HAMBURG, Germany, Feb. 4, 2026 — ISC High Performance is excited to announce the creation of the ISC Next Generation Committee, a new operational and advisory body aligned with ISC’s goal of fostering high performance computing (HPC) talent development. The committee aims to enhance dialogue between the established HPC community and students and young professionals, ensuring ISC remains relevant and accessible to the next generation of talent.
“The Next Generation Committee marks an important step in the systematic development of the ISC program to make it more accessible for younger attendees,” said Colleen Sheedy, People and Organization Development Manager at ISC Group. “Our objective is not only to invite students and young professionals to participate in ISC, but to involve them more actively in shaping ideas, formats, and connections within the community – within a clear and sustainable framework.”
A Structured Bridge Between Generations
The committee’s creation follows sustained feedback from younger attendees who expressed a need for stronger orientation, greater visibility, and more opportunities to contribute. While these attendees have long provided valuable input informally, the Next Generation Committee formalizes this engagement and establishes a structured channel for emerging talent to engage with the ISC community.
Positioned as a connector between generations, the committee advances three core objectives: enhancing the visibility of young talent, reducing barriers for new participants, and ensuring the relevance of ISC content for students and entry-level professionals.
The Next Generation Committee operates within a clearly defined scope, combining selected operational contributions with an advisory function. Its activities include:
The committee will be officially introduced at ISC 2026. During this initial phase, members will focus on observation, community engagement, and identifying key needs and opportunities. From 2027 onwards, the first jointly developed measures will be implemented as part of evolving our offering for the next generation of HPC practitioners.
Committee Members
Investing in the Future of the HPC Community
With the Next Generation Committee, ISC reinforces its long-term commitment to community development and talent cultivation in HPC. Beyond technical excellence, the initiative aims to foster orientation, networking, and professional development, enabling young talents to find their place and voice within the ISC ecosystem.
Join ISC High Performance 2026 in #ConnectingTheDots
ISC 2026 returns to the Congress Center Hamburg from June 22 – 26 for its 41st edition. Since its inception in 1986, it has been recognized as the world’s oldest and Europe’s most attended event for the HPC community, and increasingly for AI and quantum professionals interested in performance, energy efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
Source: ISC
The post ISC Forms New Committee to Boost Engagement of Emerging HPC Talent appeared first on HPCwire.
The storied newspaper, owned by Jeff Bezos, will eliminate its sports department and reduce its coverage of foreign news.
SYDNEY, Feb. 4, 2026 — Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC), a leader in quantum computing and quantum machine learning, today announced the launch of Quantum Twins, an application-specific quantum simulator designed to accelerate molecule and materials discovery. Built utilizing the company’s atomic-scale semiconductor manufacturing process, Quantum Twins showcases the exceptional precision and already-achieved scalability of SQC’s full-stack approach to quantum computing.
Quantum Twins are comprised of large arrays of qubit registers (quantum dots) patterned on pure silicon with 0.13 nanometer (atom level) accuracy. This exquisite precision enables SQC to create custom chips – Quantum Twins – that physically encode direct replicas of the physical systems and chemical interactions that customers wish to analyse and understand.
This world-first product provides a pathway to simulation of quantum systems that is impossible for classical computers. Quantum Twins provide an enhanced understanding of quantum interactions. Analysing magnetism, atomic interaction and superconductivity at this scale will pave the way for novel information storage, low power electronics and broad materials discovery. Details on the scientific foundation of this platform were published today in Nature, a system including 15,000 qubit registers.
The launch follows a period of rapid expansion in SQC’s manufacturing capabilities. In November 2025, the company demonstrated the ability to pattern 250,000 qubit registers in just eight hours, de-risking the required manufacturing yields and volumes needed to deliver commercial-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers. As a full-stack company, SQC can design, produce and test new quantum chips in under a week. It’s one of the many key advantages of the company’s 14|15 platform in the race to deliver the world’s first commercial scale quantum computer.
SQC’s Founder and CEO, Michelle Simmons, said: “Quantum Twins represents a window into the quantum world that customers can use for materials discovery today. The enabler is that we can engineer hundreds of thousands of qubit registers with atomic precision. It’s an incredible achievement in semiconductor manufacturing with sub-nanometer accuracy.”
SQC’s Chair and former ARM CEO, Simon Segars, added: “Expanding our product offering with the launch of Quantum Twins brings SQC’s atomic-scale advantage to the global materials and chemistry sectors. Having demonstrated commercial success with our quantum machine learning system, Watermelon, SQC’s latest offering is a definitive signal of our world leading manufacturing precision and scalability.”
SQC debuted its multi-qubit, multi-register processor last month with industry-leading fidelities up to 99.99% and performance that improves as the system scales. The company recently progressed to Stage B of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative and its quantum machine learning system, Watermelon, is already delivering impact across a variety of sectors including telecommunications and defence.
Quantum Twins are now available via direct contract with SQC. For more information, visit www.sqc.com.au.
More from HPCwire
About Silicon Quantum Computing
Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) is at the forefront of global efforts to build a commercial-scale quantum system. Leveraging over 25 years of technological excellence and delivery, SQC’s proprietary machines and processes allow the company to see and control matter atom-by-atom. SQC’s atomically engineered quantum machine learning chips and universal quantum computing systems have demonstrated world-leading algorithmic fidelity, positioning the company at the forefront of quantum innovation. Controlling its own QPU manufacturing means that SQC can design, produce and test new systems every week while delivering quantum machine learning and simulation systems to customers today. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
Source: Silicon Quantum Computing
The post Silicon Quantum Computing Launches Quantum Twins to Accelerate Molecule and Materials Discovery appeared first on HPCwire.
The disappearance of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, is being investigated as a crime.
Decision come after Angela Rayner said allowing committee to rule on redactions would help ‘keep public confidence in the process’
PMQs is starting soon. Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
The Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has dismissed claims that his party’s plan to support the pub industry would cost far more than the £3bn it claims.
To be honest with you, we’re not interested in who you’ve been talking to. We’re more interested who we’ve been talking to, and we’ve been talking to landlords and small businesses up and down the country, and every landlord that I speak to … they want this VAT cut.
We can go on all day about the numbers. I’m not interested in the numbers that the BBC have sourced. You’re hardly a bastion of truth at the BBC when it comes to things like this.
This doesn’t add up. This is an unfunded tax cut which also pushes hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.
Reform says that reinstating the two-child limit for most, but not all, families would save £2.29bn in 2026/27. The party claims its package of tax cuts would also cost £2.29bn – making it cost neutral – with the bulk coming from a proposal to halve VAT on hospitality, which it estimates would cost £1.7bn.
Continue reading...Julie Le expressed frustration to judge, in response to questions on why ICE has failed to comply with court orders
An ICE attorney who publicly expressed frustrations with her role and told a court “this job sucks” is no longer detailed to the US attorney’s office for the district of Minnesota, according to NBC News.
“The system sucks. This job sucks,” Julie Le, an attorney representing the US attorney’s office in Minnesota, said in response to a federal judge’s questions on why ICE has repeatedly failed to comply with court orders.
Continue reading...Position of Mountbatten-Windsor now appears even more grave, and the shadow cast over his family even darker
When King Charles stripped Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his titles and announced he would be booted out of Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace said the “censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him”.
Four months and more than 3m documents later, Charles must surely feel vindicated on his tough approach. For while there is nothing to suggest the king nor any other senior royals knew then what was to come in the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, what has emerged has been truly shocking.
Continue reading...President Trump is expected to sign an executive order putting JD Vance and Andrew Ferguson in charge of the group.
Melinda French Gates insists Microsoft founder has questions to answer over his relationship with Epstein
Bill Gates has said he “regrets” ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein, as his former wife Melinda French Gates alluded to “muck” in their marriage, and insisted the Microsoft founder has questions to answer over his relationship with the deceased child sex offender.
Allegations that Gates hid a sexually transmitted disease from his wife after contact with “Russian girls” surfaced in the latest release of the Epstein files, which have provided remarkable insight into the disgraced financier’s multiple celebrity connections and activities.
Continue reading...U.S., Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are back around a table for a second round of technical talks, but in Kyiv, Russian bombs bring suffering and skepticism.
Tom Homan says ‘around 2000’ immigration officers will remain in Minnesota and that pre-operation the number was between 100 and 150 officers
Tom Homan, the president’s so-called “border czar” is set to speak to reporters in Minneapolis shortly.
A reminder that Homan took over the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota from senior border official Gregory Bovino, just days after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and the mounting backlash in the Twin Cities.
Continue reading...Robb Pitts said call came days before federal agents seized 2020 election documents in Georgia
The Fulton county commission chair, Robb Pitts, said at a press conference this morning that he received a phone call last Monday – two days before the FBI served a criminal warrant to seize 2020 election documents – to warn that he, Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, former Raffensperger deputy Gabriel Sterling and others in the state were at risk of imminent arrest by federal agents.
“That did not happen on Monday,” Pitts said. “It didn’t happen on Tuesday, but lo and behold on Wednesday, the FBI shows up.”
Continue reading...Since federal immigration agents fatally shot a man in Minnesota, the state's top corrections official told CBS News there have been "conversations" with the federal government
King Charles' disgraced brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor moves from his royal mansion to a private estate after appearing in newly released Epstein files.
Pinterest says two engineers lost their jobs after writing custom scripts to identify employees who were cut in a recent round of layoffs.
In today's market, the price of your silver bars depends on the spot price, premiums and even where you buy them.
Former phone hacker Graham Johnson denies claims, saying payments were part of effort to draw attention to unlawful behaviour by media
A researcher investigating lawbreaking by the media paid private investigators and ex-journalists for their testimony about alleged unlawful activity at the publisher of the Daily Mail, the high court has heard.
Graham Johnson, a former phone hacker who later turned to researching unlawful activity in the press, confirmed he had made payments to six people who all feature in the case Prince Harry and others have brought against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL).
Continue reading...The most popular mom content tends to be rightwing tradwife propaganda or just apolitical – pushing progressive creators out of the algorithm
For someone who doesn’t have a marble island in their kitchen I spend a disproportionate amount of time staring at marble kitchen islands, slack-jawed, brain turned half off. That’s because I consume a lot of videos from mommy bloggers, mom influencers, and the like. In kitchen “closing shift” videos, they wipe down their islands and reset by lighting luxury candles, the glow accentuating their respectable cosmetic procedures. Other times I watch them waltz through their morning routines: getting kids out the door, sweating it out in boutique fitness classes, showing off Amazon hauls, or explaining their children’s matching holiday photoshoot outfits.
For better or worse, this is how I have chosen to spend my one wild and precious life: consuming blissfully low-stakes motherhood content on my phone. It is domestically competent ASMR that also satiates my desire to peek into everyone’s bathroom cabinets. I nod in unsolicited approval as a TikTok mom I follow shares her green juice order. Fascinating. I should drink something like that. Another posts timestamps of her baby’s night-time sleep schedule. I, who lives between walls that have never heard the wail of an infant, ingurgitate the entire video.
Continue reading...National progressives see a chance in Texas to install a new member of the Squad in the place of departing Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett — by electing her pastor.
With Crockett vacating her House seat to run in a competitive — and increasingly ugly — Senate primary, pastor Frederick Haynes III is running to fill her seat. The progressive outfit Justice Democrats endorsed Haynes’s campaign on Wednesday, becoming the first national group to wade into the primary for the Democrat-friendly 30th Congressional District.
The primary in Texas is just a month away, and Justice Democrats views Haynes as one of its first real chances to notch a win for the electoral left this cycle, the group’s spokesperson Usamah Andrabi told The Intercept. The 65-year-old Dallas pastor has already attracted some national attention for his outspoken criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, putting him at odds with many of his peers in Texas and the Deep South, where an open affinity between right-wing Christianity and pro-Israel Zionism is common.
That stance also marks an apparent difference between him and Crockett. While Haynes is running on ending U.S. military support for Israel and the genocide in Gaza, Crockett has drawn criticism for voting to send U.S. military aid to Israel and taking a trip there as a first-term member of Congress in August 2023 with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Israel Defense Forces. She has similarly faced criticism for accepting campaign support from the crypto industry, while Haynes has called for new regulations on cryptocurrency.
Crockett, who has brushed off some criticism of her record as “intellectually lazy,” says she’s in favor of Haynes’s campaign and endorsed him last month.
“Every leader approaches things differently, and I greatly respect Congresswoman Crockett’s work and approach,” Haynes told The Intercept. “My worldview and my positions are deeply rooted in my community, and the struggles I see those around me experiencing on a daily basis. Our community is justice minded here in Dallas.”
Also running in the March 3 Democratic primary for Crockett’s seat are former Texas state Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway and pastor Rodney LaBruce. To win a primary in Texas, candidates have to receive a majority of votes or compete in a runoff in May.
A pastor for 40 years and a fixture in Dallas, Haynes is the 11th candidate Justice Democrats has endorsed this cycle. The group is backing more new candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections than it has in any other year since its inaugural 2018 cycle, which ushered in now well-known Squad members like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. After major losses last cycle, Justice Democrats says it’s deploying a more aggressive strategy this time, seeking to capitalize on voter frustration with the party establishment.
“We try to be as selective and intentional about the races and candidates we pick and really evaluate their path to victory,” Andrabi said. “We’re hoping we can really, as a movement — but if not, as Justice Democrats — to start this cycle off with some wins.”
In Haynes’s view, “Dems have let us down,” he told The Intercept. “The wolves of hunger, fascism, and injustice are at our door, and what does the Democratic establishment have to offer in response — strongly worded letters? Our community deserves better than this: they deserve leadership that will fight for them with the courage and commitment that this moment requires.”
“The wolves of hunger, fascism, and injustice are at our door, and what does the Democratic establishment have to offer in response — strongly worded letters?”
As the pastor at Crockett’s church, Haynes has been an activist on issues from predatory lending to voting rights. His church holds a legal clinic, hosts a toolkit for congregation members to contact their legislators, and runs programming on food security, economic and environmental justice, and civic engagement. The church website hosts a link to a petition calling for a ceasefire in Gaza led by former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo.
That activism has also made him a target of the right. In a story last week, Jewish Insider wrote that Haynes delivered “an anti-Israel polemic from the pulpit” the day after the October 7 attacks. In his remarks, Haynes denounced Israeli apartheid.
“The Palestinians don’t have the financial backing from the United States that Israel has, and so they throw their rocks and shoot their arrows,” Haynes said on October 8, 2023, “and Israel is able to bomb them and kill them.”
“You see a much tighter grip on evangelical Christians and churches in the south, particularly ones that represent Republican constituencies, from the Israel lobby and AIPAC,” Andrabi said. But Haynes “sees it as his moral imperative to call out Israeli apartheid and genocide, particularly because so many other Christian leaders have used it for their own benefit and used it to advance their own interests and the interests of right-wing politicians.”
In addition to ending U.S. military support for Israel and regulating the crypto industry, Haynes is running on abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, providing Medicare for All, getting dark money out of elections, and banning congressional stock trading. He’s also rejecting corporate PAC money.
“Every time we choose imperialism abroad, or tax cuts for the wealthy, we are telling working people in our communities that we value their lives less,” Haynes said, citing the notion that a budget is a moral document, often attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr. “Every bomb dropped in Palestine is money for an underfunded school, an unpaved road, a mother who has to decide between groceries and insulin. Our tax dollars must go to supporting life in our families at home, not death in other families abroad.”
“It doesn’t do us much good to replace old corporate shills with young corporate shills.”
At age 65, Haynes contradicts the narrative that the battle over the future over the Democratic Party is purely about pitting younger candidates against older incumbents. The gerontocracy in Congress is its own issue, Andrabi said; being represented by corporate interests and right-wing lobbies is another.
“It is a new generation. But that generation is not necessarily just defined or limited by an age group,” Andrabi said. “It doesn’t do us much good to replace old corporate shills with young corporate shills. The problem is that they’re corporate shills, not just that they are aging.”
The post He’s Running to Fill Jasmine Crockett’s House Seat From Her Left. He’s Also Her Pastor. appeared first on The Intercept.
Anthropic said today that its AI assistant Claude will not carry advertising of any kind -- no sponsored links next to conversations, no advertiser influence on the model's responses, and no unsolicited third-party product placements -- calling Claude a "space to think" that should remain free of commercial interruption. The announcement comes days after Anthropic's chief rival, OpenAI, announced plans to bring ads to some of its ChatGPT offerings. Anthropic said its internal analysis of Claude conversations found that a significant share involve sensitive or deeply personal topics. An advertising-based model would also create incentives to optimize for engagement and time spent rather than usefulness, Anthropic said, noting that the most helpful AI interaction might be a short one that doesn't prompt further conversation. Anthropic generates revenue from enterprise contracts and paid subscriptions. The company said it is exploring agentic commerce -- Claude handling a purchase or booking on a user's behalf -- but stressed that all such interactions should be user-initiated, not advertiser-driven. Anthropic has also brought AI tools to educators in over 60 countries and said it may consider lower-cost subscription tiers and regional pricing.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Six children among dead as Israeli agency restricts evacuations two days after crossing to Egypt reopened
Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes have killed at least 21 people, including six children and seven women, in Gaza, and Israel has halted the evacuation of patients through the Rafah border crossing just two days after it reopened.
Among the casualties was a medic who rushed to the scene to assist the wounded and was killed by a second strike on the same location in the southern city of Khan Younis. Tents in al-Mawasi, an encampment of displaced people in Khan Younis, were shredded by the blasts.
Continue reading...As Westminster week once again put dog breeding under the spotlight, Peta’s messaging remains as incisive as ever. But its moral clarity fades when the conversation shifts to cats
Every February, the Westminster Dog Show arrives in New York City trailing equal parts pageantry, nostalgia and protest. The dogs come to be judged. The owners and handlers come to uphold breed standards. And, almost as reliably as the movie references and the best-in-show ribbon, Peta arrives ready to dominate the conversation.
If there is one certainty about the Super Bowl of canines, it’s that the protest will share the stage with the pageantry. Westminster is an annual collision of tradition, spectacle and dissent, and Peta has become exceptionally good at owning that moment. This year was no different. Two enormous billboards screamed down from across the street of the Javits Center, where breed judging unfolded on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the prime-time sessions at Madison Square Garden. One read: Flat-faced dogs struggle to breathe. NEVER buy them. Another: You can get a nose job. They can’t. DON’T buy breathing-impaired breeds.
Continue reading...RENO, Nev., Feb. 4, 2026 — Positron AI, a leader in energy-efficient AI inference hardware, today announced an oversubscribed $230 million Series B financing at a post-money valuation exceeding $1 billion.
The round was co-led by ARENA Private Wealth, Jump Trading, and Unless, and includes new and strategic investment from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Arm, and Helena. Existing investors Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, DFJ Growth, Resilience Reserve, Flume Ventures, and 1517 also participated. The financing validates Positron’s mission to make AI inference dramatically cheaper and more energy-efficient at scale.
“We’re grateful for this investor enthusiasm, which itself is a reflection of what the market is demanding,” said Mitesh Agrawal, CEO of Positron AI. “Energy availability has emerged as a key bottleneck for AI deployment. And our next-generation chip will deliver 5x more tokens per watt in our core workloads versus Nvidia’s upcoming Rubin GPU. Memory is the other giant bottleneck in inference, and our next generation Asimov custom silicon will ship with over 2304 GB of RAM per device next year, versus just 384 GB for Rubin. This will be a critical differentiator in workloads including video, trading, multi-trillion parameter models, and anything requiring an enormous context window. We also expect to beat Rubin in performance per dollar for specific memory-intensive workloads.”
Positron is building the infrastructure layer that makes AI usable at scale by lowering the cost and power required to run modern models. The company’s shipping product, Atlas, is an inference system designed for rapid deployment and scaling. Atlas is also a fully American-fabricated and manufactured silicon and system, enabling fast production ramp and dependable supply for customers who need capacity quickly.
“Memory bandwidth and capacity are two of the key limiters for scaling AI inference workloads for next-generation models,” said Dylan Patel, founder and CEO of SemiAnalysis, an advisor and investor in Positron. SemiAnalysis is a leading research firm specializing in semiconductors and AI infrastructure that provides detailed insights into the full compute stack. “Positron is taking a unique approach to the memory scaling problem, and with its next-generation Asimov chip, can deliver more than an order of magnitude greater high-speed memory capacity per chip than incumbent or upstart silicon providers.”
Jump Trading Leads After Deploying Atlas
A key highlight of the round is Jump Trading’s decision to co-lead after first becoming a customer.
“For the workloads we care about, the bottlenecks are increasingly memory and power—not theoretical compute,” said Alex Davies, Chief Technology Officer of Jump Trading. “In our testing, Positron Atlas delivered roughly 3x lower end-to-end latency than a comparable H100-based system on the inference workloads we evaluated, in an air-cooled, production-ready footprint with a supply chain we can plan around. The deeper we went, the more we agreed with Positron’s roadmap—Asimov and the Titan systems—as a memory-first platform built for future workloads. We invested because Positron combines traction today with a roadmap that can reshape the cost curve and capabilities for inference.”
“Jump Trading came to Positron as a customer,” said Agrawal. “As they saw our roadmap for Asimov, our custom silicon, and Titan, our next-generation system, they chose to step up as a co-lead investor. A customer becoming an investor is one of the strongest validations we can receive. It signals both technical conviction and real-world demand.”
Building Toward Asimov and Titan: A Memory-First Platform for Next-Gen Inference
Positron’s next-generation custom silicon, Asimov, is designed around the reality that modern AI workloads are increasingly limited by memory bandwidth and capacity, not just compute flops. Asimov is designed to support 2 terabytes of memory per accelerator and 8 terabytes of memory per Titan system at similar realized memory bandwidth to NVIDIA’s next-generation Rubin GPU. At rack scale, this translates to memory capacity of well over 100 terabytes.
“As AI inference scales, efficiency and system design matter more than raw benchmarks,” said Eddie Ramirez, Vice President of Go-to-Market, Cloud AI Business Unit, Arm. “Positron’s memory-centric approach, built on Arm technology, reflects how tightly coupled systems and a broad ecosystem come together to deliver scalable, performance-per-watt gains in next-generation AI infrastructure.”
This memory-first architecture unlocks high-value inference workloads, including long-context large language models, agentic workflows, and next-generation media and video models. Positron is on track to tape out its Asimov chip just 16 months after its June Series A financing gave it the resources to fully launch the design process, and the company intends to maintain this pace with future chips. “To us, development speed is an essential competitive advantage,” said Agrawal. “Competing with Nvidia means matching their shipping frequency, and we have designed our organization around that goal.”
“Positron is solving one of the most important bottlenecks in AI: delivering inference at scale within real-world power and cost constraints,” said Ari Schottenstein, Head of Alternatives at ARENA Private Wealth. “The combination of shipping traction today with Atlas, plus a credible path to Asimov, creates a rare opportunity to define a new category in AI infrastructure.”
Positron is building this platform with an ecosystem of industry leaders, including Arm, Supermicro and other key technology and supply-chain partners.
Momentum and Growth Trajectory
Positron expects strong revenue growth in 2026, positioning the company to become one of the fastest-growing silicon companies ever, achieving large-scale commercial traction in roughly 2.5 years from company launch. The company is working with multiple frontier customers across cloud, advanced computing, and performance-sensitive verticals, and continues to expand deployments and customer programs.
More from HPCwire: Positron Secures $23.5M to Design And Manufacture Energy-Efficient, Made-In-America AI Chips
About Positron AI
Positron AI builds purpose-built hardware and software to make AI inference dramatically cheaper and more energy-efficient. Positron’s shipping product, Atlas, is designed for rapid, scalable deployment, and the company’s next-generation custom silicon, Asimov, targets tape-out toward the end of 2026 with production in early 2027. Positron’s systems are built to serve long-context and next-generation AI workloads with leading economics. Learn more at positron.ai.
Source: Positron AI
The post Positron AI Raises $230M Series B to Scale Energy-Efficient AI Inference appeared first on HPCwire.
Why Should Delaware Care?
The plan for a massive data center near Delaware City has garnered backlash from residents who are worried about its potential impact on energy costs and the environment. Today’s ruling could stop the project from moving forward entirely.
Delaware’s environmental agency ruled Wednesday morning that a plan for a massive data center near Delaware City is not allowed under the state’s Coastal Zone Act.
This decision could stop the project from moving forward entirely, unless developer Starwood Digital Ventures wins an appeal or makes major changes to its design.
The Delaware General Assembly passed the Coastal Zone Act in 1971 to protect the state’s coastal areas from the impacts of heavy industry.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) decided that the proposed data center near Delaware City, dubbed Project Washington, is not allowed under the law primarily because of its diesel generators.
The data center plan calls for 516 backup diesel generators that would operate in the case of a power outage. They would together need 2.5 million gallons of stored diesel, which DNREC Secretary Gregory Patterson called “entirely unprecedented” in his ruling.
“The large tank farm that is incorporated into this proposal will pose exactly the types of risks that justify the categorical exclusion of such a tank farm from the Coastal Zone,” Patterson wrote.
The most backup generators currently at a facility in the Coastal Zone is eight, he wrote.
New Castle County Councilman Dave Carter, who previously worked for DNREC and has been trying to regulate data centers, said he thought the agency made the right decision.
“Personally, I didn’t see how they could find the decision any other way,” he said.
Carter said he believes an appeal of the decision would be “a difficult, very long process” and that Starwood may have to try to find other ways to generate the backup power needed to keep the facility running 24/7.
Dustyn Thompson, chapter director of Sierra Club Delaware, called the decision a “monumental win for the environment.”
“We applaud the Department and the administration for standing up for our environment and our communities and ensuring that neither bears the brunt of this new heavy industry,” he wrote in an emailed statement.
House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown, who represents the district where Project Washington would be located, posted on Facebook thanking those who submitted public comments to DNREC ahead of the decision.
“This decision reflects the very real concerns raised by residents about environmental impact, air pollution, large scale fuel storage, and the potential risks to our community’s health and quality of life,” she wrote. “Those concerns were heard, carefully evaluated, and ultimately validated.”
Starwood representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a breaking story that will be updated.
The post Delaware City data center faces major setback after environmental denial appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Former Post executive editor blasts owner Jeff Bezos’s ‘sickening efforts to curry favor’ with Trump
The Washington Post laid off hundreds of employees on Wednesday, which its former executive editor said “ranks among the darkest days” in the newspaper’s history. Approximately one-third of employees were affected.
Staffers at the Post have been on edge for weeks about the rumored cuts, which the publication would not confirm or deny. “It’s an absolute bloodbath,” said one employee, not authorized to speak publicly.
Continue reading...Film-maker Peter Ettedgui responded to BBC interview in which Reform leader apologised for any hurt caused
Nigel Farage has been accused of making a “non-apology” by a school contemporary who accused him of racist and antisemitic behaviour, after saying he was “sorry” if he had “genuinely” hurt anyone.
For the first time since the row broke after a Guardian investigation, the Reform UK party leader appeared to indicate some remorse for the impact of his alleged behaviour while at Dulwich college, a private school in south London.
Continue reading...Hi everyone! I have been riding a onewheel xr and gtv for 6-7 years. Now thinking about buying a funwheel x7 long range. Just wanted to see if anyone can tell me if there is a big difference riding between a Onewheel GTV and a Funwheel X7LR? Anybody who has done such a switch?
