,” said John Hill, interim director of Brookhaven Lab. “The scientists, engineers, and technicians at Brookhaven deserve huge credit for their dedication and innovation throughout the operating life of RHIC — and for continually finding new ways to maximize the scientific output of this remarkable machine. We are also extremely grateful for the continued support of the U.S. Department of Energy, and for our collaborators from other DOE labs, U.S. universities, and scientific institutions around the globe. This exploration of the matter that makes up our world and of how it came to be has been, and will continue to be, a truly international endeavor.”
Captivating Discoveries
In early 2001, as the earliest RHIC data came out, some scientists were convinced that they’d seen signs of the post-Big-Bang QGP. But the data also presented puzzling surprises. Instead of the predicted uniformly expanding gas of quarks and gluons, the matter created in RHIC’s collisions seemed to flow more like a liquid — and, remarkably, one with extremely low viscosity. Additional experiments and a careful multiyear analysis led the four original RHIC collaborations to conclude in 2005 that RHIC was generating a nearly “perfect” liquid. By 2010, they had sufficient evidence to declare this liquid hot enough to be the long-sought QGP.
Since then, RHIC physicists have been making precision measurements of the QGP, including its temperature at different stages, how it swirls — it’s the swirliest matter ever! — how quarks and gluons in the primordial soup transition under various conditions of temperature and pressure to the nuclear matter that makes up atoms in our world, and how collisions of even small particles can create tiny drops of the QGP. They’ve explored exotic forms of nuclear matter such as that found in neutron stars, detected traces of the heaviest exotic antimatter ever created in a laboratory, and explored how visible matter emerges from the “nothingness” of empty space. The sPHENIX experiment has only recently published its first physics results, laying the foundation for its future of scientific insights.
“RHIC transformed nuclear physics by demonstrating the remarkable consequences of ‘boiling the vacuum,’ to paraphrase renowned physicist T. D. Lee’s description of matter governed by quantum chromodynamics (QCD),” said Brookhaven Lab theorist Raju Venugopalan. “In QCD — the theory that describes quarks and gluons and their interactions — findings from RHIC propelled the rapid development of new analytical approaches and high-performance computing. The RHIC data also sparked several unanticipated connections between the behavior of the QGP fluid and strongly correlated condensed matter systems, including ultra-cold atoms, as well as links to concepts such as quantum entanglement and the formation and evaporation of black holes.”
Advances in nuclear physics theory and the enormous RHIC datasets have also pushed the evolution of supercomputers, AI methods for analyzing “big data,” and the infrastructure needed to store and share data seamlessly with RHIC collaborators around the world. In 2024, Brookhaven’s data center — which also houses data from the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and other experiments — passed the milestone of storing 300 petabytes of data, the largest compilation of nuclear and particle physics data in the U.S. With the newest data from RHIC and ATLAS, the total now tops 610 petabytes.
Credit: Jen Abramowitz/Brookhaven National Laboratory
In the proton spin program, RHIC’s measurements greatly improved the precision with which scientists could determine gluons’ contribution to proton spin, along with the contribution from quarks. This effort was motivated by surprising results from experiments elsewhere in the 1980s showing that quarks contribute only a fraction to this quantum property. Gluons were initially assumed to contribute the rest. RHIC’s measurements reveal that gluons contribute about as much as the quarks — not enough to fully solve the “spin puzzle.” A more recent analysis established that at least some of the gluons are spin aligned with the spin of the proton they are in. But there is still more to explore in this spin puzzle.
“Spin is one of the fundamental quantum numbers of every elementary particle in the universe except one, the Higgs,” said Elke Aschenauer, a Brookhaven Lab physicist who has played a pivotal role in RHIC’s spin physics program. “RHIC’s measurements have established the groundwork for understanding the complexity of proton spin. The future EIC will be a precision machine for studying proton spin.”
Continuing Legacy
Even with so many impressive discoveries in the books, RHIC physicists say there will be many more to come for at least another decade.
“The science mission of RHIC will continue until we analyze all the data and publish all the papers,” said Abhay Deshpande, Brookhaven Lab’s associate laboratory director for nuclear and particle physics. He emphasized how important it will be to preserve RHIC’s data for future scientific analyses.
RHIC’s data will also continue to serve as an essential bridge between ongoing and planned experiments exploring nuclear matter at lower collision energies — for example at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) being built in Germany and the Super Proton Synchrotron at CERN — and at much higher energies at CERN’s LHC.
“Analyzing the latest RHIC data will also help train the next generation of physicists needed to run and analyze data from future experiments,” said Lijuan Ruan, a Brookhaven Lab physicist and co-spokesperson for the STAR Collaboration.
A big part of that future will take place right here at Brookhaven National Laboratory where major components of the RHIC accelerator complex will live on in a new nuclear physics research facility, the world’s only polarized Electron-Ion Collider. Engineers and technicians will remove one of RHIC’s ion storage rings and replace it with a new ring for storing accelerated electrons inside the existing accelerator tunnel. Meanwhile, the other RHIC ring, refurbished for its new mission, will receive ions accelerated by C-AD’s existing injector complex, traveling around the tunnel in the opposite direction from the electrons. Scientists will leverage the experience gained during 25 years of RHIC operations — as well as reams of RHIC accelerator physics data — to develop and train new AI algorithms designed to optimize EIC accelerator performance.
When electrons collide with ions where the two EIC rings cross, the action will be captured by a brand-new particle detector. Instead of recreating the early universe, these microscope-like interactions will enable precision measurements that reveal how quarks and gluons are organized and interact within matter as we know it in today’s world.
“We’ll learn how quarks and gluons generate mass, how their interactions contribute to proton spin, and much more that will revolutionize our understanding of matter — much as the science we’ve explored at RHIC has,” said Deshpande, who also serves as director of science for the EIC. “This is the future of Brookhaven Lab and nuclear physics in the U.S.”
Daniel Marx, one of the accelerator physicists working on the design of the EIC’s new electron storage ring, said, “It’s going to be very challenging, but also exciting. We’ll be doing things that have never been done before.”
Perhaps Marx was echoing the sentiments of the physicists who originally built RHIC, demonstrating another big part of RHIC’s legacy: an ongoing willingness to tackle unprecedented scientific and technological challenges.
“We are confident that we have the people who will make the EIC happen because of the expertise we have developed by building and running RHIC,” Deshpande said.
RHIC and the future EIC are funded primarily by the DOE Office of Science.
Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.
Source: Brookhaven National Laboratory
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PARIS, Feb. 6, 2026 — Capgemini today announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Google Cloud to deliver end-to-end secure sovereign cloud solutions. As part of this, Capgemini will help clients adopt Google Cloud’s leading AI technologies, including Vertex AI and Gemini Enterprise. This is designed to drive innovation and modernize clients’ critical operations while protecting classified data and workloads and meet stringent compliance requirements in a secure environment.
Capgemini and Google Cloud’s expanded partnership will allow organizations to use Gemini-based, hyper-automated cloud operations to enhance cybersecurity, resilience, disaster recovery and sovereign-aligned compliance. Joint clients can choose their sovereignty model across Google Cloud, Google Cloud Dedicated, and Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped.
It’s critical that organizations are empowered to roll out AI and modernize applications in ways that adhere to sovereign requirements,” said Kevin Ichhpurani, President, Global Partner Ecosystem at Google Cloud. “Capgemini is a vital partner in this initiative, helping customers use Google Sovereign Cloud to accelerate digital transformation while maintaining the highest standards of data integrity and sovereignty.”
“While the potential of AI in modernizing critical operations is clear, there are constraints due to stringent regulatory mandates on data and compliance,” said Fernando Alvarez, Chief Strategy and Development Officer and Group Executive Board member at Capgemini. “With our deep industry expertise combined with our proven track record in implementing AI-first solutions that deliver real business transformation, Capgemini is well positioned to address these challenges. Becoming a Google Cloud air-gapped operator enables us to further provide trusted and secure end-to-end sovereign solutions that enable resilience, help maintain autonomy and security, and foster innovation at scale.”