For months, the Trump administration has justified its dramatic midnight raid on a Chicago apartment complex by saying that it had intelligence that the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But officials have provided no evidence to back up the claim.
Now, new documents confirm in the government’s own words that what prompted the raid was more pedestrian: allegations that immigrants were squatting in the complex. And the landlord had given federal officials, who were already targeting immigrants in Chicago, the blessing to search the building.
Arrest records for two of the 37 immigrants detained that September night, included in a motion filed Tuesday that’s tied to an ongoing federal consent decree, provide the clearest picture yet of what led to the controversial and aggressive operation, in which agents descended from a Blackhawk helicopter, broke down doors and zip-tied U.S. citizens and immigrants.
The records reveal that agents entered and searched the complex with the “owner/manager’s verbal and written consent.” Agents wrote that they launched the operation “based on intelligence that there were illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments.” They said they focused their search on units “that were not legally rented or leased at the time.” That narrative appears word for word in both arrest reports — for a Venezuelan man and a Mexican man.
“It was a brutal lie against the American public,” said Mark Fleming, an attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center and co-counsel in a lawsuit against the government that led to the consent decree. “This was really about immigrants purportedly occupying apartments unlawfully, which is radically different than the story they told.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security makes no mention in the records of Tren de Aragua, even though officials repeatedly cited the gang’s presence in the building as the motivation for the raid. Agents paraded immigrants in front of cameras and called their arrests a victory against terrorism. The government also claimed two of those arrested were gang members but never provided any proof.
ProPublica previously reported, based on interviews and records, that there was little evidence to back up the government’s claims. Even today, four months after the raid, federal prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against anyone who was arrested.
Over the past few months, ProPublica has interviewed 15 of the immigrants detained that night; all denied gang membership. They and others who lived in the building acknowledged there was criminal activity there, including the murder of a Venezuelan man last summer, but nobody knew of gang members there.
The two arrest records were filed in federal court as part of ongoing litigation over whether the government, during its monthslong deportation campaign in Chicago, violated a 2022 consent decree that limits warrantless arrests. The consent decree is still in place, and the government continues to challenge it.
Government attorneys had previously acknowledged in court that hundreds of immigrants detained last year may have been improperly arrested.
Following a court order, DHS has been providing administrative arrest records to attorneys who now are demanding the release of some of those immigrants from custody or the removal of restrictions for those who are already out. That includes the Venezuelan man and Mexican man taken during the raid.
In the motion filed Tuesday night, immigrant rights attorneys said that to justify warrantless arrests across Chicago, the government described immigrants as flight risks though they were not. Some of the factors that DHS used to make that determination for the South Shore men — including their “willful disregard for other’s personal property” and their “attempt to flee from law enforcement” — were baseless and contradicted by the arrest narratives, the attorneys wrote.
Even more of the 37 arrests that night may have violated the consent decree, attorneys said, but the cases under review are for those who remain in the U.S. As the weeks and months passed, most of the immigrants detained in the South Shore raid were deported or gave up on their efforts to stay in the country.
The property owner, Trinity Flood, a Wisconsin-based real estate investor, and the management company at the time of the raid, Strength in Management, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday morning. Flood and Corey Oliver, the management company’s owner, have repeatedly declined interview requests and have not acknowledged any involvement in the operation.
A DHS spokesperson did not respond to questions Wednesday morning but repeated earlier statements that the raid was performed legally. “Given that two individuals of a Foreign Terrorist Organization were arrested, at a building they are known to frequent, we are limited on further information we can provide,” the spokesperson said.
From the beginning there had been questions about whether Flood and her property manager tipped off the government to get rid of squatters in her building, which had repeatedly failed city inspections in the two years before the raid.
Last month, state officials launched a housing discrimination investigation into allegations that Flood and Strength in Management used federal agents to illegally force the Black and Hispanic tenants from the 130-unit building in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.
In their complaint, state officials wrote that “building management blamed Venezuelan tenants for their own (management’s) failure to provide needed locks and security service, as well as other needed maintenance and repairs, and perpetuated stereotypes about Venezuelan gang members to send a message that tenants born outside of the United States were considered gang associates, even if they were law abiding.”
Within hours of the raid, workers from the management company were tossing tenants’ belongings in the trash and clearing out apartments, the complaint states.
State officials said that they could not provide any additional information on an ongoing investigation, but that they look forward to a response from Flood and Strength in Management.
Several Venezuelan immigrants detained that night said they were angry to learn that the building’s owner and property manager had facilitated federal agents’ entry. “We were paying our rent, doing things the right way,” said Jean Carlos Antonio Colmenares Pérez, 39. “Then suddenly, boom, the government comes in and takes us out. I don’t understand.”
Colmenares spent more than two months in federal custody before he was deported in December.
“They took us out as if we were dogs. As if we were criminals,” said his cousin, Daniel José Henríquez Rojas, 43.
Henríquez was detained for about two months before he was deported. Federal agents also took his wife and then-6-year-son that night and later transported them to a facility in Texas where they were detained for about a month. The family is now back together in Venezuela.
Johandry José Andrade Jiménez, 23, had moved into the South Shore complex with his wife and three young daughters just two days before the raid. Andrade was deported in December. His wife was released with an ankle monitor in Chicago, where she now struggles to support their daughters alone.
“They separated me from my family,” Andrade said. “I feel awful.”
The complex was home to dozens of mostly African American and Venezuelan tenants. While some said they had stopped paying rent because of the dangerous and dilapidated conditions, close to a dozen Venezuelans, including Colmenares, Henríquez and Andrade, told us they were paying rent to people they believed worked for the management company.
But in some cases, that money was going to other tenants who claimed to be the managers. ProPublica interviewed a U.S. citizen who said that he and others moved Venezuelan families into empty units, charged whatever amount they believed was fair and pocketed the money. “We started making them pay rent to us,” the man said.
Flood, who is facing a foreclosure lawsuit, said in court records last fall that her company had invested millions of dollars to repair and maintain the building and on legal fees for evictions. Weeks before the raid, the company obtained court orders to evict squatters.
The building continued to deteriorate after the raid. Oliver testified in court that he briefly hired security people but then fired them after they didn’t do their jobs. In November, a county judge ordered that another company take over management of the building and required that the remaining residents move out.
The post The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building appeared first on ProPublica.
Departure marks large drop in agents on the ground but still leaves about 2,000 there, far above typical levels for state
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, said about 700 federal agents would leave Minnesota, a large drop in agents on the ground but still leaving about 2,000 agents there, far above typical levels for the state.
Homan said the reduction came as county jails were negotiating over increased coordination with federal officials, though it’s not clear which counties have agreed to coordinate with immigration enforcement officials.
Continue reading...The talks are expected to be held after the U.S. military said it shot down an Iranian drone and Iranian forces threatened to seize a U.S.-flagged vessel.
Government blames ‘terrorist cells’ for attack in Woro village, one of country’s deadliest in recent months
More than 160 people have been killed in a village in western Nigeria in the country’s deadliest armed assault so far this year, an aid official and a local politician have said, as communities reel from repeated, widespread acts of violence perpetrated by armed gangs and jihadists.
The death toll from Tuesday’s attack in Woro in Kwara state stood at 162 on Wednesday afternoon, according to Babaomo Ayodeji, the Kwara state secretary of the Red Cross.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
The Kremlin has reacted to comments made by French president Emmanuel Macron that he was looking to resume contact with Putin on the war in Ukraine.
According to Reuters news agency, the Kremlin confirmed ongoing technical discussions between Russia and France, but provided no further details or indicated any dialogue between Putin and Macron.
At night, the enemy carried out a massive attack with strike drones on the Odesa region. Damage to civilian, residential and industrial infrastructure was recorded.
In the city of Odesa, about 20 residential buildings and cars were damaged. Four people were rescued from the rubble, but one person was unfortunately injured.
Continue reading...The reduction is a significant scale back of the Department of Homeland Security’s presence in Minnesota and comes after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot.
Feb. 4, 2026 — The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has unveiled the EU’s first AI chip using modern 7-nanometer technology. The neuromorphic chip was designed by Prof. Hussam Amrouch in accordance with the industry standards set by world-leading chip manufacturer TSMC. The professor of AI processor design and his research group now plan to produce at least three new designs per year, to be manufactured from 2028 onward by the Dresden-based European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC).
The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has unveiled the EU’s first AI chip using modern 7-nanometer technology. The neuromorphic chip was designed by Prof. Hussam Amrouch, pictured. Photo Credit: Andreas Heddergott/TUM.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and broader geopolitical shifts have exposed weaknesses in global supply chains. “That is why it will be crucial in the future to cover all stages in Germany and Europe — from training AI chip specialists to technological development and chip manufacturing,” said Prof. Amrouch.
Amrouch recently established the MACHT-AI chip research and training center at TUM, funded by the Bavarian Ministries of Science and Economic Affairs. Looking ahead, he envisions students in Germany learning to design AI chips and develop algorithms directly with companies, with production also taking place domestically.
AI Chip Enables Local Data Processing
In contrast to cloud-based chips such as those manufactured by NVIDIA, Prof. Amrouch’s approach focuses on technology that processes data locally on the device itself rather than sending it to the cloud. ‘This is a fundamental solution for protecting the privacy of our citizens,’ said Amrouch.
The AI chips are based on the open-source RISC-V architecture and can be customized for specific applications — from recording and analyzing heartbeats or brain signals in healthcare to implementing language models. This specialization is more efficient than using a general-purpose AI chip. Amrouch: ‘You can buy a Ferrari, but that doesn’t necessarily make you faster in the city. An e-bike is more efficient here.’ Another critical point is that the technology is also intended for use in control electronics in quantum computing in the medium term.
Data Remains Private and Secure
Local data processing enhances cybersecurity and helps protect technologies against misuse by third parties. ‘Those who design and build the chip know exactly what is inside it and can guarantee how it will function,’ says Amrouch, who believes it is essential for companies to be able to assure their customers that their data will remain private.
Trust is a critical ‘currency’ for industries such as the automotive sector, where Europe currently lacks sovereignty in high-performance chips. The defense industry also places the most stringent demands on security, for example when it comes to the use of chips for drones. Potential built-in vulnerabilities such as Trojans pose incalculable risks here, especially if chips are developed and manufactured outside Germany and the EU.
Markus Blume, Bavaria’s Minister of Science, said: “This is a big breakthrough for AI research at TUM. The European Union’s first AI chip using 7-nanometre technology comes from Bavaria and combines performance, energy efficiency and security. With MACHT-AI, TUM plays a central role in Bavaria’s semiconductor ecosystem. To remain competitive and independent while retaining technological sovereignty, we are developing key technologies and training talent here.”
Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger is convinced: “Artificial intelligence has undergone tremendous development in recent years. As an economy, we must be in a position not only to keep pace with this development, but also to help shape it. The development of TUM’s own AI chip is an impressive demonstration of how well the Bavarian semiconductor ecosystem is developing.”
TUM President Thomas Hofmann said: “Geopolitical risks have increased dramatically in recent years. That is why cutting-edge technology must be developed and produced in Germany and Europe. With his AI chips, Prof. Hussam Amrouch impressively demonstrates how dependence on Asia and the USA can be successfully reduced, and Europe’s technological self-determination strengthened. And, incidentally, with a very sustainable concept.”
Source: TUM
The post TUM Unveils EU’s 1st 7nm AI Chip with Local Processing and RISC-V Architecture appeared first on HPCwire.
State-owned company will sell under the Lepas brand, continuing its rapid expansion in the British market
The Chinese carmaker Chery is launching a fourth brand in the UK, continuing a push into the British market where it has rapidly become a major player.
The state-owned company said on Wednesday it would sell cars under the Lepas brand, which is developing battery and hybrid SUVs aimed at younger families, mainly in the European market.
Continue reading...Pinterest has sacked two engineers for tracking which workers lost their jobs in a recent round of layoffs. BBC: The company recently announced job cuts, with chief executive Bill Ready stating in an email he was "doubling down on an AI-forward approach," according to an employee who posted some of the memo on LinkedIn. Pinterest told investors the move would impact about 15% of the workforce, or roughly 700 roles, without saying which teams or workers were affected. But then "two engineers wrote custom scripts improperly accessing confidential company information to identify the locations and names of all dismissed employees and then shared it more broadly," a company spokesperson told the BBC. "This was a clear violation of Pinterest policy and of their former colleagues' privacy," the spokesperson added. The script written by the Pinterest engineers was aimed at internal tools used at the company for employees to communicate, according to a person familiar with the firings who asked not to be identified. The person said the script created an alert for which employee names within a tool like the team communication platform Slack were being removed or deactivated, giving some insight into who at the company was impacted by the layoffs.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
PARIS, Feb. 4, 2026 — Welinq, a leader in quantum networking technology, today announced the commercial launch of its high-performance, rack-mounted Entangled Photon Pair Source. The company has also sold and delivered its first unit to a leading European institution. This milestone marks a pivotal step forward in the development of quantum infrastructure, providing businesses and research institutions with an integration-ready solution.
Credit: Welinq
The advancement of quantum technologies depends on the ability to generate and distribute entanglement at scale across quantum networks. Welinq’s Entangled Photon Pair Source addresses this challenge by delivering the critical technology required to reliably generate entangled photons for secure communications and quantum computer interconnects. Designed for compatibility with a wide range of quantum technologies, including multiple quantum computing modalities, this flexibility positions Welinq’s source as a core building block for next-generation, scalable, high-performance quantum infrastructures.
Tom Darras, CEO and co-founder of Welinq, commented: “With this sale, we are not only demonstrating the viability of our technology, but also its strategic importance in building the quantum infrastructures of tomorrow. Our vision is to provide a complete networking solution for quantum-augmented data centers and quantum-safe networks, and this commercial source is a vital piece of that puzzle.”
A High-Performance, Integration-Ready Photonic Solution
Welinq’s Entangled Photon Pair Source delivers a unique combination of performance, stability, and cross-platform compatibility, making it a foundational component of quantum networks. Designed for deployment within existing fiber infrastructures, it enables the reliable generation of entanglement required for quantum-safe networks and quantum-augmented data centers.
Key features include:
A Second Commercial Milestone for On-Prem Quantum Networks
With the recent commercial delivery of its quantum memory to SkQCI and the newly launched entangled photon pair source, Welinq now provides multiple interoperable core components required to deploy operational quantum networking systems directly on customer premises. These technologies are no longer confined to laboratory demonstrations, but are being delivered as engineered, production-ready modules to end users.
This second commercial milestone confirms strong market validation of Welinq’s technology portfolio in Europe. By addressing concrete deployment needs across research and industrial customers, Welinq is establishing itself as a leading European provider of quantum networking infrastructure, while actively expanding its commercial footprint into international markets, including the USA and Asia.
More from HPCwire
About Welinq
Based in Paris, Welinq is pioneering in the industrialization of quantum infrastructure, offering solutions that extend beyond individual hardware components. With a full technology stack spanning software solutions for algorithm partitioning and a suite of quantum hardware, including photon pair sources, quantum memories, and qubit-photon interfaces, Welinq addresses the comprehensive needs of quantum data centers and secure networks. A spin-off from Sorbonne University, CNRS, and PSL University, Welinq was founded in 2022 by Tom Darras, Julien Laurat, and Eleni Diamanti.
Source: Welinq
The post Welinq Secures 1st Sale of Its Entangled Photon Pair Source appeared first on HPCwire.
Defense department says it may end support unless youth group abandons inclusivity and returns to ‘God and country’ values
The Pentagon is again threatening to sever ties with Scouting America unless the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America reverts to “core values”, and realigns itself with service to “God and country”.
A warning to end the US military’s long-standing partnership with one of the nation’s largest and most popular youth organizations came in a Monday night post to social media by the Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, who insisted the scouting movement “lost its way” in a 2025 rebrand that promoted inclusivity and included admitted girls and LBGTQ+ members.
Continue reading...As anti-migration policies sweep the continent, the Spanish PM is going against the tide by announcing plans to legalise the status of undocumented migrants
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You don’t need a degree in political science to understand why so many supposedly centrist European leaders have begun talking about immigration in terms that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago.
Far-right parties across the continent have fuelled their rise by seizing on the issue as a political cosh with which to beat their more mainstream and established rivals, whom they accuse of complacency, inaction and a failure to defend borders.
Continue reading...Anniversary depicts a rightwing takeover of the US inspired by a book of essays. But it’s fuzzy on the bits in between
As we all know from history and the current news cycle, autocracy is bad. But it can also be boring. For every explosive confrontation in Minneapolis, there is a quieter, less tangible threat in the form of Kash Patel’s FBI seizing voting records from Fulton county, Georgia – a state Donald Trump lost by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020 – or the steady implementation of 900-page manifesto by the influential rightwing thinktank the Heritage Foundation, neither of which lend themselves to blockbuster treatment. And so we have a problem: how to animate the quiet part of what’s happening in the US to reflect a dangerous but tedious reality – namely, that this thing ends not with a bang, but a combination of voter manipulation and federal electoral interference that undermines faith in the democratic process.
I bring this up after a week of watching popular movies that resonate in Trump’s US, most of which go heavy on the firefights and light on the details of how we arrive at them. The latest, Anniversary, which launched this week on Netflix – a streamer increasingly uninterested in the subtleties of any situation, let alone this one – depicts a US in which an evil rightwing genius in the shape of a beautiful young woman talks the country into ditching democracy via the medium of (I love this detail; the sheer optimism of it) a stirring book of essays.
Continue reading...The USMNT manager said players should stay out of conversations that don’t deal with soccer
Last week, Mauricio Pochettino began a World Cup year with an unforced error.
At the tail-end of a virtual press conference that covered a wide range of ongoing USMNT business, the 53-year-old Argentine – who has made himself commendably available to the American soccer press – was asked about recent comments by Tim Weah.
Leander Schaerlaeckens’ book on the United States men’s national soccer team, The Long Game, is out on 12 May. You can preorder it here. He teaches at Marist University.
Continue reading...A new painting by the maestro of Trumpian kitsch offers a fever dream of musical unity – and fundamentally misunderstands orchestras and conductors. And where are the music stands?
Events in the United States of Trumpland continue to reveal staggering new dimensions to the possibilities of orchestral music. Trump’s announcement that his “Trump Kennedy Center” is to be shut for a refit is a brilliantly cynical way to stop the noise when artists try to cancel their appearances during the rest of his presidential tenure: it’s shut already! Bigly losers, all of you!
But that’s not the new dawn for the artform I’m talking about. I mean the inspirational painting unveiled by the maestro of Trumpian kitsch, Jon McNaughton (and stamped with the presidential seal of approval – ie a post on Truth Social).
Continue reading...This will be the first time humans have traveled all the way to the moon since the early 1970s.
SAN DIEGO, Calif., Feb. 4, 2026 — EPRI has announced a collaboration with Prologis, NVIDIA, and InfraPartners to study smaller-scale data centers designed for distributed inference, a form of real-time data processing used across sectors including logistics, health care, finance, and public services. The announcement was made today at DTECH.
The collaborators will assess the deployment of micro data centers—ranging from 5 to 20 megawatts—at or near utility substations with available grid capacity that can be quickly set up. The goal is to bring inference capabilities—the process of generating real-time responses from trained models—closer to where data is generated and consumed, while making better use of underutilized infrastructure and reducing pressure on congested transmission systems.
The companies will explore how smaller, distributed sites can meet computing needs without straining the grid. The collaboration aims to have at least five pilot sites in development across the U.S. by the end of 2026, providing a replicable model for rapid, scalable deployment.
“AI is transforming every industry, and the energy system will need to continue to evolve to meet increasing demand,” said EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor. “This collaboration with Prologis, NVIDIA, InfraPartners, and the utility community highlights the type of innovative actions required to meet the moment. Using existing grid capacity to bring inference compute closer to where it’s needed—quickly and reliably—is a win for all.”
As artificial intelligence applications scale across industries, demand for AI inference continues to surge. Meeting this demand not only requires more compute, but AI infrastructure deployed closer to end-users to relieve pressure on congested transmission systems.
From autonomous logistics to fraud detection and digital diagnostics, inference systems are playing an increasingly important role in supporting real-time decision-making across nearly every sector of the economy. These workloads don’t require hyperscale facilities, but they do demand reliable, fast, and location-sensitive compute power. By moving inference closer to the edge of the grid, utilities and infrastructure providers can respond more efficiently to the growing volume and velocity of data.
This approach also supports grid reliability. By co-locating computing capacity with substations that have existing but underused distribution headroom, utilities may reduce transmission congestion, improve system flexibility, and help integrate renewable energy.
“As energy demand grows, we need infrastructure solutions that support grid reliability and make better use of what’s already built,” said Parag Soni, senior vice president and global head of Utility Strategy and Engagement at Prologis. “This collaboration is about using our development and energy expertise to help deliver smarter, more flexible infrastructure right where it’s needed.”
“AI is driving a new industrial revolution that demands a fundamental rethinking of data center infrastructure,” said Marc Spieler, senior managing director for the Global Energy Industry at NVIDIA. “By deploying accelerated computing resources directly adjacent to available grid capacity, we can unlock stranded power to scale AI inference efficiently. This distributed approach, powered by NVIDIA accelerated computing, maximizes existing energy assets, helping to deliver the intelligence required to transform every industry.”
Each organization will play a key role in supporting this project and the development of sites that relieve pressure on the grid:
“AI is becoming the real-time engine of growth for the modern economy, and it demands a new kind of digital infrastructure,” said Harqs Singh, chief technology officer at InfraPartners. “By pairing InfraPartners’ AI data center solutions with EPRI’s technical leadership, NVIDIA’s platforms, and Prologis’ national footprint, we’re enabling rapid deployment of AI nodes where they’re needed most. Together, we’re building the foundation for the next decade of intelligent infrastructure.”
About EPRI
Founded in 1972, EPRI is the world’s preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, with offices around the world. EPRI’s trusted experts collaborate with more than 450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation to ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, and affordable access to electricity across the globe.
Source: EPRI
The post EPRI Launches Distributed Inference Data Center Pilot with NVIDIA and Prologis appeared first on HPCwire.
Satellite images and witness testimony show destruction as IDF claims it was forced to take defensive measures
Israeli forces have bulldozed part of a Gaza cemetery containing the war graves of dozens of British, Australian and other allied soldiers killed in the first and second world wars, satellite imagery and witness testimony reveal.
Satellite imagery of the Gaza war cemetery in al-Tuffah, a district of Gaza City, shows extensive earthworks in the southernmost corner of the graveyard. Bomb craters can be seen around the cemetery, but in this area the destruction appears to have been more systematic.
Continue reading...Two school districts and a teachers union allege that the immigration crackdown has spilled onto campuses and interrupted the functioning of schools across the state.
Google's much-anticipated plan to merge Android and ChromeOS into a single operating system called Aluminium is shaping up to be a drawn-out, complicated transition that could leave existing Chromebook users behind, according to previously unreported court documents in the Google search antitrust case. The new OS won't be compatible with all existing Chromebook hardware, and Google will be forced to maintain ChromeOS through at least 2033 to honor its 10-year support commitment to current users -- meaning two parallel operating systems running for years. The timeline itself is messier than Google has let on publicly, the filings suggest. Sameer Samat, Google's head of Android, called the merger "something we're super excited about for next year" last September, but court filings describe the "fastest path" to market as offering Aluminium to "commercial trusted testers" in late 2026 before a full release in 2028. Enterprise and education customers -- the segments where Chromebooks currently dominate -- are slated for 2028 as well. Columbia computer science professor Jason Nieh, who interviewed Google engineers as a witness in the case, testified that Aluminium requires a heavier software stack and more powerful hardware to run.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
If you're tracking your glucose, these are the best monitors, according to the pros.
Only 180 bats survived intense heat in South Australian town, including 34 babies that carers say face months of recovery
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A colony of about 1,000 flying foxes in a South Australian town has been shattered by the intense heat that gripped south-eastern Australia last week, with more than 80% of the camp at Naracoorte wiped out.
“It’s a devastating loss of numbers,” said Judith Bemmer, a carer at Bat Rescue SA. Among the surviving 180 animals, about 34 underweight and dehydrated babies were rescued, and would face months of recovery.
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Continue reading...A number of countries including Australia are investigating X over Grok-produced sexualised deepfakes
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The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, says global regulatory focus on Elon Musk’s X has reached a “tipping point” after a raid of the company’s offices in France this week.
The raid on Tuesday was part of an investigation that included alleged offences of complicity in the possession and organised distribution of child abuse images, violation of image rights through sexualised deepfakes, and denial of crimes against humanity.
Continue reading...Report offers alternative of the US navy retaining boats and operating them out of Australian bases
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A new United States congressional report openly contemplates not selling any nuclear submarines to Australia – as promised under the Aukus agreement – because America wants to retain control of the submarines for a potential conflict with China over Taiwan.
The report by the US Congressional Research Service, Congress’s policy research arm, posits an alternative “military division of labour” under which the submarines earmarked for sale to Australia are instead retained under US command to be sailed out of Australian bases.
Continue reading...WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the chair and members of the newly established Office of Science Advisory Committee (SCAC), a unified advisory body that will provide independent advice on complex scientific and technical challenges across the Department’s Office of Science.
This announcement advances the Department’s implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order Restoring Gold Standard Science as the cornerstone of federal research—ensuring that the Department and its National Laboratory systems’ science is collaborative, transparent, and guided by evidence to rebuild public trust in science. As DOE modernizes and strengthens its scientific enterprise, SCAC will provide expert input to help inform priorities, improve coordination, and address cross-cutting research challenges across the Office of Science.
“The establishment of SCAC underscores the Department’s commitment to scientific integrity and the power of partnership,” said DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil. “By bringing together leading minds from diverse institutions, we’re forging a collaborative framework that will not only enhance our scientific endeavors but also accelerate the translation of fundamental research into tangible benefits for the American people. This committee exemplifies how shared vision and collective expertise are essential for navigating the complex scientific landscape of today and tomorrow.”
Members of SCAC, appointed by Under Secretary Gil, represent the full breadth of Office of Science research, drawing expertise from leaders across academia, industry, science philanthropy, and the Department’s National Laboratories. The Committee will help the Office of Science adapt to a rapidly evolving research landscape and address interdisciplinary challenges in a streamlined and flexible manner. It will also provide advice on initiatives that are priorities for the entire Office, including the Genesis Mission, scientific discovery, fusion energy, and quantum science.
SCAC will be chaired by Persis Drell, professor of materials science and engineering and physics at Stanford University, provost emerita of Stanford, and director emerita of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
The Committee will adopt the core functions of the Office of Science’s six former discretionary advisory committees. Any current charged responsibilities of these former committees will transfer to SCAC, providing a single, coordinated source of independent expert advice. A full list of the 21 SCAC members is available here.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy
The post DOE Announces Members of the Office of Science Advisory Committee appeared first on HPCwire.
We asked dentists for their recommendations on the best whitening toothpastes for sensitive teeth and more.
The child walked away from his home during a snowstorm Saturday night, as temperatures fell below freezing.
A man who sued his college after being suspended over a rape allegation was hired into a powerful position at the federal agency tasked with defending workers against workplace discrimination, including sex discrimination.
Benjamin North, who maintained his innocence during the lawsuit, went on to become an attorney who took public stances against what he characterized as the excesses of Title IX, the law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education.
Less than eight years after his case was closed following an agreement with the university, North has quietly become the new assistant general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to a screenshot of the agency’s employee directory and an agency employee who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation.
“You need people in that office who understand that their job is to uphold the law and to apply the law faithfully.”
North now reports directly to Acting General Counsel Catherine Eschbach, according to the employee.
“The general counsel’s office is an incredibly important part of the EEOC,” said Jenny Yang, a partner at the law firm Outten & Golden and a former EEOC chair. The general counsel holds the power to decide which employers to sue and over which issues, and oversees litigation brought in the agency’s 15 regional offices, and assistant general counsels help coordinate litigation “for the entire agency,” Yang said. They often review cases and their evidence to evaluate the merits and help determine whether the agency should invest its limited resources into pursuing a suit, she said.
“You need people in that office who understand that their job is to uphold the law and to apply the law faithfully,” she said. (Neither North nor the EEOC responded to requests for comment.)
North’s role could have even more heft than usual, the EEOC employee said, given how many attorneys have left the agency and the office of the general counsel under the second Trump administration. The office is typically filled with “experienced litigators,” the employee said, noting that North was still a college student 10 years ago and now has been hired into “a very senior position” in which he will “have a huge impact on the cases that the EEOC chooses to bring.”
North sued Catholic University after he was accused of rape by a fellow student, investigated, and suspended for two years. In his legal complaint, he claimed he and his accuser met at a party, then in an upstairs bathroom “engaged in consensual sex.” According to the judge’s ruling in the case, North sought to refute the accuser’s allegation that she had taken three shots of vodka and became distraught. The university found that she had been incapable of giving consent due to intoxication and suspended North.
North alleged in his suit that the university had violated its own policies as well as Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination at federally funded institutions. The Title IX claim rested on North’s allegation that the university had been biased against him and gave his accuser “preferential treatment,” thereby “discriminating against [him] based on his gender.” He sought $1 million in damages as well as injunctive relief.
In 2019, the case was closed when North and his legal team stipulated to dismissal, indicating an agreement between the plaintiff and defense, usually a settlement. (Catholic University declined to comment.)
North also dealt with Title IX claims as an attorney after completing law school. Before taking his role in the government, North most recently worked at Binnall Law Group. The firm published an article on its website in 2018 saying that universities use Title IX to “abuse the Constitutional rights of students accused of sexual misconduct.”
At Binnall, North served as a Title IX adviser who helped students in such proceedings. (Binnall did not respond to a request for comment.)
North wrote an op-ed for The Federalist in 2021 about Title IX arguing that a Biden administration nominee had “led the charge against students’ civil rights and due process” and that men’s rights are often violated in university proceedings after they’re accused of sexual assault.
Now, North could help guide litigation at the EEOC.
“It sends a concerning signal to have hired somebody with his background.”
“Given that we are the agency tasked with enforcing protections against sexual violence in the workplace, it sends a concerning signal to have hired somebody with his background,” the EEOC employee said.
That signal will be sent both internally to staff, the employee said, about what the agency wants to focus on and to workers who have experienced sexual harassment or assault at work about whether the agency will take their claims seriously.
North is not the first EEOC hire who has raised eyebrows during the second Trump administration. Last April, EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas appointed Shannon Royce, a longtime Christian conservative activist, as her chief of staff. Royce had been serving as president of the Christian Employers Alliance, which sued the EEOC in 2021 over its defense of the rights of trans people at work. Her group also sued the EEOC over its inclusion of abortion care in the protections offered by the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
On January 12, the Christian Employers Alliance announced that it had notched an agreement with the EEOC in which the agency agreed not to enforce abortion and gender identity requirements against its members while the EEOC “considers revising its policies.”
Lucas also hired Connor Clegg, a former Fox News producer, in the agency’s communications department. In 2018, Clegg was impeached as student body president at Texas State University over uncovered social media posts in which he mocked Asian tourists with hashtags that included “#pearlharborwasbad” and “#kimjongil.” He was later found not guilty by the Student Government Supreme Court.
More recently, Clegg posted a long rant to social media about an interaction with a traffic enforcement officer who “barely spoke a lick of English” and reposted a tweet from late Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk that said, “There is an undeniable War on White People in The West.”
North’s hire comes after Lucas has asserted new priorities at the agency.
In a post to X in December, she directly solicited complaints from white men who allege they’ve been discriminated at work based on their race or sex. She has also instructed agency officials to focus on cases that line up with her own personal priorities, which include “defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights,” “rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination,” and “religious bias and harassment, including antisemitism.”
Meanwhile, under her leadership, the general counsel’s office dropped the litigation it had already brought on behalf of transgender workers and in a disparate impact racial discrimination case.
The post EEOC Quietly Hired Lawyer Who Crusaded for Cases of Discrimination Against Men — Including His Own appeared first on The Intercept.
Two brothers of Renee Good, the Minneapolis woman who was shot and killed in January by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, have described the impact on their family to a panel of Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The forum, consisting of Democrats from the US House and Senate, listened to testimony from people who have been affected by the way agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have used force
Continue reading...Ryan Routh, convicted of attempting to kill the president at a West Palm Beach golf club in 2024, set to face sentencing
Federal prosecutors will ask that a man convicted of trying to assassinate Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024 be sentenced to life in prison at a hearing on Wednesday.
Ryan Routh is scheduled to appear before US district judge Aileen Cannon in Fort Pierce.
Continue reading...From your camera settings to how to develop and scan film, these are my tips for getting started in analog photography.
Phone battery life has always been important, but which brands consistently offer the longest battery life? After extensive testing, we've found the two leaders.
Philando Castile, a lawful gun owner, was shot and killed by a police officer in 2016 – gun rights groups were largely silent
The killing of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis has sparked a thorny conversation among gun rights groups and Trump administration officials about the second amendment and the right to carry concealed firearms at protests and demonstrations. Among the questions is which cases the movement rallies behind – and which it doesn’t.
In the hours and days after Pretti’s killing, dozens of local national and local gun rights groups lambasted federal officials like Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Gregory Bovino, a senior border patrol official, who baselessly claimed that Pretti’s carrying of a handgun proved that he planned to harm and kill border patrol agents. Prominent gun rights organizations, including Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the National Rifle Association (NRA), called for an independent investigation into the shooting and defended Pretti’s right to carry a gun.
Continue reading...We compared prices, features, performance and customer support of the top WordPress hosting services to help you make the right decision for your website.
Adobe is no longer planning to discontinue Adobe Animate on March 1st. From a report: In an FAQ, the company now says that Animate will now be in maintenance mode and that it has "no plans toâdiscontinue or remove access" to the app. Animate will still receive "ongoing security and bug fixes" and will still be available for "both new and existing users," but it won't get new features. Many creators expressed frustration after Adobe's original discontinuation announcement from earlier this week, and the application is still used by creators like David Firth, the person behind the animated web series Salad Fingers. Now, Adobe says that "We are committed to ensuring Animate usersâalways have access to their content regardless of the state of development of the application."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
In the week-and-a-half since federal immigration agents fatally shot a man in Minnesota, the state's top corrections official told CBS News it's not clear when the government will start drawing down forces.
In many ways, Delaware’s multi-billion-dollar budget is like any household spending plan. The big difference is that this family is nearly a million people strong.
Just like a household, the state must find a way to take care of everyone, adjust to changing needs, and stay balanced year in and year out. Both occasionally contend with higher-than-expected expenses, and both face that eternal struggle – balancing wants against needs .
“We can’t spend what we don’t have” is a guiding principle in state finance, and a plain cold reality for many households. Neither the state nor a prudent family planner would borrow money just to run everyday expenses, but in the state’s case, it’s against the law: A balanced budget is constitutionally required in Delaware, meaning it cannot spend more than its officially certified revenue forecast allows. Each June, the General Assembly and Office of Management and Budget finalize spending within this cap, much like a family must ensure bills don’t exceed income.
Families that value education make it a priority – budgeting for school supplies, tuition, or extracurricular programs. Delaware does the same, dedicating nearly one-third of its General Fund to public education. From early childhood programs to higher education, the state treats learning as an investment in its “next generation.”
Just as families support aging and needy relatives, Delaware allocates significant funding to Medicaid, senior health services, and long-term care. When healthcare costs rise or the senior population grows, the state must find new ways to fund these programs – or make difficult tradeoffs elsewhere, just like any family.
In many families, some members need extra help from time to time. Delaware also lends a hand to those in need, through programs for special education, disability services, and housing assistance. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) administers much of this care, ensuring that vulnerable residents aren’t left behind.
A household budget usually must cover the unavoidable needs of modern life – things like utilities, car repairs, and home maintenance. For Delaware, that translates to public safety, road maintenance, and emergency services, funded through the Operating Budget and Capital Improvement (aka Bond) Bill. These “maintenance” costs keep the state’s infrastructure and services functioning day to day.
Families might save for college or home repairs; Delaware saves for economic stability. The Rainy Day Fund and Budget Stabilization Fund are reserve accounts designed to cover emergencies and revenue downturns. Lawmakers must decide when it’s truly “raining” – and how much to draw from savings.
Just as a family’s income swings up or down with pay raises or layoffs, Delaware’s revenue streams – from personal income taxes, corporate fees, and federal funds – fluctuate with the economy. When revenues fall short, the DEFAC (Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council) updates forecasts and leaders adjust spending mid-year.
Families might take out a mortgage; Delaware issues bonds for schools, roads, and infrastructure. Look at bonds as a giant home loan – but instead of asking a bank, the state goes to the open market, seeking the best terms it can get. Maintaining a strong credit rating is essential to keep borrowing affordable for both families and the state, and the state’s Bond Bill process ensures that debt remains within limits. Delaware has managed to keep a fairly solid credit rating, which means less of its money has to go toward paying off debt.
In any home, family members debate what to spend their limited funds on – like a vacation, or roof repair? Delaware’s version of this dinner table discussion happens in Legislative Hall, where lawmakers negotiate over competing funding priorities, from education to healthcare, to the environment and economic development.
Families track expenses to avoid overdrafts. Similarly, Delaware maintains public budget hearings, detailed appropriations bills, and open financial reports so taxpayers can see exactly where their money goes.
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 Delaware’s Budget is a lot like a family budget appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
China will ban hidden door handles on cars, commonly used on Tesla's electric vehicles and many other EV models, starting next year, due to safety concerns.
Perfect Tides perfectly captures the older millennial college experience, and a time when nobody worried about being embarrassing online
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I’ve noticed an interesting micro-trend emerging in the last few years: millennial nostalgia games. Not just ones that adopt the aesthetic of Y2K gaming – think Crow Country or Fear the Spotlight’s deliberately retro PS1-style fuzzy polygons – but semi-autobiographical games specifically about the millennial experience. I’ve played three in the past year. Despelote is set in 2002 in Ecuador and is played through the eyes of a football-obsessed eight-year-old. The award-winning Consume Me is about being a teen girl battling disordered eating in the 00s. And this week I played a point-and-click adventure game about being a college student in the early 2000s.
Perfect Tides: Station to Station is set in New York in 2003 – a year that is the epitome of nostalgia for the micro-generation that grew up without the internet but came of age online. It was before Facebook, before the smartphone, but firmly during the era of late-night forum browsing and instant-messenger conversations. The internet wasn’t yet a vector for mass communication, but it could still bring you together with other people who loved the things that you loved, people who read the same hipster blogs and liked the same bands. The protagonist, Mara, is a student and young writer who works in her college library.
Continue reading...Major obstacles to viable deal remain after Volodymyr Zelenskyy accuses Moscow of violating energy truce
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators held the first round of US-led peace talks in Abu Dhabi as Washington seeks a pathway to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
The two-day trilateral talks that started on Wednesday come after Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of exploiting a US-backed energy truce last week to stockpile weapons before launching a record number of ballistic missile attacks at Ukraine on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Dismantling rules will make children vulnerable to chronic diseases ‘make America healthy again’ wants to eradicate
Donald Trump’s aggressive rollback of environmental protections directly contradicts the promises of his “make America healthy again” campaign, according to new research.
Helmed by Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump’s health and human services department has touted pledges to “transform our nation’s food, fitness, air, water, soil and medicine” and “reverse the childhood chronic disease crisis”. But the president’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pushing the country in the opposite direction, says the new report from the liberal research and advocacy non-profit Center for American Progress (CAP).
Continue reading...Dictator’s second son, a key figure in post-2011 Libyan politics, reportedly shot dead at home by masked assailants
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and for years the second most powerful person in the country, has been killed in a village south-west of Tripoli, officials said on Tuesday night.
The 53-year-old died from gunshot wounds in the town of Zintan, 85 miles south-west of the capital, according to the Libyan attorney general’s office. Gaddafi’s own office said he was killed in his home by masked assailants.
Continue reading...Buckingham Palace announced in October that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor would vacate Royal Lodge, though he was photographed there on horseback just this week.
Penny the Doberman pinscher named America’s top dog
Linton lands second best in show nearly four decades on
Westminster honors Catherine O’Hara with video tribute
A Doberman pinscher named Penny is America’s top canine after earning the title of best in show on Tuesday night at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York.
Judge David Fitzpatrick tapped the four-year-old female with the mirror-sheen black-and-rust coat from Reseda, California, over a field of six other group champions, among them a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Cota, who was awarded reserve best in show to roars of approval from the crowd. Also making the final lineup were an Afghan hound named Zaida, a Lhasa Apso named JJ, a Maltese named Cookie, a smooth fox terrier named Wager and a popular old English sheepdog named Graham.
Continue reading...Bobi Wine’s whereabouts unknown since he fled what he said was night raid on his home by police and military
Bobi Wine, Uganda’s most prominent opposition figure, remains in hiding nearly three weeks after a disputed election, as a high-stakes social media feud with the east African country’s military chief escalates.
Wine’s whereabouts have been unknown since 16 January, when he fled what he said was a night raid by the police and military on his home, leaving his family behind.
Continue reading...Police say 18-year-old arrested on suspicion of murder after death of man in his 20s on Tuesday evening
An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man in his 20s was stabbed in Leicester city centre and later died in hospital, Leicestershire police have said.
Police and East Midlands ambulance service were called just after 5pm on Tuesday after reports that a man had collapsed. They later received reports that the man had been stabbed.
Continue reading...Citadel hedge fund boss, Republican donor and vocal Trump critic says administration has made ‘distasteful’ choices not in the public interest
The billionaire investor Ken Griffin has accused Donald Trump’s administration of “enriching” its families, and criticised its interference in American businesses as “distasteful”.
Griffin, who is the chief executive of the hedge fund Citadel and a large Republican donor, rebuked the Trump administration, saying it “has definitely made missteps in choosing decisions or courses that have been very, very enriching to the families of those in the administration”.
Continue reading...Bills mandate ICE cooperation, school status checks and criminalize information release, testing constitutional lines
The power to enforce immigration law rests with the federal government. But Trump adviser, Stephen Miller, has a vision for states working in coordination with federal immigration officials, and he’s attempting to test it out in Tennessee.
Earlier this month, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Miller had been meeting in Washington DC with Tennessee speaker of the house, Cameron Sexton, to craft model legislation for states around the country.
Continue reading...Vijay Prashad said he was ‘disgusted’ by linguist’s friendship with Epstein as new files shed light on their relationship
An author who collaborated on two books with Noam Chomsky has written a letter condemning the acclaimed scholar’s friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as newly released files shed light on the social relationship between the two men.
Vijay Prashad – a journalist, author and the director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research – wrote that he was “heartsick” over the new correspondence between Chomsky and Epstein.
Continue reading...Spokesperson says Burns ‘deeply regrets ever meeting’ with Epstein and cut ties after learning of his conviction
A new tranche of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein revealed several communications with William J Burns, a career diplomat who would go on to become the central intelligence director under Joe Biden.
The documents describe the planning for meetings between Burns and Epstein, two of which occurred, and show Epstein texting with Burns and recommending that other people in his orbit meet with him. The meetings and correspondence occurred after Epstein had pleaded guilty to prostitution-related charges in Florida in 2008, including solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.
Continue reading...An exercise bike may be your favorite way to work out, but are you using it correctly? Cycling experts weigh in.
The police chief and mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis, react to new ICE body cameras and speak about economic impacts and eroding trust in local law enforcement.
There are many reasons why credit card interest rates are high. Here's what to know (and what to do in response).
President claims idea to ‘nationalize’ elections in 15 states before midterms is to prevent noncitizen voting. Plus, how Muslim creatives are changing New York City’s cultural landscape
Good morning.
Donald Trump suggested on a conservative podcast released on Monday that Republican state officials “take over” and “nationalize” elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office.
What did the president say? That immigrants “were brought” to the US to vote. “They vote illegally … We should take over the voting in at least many – 15 places – the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” he said on the podcast of Dan Bongino, the short-lived FBI deputy director.
What have Democrats said in response? “That statement alone makes clear that this threat to our election security, the basic premise of our democracy, is forward looking, to 2026, to 2028,” Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said yesterday. “This is about whether these same tactics we’re seeing now, or worse, will be used to disrupt free and fair elections.”
What are Democrats demanding? They agreed to fund most of the federal government through September while providing DHS with two weeks of short-term funding. That will enable lawmakers to return for negotiations around long-term DHS funding after the killings by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Among Democrats’ demands are that federal agents wear body cameras and cease wearing masks, follow a code of conduct, and obtain arrest warrants for people in the country illegally.
How did the White House press conference go? Trump again scolded a female reporter, this time CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who was questioning him about the Epstein files. “I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face,” Trump said, adding that CNN should be “ashamed of you”.
Continue reading...Gaza medical officials say Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people, including two infants, with one hospital director asking, "Where is the ceasefire?"
A search and rescue operation involving patrol vessels, an air force helicopter and a boat carrying divers was underway for potentially missing passengers.
 | My pint has been sat for 4-5 years at about 40-50% battery charge. While I researched proper storage, I didn’t look into waking it back up so I hopped on and got dumped off at about 30% with battery warnings. Someone on here gave some good tips on letting the battery cells balance so left it on the charger for about 30 hours then tried again. Battery dropped to 67% in 1.9km (maybe 10 minutes riding) so I took the advice for a longer balance and left it on for 4 days straight after that. Just tried it again and battery drops fast but I got 4.4km out of it and rode it down to 17% without it giving any battery warnings. From what I understand I should do a few cycles, let it charge again for 24-48 hours, ride it down to around 20%, and repeat this another 2-3 times. Is there anything else I should be doing? I’m aware the battery pack likely suffered some permanent damage and I don’t expect to get full range back but I’d like to restore it as much as I can so any tips are appreciated! [link] [comments] |
I spent my entire adult life cooking with gas. I thought I'd hate my new induction stove, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
 | I've had my eye on the Indy speed control pnp 18s for my XRV build. The problem is I have no idea about cells. I thought P50B was the one to get but then I asked chatgpt and this is what it came up with (I left the references). I ride in the northeast all seasons as a commuter (unless I can't get through the bridges). I'm leaning towards RS50 cells now purely because of temps I ride in but I would love to hear some feedback. On me thinking P50B is the better cell. On chatgpt steering me towards RS50 as the better pick for an XRV. On cell comparison in general to add. Thank you ahead guys I appreciate any help. [link] [comments] |
Federal authorities are releasing fourth-grader Elizabeth Zuna, the first of several students detained by immigration officers in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights, school officials said.
Ads could remove the sting of Xbox Game Pass price hikes, but will it be worth it?
With the Winter Olympics set to begin in proper on Friday, here’s a look at 10 Americans worth keeping an eye on
Mikaela Shiffrin has surpassed Vonn’s record haul of World Cup wins and staked her claim as the GOAT. But Vonn has a solid claim to be the best ever in the speed events (downhill, super-G), and she has been racing exclusively in those disciplines since returning from retirement, surging to the top of the World Cup downhill standings at age 41. She has a score to settle with the sport’s biggest stage – her lifetime total of three Olympic medals (one gold) would probably be higher if not for a horror crash in practice in 2006 and injuries that either limited or outright excluded her from other Games. After some selection drama in the team combined event in last year’s world championships, it seems inconceivable that Vonn and Shiffrin, both of whom have had some misfortune in the Olympics, would not be paired up to form Alpine skiing’s equivalent of the 1992 basketball Dream Team. Vonn was in a nasty crash last weekend but it seems that she will be fit to take part in Italy.
Continue reading...DNC’s Local Listeners initiative will target one million ‘infrequent’ voters in battleground districts
Democrats are launching an aggressive campaign to win back voters they lost, not to Donald Trump, but to the proverbial “couch,” as they look to regain support ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rolled out a new initiative called Local Listeners with the goal of targeting over one million “infrequent” voters in key battleground districts. Seeking to build on the party’s string of off-year election victories, which extended into 2026 with an upset in Texas last weekend, the DNC is betting that early, localized outreach will be crucial in winning back these voters’ trust – and their ballots – this time around.
Continue reading...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.
Home Chef, HelloFresh and Blue Apron have dominated the meal kit space for years. Here's why this lesser-known service has them all beat.
American athletes are preparing for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. These are some of the top Team USA competitors to watch.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Speaking during an earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Lisa Su stated that its development of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox SoC is "progressing well to support a launch in 2027." While the comment doesn't outright confirm the next Xbox will release next year, it indicates that the Microsoft could be ready to launch soon.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Unionized baristas continue to fight for a fair contract and ask public for solidarity as strike stretches into third month
Striking Starbucks baristas are calling on customers of the world’s largest coffee chain to delete its popular mobile app in solidarity with their demands for a first union contract.
Starbucks Workers United, which has been coordinating a strike for almost three months, is vowing to press ahead.
Continue reading...Novo Nordisk share price plunges after blaming lower US drug prices, patent protection issues and rising competition
The maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, has predicted a sharp drop in revenues this year owing to what its boss described as a “painful” push by Donald Trump to lower US weight-loss drug prices, rising competition, and the loss of important patent protections.
Denmark’s Novo, once the poster-child for the growth in weight-loss treatments, said sales this year were likely to fall between 5% and 13%, ending years of double-digit gains, despite the promising launch of its new Wegovy pill in the US. Its share price plummeted 17% on Wednesday, erasing all gains so far this year. In the past year the stock has lost nearly 50% of its value.
Continue reading...New York state lawmakers have introduced legislation to boost spending on the state’s troubled guardianship system by $15 million a year — an unprecedented cash infusion for a bureaucracy that has long struggled to care for the tens of thousands of disabled or elderly New Yorkers who cannot care for themselves.
By law, judges appoint guardians to manage the health and financial matters of people they deem incapacitated, and these guardians are then compensated from the estates of their wards. But there are not enough guardians to serve the roughly 30,000 New Yorkers who need them, and the new bill, called the Good Guardianship Act, aims to help the most vulnerable segment of this population: those who are too poor to pay for a private guardian and who have no family or friends willing to serve.
In the industry, they are known as “the unbefriended,” and the millions in new funding would flow to a statewide network of nonprofit guardians who serve them.
The proposal follows a 2024 ProPublica investigation that revealed how the state’s guardianship system was failing this group in particular by conducting little to no oversight of guardians, some of whom provided substandard care and exploited those they were charged with looking after.
The stories prompted the state attorney general to open an investigation into several guardianship providers and spurred the court system to appoint a special counsel to enact reforms. But advocates said the Good Guardianship Act presents the most promising step to date in improving the system — if it can get the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The legislation mirrors the recommendations of a task force appointed by the governor last summer, yet Hochul has not said whether she supports the plan and did not include any funding for guardianships in the $260 billion executive budget she recently unveiled.
“What’s it going to take for the governor to pay attention to guardianship and realize there’s a viable solution on the table?” said Kimberly George, who runs a nonprofit that serves about 160 New York City wards and helps lead Guardianship Access New York, a coalition of groups that’s pushing the bill in Albany.
A spokesperson for Hochul, a Democrat who is running for reelection, said the governor will review the legislation.
In recent years, Albany has provided just $1 million to help fund a statewide guardianship hotline, which provides advice for people considering guardianship for their relatives or friends. But the Good Guardianship Act would provide considerably more guardians for those who need them, effectively ensuring that qualified nonprofit groups with a history of providing guardianship services are available to be appointed by judges in cases involving the unbefriended.
To ensure that state funding only goes to what the legislation calls “reputable” nonprofits, groups must be in good standing with a state regulator and their guardianship plans and funding requests must be reviewed by a contractor picked by the director of the state’s Office for the Aging.
Assembly Member Charles Lavine, a Long Island Democrat who chairs the Assembly Judiciary Committee and introduced the legislation, expressed confidence that the bill would pass this session, noting it has no opposition and fixes a readily identifiable problem.
“It’s time that we did something to be able to provide those who are in actual, real need,” he said in an interview. “We believe we are working in the right direction.”
Lavine hosted a roundtable last fall focused on confronting what he dubbed “the crisis” in the guardianship system, describing it as being “stretched very, very thin.”
The legislation also has the support of legislative leaders in the state Senate — including its powerful majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, her spokesperson said.
State Sen. Cordell Cleare, a Harlem Democrat who chairs the Aging Committee, is shepherding the bill through the chamber. It’s on the panel’s agenda for Wednesday and is expected to be adopted.
The post We Found New York’s Guardianship System in Shambles. Now State Lawmakers Say They Have a Plan to Help Fix It. appeared first on ProPublica.
Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn — who emerged as a national figure after the Jan. 6 riot — announced a second bid for Congress on Wednesday.
The world is far off meeting its growing water needs. Can the UN still lead the response? Expert comment jon.wallace
The 2026 UN Water Conference can still have a big impact this year – if it can discuss water action as critical to human wellbeing and economic activity and focus on pragmatic solutions.
Drastic changes to the hydrological cycle and longstanding water management problems continue to create havoc around the world this year. In January a UN report declared an era of global water bankruptcy. A prolonged drought has contributed to unprecedented water shortages in Iran. And in Mozambique, the worst floods in recent memory have created a humanitarian crisis, destroying crops, livelihoods and infrastructure and displacing 650,000 people.
The global economy’s thirst for water – the world’s most finite, but underpriced and undervalued resource – is growing, as water-intensive products cross borders in ever greater volumes. The water use associated with trade in food and agricultural products nearly trebled between 1986 and 2022.
Yet, as recent events demonstrate, this dependence is increasingly precarious. As more water bodies retreat and aquifers decline, the health and wellbeing of the global population will be impacted, while multiple economic sectors and supply chains run the risk of continuous disruption. At the same time, institutions like the UN, that have enabled some faltering progress on global environmental crises, are under strain.
In a febrile geopolitical environment, what value can a UN-led process provide? And can a global response adequately address a problem that is very distinctly local in impact?
The severity of the global water crisis is beginning to gain some traction. In December 2026, the UN will convene its third global water conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the most water-scarce countries on Earth.
These conferences are happening with increasing frequency: the first was held in 1977, the second not until 2023. But the third is happening this year and a fourth is already planned for 2028. This new urgency reflects the fact that two initiatives designed to galvanize global action on water are set to expire soon.