As part of this partnership, Capgemini intends to establish a Google Sovereign Cloud Delivery Practice and Center of Excellence (CoE) designed to provide advice and services that meet unique sovereign requirements for joint clients. This ensures that core applications and infrastructure such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) environments can be modernized securely while adhering to strict data residency and operational mandates. Capgemini’s capabilities are further enhanced by its recent acquisition of Syniti, a leader in large-scale SAP data transformation, and Cloud4C, a leading provider of automation-driven managed services for hybrid and sovereign cloud environments.
With a newly attained GDC partner status and as an authorized GDC air-gapped operator, Capgemini can deliver a sovereign, fully operated service model. This is a completely managed experience, which is designed for organizations requiring total isolation from the public internet to meet sovereignty and regulatory requirements across European markets. The partnership supports critical missions by enabling secure logistics planning, threat analysis, and operational decision support using data that remains fully contained within the secure enclave.
As a trusted AI-led business and technology transformation partner, Capgemini brings decades of experience in enabling the AI-led digital transformation of companies across countries. Combined with Google Cloud’s industry-leading AI technology, Capgemini and Google Cloud are expertly placed to deliver safe, compliant innovation for high-value business processes and intelligent transformation of business-critical systems to accelerate unified legal, data and operational control.
About Capgemini
Capgemini is an AI-powered global business and technology transformation partner, delivering tangible business value. We imagine the future of organizations and make it real with AI, technology and people. With our strong heritage of nearly 60 years, we are a responsible and diverse group of 420,000 team members in more than 50 countries. We deliver end-to-end services and solutions with our deep industry expertise and strong partner ecosystem, leveraging our capabilities across strategy, technology, design, engineering and business operations. The Group reported 2024 global revenues of €22.1 billion.
Source: Capgemini
The post Capgemini Expands Google Cloud Partnership to Deliver Sovereign AI and Cloud Services appeared first on HPCwire.
A library in rural Alaska needed help providing free Wi-Fi and getting kids to read. A children’s museum in Washington wanted to expand its Little Science Lab. And a World War I museum in Missouri had a raft of historic documents it needed to digitize. They received funding from a little-known federal agency before the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to dismantle it last year.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle. But this time, it has unusually specific criteria.
In cover letters accompanying the applications, the institute said it “particularly welcomes” projects that align with President Donald Trump’s vision for America.
These would include those that foster an appreciation for the country “through uplifting and positive narratives,” the agency writes, citing an executive order that attacks the Smithsonian Institution for its “divisive, race-centered ideology.” (Trump has said the museum focused too much on “how bad slavery was.”) The agency also points to an executive order calling for the end of “the anti-Christian weaponization of government” and one titled Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again.
The solicitation marks a stark departure for the agency, whose guidelines were previously apolitical and focused on merit.
Former agency leaders from both political parties, as well as those of library, historical and museum associations, expressed concern that funded projects could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history. Some also feared that by accepting grants, institutions would open themselves up to scrutiny and control, like the administration’s wide-ranging audit of Smithsonian exhibits “to assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
The new guidelines are “chilling,” said Giovanna Urist, who served as a senior program officer at the agency from 2021 to 2023. “I think that we just need to look at what’s happening with the Smithsonian to know that the administration has a very specific goal in mind when it comes to controlling the voice of organizations and museums across the country.”
An agency spokesperson told ProPublica it is not unusual for the institute to publish directors’ letters with grant applications, and that this one informs readers “about this Administration’s thematic emphases in the semi-quincentennial year.” He did not comment on criticisms that those letters insert political themes into a historically nonpartisan program.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, IMLS is working to revitalize our cultural institutions, urging less traditional applicants to consider working with us, and to promote civic pride and a deep sense of belonging among all Americans,” he said, adding that any institution that “meets programmatic requirements and goals” outlined in the funding opportunity “will receive all due consideration and undergo peer review.”
The spokesperson did not say how alignment with Trump’s executive orders would be weighed in the selection process or address concerns about the administration’s intrusion into funded institutions.
Established in 1996, the institute is the only dedicated source of federal support for libraries and one of the primary federal funders of museums and archives. Its long-running grant programs promote community engagement and public access to information, while bolstering institutions’ ability to care for collections and prepare for disasters. One grant, named after former first lady Laura Bush, helps recruit and train library professionals.
Last March, Trump attempted to eliminate the agency through an executive order and fired director Cyndee Landrum, a career library professional. Attorneys general from 21 states and the American Library Association sued the Trump administration to block it from dismantling the agency; the courts have halted the efforts for now.
To head the agency, the administration appointed Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling, who does not appear to have prior professional experience in museums or libraries. (An institute spokesperson didn’t comment on concerns ProPublica passed along about this.) In a press release announcing his appointment as acting director, Sonderling said, “We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations.”
Ten days later, he put nearly all of the agency’s 75 employees on administrative leave, fired the board and rescinded some previously awarded grants.
The grants were reinstated under court order in December, and the agency is now accepting applications for 13 grants whose awards range from $5,000 to $1 million. According to Grants.gov, the agency now expects to award nearly 600 grants totaling more than $78 million.
ProPublica spoke with directors who ran the agency under every previous presidential administration dating back to Barack Obama’s. Though each era brought different priorities, they said, those changes were implemented with input from the field — not by encouraging applicants to align their work with a president’s worldview. With the new guidelines, they said, the administration is signaling a preference for certain types of projects and narratives.
Crosby Kemper III, a lifelong conservative Republican appointed by Trump to lead the agency in 2019, stayed on into President Joe Biden’s term. While he was not a fan of the former president’s emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion and feels that the library and museum fields needed a course correction from their natural lean to the left, he believes that what is coming out of the current Trump administration is not helpful.
“All these Trump executive orders — and I mean all of them — are just extensions of his own animus towards anybody who disagrees with him and his outsized ego,” said Kemper, who called the orders “nonsense” and the grant guidelines “horrific.” “It’s clear the administration wants a whitewashed story, if you’ll pardon the pun there. And that’s wrong.”
Leaders of the American Historical Association, the American Library Association and the American Alliance of Museums warned that changes to the agency’s grant language and recent funding actions have led to uncertainty across the field.
Among questions raised: Would the government revoke grants it had already awarded, as it did last year? Would accepting the money open up institutions to broader investigations, like the 52 universities scrutinized over their DEI practices? The institute spokesperson did not comment on either of those questions. Sarah Weicksel, the American Historical Association’s executive director, said institutions are even worried about how they would be perceived if they took the funds. “They’re wondering, is accepting the grant a sign that they accept the executive orders that have been laid out here?”
Questions also remain about whether enough staff is left to process the applications properly. The agency did not answer a question about its current staffing, but in its most recent Congressional Budget Justification document, it requested support for 13 full-time employees. Former agency officials said that number is low, but that they trusted the remaining staffers to choose quality projects and, in the words of Kemper, “do the right thing.”
But staffers are only part of the process. Typically, each grant application is reviewed by volunteer library and museum experts. Susan Hildreth, who led the agency from 2011 to 2015, questions the lack of information about the current process on the agency’s website. “I couldn’t find it anywhere in the documentation,” she said. The institute spokesperson said the grant process remains the same as previous years.
Opinion polls consistently find that libraries and museums are among the most trusted public institutions in the country by Americans across the political spectrum, and Urist said they are trusted because of their independence. “When the federal government puts its thumb on that scale, it threatens the trustworthiness of these community anchors.”
Weicksel said it’s important for the public to know how the administration is aiming to shape institutions essential to the nation’s culture and ability to understand itself and its past. Patty Gerstenblith, distinguished research professor of Law at DePaul University, agreed, saying that the administration’s actions raise serious First Amendment concerns.
“Certainly at a minimum,” Gerstenblith said, “people should know that the government is using its funding as a way of essentially coercing a different presentation of American history.”
The post Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump appeared first on ProPublica.