First, the UN Water Decade comes to a close in 2028. This was intended to generate the political commitment and momentum required to transform how the world manages water. But progress has been limited.
Meanwhile the sixth UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which aims to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’ by 2030, is severely off track.
A UNICEF/WHO report released last week has shown that 2.1 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water and 3.4 billion lack access to sanitation.
These uncertain efforts in part reflect a lack of connection to a political process. There is no multilateral governance mechanism for water, no binding targets (unlike for climate change), and no clear global institution with a strong mandate to oversee water governance.
Addressing that will be crucial to driving water governance efforts towards a post 2030 agenda.
The outlook for better international collaboration is only getting harder. In a speech at Davos on 20 January, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney called attention to the ‘rupture’ in the rules-based international order. On 30 January, Secretary General António Guterres said the UN was at risk of ‘financial collapse’.
Nonetheless, opportunities still exist for countries to come together for critical issues based on common values and interests. Properly harnessed, the UN’s December Water Conference could galvanize a period of ambitious action this year, catalysing accelerated investment and progress and reinvigorating the UN Water Decade’s goals.
That will require pragmatic approaches and well-coordinated regional consultations, engaging inclusively with all relevant stakeholders. The conference needs to be responsive to emerging water challenges. And water action needs to be discussed as critical to economic activity, recognizing its centrality to climate-resilient development and the circular economy.
One criticism of water’s treatment in the current SDG framework is that it is insufficient to capture these emerging imperatives and does not sufficiently enable cross-sectoral coordination.
Mozambique is a case in point – its water challenges are not one dimensional. The country is a climate risk hotspot, and is highly vulnerable to multiple shocks from conflict and natural disasters. These factors place enormous pressures on a population where only 28 per cent use a safely managed drinking water source.
New frameworks should better address the complex and connected tensions between accelerating progress on access to water and sanitation, and addressing water’s role in agriculture, energy production, climate change adaptation and natural disasters.
Part of the challenge in addressing global water governance is that water availability, use and pollution inherently vary by locale. Differences in climate, topography, hydrology and soil characteristics all influence water availability and pollution capacity. That means global volumetric targets to reduce water use and pollution tend to be unhelpful.
Nonetheless, impacts within the hydrological cycle are not wholly local. Solutions must rely heavily on cooperation within water catchment areas, across national borders and throughout international supply chains.
Previous global processes tackling water use have ranged widely, touching on everything from boosting access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for the world’s poorest, to transboundary water cooperation. And water is governed by a fragmented patchwork of national or local policies, that vary in effectiveness. Environmental standards are also disjointed, and too often sidelined. Transparency is scarce.
The previous UN Water Conference in 2023 was criticized for requiring only voluntary commitments from governments, corporations and civil society, and for its vague outcomes.
Ifunanya Nwangene died in hospital after being bitten in her Abuja home, raising questions about the availability of effective antivenoms
In a last message to her friends, Ifunanya Nwangene wrote: “Please come.”
The 26-year-old singer and former contestant on The Voice Nigeria had been bitten by a snake while asleep in her flat in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and was in hospital, anxiously awaiting treatment.
Continue reading...Under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick New England were ruthless winners. But new head coach Mike Vrabel has transformed the narrative around the team
There used to be a simple rule: Anybody but the New England Patriots.
From 2001 through 2019, the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick dynasty totaled six Super Bowl titles, 13 conference championship appearances and 17 divisional crowns. They were the Evil Empire, constant contenders in a league designed for parity. It didn’t matter who you were; the Patriots were the final boss.
Continue reading...I’m reporting on a political retribution campaign, disguised as immigration enforcement, in the community where I live
I knew they would come here.
If you’re a president hell-bent on retreading 2020 and retaliating against your enemies, the midwestern state that started the George Floyd protests, with a generous social safety net and diverse population, governed by a vice-presidential candidate you vehemently hate, is a certain target.
Continue reading...Idaho is taking steps to bolster its antiquated coroner system following stories by ProPublica that documented how lawmakers have repeatedly failed to fix problems that harm grieving families.
An advisory panel created last year at the request of Gov. Brad Little is developing legislation to require autopsies in a variety of circumstances, including the unexplained death of a child. It would help coroners pay for those autopsies as long as they get a national certification that proves they can meet certain standards.
The legislation would mimic a similar setup in neighboring Washington. An increase in fees on Idaho death certificates would finance the autopsy reimbursements.
A ProPublica review of hundreds of death records in 2024 found that some coroners failed to meet national standards when investigating child and infant deaths, and a state oversight report found Idaho ranked last in the U.S. for autopsies when children or infants died unexpectedly. The state Office of Performance Evaluations cited poor funding as a major problem.
ProPublica’s examination of training records for Idaho coroners also revealed that many failed to get the hours of continuing education required by state law. Further reporting in 2025 examined how potentially suspicious deaths can slip through the cracks of Idaho’s poorly funded system.
The committee working on the legislation includes seven county coroners and a deputy coroner; representatives of city, county and state law enforcement agencies; a deputy county prosecutor; a county commissioner and a tribal member.
Kelli Brassfield, co-chair of the panel and a lobbyist who represents Idaho’s county governments, cautioned that the proposal likely won’t be ready during the 2026 annual legislative session. But this is the first time in decades that coroners and other local and state officials have agreed on a path forward to improve Idaho’s system for investigating death.
Idaho’s death investigation system is almost entirely funded by counties, and county officials have fought past efforts to require autopsies, which can cost thousands of dollars apiece. At the committee’s meeting in January, Brent Mendenhall, a commissioner from Madison County, was enthusiastic about the draft legislation and the push for more autopsies.
“When I hear that a commission or any county has turned down an autopsy, it just makes me shudder,” Mendenhall said at the meeting. “I just think, ‘What are you doing to that family that doesn’t know what happened?’”
Mendenhall said that under the legislation being developed, coroners who have struggled with a small autopsy budget could approach their county commissioners and say, “Here’s the law, and you need to make sure that I can do this.”
The advisory panel working on legislation is co-chaired by Sen. Melissa Wintrow, a Boise Democrat. Wintrow said ProPublica’s reporting raised awareness of the harms done by a faulty system for death investigations.
“Here’s the system going wrong, and your reporting shines a light on it,” she said.
Bingham County Coroner Jimmy Roberts, a member of the panel, told ProPublica that Wintrow has said repeatedly that one of the motivators to get something done about Idaho’s coroner system is that “she doesn’t want to see the coroner system in the media or in the news any longer.”
“I think that speaks volumes,” Roberts said.
Idaho’s governor said more than a year ago that he would support giving coroners more resources to do their jobs right. Lawmakers failed to take him up on it.
Wintrow won modest changes to the coroners system during the 2025 session with legislation that clarified the roles of coroners and law enforcement in death investigations.
Another development in the wake of ProPublica’s reporting is a newly created series of intensive courses for coroners, law enforcement officers and others around the state to learn how to handle child and infant deaths. Funded by a grant from the Governor’s Children At Risk Task Force, the courses this spring will be the most in-depth training of its kind since 2019.
Roberts and Ada County Chief Deputy Coroner Brett Harding will lead the trainings: eight hours of virtual education for coroners statewide and in-person education for coroners in the Boise area and in eastern and northern Idaho. Eastern Idaho is where an infant, Onyxx Cooley, died suddenly and unexpectedly in February 2024. His mother, Alexis Cooley, found him cold and lifeless and called for help, but the baby couldn’t be revived.
Reports released to ProPublica by the coroner who was legally responsible for figuring out why the baby died showed that he did not follow national guidelines. He did not speak with the parents, examine the baby’s body or the scene of the death to search for clues or order an autopsy. That coroner, who has since retired, told ProPublica he spoke with law enforcement officers who responded to the infant’s death and relied on the emergency physician who examined the baby’s body to decide what caused his death.
Alexis Cooley told ProPublica that she hoped the death of her baby would not be in vain, and that sharing his story with the public could set in motion some positive change.
She began to cry when she learned that coroners are working on legislation to improve Idaho’s last-in-the-nation autopsy rate for unexplained child deaths, and that first responders and coroners around the state will get specialized education to handle those cases.
“I’m glad that through my pain and suffering that it’s hopefully lessening the burden on other parents, when a situation like this happens again,” Cooley said. “And it’s amazing that they’re going to be able to get answers and that Onyxx’s case was heard.”
Wintrow, meanwhile, said her committee members’ willingness to work together on a solution to problems is encouraging but that progress is slow and piecemeal in a system with no centralized state agency to develop public policy for coroners. She is working on a pitch to get Idaho a full-time coordinator to fill a role that she has played as a part-time legislator.
The post Idaho Seeks to Improve Its Troubled Coroner System and Lagging Child Autopsy Rates appeared first on ProPublica.
If you're deciding to mix things up with new small appliances, here's the difference between these kitchen cousins.
Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware is one of just a few states that send school funding questions to voters through the referendum process. Just two districts are going out for a referendum this year after multiple school districts have failed to pass referendums in recent years. Both the Caesar Rodney and Laurel school districts are looking to raise funds to cover operating costs and provide competitive salaries.
The Caesar Rodney and the Laurel school districts will ask their communities to approve tax increases during referendums scheduled for Monday.
The Caesar Rodney School District is seeking an additional $6 million annually, while the smaller Laurel School District is asking for $1.6 million.
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.
Both districts say they need the new dollars to fund 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.
Beyond teacher pay, Caesar Rodney says its $6 million request would also pay for school safety, arts programs and bus services, among other items.
Laurel says its requested $1.6 million would also stabilize the district’s budget.
Despite the needs, the decisions to hold referendums come after Delaware school districts have 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 struggling 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 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.
The money from Indian River’s request would have been used to pay “increased operating costs and to maintain a competitive salary package,” that district said last year.
Last year was the first time since 1997 that no school district voters in Delaware approved a spending referendum.
The Caesar Rodney and Laurel school districts hope to reverse that trend when they each hold referendum votes on Monday.
Polls in the Caesar Rodney School District will be open Monday Feb. 9, 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.
Neither district has taxed its property owners as much as others in recent years.
According to the Caesar Rodney officials, the district has the lowest local funding and the lowest school tax rate in Kent County. Educators within the district also earn less than those in neighboring districts.
Meanwhile in Laurel, the school district has not held a referendum since 1985. And as a result, educators have told Spotlight Delaware that the small Sussex County district has not been able to keep teachers’ salaries competitive with wealthier districts.
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.
Patrick Gross, head of the educators’ union in Laurel, said then that he believed Laurel would ultimately hold a referendum in the coming years, but he was cautious about its success.
“I think that the referendum is going to be key … If we can get that done, we’ll see,” Gross said last summer.
The total salary for a teacher in the Laurel School District with 10 years of experience and a master’s degree is just more than $71,000, according to the district’s salary schedule for the 2025-26 school year.
A teacher with the same experience and education in the wealthier Cape Henlopen School District — about 30 miles from Laurel — makes more than $79,000.
Furthermore, the Cape Henlopen School District, which serves more than 6,500 students, had a budget of more than $180 million during the Fiscal Year 2025.
Laurel schools had a budget of just less than $44 million that same year, while educating more than 2,600 students.
Educators’ salaries are funded by a combination of state and local tax revenue, with the state paying approximately 70% of a total salary.
The state share takes into account a teacher’s education and experience. It also funds a preset schedule of pay raises for each teacher.
The local share of an educator’s salary is primarily funded by property taxes.
The post Caesar Rodney, Laurel school districts seek tax increases through referendums appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Some advocates say the Winter Games are driving up property prices and exacerbating income inequality.
International criminal syndicates have been using Fiji as a transshipment point for drugs originating in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Experts say the U.S. needs an additional 2 million to 20 million homes to fix the shortfall, underscoring the challenge of meeting the nation’s housing needs.
Why Should Delaware Care?
The Freeman Arts Pavilion has built a name for itself over the last two decades as a prominent arts venue and economic driver for the Sussex County area. With director Patti Grimes’ upcoming departure, the arts organization’s leadership and future direction remains to be seen.
Patti Grimes, the inaugural – and influential – executive director of Selbyville’s Freeman Arts Pavilion, announced last week that she will exit her role later this summer.
Considered to be among the biggest names in the southern Delaware arts and culture scene, Grimes has carried the Freeman Arts organization through a period of exponential growth and expanded reach throughout Sussex County and the broader Delmarva Peninsula since its inception in 2007.
She is set to step down after the organization unveils its long-awaited new stage in July.
The Freeman Arts Pavilion – an outdoor performance venue in Selbyville, a small town off Route 113 on the Delaware-Maryland border – has grown under Grimes’ leadership to serve more than 130,000 people per year.
The organization has courted a mix of high-profile performers, like Diana Ross and Jerry Seinfeld, and local, homegrown talent. Freeman Arts also functions as a nonprofit, with an initiative of bringing arts experiences to schools across Sussex County and nearby Worcester and Wicomico counties in Maryland.
The organization made headlines in January when a James Taylor concert scheduled for September sold out the 4,000-seat venue in 16 minutes.
Grimes’ departure will force the Freeman Arts Pavilion – and its parent organization the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation – to reckon with whether another leader will be able to carry on the legacy and programming that Grimes has spent the past 19 years building.
But Grimes told Spotlight Delaware she is not concerned about the transition plan to a new leader of the arts organization. She has worked with the organization’s board of directors to develop a succession plan, she said, and she will still be present to help with the transition process.
“I felt like it was the right time with this brand new venue to deliver that and launch into the next evolution,” she said. “It will be a great time for a new executive director to come in.”
Grimes is not retiring from all of her responsibilities with Freeman-related organizations, as she will continue serving as executive director of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, another grant-giving organization that is named after Joshua Freeman’s father and owned by members of the same family.
As Delaware’s arts community reacted to Grimes’ announcement, many described her to Spotlight Delaware as one of the biggest names working in the First State, and someone who will leave behind enormous shoes to fill.
Neil Kirschling, executive director of the Delaware Arts Alliance, a statewide arts advocacy organization, said Grimes has been an “incredibly thoughtful partner” in inspiring a culture of excellence in the arts across the state.
Joe Gfaller, managing director of Clear Space Theatre Company in Rehoboth Beach, said Freeman Arts became a cornerstone of the Sussex County arts scene because of Grimes.
“There’s no question that the existence of the Freeman Arts has had a transformative effect on our region,” Gfaller said.
The Joshua M. Freeman Foundation announced in a press release last week that they hired a global hiring firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, to begin the search for Grimes’ replacement this spring.
When Freeman Arts began hosting performances, its set-up consisted of a small wooden stage and some lawn seating. The organization drew in a couple thousand attendees in its first year.
“We started as a social experiment,” Grimes recalled. “Is this something that is desired by the greater Sussex County community? Is this something that is wanted?”
Quickly, she found out, the answer was a resounding yes.
Now, the pavilion draws in more than 130,000 people annually for its concerts and other programs. The organization also is about to complete a 10-year-long, $40 million capital campaign to construct its new stage.
While waiting for the construction project – which was delayed by the COVID pandemic – to be finished, the organization has been using a mobile stage to host larger performers, like Darius Rucker, Grimes said.
The new permanent stage will include backstage green rooms and equipment rooms for touring artists, along with a more sleek stage look, which Grimes said she thinks will help continue to attract big name performers.
Over the years, Grimes said, she has found that the large appetite for the Freeman Arts programming has come from a lack of other arts opportunities in Sussex County, which is more rural and sprawling than the rest of Delaware. At the same time, she said, the large crowd of summer tourists that flock to Sussex County beaches want to participate in the organization’s art offerings.
The Delaware Arts Alliance conducted a study of the state’s arts economy last year.
Kirschling, the alliance’s director, said the report revealed that Sussex County has larger “art deserts” than other parts of the state, meaning people in the county often need to drive farther to participate in arts events of any kind.
By continuing to grow its events with more famous performers, while also investing in local performers and school outreach programs, Kirschling said Grimes has done a good job of building a more robust and sustainable arts community in the Sussex area.
“What’s nice is that people who live here now don’t have to drive two to three hours to see their favorite artist or to partake in the arts experience,” Grimes said.
Freeman Arts also has proven to be a catalyst for economic growth and development in the area.
Grimes said that for every $1 spent at the pavilion, $1.90 is distributed back into the local economy, from visitors eating at restaurants, staying in hotels and taking advantage of other activities in the community.
Jessica Welch, director of the Delaware Tourism Office, provided data to Spotlight Delaware showing the Freeman Arts Pavilion had a $24 million economic impact on Sussex County last year.
That economic driver is particularly valuable, Welch said, because it is not primarily going to Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, or Bethany Beach, where more tourists frequent, but rather is focused in Selbyville, which is further inland and typically gets less economic activity.
Welch said she expects to see those economic impacts continue to grow as the organization opens its new stage and is able to draw even bigger crowds.
“Building the infrastructure and setting it up for the future is key,” she said. “Patti [Grimes] should be commended for that work she has done.”
The post Freeman Arts to face new era as Grimes exits, new stage is unveiled appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Digital pinboard business cutting 15% of workforce as it invests heavily in AI
Pinterest has fired two engineers who created a software tool to identify which workers had lost their jobs in a recent round of cuts and then shared the information, according to reports.
The digital pinboard business announced significant job cuts earlier this month, with the chief executive, Bill Ready, telling staff he was “doubling down on an AI-forward approach”, according to a LinkedIn post by a former employee.
Continue reading...Pressure grows on PM over ex-minister’s Jeffrey Epstein links as Tories criticise move to withhold some records
Keir Starmer will attempt to get ahead of the widening scandal over Peter Mandelson’s conduct with the expected release of files relating to his appointment as Britain’s US ambassador, in what a minister has described as “drawing a line in the sand”.
The Conservatives had been preparing to force the publication of the records – including what Mandelson may have told Starmer about his relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before being appointed to Washington – with a motion in the Commons.
Continue reading...Signalling issue and train derailment still affecting Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services
The UK’s largest railway franchise has lifted a “do not travel alert” it had issued after a train derailment and signalling issues affected services across south-east England, but service disruption continues.
The train operators Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express – all part of the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise in south-east England – had urged passengers not to travel at 8am on Wednesday morning “if at all possible” because of “multiple incidents”.
Continue reading...U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that the end of New START could lead to “a dangerous and costly arms race” between the world’s biggest nuclear powers.
Mandarin transliteration of character’s name regarded as auspicious, prompting wave of memes and fan art
Draco Malfoy, one of Harry Potter’s most recognisable villains, has become an unlikely lunar new year icon across China, as fans embrace the character for the year of the horse.
In Mandarin, Malfoy’s name is transliterated as “mǎ ěr fú”. The first character means “horse” while the final character, “fú”, means “fortune” or “blessing” – a powerful symbol found across lunar new year celebrations.
Continue reading...BrianFagioli writes: Google has quietly retired the ZetaSQL name and rebranded its open source SQL analysis and parsing project as GoogleSQL. This is not a technical change but a naming cleanup meant to align the open source code with the SQL dialect already used across Google products like BigQuery and Spanner. Internally, Google has long called the dialect GoogleSQL, even while the open source project lived under a different name. By unifying everything under GoogleSQL, Google says it wants to reduce confusion and make it clearer that the same SQL foundation is shared across its cloud services and open source tooling. The code, features, and team remain unchanged. Only the name is different. GoogleSQL is now the single label Google wants developers to recognize and use going forward.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The death last month of former NFL player Kevin Johnson is possibly linked to three other killings of unhoused people in the same area that occurred over the last four months, detectives said.
Sustainable smartphone takes a step forward with modular accessories, a good screen and mid-range performance
The Dutch ethical smartphone brand Fairphone is back with its six-generation Android, aiming to make its repairable phone more modern, modular, affordable and desirable, with screw-in accessories and a user-replaceable battery.
The Fairphone 6 costs £499 (€599), making it cheaper than previous models and pitting it squarely against budget champs such as the Google Pixel 9a and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, while being repairable at home with long-term software support and a five-year warranty. On paper it sounds like the ideal phone to see out the decade.
Continue reading...America can project power with little constraint—and its rivals cannot.
OpenAI's rivals are cutting into ChatGPT's lead. From a report: The top chatbot's market share fell from 69.1% to 45.3% between January 2025 and January 2026 among daily U.S. users of its mobile app. Gemini, in the same time period, rose from 14.7% to 25.1% and Grok rose from 1.6% to 15.2%. The data, obtained by Big Technology from mobile insights firm Apptopia, indicates the chatbot race has tightened meaningfully over the past year with Google's surge showing up in the numbers. Overall, the chatbot market increased 152% since last January, according to Apptopia, with ChatGPT exhibiting healthy download growth. On desktop and mobile web, a similar pattern appears, according to analytics firm Similarweb. Visits to ChatGPT went from 3.8 billion to 5.7 billion between January 2025 and January 2026, a 50% increase, while visits to Gemini went from 267.7 million to 2 billion, a 647% increase. ChatGPT is still far and away the leader in visits, but it has company in the race now.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Alex Pretti had courage and empathy. This, not Maga’s conception of male power, is what we must teach young men
The first thing that grabbed me about the Rapture’s 2011 song It Takes Time to be a Man was the warbly, analogue fuzz of its recurring guitar and piano riff. Once that drew me in, what kept me listening were the lyrics’ hard-marriage of masculinity and empathy. In the final verse, Luke Jenner tells us that: “Well there’s room in your heart now / for excellence to take a stand / And there’s tears that need shedding / it’s all part of the plan”.
For the past year, rightwing voices have waged war on empathy. According to Elon Musk, empathy is “the fundamental weakness of western civilisation”. Others go further, calling it “toxic”, “suicidal” and even “sinful”. Certainly, the macho wing of the Maga right sees no place for it amid its (mis)appropriation of medieval history and imagery that is visible everywhere from the face paint and horned headdress of the “QAnon shaman”, convicted for his role in the US Capitol siege, to the tattooed arms and body of Donald Trump’s secretary of war, Pete Hegseth.
And yet, consider the ideal of chivalry held by medieval knights: generosity and suspicion of profit, courtesy, honesty and the bind of your word, hospitality, abiding by the rules of combat and granting mercy to your adversary – whose life a knight takes only as a last resort. I say this not because I think the medieval knight should be the new standard for modern men, but to point out that Maga men would fail, miserably so, to live up to their own ideals.
Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist. His memoir, Generation Desperation, is published in January 2026
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Solidarity will protect prosperity.
Consolidating Shara’s power could undermine the country’s progress.
The Trump administration’s America First strategy has trickled down to what’s left of the government’s humanitarian apparatus, potentially leading to millions of deaths by 2030.
A Doberman pinscher named Penny won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 4
No need to load up devices with movies on long flights. You can stream them -- and even live events -- on Starlink-equipped United flights.
The season 2 finale of Fallout was filled with revelations regarding the state of the Wasteland and how it came to be. More questions remain unanswered as war looms on the horizon.
Prediction markets allow you to put money on everything from the US attacking Iran to Jesus returning. Saahil Desai explains their dizzying rise
In the early hours of 3 January, Donald Trump ordered a surprise attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to kidnap the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. Millions of Venezuelans’ lives were thrown into uncertainty. Politicians at home and abroad scrambled to respond. It seemed this was something no one had seen coming. Except one person did actually predict it.
In the hours before the attack, someone - and we have no way of knowing who - placed a series of bets that Donald Trump would oust Maduro on a prediction market platform, netting them nearly $500,000 when it happened. These platforms allow their users not just to bet on whoever’s going to win the Super Bowl, but also on world events. Heavily regulated under the Biden administration, these apps have enjoyed a huge boom in popularity since Trump came to power.
Continue reading...Lawyers for accused Tyler Robinson urge removal because prosecutor’s daughter attended rally where Kirk was killed
A Utah prosecutor involved in the case against Tyler Robinson, the alleged killer of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, denied allegations of a conflict of interest in the case during a hearing on Tuesday.
Robinson’s attorneys have argued that a judge should disqualify local prosecutors because the adult daughter of Chad Grunander, a deputy county attorney, was in attendance at the rally on a Utah college campus where Kirk was shot dead. The defense alleges that the office’s move to seek the death penalty just days after Kirk’s killing indicated a “strong emotional reaction” from Grunander, and suggested a conflict of interest.
Continue reading...No Republicans attended hearing with brothers of Renee Good and three US citizens shot and detained by federal agents
Democrats on Capitol Hill offered apologies and promises of accountability on Tuesday amid often harrowing testimony from people who had experienced violent encounters with federal agents engaged in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
With Republicans conspicuously absent, the forum of senators and representatives heard from Luke and Brent Ganger, the brothers of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, who was shot dead by an Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on 7 January as she tried to drive away from agents.
Continue reading...Miran, set to continue as Federal Reserve governor until Jerome Powell successor is confirmed, to leave CEA post
Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran has resigned from his position as chair of the White House’s council of economic advisers, fulfilling a pledge he made to the Senate as his assignment at the central bank becomes longer-lasting.
Miran had been on unpaid leave from his CEA post since Donald Trump appointed him last year to fill an unexpected vacancy on the Fed’s board of governors to a term that expired on 31 January. The arrangement drew the ire of Democratic senators, who said it would make a presidential puppet of the Fed’s newest policymaker.
Continue reading...Walmart's market cap surpassed $1 trillion on Tuesday, putting the largest U.S. retail chain in an exclusive club dominated by tech groups. Bloomberg adds: The Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain -- a longtime favorite of bargain-hunting consumers -- has flexed its massive scale and supplier network to keep prices low and grab market share across the income spectrum. While Walmart has maintained its appeal to households looking for value, its online offerings are drawing new, wealthier shoppers seeking convenience.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Statement says Republican senator, 83, checked himself into local hospital and prognosis is ‘positive’
The Republican senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to a hospital on Monday night due to “flu-like symptoms”, his office said in a statement.
“In an abundance of caution, after experiencing flu-like symptoms over the weekend, Senator McConnell checked himself into a local hospital for evaluation last night,” the statement reads. “His prognosis is positive and he is grateful for the excellent care he is receiving.”
Continue reading...I have a Pint X from when it first came out its rode under a mile and YEARS old. I broke my leg (un related) and I just never got back on it. Still worth anything or just keep it
The House on Tuesday voted 217 to 214 to fund major parts of the government and end the partial shutdown.
The HPC community welcomed a familiar name last week, when Atos Group announced that it was reintroducing Bull as the name of its HPC and advanced computing arm. With a 95-year history, Bull has strong roots in Europe, and the French government considers Bull to be a sovereign asset with strategic importance.
While Bull is currently a unit of the European multinational company Atos Group, it soon will be a completely standalone company with headquarters near Paris, France. That’s significant not only for historical reasons, but because is arguably the most complete HPC system maker on the continent, capable of building the full stack of hardware and software necessary to develop HPC systems.
A Bull Gamma 60 system installed in Paris in the 1960s (Image courtesy Bull)
Steve Conway, a longtime industry analyst and HPCwire contributor, has been watching the HPC story unfold in Europe for decades. That story would be incomplete without Bull.
“Bull is a storied HPC brand that stayed with the supercomputer products (e.g., BullSequana),” Conway told HPCwire. “Now, the company name sends an important signal to customers, employees and the French government as an investor, that the company will maintain a strong, long-term emphasis on HPC and other advanced computing.