Haiti’s vicious circle: Funding is needed to end the violence. But the violence means the funding doesn’t come Expert comment jon.wallace
Beyond restoring security, a push to rebuild Haiti’s society and create jobs is vital to any lasting solution. But who will fund such an effort, as the cycle of violence continues?
Politics in Haiti is a blood sport. The last elected President, Jovenel Moïse, was gunned down by mercenaries in 2021. Since then, the country has descended into rampant gang violence. Thousands have been killed and abducted in the chaos. Criminals control roughly 90 per cent of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Legal economic activity has nearly ground to a halt.
Now there is serious doubt on whether the country will have a government after 7 February, when its Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) was originally set to dissolve. Internecine battles have broken out over what should follow the Council, and more specifically who can remain in power.
In recent weeks, several TPC members attempted to remove Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé in a palace coup. Those same members have put forward plans for a reduced Council that would include – of course – them. There is a real threat that some Council members will mobilize the gangs to coerce other members and the international community. In response, the US has parked a warship and three coast guard cutters off the coast of Haiti.
The upheaval threatens the future of any government in Haiti and the status of the UN’s new Gang Suppression Force (GSF) mission to the crime-ridden country. What can be done to break Haiti’s cycle of disaster?
The TPC was established in April 2024, after gangs prevented interim president Ariel Henri from returning to Haiti.
At the time, Haiti lacked an elected government. It still doesn’t have one. The parliament was dissolved in 2020 when its mandate ended without new elections. The hope was that the TPC, created after Caribbean Community (Caricom) negotiations, could provide transitional government until new democratic elections could be held in late 2025, with a new government seated by 8 February 2026.
Even before the TPC’s recent internal turmoil, political gamesmanship and efforts to protect armed allies and secure access to resources hobbled the transitional authority. The first prime minister, Gary Conille, was forced to resign only six months into his term.
And the Council failed to deliver progress on any coherent policy across any area, most importantly security. From January to November 2025 alone, 8,100 people were killed in the country of 11 million, according to UN Secretary General António Guterres – a 20 per cent increase from 2024. Sexual violence has also spiked in recent years.
In addition to the armada floating just outside Port-au-Prince, the US slapped visa restrictions on five of the members of the TPC jockeying for power in the government. At the end of January, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported that he had spoken to Fils-Aimé and ‘emphasized the importance of his continued tenure as Haiti’s prime minister to combat terrorist gangs and stabilize the island’ adding that the TPC ‘must be dissolved by February 7 without corrupt actors…’
Economically too, the power struggles in the interim government have choked off growth. The World Bank estimates that the crisis had in six years cost Haiti nearly $10 billion a year in lost economic activity by 2024. Small and medium enterprises were particularly affected.
The failure to re-establish even a modicum of security has prevented the planned elections. It became conventional wisdom that attempting to convene a popular vote in a country overwhelmed by gangs would likely – either through coercion, campaign support or running their own candidates – formally turn Haiti’s government over to criminals. Now, with the status or form of an interim government after 8 February uncertain, even an updated plan to hold elections in late 2026 looks unrealistic.
The potential absence of a credible Haitian government puts the UN mission at risk. The plan is to deploy a 5,500-strong multi-national force to crack down on gang leaders and recapture territory, including transportation hubs and economic infrastructure. But that requires an effective government counterpart in Haiti.
Even if current dialogues and negotiations can cobble together a governmental authority, it will likely not enjoy broad support among the political elite. As has been the case for decades, corrupt political and business leaders frozen out of power will use gang contacts to sow discontent and chaos – enforcing a street veto on the next government.
The lack of broad acceptance among the political elites (and their followers) and the spectre of politically directed violence will hobble any future government in its greatest – and long overdue – task: purging, reforming and rebuilding Haiti’s security and judicial sectors.
Any viable solution to the security crisis will require not just effective international and domestic military and police action against gang leaders. It also demands a complete overhaul of Haiti’s police, military forces and intelligence services and a fair and speedy court and penitentiary system to ensure justice for victims, many of them women and children. There must be accountability for the brutal crimes being committed every day.
A lack of funding could be fatal to that effort, and to the more traditional community and development efforts necessary to ensure long-term success.
Like many other countries facing security and humanitarian crises, Haiti confronts a declining global budget for development assistance. With the US Agency for Development (USAID) now abolished by the Donald Trump administration and subsequent cuts to development assistance by the UK, Canada and EU, many of the steps needed to follow reducing gang power, such as disarmament and demobilization, will have scant resources.
The EU’s IRGC terrorist designation marks a major shift on Iran Expert comment thilton.drupal
Europe has realized that engaging Tehran without leverage, interlocutors or credible pathways to change is unsustainable. But it should not abandon Iranians altogether.
The European Union’s decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization last week marks the end of the EU’s long strategy of engagement with the Islamic Republic.
That strategy began in the early 1990s and endured throughout the crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme that started in late 2002. Over more than three decades, the EU sought to balance pressure with dialogue, preserving diplomatic and economic channels even at moments of acute confrontation.
The IRGC designation therefore represents not merely a policy adjustment, but the collapse of a core assumption in European Iran policy: that sustained engagement could preserve leverage, empower Iranian interlocutors and ultimately moderate Tehran’s behaviour.
Relations between the EU and Iran had already been eroding since 2022. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched that year, marked a decisive turning point, as Iran’s provision of drones and military support to Russia placed Tehran directly at odds with a central European security priority.
The death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and Tehran’s violent suppression of the ensuing protests further strained ties, exposing the widening gap between the rhetoric of engagement and realities on the ground in Iran.
The failure to revive the nuclear agreement in mid-2023 due to Iran’s rejection of the latest agreed draft made engagement more challenging and removed the last structured framework for cooperation. The triggering of UN snapback sanctions in September 2025, which was led by the E3 (France, Germany and the UK), angered Iran, entrenching mutual mistrust.
Still, until early 2026, few would have expected EU–Iran relations to deteriorate further, let alone reach the point of the IRGC being listed. The move has been debated for years in European capitals, particularly after the US designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019, and Canada followed suit in 2024.
However, the EU had hesitated until now. Some within Europe saw the listing of the IRGC as a step that would effectively criminalize engagement with large parts of the Iranian state. They also feared retaliation against dual nationals, further escalation in theatres where EU forces operate and the closure of diplomatic off-ramps.
The anticipated effect of designating the IRGC was never behavioural change by the group itself. Instead, the aims were signalling, deterrence and normative clarity – benefits that the EU had long judged insufficient to justify the costs.
This calculus was ultimately shifted by the scale and brutality of Iran’s domestic repression during the early-2026 uprisings.
Mass arrests, executions, internet shutdowns, and the open use of lethal force against demonstrators erased any remaining confidence in gradual change. Unlike previous episodes, the violence could not plausibly be attributed to rogue commanders or security excesses. It reflected a system-wide choice. Security institutions, clerical authorities, and political officials – including figures previously portrayed as reformist or pragmatic – aligned behind the crackdown and publicly framed repression as necessary.
For European policymakers, this alignment destroyed the remaining logic of engagement. Europe found itself with no remaining credible interlocutors to engage with, nor any meaningful distinction between coercive and diplomatic power centres. Refraining from the designation therefore risked legitimizing violence, undermining Europe’s credibility and exposing the EU to accusations of moral complicity. The reputational cost became too high.
The decision to designate the IRGC came after Italy, Spain and France decided to support the measure, having reportedly previously been hesitant. Announcing the decision, the EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas attributed the move to the crackdown on protesters in Iran, saying that ‘repression cannot go unanswered.’ The US welcomed the move, while Tehran described it as a ‘major strategic mistake.’
From an operational standpoint, the designation is unlikely to dramatically alter Iran-related business in practice, though it materially raises compliance stakes. Any European company with dealings linked to Iran already faces high sanctions risks and many will already have significant due diligence checks in place.
However, the designation means that companies will need to ensure they check for Iranian counterparties have ownership, control or facilitation links to IRGC-affiliated networks. Enforcement agencies are likely to scrutinize Iran-linked transactions more closely, increasing legal and reputational risk for businesses even where activity is technically permissible.
By designating the IRGC, the EU also creates another legal tool to impose secondary sanctions against businesses and individuals in third countries with ties to the IRGC. The risk for secondary sanctions will therefore also impact non-EU companies with ties to Iran.
Politically, the most immediate consequence is the near-total sidelining of the EU from shaping Iran policy. This is already clear in the US-Iran talks currently scheduled for Friday. A range of countries have been reported as among the potential participants, but none of them are European.
Europe looks set to lose what little influence it retained as a bridge between Tehran and Washington at precisely the moment when decisive choices will be made over Iran’s future. Whether president Trump will decide to pursue negotiations or escalate militarily, Europe will lack the leverage to shape outcomes.
Minutes after a federal agent shot and killed a Mexican immigrant in a Chicago suburb last September, a group of police officers stood on the sidewalk trying to figure out the answer to a question of protocol: Who would investigate the shooting?
“Wouldn’t it be state’s, at a minimum?” one Franklin Park officer asked, according to body camera footage.
Chief Mike Witz shook his head. “No, because it’s a federal shooting,” he said. “You’re not going to investigate a federal officer.”
His officers didn’t investigate. In their report, they didn’t even note the names of the two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the scene of Silverio Villegas González’s death. Instead, they deferred to the FBI.
Local law enforcement officials also did not investigate when a Border Patrol agent shot and wounded a U.S. citizen in her car in Chicago less than a month later. Or when an ICE agent in Phoenix shot a Honduran man during a traffic stop later that month.
In fact, local police did not open investigations into six of the 12 shootings by on-duty federal agents that have led to the deaths or injuries of citizens and immigrants since September, a ProPublica analysis found. In three other shooting cases, state or local police said they have opened inquiries, which they called a routine practice in those jurisdictions. And in Minnesota, where ICE and Border Patrol shot and killed two U.S. citizens and injured a Venezuelan man last month, state police have tried to conduct independent investigations only to be thwarted by the Trump administration, which has gone so far as to block officers from a scene, even when they had a judicial warrant.
In almost every instance, President Donald Trump’s administration blamed the injured and dead for the shooting within hours of the incident, raising questions about whether federal officials can fairly and objectively investigate their own. Legal experts and advocates for immigrants say this apparent lack of accountability demands that local authorities step up and exercise their power to investigate and prosecute federal agents who break state laws — from battery to murder.
“Local police and the state have gotten a free pass,” said Craig Futterman, a law professor at the University of Chicago and the co-founder and director of its Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project. “Residents have every right and should be demanding that, ‘Hey, state authorities, police, local police: Protect us. Arrest people who kill us, who batter us, who point guns at us and threaten and assault us without legal cause to do so.’”
It’s usually the opposite scenario: federal authorities coming in to investigate a troubled police department. But local authorities have investigated and charged federal agents in the past. It’s just rare and complicated. The federal supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution bars local interference with federal law enforcement officers when they act reasonably and within the scope of their duties.
But given the aggressive tactics employed by immigration agents under the Trump administration, Futterman and other legal experts said local police and prosecutors are morally obligated to at least try to hold federal law enforcement officers accountable.
“We’re in an environment right now where ICE officers are blatantly and egregiously violating the Constitution and the law,” said Joanna Schwartz, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The federal government has made it very clear that they are not going to do anything to provide any sort of accountability backstop to its officers. Unfortunately, because Congress is not taking any steps to rein ICE officers in, there really is no option other than states protecting their constituents’ rights.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that agents are “trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and our officers.” All use-of-force incidents are properly reported and reviewed by an appropriate law enforcement agency, the spokesperson said.
Immigration agents at the border have long been criticized for use of deadly force and lack of rigorous investigations afterward. But now the same militarized force is on display in major American cities far from the border, where residents are not used to their presence.
The shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month — and the federal government’s resistance to a routine local investigation — has prompted Democratic and some Republican officials across the country to call for more accountability. Last week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order directing police officers to document alleged illegal activity by federal immigration agents and refer any evidence of felonies to prosecutors.
California’s governor and attorney general issued a reminder to local police of their rights to investigate federal agents. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes launched a website asking residents to submit evidence of federal agents’ misconduct. And prosecutors from nine jurisdictions around the country announced a new coalition to provide mutual support to law enforcement authorities bringing charges against federal officers.
In Minneapolis, prosecutors say they’re working with state police to investigate in spite of resistance from federal officials. So far, DHS officials have refused to provide evidence or even the names of the agents involved in the January shootings. Prosecutors went so far as to obtain an emergency order to require that federal agencies preserve evidence in the Pretti case. A judge dropped the temporary restraining order on Monday, following assurances from the federal government that it would maintain investigative materials.
The prosecutors said they believe they can still gather enough evidence to make an informed decision about whether to charge the federal agents.
“We get cases submitted to us every day that don’t have all the evidence we would like,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in an interview. “We would certainly like the gun. We would like the shell casings, that kind of thing. But it’s also not a mystery as to why these people died.”
Even after getting a judicial warrant, investigators from the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were turned away by federal agents from the Minneapolis intersection where Pretti, 37, was shot and killed. Federal officials also excluded the BCA from the investigation into the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed in her car two weeks before Pretti.
BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said he’d never seen his officers physically stopped from doing their job by another law enforcement agency. Across the country, he said, state agencies like the BCA routinely investigate deadly force incidents like this one.
“We’re in uncharted territory here,” he said.
Within hours of each killing, Trump officials publicly labeled the dead “domestic terrorists.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti was “brandishing” a gun when he approached the officers, while the Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino claimed Pretti was planning a “massacre.”
Video footage contradicted the administration’s version of events. Pretti, for instance, never unholstered his gun, which he was legally allowed to carry.
Early last week, Trump sent Bovino and Border Patrol agents away from Minneapolis, and on Wednesday DHS officials said they would pull another 700 agents out of the state — signs the administration may be changing its approach in response to rising criticism. The FBI is now investigating the Pretti shooting, and the Justice Department announced Friday that it had opened a civil rights investigation.
A DOJ spokesperson did not answer questions for this story but referred reporters to a press conference last weekend in which Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said DHS is following its normal investigative protocols in the Pretti shooting.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has said it has no plans to investigate Good’s shooting.
“We don’t just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody putting his life in danger,” Blanche told Fox News.
Police in Franklin Park and Chicago have not explained why they didn’t open their own investigations into the two shootings last fall. In the Franklin Park case, the decision to let the FBI alone investigate the killing of Villegas was made within minutes of the shooting, according to dispatch records.
Villegas, a 38-year-old restaurant cook, was shot as he tried to drive away from ICE agents who had pulled him over. As in Minneapolis, the Trump administration’s narrative of what happened did not match the evidence. DHS claimed that Villegas dragged one of the agents, causing serious injuries. The agent fired “because he feared for his life,” officials said. Police body camera footage released after the shooting showed the agent downplaying his injury as “nothing major.”
At the scene, Franklin Park police officers directed traffic and interviewed a witness, the footage shows. At one point, one officer told his colleague that the police department was “just securing until they get here,” referring to the FBI.
Witz, who was then the police chief but has since retired, could not be reached for comment; the current chief did not respond to interview requests.
A similar situation unfolded in Chicago on Oct. 4 after a Border Patrol agent fired into the vehicle of a woman who federal officials claimed “ambushed” them. Marimar Martinez was charged with assaulting federal agents, though the charges were later dropped.
At the time, the Chicago Police Department said officers had responded to a call about a shooting “to document the incident” and to “maintain safety and traffic control.” When asked last week why it didn’t open an independent inquiry, the department directed ProPublica to its October statement, which made clear the police were “not involved in the incident or its investigation” and directed questions to federal authorities.
As the events in Minneapolis continued to generate criticism nationwide, Chicago’s mayor unveiled his executive order that directed officers to investigate federal immigration agents who break the law and to refer them for criminal prosecution. In a statement, the mayor’s office said the initiative was a response to “the absence of legal repercussions in the wake of the shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago and the killings of Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park and Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.”