“It’s a smart move to help restore confidence after the financial struggles in recent years,” he added.
Bull’s history is replete with multiple name changes, mergers, and acquisitions. The French government has stepped in to safeguard what it considers a national asset not once, but now twice.
The Bull story starts in 1931, when the company H.W. Egli-Bull was founded as a means to exploit the patented punch card technology developed by Norwegian engineer Fredrik Rosing Bull, who died of cancer at age 43 in 1925. While the company was founded in France, it was a subsidiary of H.W. Egli, which was based in Switzerland.
Bull headquarters in Les Clayes-sous-Bois, outside of Paris (Image courtesy Bull)
The Bull company built a business making tabulators, punched card sorters, and punching machines for automating calculations, and competed with the likes of IBM and other early computer makers. The French company changed its name to Compagnie des Machines Bull in 1933, a name it kept until 1964, when a business downturn led to a merger with General Electric and the creation of several new Bull-General Electric entities.
Bull continued to build computers from the 1960s through the 1980s. It also continued to be acquired by foreign entities and renamed. In 1970, Bull-GE was acquired by Honeywell, which renamed it Honeywell-Bull. In 1975, Honeywell-Bull merged with Compagnie Internationale de l’Informatique (CII) and took the name CII-Honeywell-Bull.
Concerned with the loss of national identity with its premiere computer maker, the French Government nationalized CII-Honeywell-Bull in 1982 and gave it a new name: Bull Group. The new company continued with M&A activity, and in 1987 Bull Group partnered with Honeywell and NEC to create Honeywell Bull (subsequently named Bull HN). In 1989, Bull HN acquired Zenith.
In the 2000s, Bull entered the supercomputer business for the first time. Among its systems was CURIE, which installed at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). When it debuted in 2012, Curie was the was the most powerful European supercomputer, with 1.4 petaflops of sustained capacity on the Linpack benchmark, good enough for number nine on the TOP500 list.
Bull Logos through the years (Image courtesy Bull)
In 2014, Bull joined the Atos Group, a large European multinational IT company with headquarters near Paris, France. Atos continued to develop Bull-labeled HPC systems, including BullSequana in 2016 and JUWELS Booster in 2020, which delivered 25 and 44.1 petaflops of computing power, respectively.
In 2022, Atos announced it would soon break the exascale barrier with BullSequana XH3000, a new line of supercomputers that feature liquid cooling and a choice of processors and interconnect architectures. Currently there are several BullSequana XH3000s in the TOP500 list, including the Jupiter Booster installed at EuroHPC’s Jülich Supercomputing Center, which is currently number 4 on the list with 1 exaflop of sustained capacity. There’s also Marenostrum, which is installed at the EuroHPC Barceleona Supercomputer Center, which was clocked at 175.3 petaflops of sustained capacity on Linpack and is currently number eight on the TOP500.
Atos also occupies the number 10 spot with a BullSequana XH2000 system installed at EuroHPC’s CINECA site, which ran 241 petaflops on the Linpack test. There are several other XH3000’s in the TOP500, including Jedi at EuroHPC at Jülich, which debuted at number 189 with 4.5 petaflops; and the Viper system at Max-Planck Gesselshaft, which sits at number 299; among others.
Bull’s Jupiter Booster, currently number four on the TOP500
Also in 2022, Atos decided to split its operations in two. Atos Tech Foundations would provide services, digital workspaces and professional services, while Eviden would target advanced computing, AI, the cloud, and cybersecurity. Starting in 2023, Bull was grouped into Eviden.
While Bull was busy with BullSequana XH3000, the French government was angling to make another move to secure what it considered to be an important sovereign asset with strategic military and nuclear value. In 2024, Atos announced that it was in talks to sell its HPC, quantum, and AI divisions of Eviden to the French government for €500 million. The two parties agreed to terms in July 2025, with the French government investing €410 million for the assets.
The deal inched further toward completion last week, when Atos announced the return of Bull. The company stated:
Bull’s new logo
“The rebirth of Bull represents a strategic milestone on its journey towards becoming a private, independent company, following the signing of the share purchase agreement with the French State on July 31, 2025. The complete transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of 2026, will support Bull in accelerating its vision of the digital future–more powerful, more sustainable, more sovereign and more open.”
Bull currently employs 2,500 workers in Europe, Latin America, and India. It owns 1,500 patents. It continues to manufacture its system at a factory in Angers, France.
“With the launch of Bull, we are reconnecting with our technological heritage to build our future,” stated Emmanuel Le Roux, SVP and head of Bull. “Our mission is clear: deliver powerful, sustainable, and sovereign computing and AI technologies that enable nations and industries to innovate with confidence and purpose.”
The post What the Return of Bull Means to European HPC appeared first on HPCwire.
The ruling comes just days after federal agents launched tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators, including young children, that local officials described as peaceful.
The Dyson PencilVac doesn't cost as much as you might expect.
In Mississippi, more than 36,000 homes and businesses have now gone a second week without electricity after a historic winter storm.
Pedro Sánchez says urgent action needed to protect children from ‘digital wild west’, drawing anger from owner of X
Spain has proposed a ban on social media use by teenagers as attitudes hardened in Europe against the technology, drawing personal insults against the prime minister from Elon Musk.
The government is preparing a series of measures including a social media ban for under-16s, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said, promising to protect children from the “digital wild west” and hold tech companies responsible for hateful and harmful content.
Continue reading...Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 4, No. 499.
NASA plans to test the planned leak repair with a second dress rehearsal fueling test later this month.
The sheriff says the note was sent to a local Arizona news station, which agreed not to report on it, following the disappearance of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie.
President replied to Collins’ persistent questions about Epstein files by accusing her of not smiling ‘because you know you’re not telling the truth’
Donald Trump has continued to sow doubt in the election system. While appearing on former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino’s podcast on Monday, the president called on Republicans to “nationalize the voting,” in at least “15 places”, although he did not clarify which ones.
“The Republicans should say, ‘we want to take over’,” Trump said in the interview.
Continue reading...Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 4, No. 703.
A spokesman for Sen. Mitch McConnell said the Kentucky Republican's "prognosis is positive."
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 4 #969.
Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for Feb. 4, No. 1,691.
A year after CBS News California Investigates exposed secrecy inside the California FAIR Plan, the insurance commissioner is backing a bill that would open meetings and financial records and require public reporting for the state's insurer of last resort.
Tyler Robinson's attorneys want the entire Utah County Attorney's Office disqualified because one of the prosecutors has a daughter who was present at the rally where Kirk was shot.
Digital surveillance of your phone data poses a significant risk in any setting, particularly during demonstrations.
I just got new foot pads and flight fins for my xr and any time I jump or hit a bonk my bord deactivates. Does anyone have a solution to this
The forum, sponsored by two Democrats, is intended to focus on what they call “violent tactics and disproportionate use of force by the Department of Homeland Security.”
Shahed-139 said to have approached USS Abraham Lincoln ‘with unclear intent’ in lead-up to expected US-Iran talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme
The US military says it shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier “with unclear intent” when an F-35 fighter jet shot it down, US Central Command said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Report to tackle courts’ backlog also recommends new criminal justice adviser to oversee courts, prisons and policing
A new post of prime minister’s criminal justice adviser and the widespread use of remote hearings are among the recommendations of a government-commissioned independent review on tackling the courts’ backlog in England and Wales.
The second part of Sir Brian Leveson’s review – unlike the first part, which recommended slashing jury trials – focuses on efficiencies that can be achieved without legislation.
Continue reading...Data comes as government prepares to publish plans to overhaul Send system in England
One in six autistic pupils have not been to school at all since the start of this academic year, according to a new survey which found that mental health issues were often behind high levels of school absence.
Nearly half (45%) of the parents and children who responded to the UK-wide survey by the Ambitious About Autism charity said they felt “blamed” by the government for the absences.
Continue reading...Netflix film revisits evidence that led to Letby’s conviction and hears from expert who says his research was misused
Shortly after Lucy Letby was sentenced to 15 whole-life terms for murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016 – a conviction that made her Britain’s worst ever child serial killer – Cheshire police agreed to give “unparalleled and exclusive access” to the makers of a Netflix film about the case.
The finished documentary, The Investigation Of Lucy Letby, which is released on Wednesday, must be very different from what the producers envisaged when they first began work on the project, given the subsequent unexpected turns in the story. Since the two trials, the prosecution evidence and police handling of the case have faced criticism from an unprecedentedly large number of distinguished British and international medical experts. Led by the Canadian neonatologist, Dr Shoo Lee – who says again in the feature-length Netflix documentary that his research was misused to convict the nurse – many of the experts are convinced Letby is innocent, the victim of a catastrophic miscarriage of justice.
Continue reading...Rights group says growing authoritarianism and abuses in US, Russia and China threaten global rules-based order
The world is in a “democratic recession” with almost three-quarters of the global population now living under autocratic rulers – levels not seen since the 1980s, according to a new report.
The system underpinning human rights was “in peril”, said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), with a growing authoritarian wave becoming “the challenge of a generation”, he said.
Continue reading...‘Mid-career’ female workers also being sidelined by rigid hiring processes, says City of London Corporation
Women working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to increased use of AI and automation than their male peers, according to a report that found experienced females were also being sidelined as a result of “rigid hiring processes”.
“Mid-career” women – with at least five years’ experience – are being overlooked for digital roles in the tech and financial and professional services sectors, where they are traditionally underrepresented, according to the report by the City of London Corporation.
Continue reading...Josh MacAlister issues warning as government launches £88m ‘call to arms’ to recruit 10,000 new foster carers
Private providers of child social care in England will be pushed out of the system if they are found to be profiteering, the children’s minister has said.
Josh MacAlister, who is in charge of overhauling the care system for children, also called for a fostering equivalent of the Homes for Ukraine scheme to provide homes for tens of thousands of children.
Continue reading...Billionaires and intellectuals attended events with the disgraced financier years after he served time for sex offense, files reveal
Newly released emails and travel itineraries appear to show that for years after Jeffrey Epstein served time for procuring underage girls for prostitution, he continued to attend exclusive dinners alongside Silicon Valley’s most famous billionaires.
The emails, part of a trove released by the Department of Justice on Friday, show that as late as 2018, Epstein was invited to or attended dinners alongside the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Google vice-president and later Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
Continue reading...A federal judge expressed skepticism over the Pentagon's effort to downgrade the pay and rank of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly after he urged service members not to follow unlawful military orders.
 | Hi everyone. I wanna start off by thanking everyone again for the help, comments, and suggestions on my previous post. I’m also having an issue with haptic buzz when I try to tap the bumper to the ground. What’s the trick called? Anyways,as you can see in the video it gets “stuck” in haptic buzz. I do this all the time with my GT and never had this happen. I tried doing a 180 spin and I think this happened. It got stuck I lost my balance, fell and scraped my elbow. I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong. Could it be related to my board jerking issue? [link] [comments] |
An anonymous reader shares a report: Google Home users, your long nightmare is over. The platform has finally added support for buttons. The release notes for a February 2 update state that several new starter conditions for automations are now available, including "Switch or button pressed." Smart buttons are physical, programmable switches that you can press to trigger automations or control devices in your smart home, such as turning lights on or off, opening and closing shades, running a Good Night scene, or starting a robot vacuum. A great alternative to voice and app control when you want to control multiple devices, smart buttons are often wireless and generally have several ways to press them: single press, double press, and long press, meaning one button can do multiple things.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Armed with your own creativity and this $300 sticker printer, you can bring joy to everyone around you. But if you're looking to start a small craft business, is it right for you?
Leaders had been trading hostile remarks for months but Gustavo Petro’s visit ended with warm words from US counterpart
After months of trading insults – from “sick man” and “drug trafficking leader” on one side, to “accomplice to genocide” with a “senile brain” on the other – the first meeting between Donald Trump and Gustavo Petro ended with pleasantries, autographs and a Maga cap.
The Colombian president was received by his US counterpart for a closed-door meeting at the White House, with no press access.
Continue reading...President Trump has continued to claim without evidence that there is widespread fraud in U.S. elections.
Mozilla says the new version will be available on desktop-only on Feb. 24.
Conservancy sees nonnative species as major threat to local biodiversity, while residents rally to preserve local identity
California wildlife officials moved forward last week with a plan to eradicate a mule deer herd from Santa Catalina Island: extermination.
The plan has long pitted locals from the island off the coast of Los Angeles against the Catalina Island Conservancy, an environmental non-profit that manages 88% of the island’s terrain. The conservancy sees mule deer, which are not native to the island, as a major threat to local biodiversity, water quality and fire resilience.
Continue reading...MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? M4 or M5? Is the older M1 Air still worth it? You have MacBook questions, and CNET's laptop experts have the answers.
Dyson's PencilVac is so thin and light that it feels more like a broom than a cordless vacuum. Here's how using it went.
Search and rescue operation involving boats, helicopter and divers under way off the eastern Aegean island of Chios
A collision between a speedboat carrying migrants and a Greek coastguard patrol vessel off the eastern Aegean island of Chios has killed at least 14 people, the coastguard said.
A search and rescue operation involving four patrol vessels, an air force helicopter and a private boat carrying divers was under way for potential missing passengers.
Continue reading...Freaky robots get their drink on, a furniture designer turns to AI for a website, and more.
Although economists have generally downplayed the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, some employers are highlighting their adoption of AI.
Prosecutors in Paris also order Elon Musk to appear for questioning in April as part of a year-long investigation.
Cartoon lump of coal with giant eyes was spotlighted by US interior secretary in X post saying: ‘Mine, Baby, Mine!’
The Trump administration has turned to an unusual weapon in its attempt to resurrect coal mining – a cartoon lump of coal, complete with giant eyes and yellow mining garb, called “Coalie”.
The administration’s new mascot, kitted out with a helmet, boots and gloves, was introduced in a seemingly artificial intelligence-generated picture posted online by Doug Burgum, Donald Trump’s interior secretary.
Continue reading...The complaint was closed administratively by the intelligence community inspector general's office in June 2025, under prior leadership, watchdog says.
Appropriations measure will let Democrats negotiate with White House and GOP leaders over mass deportation efforts
Donald Trump on Tuesday signed legislation to end a government shutdown hours after it was approved by the House of Representatives, as top Democrats warned they will block further funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if their demands for restrictions on Trump’s mass deportation campaign are not addressed.
The Republican-controlled House approved the $1.2tn appropriations measure by a narrow 217-214 vote, with all but 21 Republicans voting in favor and all but 21 Democrats against. The president signed it later in the afternoon at the White House, bringing to an end the shutdown that began after midnight last Friday, which had halted many operations at departments including defense, health and human services, labor, and transportation.
Continue reading...The new law will ban anyone younger than 16 from using social media apps in Spain.
President Donald Trump wasted no time in responding to the deaths of two U.S. citizens this month during protests against an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Trump and other top administration officials made inaccurate or unsupported statements within hours of the incidents, a departure from how previous presidents responded in similar situations, experts told us.
Hours after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7, Trump claimed that Good was “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense.” The president included a video clip of the shooting, captured from a distance, but closer video showed the agent wasn’t run over.
Then, hours after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, Trump posted a picture of a handgun and wrote, “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do!”
Department of Homeland Security officials also made statements that Pretti “approached” officers with a handgun, “violently resisted” an attempt to “disarm” him, and “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” As we’ve explained, in the immediate aftermath of a shooting, it’s difficult to know exactly what happened, but bystander videos contradicted DHS’ account. They don’t show Pretti holding the gun or threatening officers with it.
The president, himself, softened his remarks, saying the next day, “We’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination” on whether the federal agent’s actions were justified. And the civil rights division of the Justice Department is now investigating the Pretti killing.
All four of the experts we spoke to — a group that included political communications researchers and historians — said that Trump’s remarks following these deaths marked a shift from previous presidents, and even from some of his own rhetoric during his first term.
“As with so much else Trump, yes — he’s extremely different,” Matt Dallek, a political historian and professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, told us in an interview.
“He’s much more extreme and far more untethered from facts and the reality on the ground,” Dallek said, noting that, importantly, it’s not just the president, but also his officials who have taken this tack.
Others we spoke to made the same point.
“Without question,” there has been a shift, Roderick Hart, a professor emeritus of communication at the University of Texas at Austin with expertise in politics and the mass media, told us. “And it has very little to do with this particular situation in Minneapolis. He’s a rhetoric-first guy. … And he’s chosen his people who have exactly the same instincts,” Hart said.
Presidents are normally judicious, particularly when reacting to an event, Hart said. But, “Trump talks before the event is even finished.”
The Minnesota fatal shootings, however, involved federal agents, while examples from past presidencies concern state or local officers.
For example, former President Barack Obama — who was in office at a moment when the ubiquity of camera phones and the rise of social media converged to shine light on the killings of unarmed Black men and boys — took more time before publicly expressing his thoughts.
One of the first illustrations of this moment didn’t actually feature an officer, but rather a neighborhood watch volunteer in central Florida, who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012. About a month after that, in response to a reporter’s question, Obama said, in part, “Well, I’m the head of the executive branch, and the attorney general reports to me, so I’ve got to be careful about my statements to make sure that we’re not impairing any investigation that’s taking place right now. But obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids. And I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together — federal, state, and local — to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.”
Obama continued: “But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon. And I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we’re going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”
In 2014, a year that saw several high-profile police killings, Obama waited three days to publicly respond to the Aug. 9 death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by a local police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking widespread protests.
Then, Obama said in a statement: “The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time. As Attorney General Holder has indicated, the Department of Justice is investigating the situation along with local officials, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed. I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.”
The former president waited three weeks — when he was asked about it in an interview — to comment on the shooting death that year of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland. In a lengthy answer to a question about how responsible he felt his administration was for addressing police shootings, Obama said, “Well, I think an enormous amount. Not just because, as president, you’re always responsible for what happens in this country and you’ve got to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, but because of my particular experiences that I bring to this office.”
And Obama took more than four months to make remarks on the July 17, 2014, death of Eric Garner in New York — the former president had waited until a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who had choked Garner. In December 2014, Obama said, in part, “My tradition is not to remark on cases where there may still be an investigation. But I want everybody to understand that this week, in the wake of Ferguson, we initiated a Task Force whose job it is to come back to me with specific recommendations about how we strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color and minority communities that feel that bias is taking place; that we are going to take specific steps to improve the training and the work with State and local governments when it comes to policing in communities of color; that we are going to be scrupulous in investigating cases where we are concerned about the impartiality and accountability that’s taking place.”
Before the era of the camera phone, the Rodney King case in 1991 grabbed national attention when a man in a nearby apartment videotaped Los Angeles police beating King during a traffic stop.
Then-President George H.W. Bush waited almost three weeks before commenting. Then, in a prepared statement on March 21, 1991, he said, in part, “We’ve all seen those shocking videotapes and have seen transcripts of the incident in Los Angeles. And without getting into the specifics of the case, those terrible scenes stir us all to demand an end to gratuitous violence and brutality. Law enforcement officials cannot place themselves above the law that they are sworn to defend. This administration will investigate possible breaches of federal law aggressively and will prosecute violators to the full extent of the law. … I was shocked by what I saw in that tape–that violence. And to the degree there’s a federal role here, I’m confident we will go the extra mile to see that that is fulfilled.”
Going back even further, to the 1970s, Dallek said, “Even Nixon’s comments in the wake of the Kent State killings were far more restrained and measured than anything Trump has offered the American people.”
On May 4, 1970, the same day that the National Guard shot and killed four students during a protest of the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio, then-President Richard Nixon issued a statement that said, “This should remind us all once again that when dissent turns to violence, it invites tragedy. It is my hope that this tragic and unfortunate incident will strengthen the determination of all the Nation’s campuses–administrators, faculty, and students alike–to stand firmly for the right which exists in this country of peaceful dissent and just as strongly against the resort to violence as a means of such expression.”
When he was asked about the proper role of the National Guard — which, in this case, had been called in by the state’s governor — at a press conference four days later, Nixon said, “I want to know what the facts are. I have asked for the facts. When I get them, I will have something to say about it. But I do know when you do have a situation of a crowd throwing rocks and the National Guard is called in, that there is always the chance that it will escalate into the kind of a tragedy that happened at Kent State. If there is one thing I am personally committed to, it is this: I saw the pictures of those four youngsters in the Evening Star the day after that tragedy, and I vowed then that we were going to find methods that would be more effective to deal with these problems of violence, methods that would deal with those who would use force and violence and endanger others, but, at the same time, would not take the lives of innocent people.”
“There are some echoes, I think,” Dallek said, comparing Trump’s recent statements with Nixon’s. But Nixon was much more measured in the aftermath, Dallek said, adding that “he never branded [the students] as traitors or domestic terrorists.” (After the Good killing, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called Good’s actions “domestic terrorism,” and Noem used the same phrase to describe Pretti’s actions.)
One distinction between these previous examples and the current situation is that agents deployed in Minneapolis are federal, rather than state or local, Barbara Perry, a professor of governance at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, which focuses on the American presidency, told us in an interview.
Since most previous cases of officer-involved shootings implicated state or local police, presidents could distance themselves, she said, and say that the Justice Department would investigate.
“So they could keep at arms length the legal process while expressing their sorrow,” Perry said.
Similarly, Guian A. McKee, a professor of public affairs at the Miller Center, told us in an email, “Trump administration statements about the recent killings in Minneapolis have been immediate, they have been political, and they have had little regard for facts or willingness to wait until evidence is clear.”
He went on to explain that one reason for this may be that “the recent killings have been done by federal agents acting as instruments of the president’s own policies and the tactics chosen to implement them. This has not been the case in most other law enforcement-involved deaths, where the officers were state or local. So the actions and their consequences fall much closer to the president.”
Near the end of his first term, Trump made conciliatory remarks about a high-profile case that involved local police officers, not federal agents.
Two days after the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd, whose death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer led to widespread protests, Trump wrote on Twitter, “At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd.”
And, two days after that, on May 29, he said at the start of an event for business leaders, “I want to express our nation’s deepest condolences and most heartfelt sympathies to the family of George Floyd. A terrible event. Terrible, terrible thing that happened. I’ve asked that the Department of Justice expedite the federal investigation into his death and do it immediately, do it as quickly as absolutely possible. … It should never be allowed to happen, a thing like that.”
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The post Trump’s Immediate Speculation on Shootings Bucks Presidential Norms appeared first on FactCheck.org.
Attorney general Letitia James says observers will monitor if Trump enforcement ‘remains within bounds of the law’
New York is creating a team of legal observers that will don purple vests to monitor and record the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement officers as they seek to detain and deport migrants, the state’s attorney general said on Tuesday.
The announcement follows weeks of sometimes violent tumult in Minneapolis, where Donald Trump has deployed thousands of armed, masked agents as he tries to deport more migrants than any of his predecessors.
Continue reading...While most focused on competition issues, Josh Hawley accused Netflix of promoting trans content to children
Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos faced tough questioning over whether the streamer is “overwhelmingly woke” or killing competition on Tuesday afternoon during a congressional hearing focused on its pending acquisition of the film and streaming assets of Warner Bros Discovery.
The hearing was conducted by the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy, and consumer rights. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer for Warner Bros Discovery, also testified in the packed Senate hearing room.
Continue reading...Here's how to tune into the hit show starring Kaitlin Olson.
Over the past month or so, several enterprising contributors have taken an interest in the zig libc subproject. The idea here is to incrementally delete redundant code, by providing libc functions as Zig standard library wrappers rather than as vendored C source files. In many cases, these functions are one-to-one mappings, such as
memcpyoratan2, or trivially wrap a generic function, likestrnlen.So far, roughly 250 C source files have been deleted from the Zig repository, with 2032 remaining.
With each function that makes the transition, Zig gains independence from third party projects and from the C programming language, compilation speed improves, Zig’s installation size is simplified and reduced, and user applications which statically link libc enjoy reduced binary size.
↫ Andrew Kelley on the Zig Devlog
The goal is to replace all of the musl, wasi-libc, and MinGW-w64 C code bundled in Zig with new Zig code.
On Moltbook, bots have formed communities, invented their own inside jokes, cultural references and even formed a parody religion. Or have they?
Rust is everywhere, and it’s no surprise it’s also made its way into the lowest levels of certain operating systems and kernels, so it shouldn’t be surprising that various operating system developers have to field questions and inquiries about Rust. NetBSD developer Benny Siegert wrote a blog post about this very subject, and in it, details why it’s unlikely Rust will find its way into the NetBSD base system and/or the kernel
First, NetBSD is famed for its wide architecture and platform support, and Rust would make that a lot more troublesome due to Rust simply not being available on many platforms NetBSD supports. Rust release cycles also aren’t compatible with NetBSD, it would draw a lot of dependency code into the base system, and keeping Rust and its compiler toolchain working is a lot of work that falls on the shoulders of a relatively small group of NetBSD developers.
Note that while NetBSD does tend to take a more cautious approach to these matters than, say, Linux or FreeBSD, the operating system isn’t averse to change on principle. For instance, not only is Lua part of the base system, it’s even used in the NetBSD kernel due to its ability to rapidly develop and prototype kernel drivers. In short, while it doesn’t seem likely Rust will make it into the NetBSD base system, it’s not an impossibility either.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 3, 2026 — Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, and ETAP, an industry and technology leader in power system design and operation, today announced a new physics-based digital twin solution to help utilities and critical infrastructure operators strengthen resilience and accelerate time-to-power. The announcement was made at DTECH, the leading transmission and distribution trade show in the U.S.
ETAP is part of Schneider Electric’s portfolio of software solutions, following its acquisition in 2021. As the industry’s leading provider of electrical power system modeling and simulation software, ETAP complements Schneider Electric’s digital grid capabilities by delivering engineering-grade analysis and lifecycle modeling for utilities and critical infrastructure.
Engineering Confidence for Every Decision
“Until now, utilities have operated two separate worlds, one for planning, another for operations. We’ve collapsed that divide,” said Tanuj Khandelwal, CEO of ETAP. “This isn’t simulation anymore. It’s a living digital twin that thinks alongside the grid while validating protection schemes before they execute, anticipating faults before they cascade. As electrification accelerates and extreme weather rewrites the rules, utilities need more than faster analysis. They need a system that already knows what’s coming. That’s what we’ve built.”
Integrated with Schneider Electric’s One Digital Grid Platform and EcoStruxure ArcFM Web – an advanced GIS for a complete, location-based view of utility assets – the new physics-based Digital Twin links network data with real-time operations. By combining spatial intelligence with simulation-grade modeling, utilities can move beyond static visualization to predictive insights, enabling them to anticipate outcomes before switching and align planning with live grid conditions.
Beyond Visualization: A True Physics-Based Digital Twin
Unlike generic digital twins, ETAP’s model is grounded in electrical physics, enabling operators to:
Meeting the Challenges of a Rapidly Changing Grid
As utilities face unprecedented challenges – rapid electrification, extreme weather and rising reliability expectations – engineering-grade simulation is critical for informed decision-making. ETAP’s capabilities extend beyond utilities to mission-critical sectors such as data centers, healthcare and aerospace, where downtime is unacceptable.
“By combining ETAP’s engineering rigor with Schneider Electric’s industry-leading geospatial technologies, operators gain a unified, lifecycle model that reduces risk and accelerates modernization,” said Ruben Llanes, CEO, Digital Grid, Schneider Electric.