Legal experts said they were not aware of recent examples of Illinois law enforcement agencies investigating an on-duty federal agent, though last month a suburban police department obtained misdemeanor charges against an off-duty ICE agent accused of attacking an activist who was filming him while the agent was pumping gas.
Illinois State Police officials said they would investigate federal agents who were accused of breaking the law if they are asked to do so.
Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called on a state accountability commission to examine the roles of key Trump officials in the escalation of aggressive tactics during a monthslong immigration enforcement campaign in Chicago and its suburbs late last year. Pritzker had previously established the commission to gather videos and testimonies about federal agents’ conduct, and to create a public record of what happened. The commission lacks subpoena power but can refer information about potential violations of state law to law enforcement agencies or prosecutors.
“Just imagine if the agents who shot Mr. Villegas González back on Sept. 12 had been publicly disciplined,” Rubén Castillo, a retired federal judge who chairs the commission, said at a hearing Friday. “Maybe, just maybe, the Minnesota shootings would not have occurred, and two people would be alive who are now dead.”
He added: “We will have conversations with those in local law enforcement to suggest prosecutions that should be occurring even as we speak.”
In California, neither the Los Angeles nor Ontario police departments investigated after two men were shot by federal immigration agents in separate October incidents and then accused of assaulting federal officers — despite video evidence and victim statements that conflicted with the accounts officials provided. A federal judge dismissed the case against one man, a Mexican immigrant and popular TikTokker; the other, a U.S. citizen, pleaded not guilty and has a trial scheduled for April.
Police in Phoenix also said they are not investigating the shooting of a man who federal officials say fled immigration agents last October, leaving the case to the FBI and ICE. And local police in Portland, Oregon, are not investigating an incident where federal agents shot at a Venezuelan man who had allegedly hit an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle with his car in early January, injuring him and his passenger. The man was later charged with assaulting an officer. Unlike in some of the other cases, the Oregon attorney general’s office has opened its own investigation.
In contrast, police in Pima County, Arizona, and Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and the Texas Rangers have all said they opened investigations into recent shootings involving federal immigration officers.
Asking local officials to investigate their federal counterparts does not come without challenges. Police officers and prosecutors are wary of being seen as interfering with federal law enforcement operations. They may be reluctant to damage their already complicated relationships with agencies with whom they sometimes partner.
Then there’s the worry about the political consequences, including the threat of losing federal funding, a dynamic that’s particularly acute under the Trump administration.
“This particular federal government has lobbed all kinds of threats and acted on threats against local authorities and state authorities for failure to cooperate or not do what they want them to do,” said Futterman, the University of Chicago law professor. “It’s a reason in itself not to bite a hand that feeds you.”
Even when local officials open their own investigations into federal agents, there’s no guarantee they can bring the cases to court. Federal agents can claim immunity in response to state charges, legal experts said, and can move their cases to federal court.
That immunity stems from a Supreme Court ruling more than a century ago. During the Civil Rights Movement, that immunity was used when the federal government wanted to protect its law enforcement officers tasked with enforcing then-controversial efforts like desegregation in hostile states.
Now local officials face the opposite challenge: protecting their constituents’ constitutional rights from what they believe is excessive force at the hands of federal officers.
Steve Descano, the commonwealth’s attorney for Fairfax County, Virginia, would be the first to admit that nothing about prosecuting federal agents is easy. During the first Trump administration, Descano brought state manslaughter charges against two U.S. Park Police officers who shot and killed a Virginia man. A federal judge dismissed the case in 2021 and said the officers were entitled to immunity because their actions were necessary and proper.
Still, Descano, who is part of the coalition of prosecutors aiming to hold federal law enforcement accountable, said he believed he and others have a responsibility to do so.
“If they are not willing to take these actions,” he said, “then they are cowards and they are not worthy of their positions.”
The post “You’re Not Going to Investigate a Federal Officer” appeared first on ProPublica.
In the summer of 2019, a crew leader tasked with overseeing farm laborers sent them to harvest corn in a field where they weren’t authorized to work — and where there wasn’t adequate protection from the sweltering sun. One of them died of symptoms of heatstroke.
Five months later, a crew leader for another Georgia farm kidnapped and brutally assaulted one of his workers who had escaped.
Two years after that, a third crew leader confined workers to housing surrounded by an electric fence so they couldn’t try to flee.
These and other recently documented abuses were carried out by third-party middlemen, or farm labor contractors, who were hired by farm owners to recruit and supervise foreign workers. Those contractors had found ways to wield power with near impunity over hundreds of workers at a time. Federal prosecutors spent years revealing the scope of the problem in Georgia, in a giant labor-trafficking case that launched in 2016 and is now nearing its conclusion.
The evidence in that case led prosecutors to liken the abuse to a form of modern-day slavery.
But despite prosecutors’ efforts to crack down on the exploitation of workers by labor contractors, there has been little to no movement at the state or federal level to make the changes that can stop it. There are laws and regulations that could curb exploitation, but reports from farmworker advocates and labor experts have shown that enforcement has long been lax. A number of elected officials have pushed for years for the government to do more to ensure workers receive those protections. Some advocates now say the only solution is for the government to require that farm owners cut out the middleman and assume ultimate responsibility for their workers.
Experts told ProPublica there aren’t enough state and federal inspectors to adequately vet whether the contractors are following the rules. Nor is there broad political support to invest more resources to protect foreign workers, who themselves have little incentive for reporting abuse given the fear of retribution.
“Regardless of the administration — even ones that are sympathetic to labor — regulators are handicapped,” said Cesar Escalante, a University of Georgia professor of agricultural and applied economics. “They know what’s happening, but they’re incapable of enforcing the regulations.”
As American farmers continue to rely on the decades-old H-2A visa program to fill the seasonal farmworker jobs, they’ve grown more reliant on contractors to find and oversee those workers. Contractors often are fluent in the languages spoken by workers, familiar with the Mexican towns where they’re plentiful and well-versed in the process of securing their temporary work visas. Many farmers also end up hiring contractors to manage the laborers’ work, pay and housing.
Federal regulators have long known about contractors abusing and exploiting these workers — including stealing their wages, charging them illegal fees, forcing them to live in substandard housing, and even physically and sexually abusing them. Government watchdogs have published reports about those regulators’ failures to do more to prevent abuses in the fields — inaction that, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s inspector general’s office, has increased the odds of employers getting away with serious H-2A violations.
The number of H-2A seasonal worker visas requested by contractors has nearly tripled over the past decade, with roughly 2 out of every 5 H-2A workers now directly overseen by a labor contractor. The Government Accountability Office found that more than half of the employers banned from the H-2A visa program between 2020 and 2023 were labor contractors, even though they submitted just 15% of the visa applications during that same period.
One of the key ways to uncover abuses by labor contractors is for regulators to inspect the farms where their workers pick crops. Daniel Costa, an attorney and director of immigration with the think tank the Economic Policy Institute, said federal regulators have become so strapped for resources that they’re only inspecting a tiny fraction of farms each year.
“When less than 1% of farm employers are investigated every year, they can act with impunity, knowing that there is a very low likelihood that they will ever be investigated,” Costa said.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of foreign laborers are drawn to America by the promise of steady, seasonal farmwork through the H-2A program. One of them, Agustin Chavez Santiago, traveled more than 1,500 miles from Oaxaca, Mexico, for his chance to pick crops on a Georgia farm. Once he arrived in the spring of 2019, one of the labor contractors he’d worked with failed to pay him the $11 an hour his contract had promised. Soon after, Chavez was sent to work on a farm where he wasn’t authorized to do so.
As Chavez harvested corn one sweltering afternoon, his body temperature spiked to over 105 degrees. He walked off the field to sip water and rest. Before he cooled down, Chavez collapsed. He was taken to a nearby hospital and died from symptoms of heatstroke. He was 34 years old.
Federal prosecutors charged two contractors involved in recruiting and overseeing Chavez on trafficking charges. Those contractors each pleaded guilty to a lesser crime; one admitted to money laundering and the other admitted to concealing knowledge of a felony. Lawyers for those contractors declined ProPublica’s requests for comment.
In addition, workplace safety inspectors determined that Chavez died because of the negligence of another labor contractor who oversaw his work in the fields. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded that the labor contractor did not provide a worksite free from “hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” The contractor’s company paid OSHA a fine of $16,433. He was able to keep supervising workers.
“The fact that OSHA fined him $16,000 is a slap in the face to the victims,” said Teresa Romero, the president of the United Farm Workers, one of the country’s largest farmworker advocacy organizations. “This person should have been behind bars.”
The contractor didn’t respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment. He told OSHA in 2019 that he provided water to his employees and allowed them to take breaks in the shade as needed.
The U.S. Labor Department can fine or suspend contractors for violating the rules of the H-2A program. But it’s doing fewer agricultural investigations than at any point since the turn of the millennium. In the latest year of available data, including parts of 2024 and 2025, the department completed 649 of those investigations, fining farm employers $8.3 million across the country. That is less than half of the investigations done just a decade earlier, even though the H-2A program more than doubled in size during that time.
Experts say the decline in investigations reflects the limited capacity of federal regulators, not that conditions have improved for H-2A workers. Alexis Guild, vice president of strategy and programs with the advocacy group Farmworker Justice, told ProPublica that regulators now rely on workers to report potential violations against themselves. But she said many workers are too scared to speak out because it may lead to retribution and the loss of future work. “It creates an environment that’s ripe for abuse,” she said.
The U.S. Labor Department is responsible for vetting H-2A visa applications that the contractors submit to get foreign workers cleared to come to America. Those regulators routinely audit the contractors’ applications to verify information about the number of workers needed and the terms of their employment. If contractors submit false information, they may be criminally charged, as happened in the federal case in Georgia.
But a surge in those requests has meant that large piles of applications haven’t been vetted as closely for red flags. Regulators went from conducting over 500 audits in the fiscal year ending in 2018 to doing less than 50 five years later. The U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General has warned that the way that its regulators audit “increases the risk of fraud and noncompliance going undetected.” That warning followed another OIG report that said the way that the department had conducted those audits created an “unnecessarily elevated risk of foreign labor program abuse.”
Federal labor regulators have acknowledged to the Government Accountability Office that they have had “widespread concern” about farmworkers being exploited by contractors. They have also told the GAO that the department has “limited resources” to carry out some of its work, including the audits.
In recent years, the U.S. Labor Department has been pressed to take greater action to fix these problems. After the Georgia case was publicly unveiled in 2021, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia called for more “rigorous oversight” of the contractors. United Farm Workers has also pushed for workers to have “stronger and more effective” protections from their contractors.
In response, the Biden administration finalized a rule in 2024 that sought to increase protections for H-2A workers and hold their employers more accountable. But after numerous states filed lawsuits challenging the rule, the Trump administration decided to suspend all enforcement of those strengthened protections until the litigation is resolved.
The U.S. Labor Department did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment.
With fewer federal investigations of farmworker abuses, some states that heavily depend on H-2A workers have tried to address rampant contractor abuses.
Florida regulators require labor contractors to get a state license — a move intended to help ensure greater compliance with the rules of the H-2A program. Washington posts all of its housing inspection and enforcement records in an online database, allowing workers to look at those records before they accept a job. California lawmakers last year passed a new law that will give greater power to its regulators to crack down on the abuses of foreign farmworkers by labor contractors.
But even amid a period of extra scrutiny, Georgia hasn’t made those or any other major changes that could prevent the kind of abuses uncovered in the massive federal probe.
Labor experts say that one of the most important actions that states can take to protect H-2A workers is to devote sufficient resources to the inspection of their housing conditions. In the last full year of available data, Georgia had one H-2A housing inspector for roughly every 7,100 H-2A workers. Other states with high numbers of H-2A workers had hired more inspectors relative to the number of workers. In recent years, Michigan has had one housing inspector for every 2,000 or so H-2A workers; North Carolina has had one inspector for roughly every 4,000 workers. (Other states, including California, have had worse inspector-to-worker ratios.)
At the same time that Georgia’s Labor Department failed to expand its oversight of farmworker housing, one of its top officials called for an internal investigation into alleged problems within the department.
In 2018, as federal investigators were building their case, Georgia’s Labor Department received a complaint alleging that one of its regulators had been approving inspections of H-2A worker housing in exchange for cash. Four years later, a federal agent testified in court that employees of Georgia’s Labor Department had accepted bribes to approve inspections of H-2A worker housing. The employee accused in the 2018 complaint, who was not indicted and retired three months after that agent testified, told ProPublica that he denied any wrongdoing.
Around the time of his retirement, labor advocates published a report that called for the “rebuilding” of the state’s Labor Department. They demanded more stringent inspections of H-2A worker housing, better monitoring for potential violations and increased funding so regulators could more effectively do their jobs.
Instead of having Georgia’s Labor Department adopt those recommendations, Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order that stripped the beleaguered department of its oversight powers.
Georgia’s Labor Department did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment. A spokesperson for Kemp said the decision was made to “improve alignment with workforce training programs.”
Kemp transferred H-2A oversight to the Technical College System of Georgia. A Technical College System spokesperson said its officials have “strengthened its monitoring processes to ensure thorough oversight of potential H-2A violations.”
She also noted that the agency has increased the number of employees who conduct housing inspections from three to six — with plans to add a seventh soon. In a statement, the spokesperson wrote that the Technical College System has taken steps that “have enhanced our ability to monitor, document, and respond to issues more effectively than before.”
Yet, even after doubling the number of inspectors, Georgia still has fewer inspectors per H-2A worker than some of the other states that heavily rely on the visa program.
States like Georgia that have too few inspectors for H-2A workers all but guarantee that violations of the program’s rules will increase, according to Diane Charlton, an associate professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University. “We need to invest more in actually monitoring labor conditions,” Charlton said. “This has to be a major priority.”
The post The Dramatic Rise of Farm Labor Contractors Has Led to Rampant Abuses. Here’s Why Regulators Have Failed to Stop Them. appeared first on ProPublica.
Chatham House fellow gives evidence on Venezuela to UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee News release jon.wallace
Dr Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America, provided evidence on 3 February.
Senior Research Fellow Dr Christopher Sabatini provided evidence to a session of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on 3 February.
Dr Sabatini was invited to provide evidence due to his expertise on Venezuela and US policy towards the country. During his appearance he discussed repression and electoral fraud under Venezuela’s deposed President Nicolás Maduro; US claims of narcotics trafficking by his government; the subsequent attack on Venezuela and removal of Maduro and his wife; and the response of the Venezuelan people and the wider region.
Dr Sabatini also discussed US objectives in the country now regarding democracy, economic recovery and the oil industry, and the relation of the Trump administration’s actions to domestic US politics.
Dr Sabatini describes his evidence at committee.
Drawing from his previous work on Chatham House’s Venezuela working group, Dr Sabatini’s testimony focused on recommendations on how the UK and other democratic governments can be more effective defending international norms and multilateralism through collective, pre-emptive diplomacy.
Dr Sabatini said:
‘The response to President Trump’s sabre rattling over Greenland provides an example of what nation states acting pre-emptively and collectively may achieve.
‘In the case of Venezuela, governments could and should have acted earlier to defend the other international norms of self determination and human rights.
‘International efforts to defend human rights, self-determination and national sovereignty may not have been enough to deter the targeted military action in Venezuela. But they would have signalled earlier a commitment to international norms’.
The reopening of the Rafah crossing provides some hope for Palestinians, but can it be sustained? Expert comment jon.wallace
The crossing’s return will restore one small freedom for Palestinians – but will anger Israel’s far right ahead of elections later this year.
Most of Gaza is enclosed by Israel: army to the north and east, gunboats to the west, and warplanes control the sky above.