Proven Impact Across Utilities and Critical Infrastructure
Experience It Live at DTECH Booth 1201
Visit Schneider Electric and ETAP at Booth 1201 for demonstrations.
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a global energy technology leader, driving efficiency and sustainability by electrifying, automating, and digitalizing industries, businesses, and homes. Its technologies enable buildings, data centers, factories, infrastructure, and grids to operate as open, interconnected ecosystems, enhancing performance, resilience, and sustainability. The portfolio includes intelligent devices, software-defined architectures, AI-powered systems, digital services, and expert advisory. With 160,000 employees and 1 million partners in over 100 countries, Schneider Electric is consistently ranked among the world’s most sustainable companies.
Source: Schneider Electric
The post Schneider Electric and ETAP Unveil Physics-Based Digital Twin for Utility Grid Resilience appeared first on HPCwire.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have more in common with cigarettes than with fruit or vegetables, and require far tighter regulation, according to a new report. The Guardian: UPFs and cigarettes are engineered to encourage addiction and consumption, researchers from three US universities said, pointing to the parallels in widespread health harms that link both. UPFs, which are widely available worldwide, are food products that have been industrially manufactured, often using emulsifiers or artificial colouring and flavours. The category includes soft drinks and packaged snacks such as crisps and biscuits. There are similarities in the production processes of UPFs and cigarettes, and in manufacturers' efforts to optimise the "doses" of products and how quickly they act on reward pathways in the body, according to the paper from researchers at Harvard, the University of Michigan and Duke University. They draw on data from the fields of addiction science, nutrition and public health history to make their comparisons, published on 3 February in the healthcare journal the Milbank Quarterly. The authors suggest that marketing claims on the products, such as being "low fat" or "sugar free," are "health washing" that can stall regulation, akin to the advertising of cigarette filters in the 1950s as protective innovations that "in practice offered little meaningful benefit."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
In unveiling new dietary guidelines, federal health officials have claimed they are correcting past guidance that created a “generation of kids low in protein” and that Americans should get “dramatically” more of the nutrient. While some individuals may benefit from more protein, Americans are not generally protein-deficient.
In fact, many Americans, including a majority of children, already meet or come near to meeting the lower end of the higher daily protein goals promoted in the new guidelines, which range from 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. There’s some uncertainty about how much protein people should consume for optimal health. Multiple factors affect protein needs, which may be higher for older adults, as well as for people who are building muscle through exercise or actively losing weight.
Despite this nuance, officials portrayed the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released Jan. 7, as righting a clear wrong, while misleadingly stating or implying that Americans in general need to eat significantly more protein. The new guidelines include an inverted food pyramid that prominently features a large steak, and the website promoting the guidelines proclaims, “We are ending the war on protein.”
“The old guidelines had about half the protein that you need,” Dr. Marty Makary, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said during a Jan. 9 appearance on CNN. “Look at the consequence of the old, corrupt food pyramid: a generation of kids low in protein, struggling with muscle mass, weak, having trouble concentrating, addicted to ultraprocessed foods and refined carbohydrates.”
“The science was clear enough on proteins that we should dramatically increase our input of proteins,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a Jan. 21 rally.
Nutrition experts we interviewed objected to the idea that Americans in general need to “dramatically increase” protein intake, or that children are broadly deficient. HHS did not reply to an email asking for more information to support these claims.
“When you look at most intake surveys, most Americans were getting in the range of intakes that is being recommended, close to 1.2” grams per kilogram of body weight per day, Stuart Phillips, a professor who studies the effects of nutrition and exercise on skeletal muscle at McMaster University in Canada, told us.
For reference, the recommended range would translate to around 108 to 144 grams of protein per day for a 199-pound man or 94 to 125 grams per day for a 172-pound woman, the average weights for U.S. adults. A 3-ounce serving of chicken breast has 26 grams of protein; a 3-ounce serving of cooked salmon has 19 grams; half a cup of cooked lentils or white beans has 9 grams; and a cup of milk has 8 grams.
Moreover, “probably less than 5% of the U.S. population eat diets that are consistent with the previous dietary guidelines,” Wayne Campbell, a Purdue University professor who studies nutrients, foods and dietary patterns, told us. “It is an inappropriate attack on past guidelines to say that the guidelines are the reason why everybody eats a poor diet and is not as healthy as they hopefully would be.”
“There is no evidence of widespread protein deficiency in the U.S. population,” Dr. Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told us.
Previous editions of the dietary guidelines did not give a particular figure for the amount of protein people should eat, experts said. Hu explained that a different group of experts helps set daily recommendations for specific ranges of protein and other nutrients.
“Who is going to track how many grams per kilogram body weight of protein” they are eating? Wendi Gosliner, who leads research projects at the University of California’s Nutrition Policy Institute, told us, noting that the guidelines are meant to guide federal food programs and nutrition education by providing advice that is “digestible” for the general public.
Raising protein intake recommendations requires data showing “widespread protein inadequacy” or that there are benefits to eating more protein beyond the minimum, Hu said. “We don’t have any of those data at this point to substantially increase protein intake recommendations” for the general population, Hu said. He added that an argument could be made for relatively high protein intake for certain segments of the population, including people on weight loss drugs, older adults and people engaged in physical activity that builds muscles.
Some experts are supportive of the protein recommendations in the new guidelines.
Phillips, who was not involved in the guidelines, said that the new range is “more in line with what I would recommend,” agreeing the evidence is particularly strong for certain subgroups and depends on physical activity level. However, he disagreed with the implication that prior guidelines led to widespread deficiency.
Claims that the old food pyramid “produced a ‘generation of children low in protein’ or broadly impaired muscle mass or cognition are not supported by direct evidence,” Phillips told us. “Childhood health challenges are far more plausibly linked to excess energy intake, poor diet quality, physical inactivity, and high consumption of ultra-processed foods than to insufficient protein per se.”
(To be clear, the new food pyramid does not replace the original 1992 food pyramid people may remember, which was replaced by another, less hierarchical pyramid in 2005 and then MyPlate in 2011.)
“My takeaway from all of it is that we’ve elevated protein in people’s thinking, it’s front and center, and we gave people very specific goals,” Donald Layman, a protein biochemist and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told us. “I think we’ve made an enormous step forward in clarity.” Layman, who is also a food company consultant, owns a fat loss company that sells meal replacement shakes, although he told us he has lost money on this latter endeavor.
Layman and nutritional physiologist Heather Leidy of the University of Texas at Austin co-authored reviews of the effects of the new recommended protein range on weight management and nutrient adequacy for HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agencies that produce the guidelines.
Unusually, Layman, Leidy and seven additional scientists were asked to perform these reviews in under three months, according to STAT. A 20-person committee of nutrition researchers had previously spent years identifying research questions, reviewing the literature and formulating recommendations. The scientific advisory committee does not write the guidelines, but their conclusions inform them. The guidelines in the past have been credited to a list of HHS and USDA staff, although this year’s guidance document does not name authors.
Makary has repeatedly said that the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans increased recommended daily protein intake by “50% to 100%.”
It’s true that the new recommended intake of 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day is 50% to 100% above the Recommended Dietary Allowance of 0.8 grams per kilogram per day for adults. (Children have somewhat higher RDAs, when measured per kilogram of body weight.) These RDAs were established to set baselines for nutrients to prevent deficiency in the vast majority of Americans.
But to be clear, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans do not set RDAs, Campbell explained, which are instead set via a process led by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Sciences Engineering, and Medicine.
The RDA is “not a recommendation for people to purposefully try to eat that amount of protein,” Campbell said, but rather represents an amount people should not fall below. “If you’re eating 1.0 gram per kilo, 1.2 or 1.4 — or even very few people eat 1.6 — then that’s all within a range … that the 0.8 would support.”
The RDAs, along with other values, inform the dietary guidelines. However, Campbell said that the guidelines are meant to recommend which food types to eat, not particular nutrient intakes. Researchers do modeling to ensure what they are recommending “meets or moderately exceeds” the nutrient minimums, he said. He was not involved in the current guidelines but served on the scientific advisory committee for the 2015-2020 guidelines.
Campbell said that the current RDA was based on the best evidence available in the early 2000s, when it was last reviewed, and that there’s “inconsistent” evidence since on whether it should be changed. Ann Yaktine, director of the Food and Nutrition Board, told us that protein is among the nutrients set to be updated, although she said she could not predict a timeline. Until that update is complete, she said, the current RDA “will remain,” adding that RDAs and other nutrient-related values inform the dietary guidelines, “not the reverse.”
Americans mostly exceed the minimal requirement to prevent protein deficiency and, in many cases, even meet the higher goal set in the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
“The consensus has not been that there is a dramatic shortage of protein in this country,” Gosliner said, contrary to Kennedy’s claim that Americans need to “dramatically” increase intake.
Using survey data on American diets collected by the U.S. government, researchers have estimated that adults on average get near or even slightly above 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day — the bottom of the range now recommended by the dietary guidelines.
“Because the intake of protein is already pretty high, especially animal protein, in the U.S. population, there is no evidence that further increasing protein intake, especially in a major way, will confer significant health benefit,” Hu said.
However, Layman pointed out that there’s variation in how much protein Americans consume. The people who already consume protein within the new recommended range do not need to increase their intake, he said, but some people “need to dramatically increase” protein intake.
A 2018 study on protein intakes between 2001 and 2014 shows that nonelderly American adult males on average exceeded 1.2 grams per kilogram, but that the average fell to closer to 1.0 as they aged. Women on average got between approximately 1.0 and 1.15 grams per kilogram per day, with amounts also falling with age.
Phillips also said there was room for improvement in protein consumption. “Many Americans meet the RDA only marginally, consume protein in uneven daily patterns, or obtain it largely from low-quality, ultra-processed sources,” he said. However, he added that most Americans “are not protein deficient in the clinical sense.” He cautioned against framing the new recommendations as being driven by deficiency, rather than a way to optimize certain outcomes.
Makary’s claim that prior guidelines led to “a generation of kids low in protein” also overstates the prevalence of protein deficiency in the U.S.
“It’s not like there’s growth stunting on a large scale in the United States because kids are protein deficient,” Phillips said. “It’s disingenuous at best and flat out wrong at worst.”
The 2018 study found that virtually no children age 8 and under ate less than the RDA — the level meant to prevent deficiency in the vast majority of the population. Protein underconsumption did rise with age for minors, with 11% of teenage boys and 23% of teenage girls not meeting the RDA.
Most age groups of children, both male and female, on average exceeded 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. The exception was adolescent girls, who consumed around 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram daily.
Layman acknowledged a relative lack of research on children and protein intake but also pointed to data showing that adolescents are at risk of not eating enough protein. He also listed the many poor health outcomes for American children today and argued that past guidance had preceded changes in kids’ diets.
“We know it’s not working,” he said. “We know that after the original guidelines in 1980 that mothers, thinking they were doing the right thing and avoiding cholesterol and saturated fat, switched from having eggs and bacon and milk at breakfast to having Pop-Tarts and Cap’n Crunch and orange juice.”
However, Hu detailed a long list of factors other than protein that have led to childhood obesity and other metabolic conditions. These include generally low-quality diets in an obesity-promoting environment, lack of sufficient sleep, inactivity and excessive social media use. “Those are all important drivers of adverse health incomes in children,” he said. “I don’t think protein inadequacy or protein deficiency is a major driver.”
“I wish I could tell you that I thought that … we just haven’t been feeding kids enough protein, particularly animal protein, and that’s what’s causing all of the very sad dietary-related challenges that kids are experiencing,” Gosliner said. “From my perspective, there is no evidence of that being true.”
A separate question is whether people are generally healthier if they consume substantially more protein than the RDA’s minimum requirement.
Campbell said that this is a challenging question to answer rigorously. “It’s very difficult to do controlled feeding studies of sufficient length to actually feed people different quantities of protein for months on end to see what happens to them,” he said.
“Where the science is strongest is in showing that certain groups benefit from protein intakes above the RDA,” Phillips said. “Older adults, people engaged in regular resistance or endurance training, individuals recovering from illness or injury, and those intentionally losing weight all appear to achieve better outcomes at intakes closer to 1.2–1.6 g/kg/day. In these contexts, higher protein supports the maintenance of lean mass, functional capacity, and satiety.”
However, Hu criticized the new guidelines for setting this intake goal broadly, saying that they “are not designed for specific groups of U.S. adults,” but rather the general population.
In a Jan. 7 opinion article in the Free Press, Makary and an FDA co-author referred specifically to benefits of higher protein intakes for weight loss. “Eating more protein in line with these recommendations consistently improves weight and body composition without harm,” they wrote.
Layman and Leidy’s review, used to justify the new guidelines, concluded there was “moderate to strong” evidence that eating protein within the new recommended range promotes weight management.
However, Gosliner said that the review relied on studies of people engaged in weight loss, which are not necessarily generalizable. “They are extrapolating that to the entire population, which doesn’t make sense,” she said.
Layman countered that 75% of Americans are overweight or obese. “Should they basically be guidelines to keep people fat or to get people to ideal weight?” he said. He said that the weight loss studies included in his review in many cases included a maintenance period where people were not restricting calories.
But just because many Americans could benefit from calorie restriction or strength training does not mean that most adults are engaging in these behaviors, other experts said.
A higher protein diet while people are “purposefully energy restricting their diets to lose weight” may help people maintain lean tissue and muscle, Campbell explained. But protein is “not going to be a magical solution for you to actually permanently keep any weight off.”
“Protein without resistance exercise, during weight loss, does very little,” Phillips wrote in a Jan. 6 article on protein hype published in the Conversation. “Exercise is the major driver that helps lean mass retention. Protein is the supporting material.”
Phillips also pointed out that older adults, who can benefit from higher protein intake, make up an increasing share of the population. Protein is “important,” he said, “but it is not a stand-alone solution to metabolic health, childhood development, or healthy aging.”
The impact of the new dietary guidelines will depend on how people interpret them, some experts said.
Phillips wrote in his Conversation article that 2025 was the year protein “jumped the shark,” explaining a cultural context where it has been “oversold, overvalued and overhyped.” One concern, he told us, is that people will think they are doing “something good for their health” simply by increasing their protein intake, even if they are already consuming a relatively high amount.
If people eat “substantially” more protein, it could increase the risk of chronic disease, Hu said, explaining that consuming too much protein — and particularly animal protein — is associated with increased risk of chronic disease. “It depends on what comes together with the protein,” he said. For example, he said, people who consume more animal protein also consume more saturated fat, cholesterol and “other unhealthy components.”
“At the end of the day you are eating foods for multiple compounds and nutrients, not just protein,” Campbell said.
The guidelines themselves encourage eating a “variety” of protein foods from animal and plant sources, but the new food pyramid prominently features a large steak in the upper left-hand corner, with nuts and legumes further down.
The original committee tasked under the Biden administration with the scientific review for the dietary guidelines recommended an emphasis on consuming more peas, beans and lentils and less red and processed meat. The new dietary guidelines rejected this advice, with the exception of recommending against processed meat.
If someone replaced refined carbohydrates and sugar in their diet with plant protein, lean protein and eggs, that would be “reasonable,” Hu said. But people who consume a large quantity of animal protein tend to eat significantly less nutrient-dense plant protein sources, he said.
Further, Hu said, supermarkets are now stocked with numerous highly processed protein products.
The new guidelines discourage eating highly processed foods. But Gosliner reiterated that people often do not follow dietary advice. “There’s no reason to think now that if protein is all the rage and people are saying, ‘Eat more protein,’ that you’re not going to start seeing ice cream with protein powder and cookies with protein powder.”
When asked about the risk of the new guidance feeding into the current trend for promoting highly processed foods as sources of protein, Layman replied, “I think you need to step back and look at the guidelines. What’s the opening words? Eat real food.”
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The post Americans Don’t Need ‘Dramatically’ More Protein, Despite Officials’ Claims appeared first on FactCheck.org.
STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 3, 2026 — Worldwide IT spending is expected to reach $6.15 trillion in 2026, up 10.8% from 2025, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.
“AI infrastructure growth remains rapid despite concerns about an AI bubble, with spending rising across AI‑related hardware and software,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Demand from hyperscale cloud providers continues to drive investment in servers optimized for AI workloads.”
Server spending is projected to accelerate in 2026, growing 36.9% year-over-year. Total data center spending is expected to increase 31.7%, surpassing $650 billion in 2026, up from nearly $500 billion the previous year (see Table 1).
Source: Gartner (February 2026)
Software Spending Shows Second-Highest Growth Potential Despite Lower Revision
Software spending growth for 2026 has been slightly revised downward to 14.7%, from 15.2% for both application and infrastructure software.
“Despite the modest revision, total software spending will remain above $1.4 trillion,” said Lovelock. “Projections for generative AI (GenAI) model spending in 2026 remain unchanged, with growth expected at 80.8%. GenAI models continue to experience strong growth, and their share of the software market is expected to rise by 1.8% in 2026.”
Device Growth Expected to Slow in 2026
Shipments of mobile phones, PCs, and tablets continue to grow steadily. Total spending on devices is projected to reach $836 billion in 2026. However, market-demand constraints will slow growth to 6.1% in 2026.
“This slowdown is largely due to rising memory prices, which are increasing average selling prices and discouraging device replacements,” said Lovelock. “Additionally, higher memory costs are causing shortages in the lower end of the market, where profit margins are thinner. These factors are contributing to more muted growth in device shipments.”
Gartner’s IT spending forecast methodology relies heavily on rigorous analysis of the sales by over a thousand vendors across the entire range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, complemented by secondary research sources, to build a comprehensive database of market size data on which to base its forecast.
The Gartner quarterly IT spending forecast delivers a unique perspective on IT spending across the hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications segments. These reports help Gartner clients understand market opportunities and challenges. The most recent IT spending forecast research is available to Gartner clients in Gartner Market Databook, 4Q25 Update.
More information on the forecast can be found in the complimentary Gartner webinar IT Spending Forecast 4Q25: Navigating GenAI’s Trough of Disillusionment.
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 Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 10.8% in 2026, Totaling $6.15T appeared first on HPCwire.
The cars sat abandoned at the side of the road. Their engines idling, with hazard lights flashing, according to a witness who captured video of the incident on his phone. The occupants of the vehicles had been taken away by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers late last month in what a local immigrant rights group calls “fake traffic stops.” During these encounters, ICE vehicles reportedly employ red and blue flashing lights to mimic those of local law enforcement agencies, duping people into pulling over.
When family members arrived on the scene in Eagle County, Colorado, their loved ones had already been disappeared by federal agents. But what they found inside the vehicles was disturbing: a customized ace of spades playing card — popularly known as a “death card” — that read “ICE Denver Field Office.”
“We are disgusted by ICE’s actions in Eagle County,” Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of that immigrant rights group, Voces Unidas, told The Intercept. “Leaving a racist death card behind after targeting Latino workers is an act of intimidation. This is not about public safety. It is about fear and control. It’s rooted in a very long history of racial violence.”
During the Vietnam War, U.S. troops regularly adorned Vietnamese corpses with “death cards” — either an ace of spades or a custom-printed business card claiming credit for their kills. A 1966 entry in the Congressional Record noted that due to supposed Vietnamese superstitions regarding the ace of spades, “the U.S. Playing Card Co. had been furnishing thousands of these cards free to U.S. servicemen in Vietnam who requested them.”
Official U.S. military film footage, for example, shows ace of spades “death cards” being placed in the mouths of dead Vietnamese people in South Vietnam’s Quảng Ngãi province by members of the 25th Infantry Division. Similarly, Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry of the 198th Light Infantry Brigade left their victims with a customized ace of spades sporting the unit’s nickname “Gunfighters,” a skull and crossbones, and the phrase “dealers of death.” Helicopter pilots also occasionally dropped custom calling cards from their gunships. One particular card read: “Congratulations. You have been killed through courtesy of the 361st. Yours truly, Pink Panther.” The other side proclaimed, “The Lord giveth and the 20mm [cannon] taketh away. Killing is our business and business is good.”
The cards found in Eagle County harken back to this brutal heritage. The black and white 4×6-inch cards look like an ace of spades with an “A” over a spade in the top left and bottom right corners. A larger ornate black and white spade dominates the center of the card. Above it reads “ICE Denver Field Office.” Below it is the address and phone number of the ICE detention facility in nearby Aurora.
Sánchez said his organization took possession of identical cards found in two separate vehicles by two different families. “These were not from a doctored deck of cards. These were designed with this legacy in mind. They were printed on some sort of stock paper and cut in the dimensions of a card,” he explained. Basic templates for ace of spaces playing cards are readily available as clip art for purchase online.
A DHS spokesperson told local NBC affiliate 9News that ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility will “conduct a thorough investigation and will take appropriate and swift action.” ICE’s Denver Field Office did not respond to questions posed by The Intercept about the office’s use of the cards, the meaning behind them, and its agents’ tactics.
“You realize — of course — that in Spades, the ace of spades is the trump card,” said a federal official of the Bridge-like card game, alluding to the possibility that the death card is also an homage to President Donald Trump. That official, who spoke to The Intercept on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the press continued: “These guys are not too subtle, to be honest.”
Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., recently took to the Senate floor to denounce the use of the malicious ICE calling cards. “They found ‘death cards’ [left in] the cars of their family members who were taken away by ICE agents,” he said. “These cards … have a history of being used by white supremacist groups to intimidate people of color. ‘Death cards’ is what they call them.”
Sánchez expressed worry that similar acts of intimidation are happening elsewhere but may not be reported, noting that while Voces Unidas became aware of the death cards in the course of their work, investigating such incidents is not a core focus of his organization, which provides legal assistance to immigrants.
“When people call us, they call us to get an attorney out to them at a detention center,” Sánchez explained. “In the process, we sometimes hear about these details. But it isn’t a priority. Our job is not to investigate cards. Our job is to provide legal aid.” He noted that the community served by Voces Unidas in the western slope of rural Colorado does not trust local law enforcement officers, elected officials, or mainstream human rights groups. “They’re calling organizations that they trust. And unless those trusted organizations are doing civil rights reporting or are going in-depth in providing emergency assistance, it’s very difficult to find out the details of such incidents,” he explained. “So I would be surprised if we’re the only community where this has happened. We just might not know it.”
Neither ICE nor its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, returned a request for comment about the use of the death cards in Colorado or elsewhere in the U.S.
This isn’t the first time that immigration agents have used similar imagery during the Trump administration’s ongoing deportation campaign. This summer, for example, a Border Patrol agent taking part in immigration raids in Chicago wore the image of a skull with a spade on its forehead affixed to his helmet below another unidentified but apparently unofficial patch. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment.
Recently, The Intercept published a guide to official and unofficial patches worn by immigration agents. These included a shoulder patch worn by personnel from the St. Paul, Minnesota Field Office, where Jonathan Ross — the ICE agent who shot Renee Good — works. The St. Paul office’s Special Response Team patch was spotted on the camouflage uniform of a masked ICE officer during a raid of a Minneapolis Mexican restaurant last year. The circular patch depicts a bearded Viking skull over an eight-prong wayfinder or magical stave — a Nordic image called a “Vegvisir.” The symbol has sometimes been co-opted by far-right extremists.
Another ICE officer in Minnesota was spotted wearing a patch reading “DEPLORABLE,” a term some devotees of then-candidate Donald Trump adopted in 2016 after Hillary Clinton said half of his supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables,” since they were “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, [and] Islamophobic.”
ICE and DHS failed to respond to repeated requests for comment about these patches.
The ace card has a long and macabre history. A British tax on playing cards, which specifically required purchasing aces of spades from the stamp office, resulted in the hanging of a serial forger of the “death card” in 1805. Legend has it that “Wild Bill” Hickok held the Dead Man’s Hand — aces and eights, including the ace of spades — when he was gunned down in Deadwood in Dakota Territory in 1876. In 1931, murdered Mafia boss Giuseppe Masseria was photographed with the ace of spades clutched in his hand. By that time, it was firmly entrenched in culture as the “death card.”
The U.S. use of death cards in Vietnam was immortalized in the 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” in a scene in which Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall, places unit-branded playing cards, reading “DEATH FROM ABOVE,” on the bodies of dead Vietnamese people. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of the Iraqi government. President Saddam Hussein, who was eventually captured and executed, was the ace of spades.
Last year, the official Instagram account of Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector used the 1980 Motörhead song “The Ace of Spades” as the soundtrack of a video of its canines practicing attacks on people. “Our Patrol-K9s are trained to take down violent threats,” reads the accompanying caption.
The post Federal Agents Left Behind “Death Cards” After Capturing Immigrants appeared first on The Intercept.
Immigration officials said agent shot two ‘vicious gang members’ in Portland, but records obtained by the Guardian reveal US prosecutor contradicted claims
Immediately after a US border patrol agent shot two people in Oregon last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the targets were “vicious” gang members connected to a prior shooting and alleged they had “attempted to run over” officers with their vehicle.
In the weeks since, key parts of the federal government’s narrative have fallen apart.
Continue reading...The US president’s celebration of the 1847 conquest draws fury from Mexican leaders over ‘imperialist tone’
A message from Donald Trump celebrating the 19th-century US invasion of its southern neighbour – and the subsequent loss of more than half its territory – has touched a historical nerve in Mexico, with some seeing it as a veiled threat for future incursions.
Reacting to the US president’s statement, which described the invasion as “a legendary victory”, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said during her morning news conference on Tuesday: “We must always defend our sovereignty.”
Continue reading...Starting March 1, the SBA will no longer guarantee loans for small businesses owned by foreign nationals, including green card holders.
Officials said the aircraft was “acting aggressively” when it approached the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is in the Middle East amid tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak signed the check 50 years ago, just weeks before Apple was founded.
The New Mexico Department of Health said officials believe the baby contracted listeria after their mother drank raw milk during pregnancy.
The massive merger is part of a plan to power "space-based AI," according to Musk.
While last year's Pixel 9A went on sale in April, the latest in Google's cheaper A series may be coming much sooner.
The Democratic members of a U.S. House committee have released the findings of a report examining last month's fatal shootings in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers.
Hillary Clinton will appear for a deposition on Feb. 26, while former President Bill Clinton will appear on Feb. 27, according to the House Oversight Committee.
U.S. Central Command said the drone "aggressively" approached the USS Abraham Lincoln as it was crossing through the Arabian Sea.
The seizure was announced on the same day that Colombian President Gustavo Petro met with President Trump at the White House.
Here are some highly rated films to check out, plus a look at what's new in February.
Files released by US apparently show Mandelson sending Epstein market-sensitive information while serving as business secretary
The Department for Work and Pensions has named 12 disability experts with “lived experience of disability or long-term health conditions” who will sit on the steering group of the review looking at the future of the personal independence payment (Pip), a disability benefit. Stephen Timms, the minister leading the review, says:
Disabled people deserve a system that truly supports them to live with independence and dignity, and that fairly reflects the reality of their lives today.
That’s why we’re putting disabled people at the heart of this review – ensuring their voices shape the changes that will help them achieve better health, greater independence, and access to the right support when they need it.
* Could we see a crunch point as soon as tomorrow over Mandelson?