So for Palestinians the Rafah gate – along Gaza’s short southern border with Egypt – has long been the one lifeline to the outside world that does not pass through Israel, at least in normal times.
Some semblance of that normality began to return on Monday when, under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire signed last year, and after months of pressure from humanitarian organizations and international allies, Israel reopened the Rafah crossing. That will allow a limited number of Palestinians to pass in both directions.
Some of those crossing have reported harassment or abuse. Of the estimated 20,000 Gazans seeking to cross and access medical treatment, only a handful exited on the first day, according to news reports, and a very small number were allowed entry. Small numbers have crossed since.
Israel’s unit for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has said that all arrivals and departures would be vetted ‘in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission’.
Nevertheless, the EU’s civilian Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM), which has returned to Rafah after years of conflict and political deadlock, called its redeployment and the crossing’s reopening ‘significant steps in the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.’
It is a limited opening, for who knows how long. Major political and military and humanitarian obstacles lie ahead as President Donald Trump and his advisers and allies try to advance the 10 October 2025 ceasefire into the proposed later stages of the ‘Comprehensive Plan’.
That would see the installation of a technocratic administration mechanism working with Palestinian and international partners to rebuild Gaza – after two years of war between Israel and Hamas that Gaza health authorities say has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and left at least 10,000 missing. They also say more than 520 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire.
Rafah is only one crossing but it has real significance – symbolic and practical – for both sides. Access through the border crossing has been on-again, off-again throughout decades of Israeli military occupation in Gaza.
Israel sealed it off completely in May 2024, seven months into the war that followed Hamas’s 7 October 2023 cross-border attack which killed around 1200 people in Israel, with more than 250 others taken hostage. It was the release of the remains of the last of those hostages in January that triggered the reopening of Rafah.
The renewed access for Palestinians – the first to enter Gaza since the 2023 hostilities broke out – may cause problems for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He faces elections later this year and reopening the crossing has opened up divisions with some of his far-right coalition allies.
At a security cabinet meeting on 25 January Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s Minister of National Security, criticized the decision, arguing that Hamas had not yet been eliminated. ‘Enough with Kushner and Witkoff’s naivety – if Rafah Crossing opens, it will be a big mistake and a very bad message,’ he is reported to have said.
Ben Gvir and his fellow ultranationalists have made no secret of their wish to see Palestinians expelled from Gaza and for the return of Israeli settlers, who were forced to leave the strip by a previous Israeli government in 2005.
Their voices will be loud in the election campaign, and the Trump administration and international community must be on guard to prevent backsliding by the Israeli government and any attempt to seal Gaza off once again.
But Israel does have real security concerns over Rafah, regarding it as a key channel for arms, weapons and money to flow to Hamas.
Certainly, in the years when Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip after 2007, its Egyptian border turned into a California Gold Rush-style encampment of corrugated iron sheds, providing access to tunnels through which smugglers brought food, consumer goods, weapons and even cars.
A parallel network of tunnels run by Palestinian militant groups were hidden from sight and – it later emerged – were a key part of Hamas’s vast military underground network that extended throughout the Gaza Strip.
When – and if – Rafah opens for larger numbers of travellers, its mechanisms must be transparent and as free from manipulation as possible.
History provides lessons. After Israel pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, Palestinian and Egyptian officials controlled their own sides of the crossing, with an earlier iteration of EUBAM. Israeli officials kept watch on cameras from Kerem Shalom, Israel’s much larger goods crossing two miles away.
One weakness of the previous arrangement was that if the European monitors weren’t on site the crossing had to close: But monitors could only access the crossing through an Israeli-controlled route, allowing Israel to seal off access and close the crossing, citing security concerns.
Rafah also risks becoming a focal point for competing Palestinian factions eager to secure the terminal, with the power, money and patronage that such control gives whichever faction is in control.
This was evident after Hamas won elections in 2006 and vied with President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah-dominated forces for control of the crossing. A gun battle broke out that year when Hamas’s prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, tried to cross through Rafah with millions of dollars in cash raised from donors abroad.
But for all the risks associated with opening up Gaza, there are risks to keeping it locked down too. Thwarted hope leads to despair. And despair, critics of Israel’s ‘security-first’ approach say, is what led to decades of conflict, bloodshed and political deadlock.
And it is not that long ago that Rafah was the focus of hopes for a more open, economically viable Palestine.
Within sight of the Rafah crossing are the ruins of Gaza International Airport. Constructed during the 1990s in the optimistic era of the Oslo Accords, it was opened in December 1998 by US President Bill Clinton. In the few short years that the airport operated, it became a symbol of hope and economic possibilities.
That post-Oslo era was brief. Less than two years after Clinton’s visit, the Second Intifada broke out. Hope and prosperity faltered during the mutual bloodletting of the early 2000s, with near daily Palestinian suicide bombings, Israeli air strikes, curfews, shootings, tank raids and recriminations. Israel bombed the airport after 9/11, and it is now in ruins.
In July of 1968, Samuel Bowers sat down in his office with fingers poised over his typewriter keys, thoughts filled with fury. As founder and imperial wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, he cut a charismatic figure, though one with a militant Christian faith and a hate-filled mind. Just a day earlier, police had killed one of his most trusted assassins and severely injured another.
Bowers had spent the past few years masterminding bombings at Mississippi’s Black churches and, more recently, synagogues as well. His two foot soldiers now riddled with bullets had bombed the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson on a foggy night nine months earlier and were en route to bomb a Jewish leader’s home when police gunned them down.
At the typewriter, Bowers pounded out a five-page missive to Thomas Tucker, a local police officer who shot one of the Klan members but had earlier faced suspicions of being a Klan sympathizer himself, journalist Jack Nelson wrote in his 1993 book “Terror in the Night: The Klan’s Campaign Against the Jews.”
“Mr. Tucker,” Bowers wrote, “the principle of law as it has been twisted and abused by the animals in the Synagogue of Satan, one of which you were guarding and protecting.” The Klanswoman killed, he insisted, was an American Patriot “doing her limited best to preserve Christian Civilization by helping to destroy the body of an animal of Satan’s Synagogue.”
Flash forward almost 60 years after Bowers wrote his letter.
On Jan. 10, a whole new generation of congregants at Beth Israel, among Mississippi’s oldest synagogues, awoke to devastating news about their house of worship. Someone had set a fire inside. The blaze had started in the library, destroying it along with sacred Torah scrolls, prayer books and myriad other materials. Smoke had filled the sanctuary. No congregants were injured, but they would not be able to worship there for some time.
Later the day of the arson, a young man with scorched hands faced an FBI agent and others investigating the crime. Stephen Spencer Pittman was born in Jackson in 2006, the year Bowers died. Just 19 years old, he allegedly admitted to investigators that he set fire to the temple due to its “Jewish ties,” according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. He dubbed Beth Israel a “synagogue of Satan.”
The term refers to biblical passages in which Jesus described Jews in specific communities who were persecuting the early Christians. Antisemites like Bowers had co-opted the phrase to describe Jews broadly as agents of evil plotting against white Christians. He believed that Jews who hadn’t converted to Christianity were “heretics” and their houses of worship therefore legitimate military targets — especially those like Beth Israel, whose rabbi had been linking arms with civil rights protestors.
Why Pittman, who has pleaded not guilty, used those words remains unclear. But according to the affidavit, after the fire burned the temple, Pittman texted his father, “I did my research.”
What did that research entail? Little is known so far. It remains unclear whether the teenager knew much about the ideology of the people behind the 1967 bombing or if he followed any of today’s antisemitic influencers.
Pittman, a community college baseball player from Madison, Mississippi, did engage in substantial online activity. He appears to have created profiles on multiple social media platforms where he mostly posted about his sport, nutrition and his Christian faith. Yet, shortly before the fire, an Instagram account that appears to be his posted an antisemitic meme of a cartoon character with a prominent nose, a Star of David affixed to his chest and a money bag in each hand.