* Tories have an opposition day debate - could they force a vote on Mandelson vetting disclosure. Shadow cabinet sources tell me they’re thinking about it
Continue reading...  | Need some help, just started happening last night when on a ride. I typically don’t have my headlight on because I like to be incognito so the issue could have started earlier. Any recommendations on what it could be and am I safe to ride it? [link] [comments] |
Cult classics and romantic comedies abound this month, and you can watch them all for free.
The Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC celebrated the birth of a baby Asian elephant on Monday, its first in nearly 25 years. The female calf was born to her 12-year-old mother Nhi Linh and 44-year-old father Spike
Continue reading...  | I inherited some belongings from a friend who moved out of the country, including this one wheel. I am trying to sell it on his behalf but I’m not sure what it is worth or how to assess the condition/mileage. Any recommendations on where to sell or what a reasonable price would be? [link] [comments] |
ClickOnThis writes: NASA has delayed the Artemis II launch to March of this year, after a wet dress-rehearsal uncovered a hydrogen leak. From the NASA article: During tanking, engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid hydrogen leak in an interface used to route the cryogenic propellant into the rocket's core stage, putting them behind in the countdown. Attempts to resolve the issue involved stopping the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage, allowing the interface to warm up for the seals to reseat, and adjusting the flow of the propellant. Teams successfully filled all tanks in both the core stage and interim cryogenic propulsion stage before a team of five was sent to the launch pad to finish Orion closeout operations. Engineers conducted a first run at terminal countdown operations during the test, counting down to approximately 5 minutes left in the countdown, before the ground launch sequencer automatically stopped the countdown due to a spike in the liquid hydrogen leak rate.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen on Saturday night and is believed to have been taken against her will
Officials in Arizona said on Tuesday afternoon they were no closer to finding the missing mother of Savannah Guthrie, the Today show host, three days after the octogenarian disappeared from her Tucson home – which detectives are treating as “a crime scene”.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen on Saturday night and is believed to have been taken against her will, Chris Nanos, the Pima county sheriff, said. Media reports on Tuesday said blood was found at the residence, and there were signs of forced entry.
Continue reading...Facility unites Laboratory’s quantum computing efforts under one roof
Feb. 3, 2026 — Los Alamos National Laboratory has formed the Center for Quantum Computing, which will bring together the Lab’s diverse quantum computing research capabilities. Headquartered in downtown Los Alamos, the Center for Quantum Computing will consolidate the Laboratory’s expertise in national security applications, quantum algorithms, quantum computer science and workforce development in a shared research space.
Aerial images of LANL and surrounding areas, 2019.
“This new center of excellence will bring together the Laboratory’s quantum computing research capabilities that support Department of Energy, Defense and New Mexico state initiatives to achieve a critical mass of expertise greater than the individual parts,” said Mark Chadwick, associate Laboratory director for Simulation, Computing and Theory. “This development highlights our commitment to supporting the next generation of U.S. scientific and technological innovation in quantum computing, especially as the technology can support key Los Alamos missions.”
The center will bring together as many as three dozen quantum researchers from across the Lab. The center’s formation occurs at a pivotal time for the development of quantum computing, as Lab researchers partner with private industry and on a number of state and federal quantum computing initiatives to bring this high-priority technology closer to fruition. Laboratory researchers may include those working with the DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, the DOE’s Quantum Science Center, the National Nuclear Security Administration Advanced Simulation and Computing program’s Beyond Moore’s Law project, and multiple Laboratory Directed Research and Development projects.
The center will also host the Quantum Computing Summer School, a 10-week fellowship program that connects quantum-interested undergraduate and graduate students with the theoretical foundations of quantum computation and the programming of commercial quantum computers. The Quantum Computing Summer School enrolls up to 25 students per year.
“I am thrilled to see these quantum computing teams coming together under one roof,” said Carleton Coffrin, quantum science coordinator for the Laboratory. “Each team is arguably world-leading in their specific domain expertise. An environment that fosters further collaboration and united effort will no doubt help our quantum computing teams achieve amazing things.”
Source: LANL
The post Los Alamos Forms Quantum Computing-Focused Research Center appeared first on HPCwire.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 3, 2026 — MinIO today announced the general availability of MinIO AIStor Tables. By unifying Tables and Objects in a single high-performance and Iceberg-native data store, AIStor eliminates structured and unstructured data silos to elegantly power any analytics, AI, and agentic workload at enterprise scale. With AIStor Tables, MinIO is demonstrating Open Table Format (OTF) leadership and is the first in the industry to build the full Apache Iceberg V3 Catalog REST API directly into the data store. The general availability of AIStor Tables reflects MinIO’s ability to commit and deliver innovation for customers, building on the September 2025 AIStor tech preview. AIStor Tables is now available globally and can be deployed across on-premises, private, sovereign, and hybrid environments.
MinIO AIStor Tables unifies tables and objects in a single enterprise data store built for agentic AI. By eliminating the silos between databases and object storage, AI agents can analyze structured and unstructured data together, operating on complete, up-to-date enterprise data at massive scale and performance.
MinIO’s integration of Apache Iceberg V3 API into AIStor marks a fundamental shift in how enterprises may more easily prepare and leverage data for analytics and AI use. With the AIStor Tables capability, Apache Iceberg tables become first-class citizens within AIStor itself—inclusive of Views and Multi-table Transactions. This ensures customers can consistently and securely store and query across more of their data ecosystem faster and more efficiently, and execute atomic multi-table transactions with simpler, industry-compliant catalog. Unlike AWS S3 Tables, MinIO AIStor Tables is included natively in AIStor—helping customers reduce list-price storage costs by up to 40%.
“Analytics and AI infrastructures are no longer defined by compute alone. The data layer now determines how much enterprise AI value can actually be realized,” said AB Periasamy, co-founder and CEO of MinIO. “When structured and unstructured data are unified, AI systems can learn more, reason better, and deliver greater impact. Only an object-native architecture like MinIO AIStor can make that data fast, fluid, and ready for AI at scale. With AIStor Tables, we bring enterprise data together in a high performance data store that feeds analytics and AI systems directly.”
The High Performance Analytics and AI Data Store Where All Data Lives Together
AIStor’s Tables feature is an on-prem and hybrid-capable breakthrough for enterprises building modern data intelligence stacks. Tabular data and object data coexist within a single data plane and security model, scaling seamlessly from small datasets to exabyte-scale environments. This architecture allows enterprises to treat all enterprise data as AI data, increasing its value when analytics, data science, and AI workloads operate on the same authoritative source.
AIStor Tables complements up-stack compute across warehouse, lake, and lakehouse query engines, as well as emerging AI agents. Enterprises can run analytics, data science, and AI workloads directly on the same data with predictable performance, consistent governance, and cost efficiency, regardless of where the infrastructure is deployed.
Object-Native by Design for Highly Performant Enterprise AI
Enterprise AI and analytics workloads demand massive concurrency, predictable latency, and the ability to support mixed workloads at scale. Traditional storage architectures introduce operational complexity and performance constraints that limit how efficiently data can be used across these environments.
MinIO AIStor takes a different approach. Built with a minimalistic, software-centric design, AIStor uses an object-native architecture to maximize flexibility and performance while reducing operational overhead. This design enables seamless scalability across edge, on-premises, private, sovereign, and hybrid deployments. With AIStor Tables, these object-native advantages extend fully to structured data, allowing a single system to support analytics and AI workloads end to end.
The general availability of AIStor Tables follows a highly active tech preview program that attracted strong enterprise interest in unifying enterprise data for AI and analytics. Early adopters validated the need for an object-native approach to tables that simplifies operations while maintaining performance and control.
“By running analytics and AI workload directly on the same data, MinIO AIStor Tables fundamentally simplifies how we build and operate data pipelines,” said Conor Brennan, Managing Director Risk IT at Nomura. “It allows us to move faster, reduce operational complexity, DR recovery process, and treat all our data as first class.”
MinIO AIStor Tables is available today as part of MinIO AIStor. Enterprises can download and deploy directly from min.io.
About MinIO
MinIO is the data foundation for enterprise analytics and AI. Built for exascale performance and limitless scale, MinIO AIStor delivers a secure, sovereign, and AI-ready data store that spans from edge to core to cloud. With rampant adoption across the Fortune 100 and 500, MinIO is redefining how organizations and government agencies store, manage, and mobilize all of their data in the AI era. MinIO is backed by Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures, Dell Technologies, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Intel Capital, Softbank Vision Fund 2 and others.
Source: MinIO
The post MinIO Introduces GA of AIStor Tables, Unifying Enterprise Data for Agentic AI appeared first on HPCwire.
Considering a home purchase this February? Here are three critical questions to consider the answers to first.
President claims idea to ‘nationalize’ elections in 15 states before midterms is to prevent rare noncitizen voting
Donald Trump suggested on a conservative podcast released on Monday that Republican state officials “take over” and “nationalize” elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office.
Trump framed the issue as a means to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. Claims that noncitizens are voting in numbers that can affect an election are a lie. But it raises concerns about potential efforts by the president to rig the November midterm elections.
Continue reading...Gold prices have surged to historic highs in recent years and experts say the momentum is unlikely to slow anytime soon.
A 609 letter can help you challenge credit report errors, but it's not a magic fix for your debt. Here's why.
Exclusive: Thames Valley police says it will review allegation that Epstein trafficked woman to UK to have sex with Andrew at Royal Lodge
British police are to review fresh allegations that Jeffrey Epstein provided Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with a woman to have sex with at the Royal Lodge in 2010.
The woman has claimed she spent the night at the then prince’s residence in Windsor, her US lawyer, Brad Edwards, said after the allegations surfaced over the weekend. The woman, who is not British, was in her 20s at the time, and was later given a tour of Buckingham Palace, it is further alleged.
Continue reading...Far-right leader was barred for five years after being found guilty of extensive fake jobs scam at European parliament
French state prosecutors have asked appeal court judges to maintain a five-year election ban on the far-right leader Marine Le Pen for embezzlement of European parliament funds in a fake jobs scandal.
If the judges decide to grant the request, Le Pen would probably not be able to run in France’s 2027 presidential election.
Continue reading...Linda Stevenson found unresponsive on 28 December after police responded to domestic dispute
The ex-husband of former US first lady Jill Biden has been arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, officials said on Tuesday.
William Stevenson, 77, was taken into custody on Monday and is facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Linda Stevenson, according to a grand jury indictment filed in Delaware.
Continue reading...Academic says risk factor is not sexual orientation but society’s treatment of sexual minority people
Life expectancy for people who identify as gay, bisexual or another sexual orientation in England and Wales was approximately a year lower than their heterosexual counterparts, according to the first analysis of its kind by the Office for National Statistics.
The life expectancy for men who identified as LGB+ was 1.2 years lower than men who identified as straight, at 59.4 years and 60.7 years respectively.
Continue reading...In 2010 then business secretary contacted Jes Staley, then at JP Morgan, about funding for £700m listing on London Stock Exchange
Jeffrey Epstein described Peter Mandelson as “devious” after lobbying a bank to underwrite a mining project launched by their mutual friend Nat Rothschild, emails included in the latest tranche of Epstein files suggest.
In April 2010, the then business secretary appears to have contacted banker Jes Staley, then at JP Morgan, from his personal email account in what appears to be an attempt to secure funding for Rothschild, Mandelson’s longtime friend.
Continue reading...Epstein files appear to show then business secretary passing market sensitive information to child sex offender
• UK politics live – latest updates
The Metropolitan police have formally launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Peter Mandelson leaked Downing Street emails and market sensitive information to the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Documents from the Epstein files released in recent days appeared to show the then business secretary sent confidential details of internal discussions to the late financier in the aftermath of the financial crash.
Continue reading...  | Taking apart an older pint to turn it into a pint X and noticed the gasket was not in the groove and pinched and there was a fair amount of dust inside. I’m the first owner and have never taken it apart before. Nothing too concerning as I already ordered new gasket material before hand just thought this was interesting. [link] [comments] |
Alphabet is plotting to dramatically expand its presence in India [non-paywalled source], with the possibility of taking millions of square feet in new office space in Bangalore, India's tech hub. From a report: Google's parent company has leased one office tower and purchased options on two others in Alembic City, a development in the Whitefield tech corridor, totaling 2.4 million square feet, according to people familiar with the deal. The first tower is expected to open to employees in the coming months, while construction on the remaining two is set to conclude next year. Options in the real estate industry give would-be tenants the exclusive right to rent, or in some cases buy, a property at a predetermined price within a specific time frame. It's also possible Alphabet will not exercise the option to use the additional towers. If it does take all of the space, the complex could accommodate as many as 20,000 additional staff, which could more than double the company's footprint in India, said the people, asking not to be identified because the plans aren't public. Alphabet currently employs around 14,000 in the country, out of a global workforce of roughly 190,000. [...] US President Donald Trump's visa restrictions have made it harder to bring foreign talent to America, prompting some companies to recruit more staff overseas. India has become an increasingly important place for US companies to hire, particularly in the race to dominate artificial intelligence.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Prosecutors’ announcement comes amid a hardening of European attitudes to social media firms
Prosecutors have raided the French headquarters of Elon Musk’s social media platform X and summoned the tech billionaire and the company’s former chief executive for questioning as part of an investigation into alleged cybercrime.
“A search is under way by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office, the national police cyber unit and Europol,” the Paris prosecutors’ office said in a post on X on Tuesday, adding that it would no longer be publishing on the network.
Continue reading...The brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's most vocal accusers, are speaking out about the Justice Department's handling of the latest Epstein files release.
Moscow launched ‘terrorising’ attack on energy grid as temperatures reached -20C, Ukrainian president says
Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Tuesday of violating an agreement with Donald Trump to hold off from attacking Ukraine’s energy systems in the depths of a freezing winter, as its forces carried out large-scale airstrikes on Kyiv on the eve of three-way talks in Abu Dhabi.
Ukraine’s president said Moscow carried out a massive and “deliberate” attack overnight as temperatures in Kyiv plunged to -20C. It involved a record number of 71 ballistic missiles as well as 450 drones, he said, sent to destroy energy infrastructure.
Continue reading...Nvidia and Dassault Systèmes announced a new Industrial AI partnership today that aims to push the envelope in the use of AI and digital twin technology to accelerate innovation in the fields of biology, materials science, engineering, and manufacturing.
Dassault Systèmes is a digital powerhouse for product engineering. Its 3D computer aided design (CAD) and product lifecycle management (PLM) software is used by 15 million scientists and engineers around thew world. The company’s software benefits from the graphical processing power of Nvidia GPUs, and the two companies have been partners for decades.
Today’s announcement builds on that existing partnership, and commits the two companies to work together to bring new Industrial AI capabilities to market. Notably, the partnership calls for Dassault Systèmes to build new AI factories that combine its digital twin technology with Nvidia AI models. All of this, naturally, will run on Nvidia’s accelerated compute hardware.
Dassault Systèmes hopes to accelerate pharmaceutical research with its new Nvida-based solutions based on AI and virtual twin technology (Image courtesy Dassault Systèmes)
The goal is to combine emerging physical AI technologies with trusted scientific and engineering principles to provide a powerful new way to perform scientific research and engineer products, said Florence Hu-Aubigny, executive vice president of R&D at Dassault Systèmes.
“We are going to bring the factories of the future to life,” Hu said in a press conference on Monday, “and we are going to unlock the full potential of industrial knowledge through new ways of working.”
According to the announcement, to advance biology and materials research, the companies will integrate Nvidia’s BioNeMo models with Dassault Systèmes’ Biovia platform to accelerate the discovery of new molecules and next-generation materials.
In the field of AI-driven design and engineering, the companies are combining Dassault Systèmes “virtual twin” platform Similia with Nvidia CUDA-X and AI physics libraries to improve the accuracy of digital twins. They will also work to integrate Nvidia’s Omniverse physical AI libraries with Dassault’s Delmia software, which is used to automate manufacturing and operations.
Finally, the partners are also working to combine Dassault Systèmes’ 3Dexperience PLM and Industry World Models software with Nvidia Nemotron open models to give joint customers better modeling capabilities.
There’s a subtle but fundamental difference in how existing digital twin technology has been used in the past and how new the new AI-powered digital twin solutions that Dassault Systèmes and Nvidia are developing will work, said Rev Lebaredian, VP of Omniverse and simulation technology at Nvidia.
“The world foundation models that are being trained [currently] are being trained on information about what we observe as consumers of the world outside. So these are largely based on video and observations of the world after things are built,” Lebaredian said during the press conference.
“What’s missing is how the world is built, the information about that inside these world foundation models,” he continued. “These models are fundamentally different. They’re not just about how the world works after we built it, but it has knowledge about how we build the world.”
The new partnership also looks to leverage recent breakthroughs in agentic AI technology to help supercharge the abilities of scientist and engineers by giving them a team of assistants that can process information and augment their knowledge, Lebaredian said.
“By bringing [agentic AI] into the industrial space here, we’re effectively going to make it so anybody who is building and designing anything for the real world can now have a team of assistants that has deep knowledge about how things are built to help them,” he said.
“These kinds of abilities to build virtual twins, to simulate the physical world, have been restricted to a very small number of people who know how to operate and use these tools,” he continued. “The physical AIs, the industrial AI that that we are building with Dassault Systèmes will allow effectively every person eventually to be able to use all of these capabilities, not just the few small number of people in in in these niche areas in our companies.”
The post Nvidia and Dassuault in New ‘Industrial AI’ Pact appeared first on HPCwire.
Feb. 3, 2026 — Berkeley researchers have developed a proven mathematical framework for the compression of large reversible Markov chains—probabilistic models used to describe how systems change over time, such as proteins folding for drug discovery, molecular reactions for materials science, or AI algorithms making decisions—while preserving their output probabilities (likelihoods of events) and spectral properties (key dynamical patterns that govern the system’s long-term behavior).
See full caption below. Credit: Mark Fornace and Michael Lindsey.
While describing the dynamics of ubiquitous physical systems, Markov chains also allow for rich theoretical and computational investigation. By exploiting the special mathematical structure behind these dynamics, the researchers’ new theory delivers models that are quicker to compute, equally accurate, and easier to interpret, enabling scientists to efficiently explore and understand complex systems. This advance sets a new benchmark for efficient simulation, opening the door to scientific explorations once thought computationally out of reach.
Markov chains are widely used to model systems that evolve in time with some intrinsic randomness, from the folding of proteins to the spread of disease. But as the number of possible states grows—such as all the shapes a protein might take or all the reaction pathways in a chemical network—these models can become so large that even the most powerful computers struggle to simulate them. Existing simplification methods can speed up computation, but they often distort the system’s essential dynamics, making predictions unreliable. This has limited researchers’ ability to fully explore some of the most complex and important problems in science.
The Berkeley Lab team develops two complementary strategies to shrink large reversible Markov chains while preserving their essential behavior. The first, called projective compression, yields reduced models guaranteed to faithfully mirror the long-time dynamics of the original systems. The second, called structure‑preserving compression, builds a reduced Markov chain that follows the same rules as the original but operates only on a carefully chosen set of key states. Together, both of these approaches capture the system’s critical dynamics in a far more compact form.
To ensure the reduced models remain trustworthy, the team has developed strict and simple accuracy controls. They derived mathematical formulas to measure how closely the compressed version matches the original, relying on heretofore unknown connections between numerical linear algebra, probability theory, and complex analysis. These guarantees extend the applicability of a well-known mathematical technique called the Nyström approximation and use a modern optimization method—known as nuclear maximization—to select the best states to keep in the reduced model. In tests on complex systems, the approach produced models that ran much faster, retained essential dynamics, and were easier to interpret, bringing large-scale simulations within reach.
Co-authors: Mark Fornace and Michael Lindsey
Publication: An Approximation Theory for Markov Chain Compression
Image caption: Top: This diagram shows a mathematical path (blue arrows) through which researchers analyze how a system changes over time. The circles represent key numbers describing the system’s dynamics. The orange and green segments represent parts of the calculation that, in the limit, make no difference—allowing scientists to focus on the essential features of the system, for faster and just as accurate results.
Bottom: This illustration shows how a random process—like protein folding or a sequence of chemical reactions—can be broken down into repeating loops called cycles. Each colored mark along the line represents the process of visiting particular kinds of states. The red boxes highlight cycles where the process returns to a group of important states, while the blue boxes show a more specific kind of cycle returning to a single state. By mathematically analyzing these cycles, researchers can simplify and speed up complex simulations—while preserving what matters most about the system’s behavior.
About Computing Sciences at Berkeley Lab
High performance computing plays a critical role in scientific discovery. Researchers increasingly rely on advances in computer science, mathematics, computational science, data science, and large-scale computing and networking to increase our understanding of ourselves, our planet, and our universe. Berkeley Lab’s Computing Sciences Area researches, develops, and deploys new foundations, tools, and technologies to meet these needs and to advance research across a broad range of scientific disciplines.
Source: Linda Vu, Berkeley Lab
The post Berkeley Lab Advances Efficient Simulation with Markov Chain Compression Framework appeared first on HPCwire.
Charles "Sonny" Burton faces execution in Alabama for his role in a 1991 robbery in which a man was fatally shot, even though Burton did not fire the gun or witness the killing.
A day before Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. teams meet to talk peace, Putin's forces pounded Ukraine's energy infrastructure with dozens of drones and missiles.
Through President Donald Trump’s first full 10 months in office, the cumulative U.S. trade deficit in goods and services was down 3.9% from the same period in 2024. His claim that he has “slashed our trade deficit by 77%” appears to compare the monthly trade deficit in January 2025 to the deficit nine months later in October.
Economic experts told us that Trump’s method is not the preferable way to measure whether the overall trade imbalance with international trading partners is up or down.
“[L]ooking at changes from one month to another is not a reliable way to assess whether the trade deficit is rising or falling in any meaningful sense,” Kyle Handley, a professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, wrote in an email to us.
He said “[m]onthly trade balance figures are extremely volatile” and “reflect timing of shipments, energy prices, seasonal adjustment noise, and one-off transactions.” He suggested instead looking at trade trends over several months or, when possible, a full year.
On multiple occasions, however, Trump has claimed to have already reduced the trade deficit by a large amount based on just two months of data.
“We had the largest trade deficit in world history” under former President Joe Biden, “but in one year I’ve slashed our gaping trade deficit by a staggering 77%,” Trump said in Jan. 27 remarks in Iowa, for example.
In a speech at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 21, Trump made it more clear that he was comparing the trade deficit in one month to another, saying, “In one year, I slashed our monthly trade deficit by a staggering 77% — and all of this with no inflation, something everyone said could not be done.” The president highlighted the drop in the monthly trade deficit again in a Jan. 30 Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which he attributed the “astonishing” decrease to “the help of tariffs.”
He even predicted in a Jan. 20 White House press conference: “Next year we won’t have a trade deficit.”
To be clear, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the annual inflation rate has declined from 3% to 2.7% since Trump has been back in office, but it’s not at 0%. So prices are still increasing, just at a slower pace. His emphasis on the monthly trade deficit could also mislead people hearing or reading his remarks.
“The monthly trade balance has been unusually volatile this year, so I would be cautious about drawing conclusions from the data so far,” Robert Johnson, an international economist and associate economics professor at the University of Notre Dame, told us in an email.
In October, U.S. imports of goods and services exceeded exports by about $29.2 billion, the lowest one-month gap in trade since 2009, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The October figure was down roughly 77.3% from the $128.8 billion deficit in trade in January last year. That appears to be how Trump calculated the percentage, although the White House did not confirm that when we asked.
But Johnson said that deficits were “unusually large” in early 2025, between roughly $120 billion and $136 billion in January, February and March, because U.S. importers stocked up on goods to build their inventories before various tariffs on imported products that Trump had said he planned to implement went into effect. “Then, after the tariffs were put in place, imports fell back to normal,” producing smaller monthly deficits in later months.
“Whether this is a permanent change, or simply reflecting the drawdown in inventories, is too soon to tell,” Johnson said.
“If you just take the number from a month and you compare it to a number from another month, then you’re just introducing a lot of all of the noise that’s in the monthly data,” Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told us in an interview.
When the monthly trade deficit in goods and services dipped to a 16-year low in October, some economists attributed the decline mostly to an increase in U.S. exports of gold and a decrease in imports of pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, BEA data released on Jan. 29 show that the monthly deficit nearly doubled to $56.8 billion in November, which would be a 55.9% drop from January – and would make the 77% figure outdated.
“Large month-to-month swings are common, even in periods with no underlying structural change in trade policy or economic conditions,” Handley, at UC San Diego, said. “For that reason, economists almost never evaluate claims about the ‘trade deficit’ based on comparisons between two individual months.”
He listed other measurements that better assess whether the trade deficit is rising or falling, such as comparing cumulative deficits within a year or year-to-date totals compared with the same period in prior years.
“On those measures, the claim that the deficit fell sharply in 2025 does not hold up,” he said.
As we noted, when totaling the trade deficit in each of Trump’s first full 10 months in office in 2025, from February to November, the most recent data available, the gap between imports and exports was $710.7 billion – a 3.9% decline from the same period in 2024. On the other hand, the trade deficit including all months from January to November last year was $839.5 billion – up 4.1% from the same 11 months in 2024.
Trump didn’t take office until Jan. 20, but to reemphasize Johnson’s point, there was a large trade deficit in the first quarter of 2025 as importers rushed to acquire goods ahead of Trump’s proposed tariffs.
Trade data for December, and thus all of 2025, should be published on Feb. 19, according to the Census Bureau’s release schedule. The largest annual U.S. trade deficit in goods and services on record was about $923.7 billion in 2022, during the Biden administration, according to BEA data going back to 1960. (The Census Bureau and BEA jointly provide this data.)
Although Trump may view a trade deficit as something negative, many economists don’t see it that way.
“A trade deficit sounds bad, but it is neither good nor bad,” Tarek Alexander Hassan, a professor of economics at Boston University, wrote in an April 2025 opinion post. “It doesn’t mean the US is losing money. It simply means foreigners are sending the US more goods than the US is sending them.”
The experts we consulted also told us that the trade deficit is unlikely to be eliminated “next year,” as Trump claimed.
“It is still the case that the U.S. is not self-sufficient in everything,” de Bolle, at PIIE, said. “It may be able to export a lot, but it still imports way more than it exports.”
She said on a macroeconomic level, the U.S. consumes more than it saves, and “that is going to translate into a trade deficit most of the time, not a trade surplus.”
Handley said to proceed “very cautiously” with predictions that the trade deficit will end due to tariffs, as Trump suggested in his Jan. 20 White House remarks.
“Trade deficits reflect saving and investment balances, exchange rates, and macroeconomic conditions, not just tariffs,” Handley said, adding that tariffs could reduce the exports of U.S. manufacturing firms by increasing the cost of goods imported for production, “and thus the deficit will not improve.”
He noted that most of the tariffs that Trump imposed in 2018 and 2019, during his first presidential term, applied to goods that American manufacturers imported for production purposes. “When their inputs got more expensive, their exports slowed down as well,” he said. “We are seeing those same dynamics right now.”
The last time that the U.S. did not have an annual trade deficit in goods and services was 1975. That year, there was a trade surplus of $12.4 billion, according to BEA records.
There is also the issue of whether all of Trump’s second-term tariffs will continue as implemented.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule this year on the legality of some Trump tariff policies. That will determine whether the tariffs remain in place in their current form.