And across the online world that Pittman traversed, a crop of young influencers have been spreading antisemitism, often rooted in Christianity. They are attracting millions of followers, embracing conspiracy theories of global Jewish takeovers and using terms like the “synagogue of Satan” that people like Bowers would well recognize.
In many ways, the original sin of mass antisemitic disinformation stems from a text called “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Published in the Russian empire in 1903, it claimed to be an insider account of Jews plotting world domination. The tropes in it weren’t new, but the text provided rich fodder to those who embraced its “evidence” that Jews were orchestrating a global plan to amass wealth and eradicate non-Jews.
“Only we, the Jews, are qualified to rule the world,” the text proclaimed. “We shall surround our government with economists, bankers, industrialists, capitalists — and the main thing — millionaires — for everything will be settled by gold.”
The fact that the text was proven a forgery did little to thwart those who embraced it. Adolf Hitler called the document “immensely instructive.” Klan groups adopted it as a foundational text.
Bowers used conspiracy theories rooted in “The Protocols” to contend that Jewish puppetmasters were the real masterminds behind the NAACP, the FBI and the young civil rights volunteers pouring into places like Mississippi and Black people were merely their pawns. With that framing, his followers could demean Black protesters and vilify federal agents and Jews, notably those who linked arms with their Black neighbors to demand equal rights — as the rabbi at Beth Israel had increasingly done before Bowers’ henchmen bombed his synagogue and then his home.
“It’s a way of rationalizing racism and finding a way not to acknowledge Black political agency and power,” said William Robert Billups, a University of Florida historian who hails from Mississippi and published research about Bowers and 1960s synagogue bombers in the Journal of American History.
Some like Bowers, later convicted of murdering a civil rights leader, also imbued their white supremacy with a militant theology known as the Christian Identity movement: Jews weren’t only political and economic threats. They were religious enemies, too, ones seeking to usurp white Christians from their place as God’s true chosen people.
“They didn’t see any daylight between Christianity and whiteness,” Billups said. “They did not believe that Jewish people were fully white and didn’t believe they were fully human.” He wrote in his research that Christian Identity followers believed that Jews’ “innate depravity” drove them to pursue world domination.
Christian Identity adherents tapped biblical phrases like the “synagogue of Satan” to justify their antisemitic views. Because they were religious, references from the Bible “came very easily to their tongues,” said Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League who has spent three decades studying extremism.
The phrase appears twice in the New Testament. Both references deal with specific local conflicts between established Jewish communities and the early Christians they persecuted. Jesus was offering support to his faithful as they faced these hostilities, not making blanket statements about Jewish people.
“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not but do lie. Behold, I will make them come and worship at thy feet and to know that I have loved thee,” Jesus assured a fledgling church in one of the passages.
But as Bowers continued typing his letter to the police officer that hot day in 1968, he added, “I just do not know what we Christians can do about these Synagogue of Satan Jews other than to oppose them in every possible way and pray for Divine Relief.”
In 2015, the “alt-right” white nationalist movement ascended to extremist popularity online in the corners of 4chan and 8chan and on burgeoning white supremacist websites like The Daily Stormer, named for the Nazi Party’s newspaper. Followers often posted jokey, racy and racist memes where they could hide behind the plausible deniability of humor.
That summer, Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president, a move swiftly embraced by The Daily Stormer’s founder and others. The next day, a 21-year-old white supremacist named Dylann Roof drove to Emanuel AME Church, a historic Black congregation in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
When Roof arrived, the church’s pastor invited him to join the small group of mostly older women gathered for weekly Bible study. Roof sat with them for about an hour, until the closing prayer. Then he pulled out a pistol.
As he fired more than 70 shots, killing nine people, he said, “Y’all raping all our white women and taking over the nation.”
Roof had discovered the “great replacement theory.” Adherents believe that an elite group, often Jewish and described in terms such as “globalists,” is orchestrating mass immigration of nonwhites along with social policies that reduce white birth rates and otherwise “replace” whites — and their control of the West.
It’s part of a shift in white supremacist ideology since the civil rights era from preserving white dominance to preventing white extinction. More recently, these notions have also bolstered a crop of influencers circulating versions of the ideology to new audiences.
In 2017, hundreds of white supremacists and other extremists flocked to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, brandishing torches and chanting, “Jews will not replace us!” An 18-year-old named Nick Fuentes was in attendance and posted on Facebook that “the rootless transnational elite knows that a tidal wave of white identity is coming.”
The rally proved a launching pad for a career in commentary that now draws millions of followers for whom Fuentes has described the great replacement theory as the “Great Replacement REALITY.” At a “Stop the Steal” rally in 2020, he applauded Trump for standing up to various groups including “the synagogue of Satan.”
But Fuentes is only one of a slew of influencers who have adopted similar anti-immigration rhetoric and frequently criticize what they perceive as Israel’s power in the United States, particularly related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. (Supporters of the U.S.-Israel alliance contend that the relationship benefits both democracies.)
Candace Owens, whose YouTube channel has 5.75 million subscribers, once worked for the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA and later at The Daily Wire until she was pushed out last year following conflicts with co-founder Ben Shapiro, who is Jewish. In 2024, she described an anti-Christian global conspiracy. “It does seem that they’re trying to almost now indoctrinate the entire world into their satanic faith. Like I said, it is my belief that this is a synagogue of Satan,” she told viewers.
Similarly, Andrew Torba, founder and CEO of the social media site Gab, popular with extremists, wrote last fall that the federal government is owned by Israel and “its powerful fifth column of Jewish elites in our country.”
“Naming the group that is the engine of our nation’s subversion isn’t bigotry,” Torba added, “it’s a Biblical diagnosis of a spiritual cancer. It is identifying the modern-day ‘synagogue of Satan’ that Christ Himself warned us about.”
There’s no indication that Pittman, the teenager charged in the Beth Israel fire, was aware of any of these comments.
ProPublica reached out to Fuentes on his website and on X and to Torba through Gab’s general email. We reached out to Owens on her website’s media request portal. (Her website tells users, “We do not allow pornography, incitement to violence or gore, discussions about active drug use and other topics in that vein.”) None responded to requests for comment about the Beth Israel fire and their use of the term “synagogue of Satan.” Torba’s X account posted our emailed questions with the message, “I regret to inform you that journos are at it again.”
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks antisemitic incidents including assaults, harassment and vandalism, found an 893% increase over the past decade with particularly large leaps in 2023 and 2024, according to its most recent audit. In 2024, it found 9,354 incidents compared to 1,267 in 2016. The audit also notes that much of the recent surge was related to protests, often on college campuses, against Israeli actions in Gaza, some of which included rhetoric such as “death to Israel.”
“Increasingly, extreme actors in the anti-Israel space have incorporated antisemitic rhetoric into their activism, and it has become commonplace for perpetrators across the political spectrum to voice hatred of Israel or conspiracy theories about the state in a range of antisemitic attacks,” the ADL report says.
Synagogues also received hundreds of bomb threats, and fears of violence remain a persistent part of what Jewish communities face. Indeed, in the early morning hours of Jan. 10, a man in a hoodie broke a window and slipped inside Beth Israel Congregation. He poured gasoline and ignited a fire near the spot where Klan members had burned the synagogue in 1967. Once again, the people of Beth Israel were left to rebuild from the ashes of antisemitism. Their library and offices will have to be demolished, it appears, but engineers found the sanctuary walls remain structurally sound.
Since the fire, at least 15 churches have reached out to Beth Israel saying, “Our house of worship is your house of worship,” said Zach Shemper, the synagogue’s president. “There has been such a lovely, almost overwhelming outpouring of love and compassion from our local community.”
The people of Beth Israel are, for now, holding services in a Baptist church in Jackson, one they opened their doors to in the 1960s, before the bombing. The Baptists needed temporary space then because they had just broken away from a church that refused to let in Black worshippers, and few other houses of worship would open their doors.
The post A Mississippi Synagogue Was Attacked in 1967 and 2026. The Antisemitic Rhetoric Looked the Same Then and Now. appeared first on ProPublica.
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