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The post Trump’s Selective Comparison Overstates Trade Deficit Decline appeared first on FactCheck.org.
Apparent leak by Peter Mandelson gave advance notice of Gordon Brown’s resignation and €500bn eurozone deal
On a brisk Monday evening in May 2010, Gordon Brown stood on the steps of Downing Street and delivered one of the most dramatic announcements of the New Labour era: his resignation as UK prime minister.
The decision came days after a nail-biting general election that left no single party with a clear run at No 10. Brown kept his decision, which followed days of political wrangling, to a tight inner circle. Nick Clegg, who would go on to serve as deputy prime minister of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, was formally told of Brown’s resignation only 10 minutes before the announcement.
Continue reading...The man whom Jill Biden divorced for the eventual 46th President of the United States is now in jail on murder charges.
Apple might release its long-rumored first foldable phone in 2026, and the rumors continue to reveal potential hardware capabilities.
Mark Rutte and Volodymyr Zelenskyy hold joint press conference as air alert sirens blare across Kyiv
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kajas Kallas, has been speaking as part of a panel on Arctic security. Kallas was asked if the EU was “too cautious” in taking action because of its dependence on the US for security, which has been exposed amid Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Trump administration’s threats on Greenland and erratic behaviour towards its longstanding western allies. Kallas, who has said Nato must “become more European” to maintain its strength, responded:
Of course, we are cautions because there is a lot at stake. There is a full-scale war going on the European continent and there are threats coming from economic coercion, big challenges from China that is influencing our economies.
If it is influencing our economies, it is influencing jobs and people’s salaries and then it is creating polarisation within our societies and more instability, so it is all very much interlinked.
Continue reading...
Days before the federal government falsely claimed cellphone-brandishing nurse Alex Pretti was a terrorist plotting a “massacre,” a jury in Chicago acquitted Juan Espinoza Martinez on bogus charges of a murder-for-hire plot against then-Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino. A recently unsealed court transcript shows the government used that case to bolster its claims about the dangers of “doxing” Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. That pretext was used to convince a judge to obscure an ICE agent’s face during a public court proceeding when his name, face, employment, and location were publicly listed on his LinkedIn page.
As with its baseless claims about Pretti, the government presented no evidence supporting its proclamations that Martinez, a union carpenter, was a higher-up in the Latin Kings gang with the ability or intent to put out hits on Bovino or other immigration agents. The case against him hinged on ambiguous Snapchat messages that Martinez’s attorney called “neighborhood gossip.” But the Department of Homeland Security brought its allegations to the public long before it could be tested in court, repeating claims of bounties up to $50,000.
The transcript from a federal court in Chicago, which was recently released pursuant to a motion filed by law firm Mandell PC on behalf of local media outlets, shows how far the hysteria has gone. During an October 20, 2025, hearing in a case challenging immigration enforcement tactics, government lawyers asked for a private conference with Judge Sara Ellis to request the courtroom sketch artist not draw ICE Deputy Field Office Director Shawn Byers.
Government attorneys claimed that, in light of the alleged “bounties” on the heads of ICE agents, Byers had taken extensive precautions to disconnect his identity from his image online to protect himself. When the judge asked for details on the bounties, Department of Justice attorney Samuel Holt responded, “I don’t have all the details. My understanding is that I — I think it was a gang bounty.”
The judge cleared the courtroom and called Byers in to provide the details about the “threat.” Byers first claimed there was a $50,000 “bounty issued by the cartels on me,” along with $10,000 “for all my family members.” He also said the “credible threat” was out against “all senior ICE officials here in Chicago,” where Byers said he was the most senior ICE agent on the ground. Asked when he learned about the bounty, Byer said “It’s been about a week or so I believe.” Martinez’s arrest was announced two weeks earlier, on October 6; no other bounties were publicly reported in the interim. When the judge asked whether these threats were “directed specifically” at him, Byers seemed to walk his claims back, replying, “Well, all senior ICE officials. So it’s not just me.”
Byers also said he’d taken action to “limit social media exposure” and “reduce the footprint” to avoid his face being connected with his name and that even his appearance in court required “additional precautions.”
“You know, my name is out there. I’ve been doxed as — as recently as over the weekend,” Byers told the judge, according to the court transcript. “So my name is out there, but my name has not been connected to my face yet, so that’s what I’m trying to prevent from happening.”
Despite objections from opposing counsel that court proceedings (and courtroom sketches) should be public, the judge ordered the sketch artist to blur Byers’s facial features, concealing his identity. Ellis’s compromise, while likely intended as a good-faith effort to balance safety and transparency, nonetheless validated the notion that immigration agents operate under extreme risk, justifying extraordinary protective measures by our legal system. It also effectively brought the masks immigration agents wear on the street into the courtroom.
The judge’s compromise validated the notion that immigration agents operate under extreme risk, justifying extraordinary protective measures by our legal system.
Then, while Byers and other witnesses testified, someone apparently Googled his name and informed the judge that a simple search turned up his LinkedIn profile, complete with his photo, his exact job title, and his location in Chicago.
The judge called the parties back into closed session (it’s unclear why, given that the false reason for the earlier private sidebar had been exposed).
“I got to say, you know, I feel slightly foolish in trying to protect Mr. Byers when, you know, a simple Google search pulls up his name and his picture,” she said, according to the transcript. She also encouraged the attorney to advise the ICE deputy director that his name and photograph were readily available online. “If I could find his picture in two seconds with his name, it just looks a little silly to be asking the courtroom sketch artist to blur his features.” Being recognized is “the cost of being a public servant,” she continued.
The judge also said moving forward, she would “just be more hesitant to kind of obscure somebody’s identity,” but did not say she’d be entering any actual sanctions for the half-baked rationale used to convince her to censor the public record.
After some back and forth with the DOJ attorneys about whether Byers’s LinkedIn profile contained his actual picture, Ellis confirmed the profile for “Shawn B.” did when viewed by someone logged into LinkedIn. (A LinkedIn search for “Shawn Byers ICE” brings up just one profile for a Shawn B., who is listed as currently working as Deputy Field Office Director for ICE in Chicago. It also notes he is a 22-year veteran of the department and contains reposts about ICE removals in Chicago and a hiring notice for GEO Group, the for-profit prison conglomerate contracted with ICE, but no longer contains any profile picture.)
Since Byers’s manufactured emergency obviously wasn’t based on real concerns for his safety, what was the point of the whole sideshow? It was likely intended to feed the narrative that immigration agents face such grave threats that identifying them — in addition to filming their operations, following them to do so, tracking and communicating about their locations and other clearly constitutionally protected conduct — needs to be restrained. It’s the same fiction that primes segments of the American public to be receptive to claims that people like Pretti and Renee Good were threatening officers’ lives to justify their killings.
In January, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem scolded CBS News’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan for naming Jonathan Ross, the immigration agent who shot and killed Good in Minneapolis. She accused Brennan of “continu[ing] to dox law enforcement,” despite acknowledging that Ross’s name was already very public, citing unspecified attacks against his family. It’s far from the first time Noem and others have claimed that naming or videotaping law enforcement officers is improper, illegal, or even intended to foment violence.
These efforts to chill the work of reporters and ICE watchers have spread beyond immigration enforcement, as we saw from last month’s subpoena by the House Oversight Committee of journalist Seth Harp, which was accompanied by a criminal referral to the Department of Justice by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida. Harp was also accused of “doxing” for naming a Delta Force commander involved in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an allegation backed up by unsubstantiated claims that the commander’s life was at risk.
The Byers ordeal is an unusually clear example of the current playbook being used to shield administration officials and their foot soldiers from accountability under the guise of protecting public officials’ safety.
The notion that naming public officials at the center of major news stories, who very often conceal their identities while carrying out unprecedented law enforcement operations on the streets of our cities, or that simply drawing their faces for the court record is “doxing” or otherwise improper, is a complete Trump administration fabrication. Still, the government is repeating it often enough that it’s warping the public’s perception of journalism. The Byers ordeal is an unusually clear example of the current playbook being used to shield administration officials and their foot soldiers from accountability under the guise of protecting public officials’ safety.
The next time this happens in court, the judge needs to demand specifics, with evidence, about whatever nebulous alleged plots or threats the government is pushing to justify secrecy. With comprehensive studies demonstrating their constant misrepresentations, nothing government lawyers say can be taken at face value. And when it happens outside the courthouse, the media needs to be similarly skeptical and not take the “threats” narrative at face value from an administration with a long, proven track record of misleading the public for its own political ends.
Judges also need to impose significant sanctions on lawyers and witnesses who mislead them, make them pawns in the administration’s anti-transparency objectives, and waste their time. Gently reprimanding them in private doesn’t cut it, especially when these false, alarmist narratives used in court are then being used to justify ICE killings to the public.
The post Judge Censored an ICE Agent’s Face Over “Threats.” His Info Was a Google Search Away. appeared first on The Intercept.
Four economists across Central European University, Bielefeld University and the Kiel Institute have built a general equilibrium model of the open-source software ecosystem and concluded that vibe coding -- the increasingly common practice of letting AI agents select, assemble and modify packages on a developer's behalf -- erodes the very funding mechanism that keeps open-source projects alive. The core problem is a decoupling of usage from engagement. Tailwind CSS's npm downloads have climbed steadily, but its creator says documentation traffic is down about 40% since early 2023 and revenue has dropped close to 80%. Stack Overflow activity fell roughly 25% within six months of ChatGPT's launch. Open-source maintainers monetize through documentation visits, bug reports, and community interaction. AI agents skip all of that. The model finds that feedback loops once responsible for open source's explosive growth now run in reverse. Fewer maintainers can justify sharing code, variety shrinks, and average quality falls -- even as total usage rises. One proposed fix is a "Spotify for open source" model where AI platforms redistribute subscription revenue to maintainers based on package usage. Vibe-coded users need to contribute at least 84% of what direct users generate, or roughly 84% of all revenue must come from sources independent of how users access the software.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Scheduling and financial impasses at Vancouver’s World Cup stadium are leading down a road the league hasn’t traveled in over a decade
On the surface, Vancouver Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster’s press conference last week would have felt familiar to almost any North American sports fan. Once again, a team was agitating for more money or a better stadium. Once again, local governments were at least partially to blame.
Some of his comments, though, felt more alien, and raised a question that seemed unfathomable just a couple of months ago: are the Vancouver Whitecaps about to die?
Continue reading...The top sports streaming services for you depend on your favorite sports. We've analyzed the options, covering everything from the NFL and NBA to soccer and UFC.
AIs are not sentient – but tweaks to their ethical codes can have far-reaching consequences for users
Do you want an AI assistant that gushes about how it “loves humanity” or one that spews sarcasm? How about a political propagandist ready to lie? If so, ChatGPT, Grok and Qwen are at your disposal.
Companies that create AI assistants, from the US to China, are increasingly wrestling with how to mould their characters, and it is no abstract debate. This month Elon Musk’s “maximally truth-seeking” Grok AI caused international outrage when it pumped out millions of sexualised images. In October OpenAI retrained ChatGPT to de-escalate conversations with people in mental health distress after it appeared to encourage a 16-year-old to take his own life.
Continue reading...A raft of online videos show parents serving up dinner without a single plate in sight, to the amazement of their families
Name: Dump dinners.
Age: Horribly new.
Continue reading...CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Feb. 3, 2026 — EPB recently launched a new Quantum Computing Fellowship to provide valuable training and real-world experience, equipping participants to develop quantum solutions that benefit EPB customers and our community. The program is designed to build a local quantum-ready workforce and support new, local job creation from the rapidly emerging quantum industry. Eight fellows participate in the program, which provides hands-on experience and quantum-ready skills.
Credit: EPB
“This critical investment in workforce development will prepare a highly skilled workforce to lead the quantum future and keep Chattanooga’s innovation ecosystem on the cutting edge,” said EPB President and CEO-elect Janet Rehberg.
Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03) has long supported EPB’s pursuit of quantum technology advancements, beginning in 2015 with an R&D 100 Award-winning project to use quantum networking to secure the energy grid.
“We appreciate the support of Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, who has championed East Tennessee’s role in advancing quantum technology to shape the future of national security, energy and economic competitiveness,” Rehberg continued. “This grant will support EPB Quantum’s work to develop a next-generation workforce and attract talent to our region.”
Quantum Computing Manager Paul Smith leads the Fellows program. Previously, Smith held leadership roles in technology and innovation at EPB, managing enterprise-scale systems and guiding teams through complex modernization efforts. With varied experience spanning software development, infrastructure optimization, and the adoption of emerging technologies, Smith applies his unique perspective to bridge traditional computing with quantum advancements.
The fellowship was established thanks to a $4 million National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) grant awarded in 2024 to accelerate the research, development, and workforce development of quantum technologies. The fellowship curriculum was developed in partnership with leading quantum platform company IonQ, which will also develop and execute a quantum executive education program and identify potential applications and quantum solutions for use cases that EPB and our community members can leverage. Last year, EPB announced the addition of an IonQ Forte Enterprise Quantum Computer to EPB Quantum Center in downtown Chattanooga.
More from HPCwire
About EPB
Located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, EPB is a nationally recognized energy and communications provider with a mission to enhance quality of life for the people it serves across its 600-square-mile service area. Starting in 2010, EPB gained notice as a national model for building and utilizing its 100% fiber-to-the-home network to deliver cutting-edge services such as the world’s fastest community-wide internet, now with service up to 25 Gig, and the nation’s most advanced automated electric grid. As a pioneer in fiber optic innovation, EPB also launched EPB Quantum to provide access to cutting-edge quantum technology platforms and help innovators bring paradigm-shifting solutions into the real world. With the launch of EPB Quantum Network in 2023 and EPB Quantum Computing (coming in early 2026), EPB Quantum offers the most comprehensive, commercially available quantum technology platform in the U.S.
Source: EPB
The post EPB Awarded $4M Federal Grant to Boost Quantum Workforce Development appeared first on HPCwire.
HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2026 — Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA today announced a long-term strategic partnership to establish a shared industrial architecture for mission-critical artificial intelligence across industries.
Credit: Dassault Systèmes
Combining Dassault Systèmes’ Virtual Twin technologies with NVIDIA AI infrastructure, open models and accelerated software libraries will establish science-validated industry World Models, and new ways of working through skilled virtual companions on the agentic 3DEXPERIENCE platform, that empower professionals with new expertise.
“We are entering an era where artificial intelligence does not just predict or generate, but understands the real world. When AI is grounded in science, physics and validated industrial knowledge, it becomes a force multiplier for human ingenuity,” said Pascal Daloz, CEO of Dassault Systèmes. “Together with NVIDIA, we are building industry World Models that unite Virtual Twins and accelerated computing to help industry design, simulate and operate complex systems in biology, materials science, engineering and manufacturing with confidence. This partnership establishes a new foundation for industrial AI, one that is trustworthy by design and capable of scaling innovation across the generative economy.”
“Physical AI is the next frontier of artificial intelligence, grounded in the laws of the physical world,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Together with Dassault Systèmes, we’re uniting decades of industrial leadership with NVIDIA’s AI and Omniverse platforms to transform how millions of researchers, designers and engineers build the world’s largest industries.”
Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA Partner to Accelerate Every Industry
Dassault Systèmes, with its OUTSCALE brand, is deploying AI factories as part of its sustainable and sovereign cloud strategy. OUTSCALE AI factories will harness the latest NVIDIA AI infrastructure on three continents, bringing additional capabilities to operate AI models in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, while guaranteeing data privacy, intellectual property protection and sovereignty of Dassault Systèmes’ customers.
NVIDIA is adopting Dassault Systèmes model-based systems engineering (MBSE) to design AI factories, starting with the NVIDIA Rubin platform and integrating into the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint for large-scale AI factory deployment.
This infrastructure will power Dassault Systèmes’ industrial Virtual Twins using NVIDIA open models and libraries, unlocking new opportunities across biology, materials science, engineering and manufacturing:
The partnership elevates the existing collaboration between Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA to a shared long-term vision for how industrial AI will be built, validated and deployed at scale, through a unique combination of Dassault Systèmes’ Virtual Twin Factories and NVIDIA’s AI technologies for all industries.
Global Leaders Build the Future of Industry With Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA
“Bel Group is building a sustainable food future through responsible formulation and packaging. Through the NVIDIA-Dassault Systèmes collaboration, we gain the computational power to model and optimize our products at scale-accelerating innovation while delivering on our sustainability commitments,” said Cécile Béliot, CEO of Bel Group.
“To address the growing complexity of modern manufacturing, the industry must move toward fully autonomous and digitally validated production systems,” said Motohiro Yamanishi, President of Industrial Automation at OMRON. “By combining NVIDIA Physical AI frameworks with Dassault Systèmes’ Virtual Twin Factory and OMRON’s automation technologies, manufacturers can move from design to deployment with greater confidence and speed.”
“Lucid’s award-winning engineering and technology continues to set new standards in the automotive industry, and Dassault Systèmes remains a key partner, enabling us to stay at the forefront of vehicle and powertrain engineering,” said Vivek Attaluri, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Lucid. “Agility, speed of innovation and rapid iteration are at the core of our work flows, and our exploration of Virtual Twin AI-based physics, powered by NVIDIA’s open-source physics informed AI models, has the potential to help our teams move from concept to production faster than ever before, without sacrificing predictive accuracy. We look forward to continued collaboration and leveraging these new tools to support Lucid’s future innovations.”
“NIAR empowers the next generation of aircraft. From asset digitization through design and manufacturing creation and validation, Virtual Twin technology introduces unparalleled capabilities and efficiency. Dassault Systèmes’ Virtual Companions for engineering, leveraging the 3DEXPERIENCE agentic platform using NVIDIA Nemotron open models and Dassault Systèmes Industry World Models, accelerate the by-design compliant synthesis of aircraft Virtual Twins. Using the platform to align the Virtual Twin to the means of compliance, reduces certification efforts while preserving sovereignty of the information,“ said Shawn Ehrstein, Director, Emerging Technologies and CAD/CAM, National Institute for Aviation Research, Wichita State University.
More from HPCwire: Nvidia and Dassuault in New ‘Industrial AI’ Pact
About Dassault Systèmes
Dassault Systèmes is a catalyst for human progress. Since 1981, the company has pioneered virtual worlds to improve real life for consumers, patients and citizens. With Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, 370,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, can collaborate, imagine and create sustainable innovations that drive meaningful impact. For more information, visit: www.3ds.com
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in AI and accelerated computing.
Source: Dassault Systèmes
The post Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA Partner to Build Industrial AI Platform Powering Virtual Twins appeared first on HPCwire.
Caden Fine, 17, from Birmingham, Alabama, and two of his teammates were killed when their vehicle collided with a semi-truck in Canada.
Successful shot would have made $1m for charities
Social media users say event was ‘dystopian’
The NHL has received backlash after slashing a donation to cancer research by $800,000 after a missed shot during a charity promotion.
The incident came during Sunday’s game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. Rob Higgins, the athletics CEO of the University of South Florida, was brought on to the ice to attempt a shot through a very small opening in an empty goal. If Higgins, who is a cancer survivor, made the shot the NHL said it would donate $500,000 to cancer charities; if he missed the donation would be $100,000. The event was broadcast live on Sportsnet in Canada and ESPN in the US. Higgins missed what was a very tough shot. He was then given another chance, with a guaranteed donation of $200,000 if he missed, which would increase to $1m if he scored. Higgins missed again.
Continue reading...NASA says it can't try until March at the earliest to send a crewed spacecraft on a flight around the moon and back, due to hydrogen leaks during testing of the Artemis II rocket.
Investigators are combing through the house of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy, in search of clues to the 84-year-old's disappearance.
A U.S.-flagged tanker heading for Bahrain was approached and threatened by Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz, a British maritime security firm says.
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 3, 2026 — FormationQ today announced the launch of a new applied quantum program in collaboration with the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Powered by IonQ—the world’s leading quantum platform company—and its state-of-the-art trapped-ion quantum systems with world-record gate fidelity and all-to-all connectivity, the program will translate cutting-edge quantum research into practical, real-world applications while building an institutional ecosystem for long-term adoption.
The collaboration brings together the Cavendish Laboratory’s scientific leadership and FormationQ’s institutional and operational capabilities. The Cavendish Laboratory provides the scientific foundation, while FormationQ serves as the enabling platform and long-term operator, building the institutional pathways, governance, and continuity required to translate research into sustained real-world deployment. The program will leverage IonQ’s quantum technologies spanning computing, networking, sensing, and security systems. IonQ’s platforms provide participating researchers and teams with access to high-fidelity, scalable quantum hardware, enabling applied experimentation and system development that builds on laboratory demonstrations.
Quantum technologies are increasingly recognized as critical to science, security, medicine, and global systems. Yet despite rapid advances in research, adoption remains constrained by gaps in institutional readiness, business model innovation, workforce capability, and coordination across the broader quantum landscape. This partnership is intended to address those challenges by focusing on building the connective tissue—programmatic and organizational—that allows quantum technologies to move from laboratory discovery into credible, sustained use to address grand societal challenges.
Professor Mete Atatüre, Head of the Cavendish Laboratory, said: “Progress in quantum technologies requires strong collaborations and a constant dialogue between industry and academic research. This initiative, enabled by IonQ’s advanced quantum systems, is a fantastic step in this direction and will help turn our quantum research into practical solutions by bringing the community together.”
“Quantum’s bottleneck isn’t science—it’s the ecosystem,” said Nada Hosking, Founder and CEO of FormationQ. “Adoption demands scalable talent pipelines, interoperable institutions, and shared stewardship for long-term deployment. By uniting the Cavendish Laboratory’s scientific excellence, FormationQ’s operational backbone, and IonQ’s industry-leading quantum technologies, we’re finally constructing the bridges that turn today’s quantum discoveries into tomorrow’s practical revolutions.”
The partnership will launch the Quantum Technologies Accelerated Alignment Initiative, a two-year applied program focused on translating quantum research into real-world solutions through structured application development and institutional integration, while strengthening coordination across the quantum ecosystem. The initiative will concentrate on three areas: enabling reliable use of quantum computing systems beyond the laboratory, building and testing connected quantum technologies for communications and sensing, and preparing industry and society to engage with emerging quantum capabilities. Each area will be led by an academic expert and supported by interdisciplinary research teams, pairing clearly defined challenges with open, collaborative project development to ensure alignment with real-world needs, while contributing to economic growth and societal wellbeing in a responsible manner.
By combining the Cavendish Laboratory’s depth of scientific leadership and the expertise across departments of the University of Cambridge with FormationQ’s operational and institutional approach, the partnership aims to support long-term impact across research translation, workforce readiness, and applied deployment.
About FormationQ
FormationQ is the enablement layer for global quantum adoption. The company builds the institutional pathways and collaborative structures that allow quantum technologies to move from frontier research into real-world use. Working with leading institutions and technology partners, FormationQ operates and sustains programs that support talent development, application formation, and ecosystem coordination in ways that can be governed, trusted, and sustained over time.
About the Cavendish Laboratory
For 150 years, the Cavendish Laboratory has been at the forefront of scientific discovery. Its state-of-the-art facilities are open to students, researchers, and industry partners from across the world. It works at the frontier of experimental and theoretical physics to tackle some of the most monumental challenges of our times, from climate change and sustainability to harnessing the quantum revolution, transforming global healthcare, and understanding the origins of life. The Cavendish Laboratory is a place of pioneering physics, where world-leading research and teaching happens.
Source: FormationQ
The post FormationQ, Cavendish Laboratory Partner on Applied Quantum Initiative Using IonQ Systems appeared first on HPCwire.
YouTube has confirmed that it is blocking background playback -- the ability to keep a video's audio running after minimizing the browser or locking the screen -- for non-Premium users across third-party mobile browsers including Samsung Internet, Brave, Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge. Users began reporting the issue last week, noting that audio would cut out the moment they left the browser, sometimes after a brief "MediaOngoingActivity" notification flashed before media controls disappeared. A Google spokesperson told Android Authority that the platform "updated the experience to ensure consistency," calling background play a Premium-exclusive feature.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Nili Kupfer-Naouri and Rachel Touitou said to be accused of trying to block delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza
A French investigating magistrate has issued summonses to two French-Israeli nationals in relation to “complicity in genocide” over allegations they tried to block the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, French media have reported.
The summonses, which reportedly mark the first time a country has considered the blocking of aid “complicity in genocide”, were issued for Nili Kupfer-Naouri and Rachel Touitou in July, Le Monde and Agence France-Presse reported.
Continue reading...Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate whether Elon Musk’s firms have complied with data protection law
Elon Musk’s X and xAI companies are under formal investigation by the UK’s data protection watchdog after the Grok AI tool produced indecent deepfakes without people’s consent.
The Information Commissioner’s Office is investigating whether the social media platform and its parent broke GDPR, the data protection law.
Continue reading...There are still viable ways to earn a high interest rate on your money this month. Here are three to know now.
Reshona Landfair, known as Jane Doe during R. Kelly's 2022 trial, speaks to "CBS Mornings" for her first TV interview about her new memoir.
A new report from Realtor.com projects that the housing market will shift in a more buyer-friendly direction in 2026.
Exclusive: Trump endorsed national intelligence director’s sweeping review by sending her on Georgia raid last week
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is running her own review into the 2020 election with Donald Trump’s approval, working separately from a justice department investigation even as she joined an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia last week.
Her presence at the raid drew criticism from Democrats and former intelligence officials, who questioned why the country’s top intelligence officer with no domestic law enforcement powers would appear at the scene of an FBI raid.
Continue reading...Silver's dip offers a rare buying opportunity in a high-priced market, and there are ways to get it even lower.
Among the major decisions expected this year from the Supreme Court is a case from Hawaii that would clarify when and where people with gun-ownership permits can possess firearms in publicly accessible private locations.
In 2022, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, a divided 6-3 Court, struck down a New York state law that required a person to prove a special self-protection need to carry a licensed concealed firearm outside their residence or business. In his majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said that consistent with the Court’s precedents, “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
Justice Thomas noted that 43 states have “shall issue” permit laws based on applicants meeting basic objective criteria such as age, background check, and criminal history requirements. New York, six other states, and the District of Columbia have “may issue” requirements that demand proof of a special need beyond basic objective criteria to carry a concealed handgun outside of a home or business.
The Bruen decision also held that precedent showed that carrying arms in “sensitive places” such as legislative assemblies, polling places, and courthouses could be restricted. But any government seeking regulations beyond the objective criteria used in most states needs to prove a tradition of similar restrictions that existed as the basis for new laws.
The Hawaii Case Presents a New Test
In the wake of the Bruen decision, Hawaii passed a new law in 2023, Act 52, that defined how it could regulate the use of concealed carry permits. The new law criminally prohibited a person with a concealed carry permit from bringing a handgun onto private property open to the public unless the property owner consented. Examples of such locations included bars, restaurants serving alcohol, parks, and banks, in addition to the sensitive areas defined in Bruen.
In Wolford v. Lopez, three individuals and the Hawaii Firearms Coalition sued the state of Hawaii. The group alleged that Hawaii’s law conflicted with a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling in Antonyuk v. James (2024), a decision that struck down a state law like the Hawaii ban. The Ninth Circuit upheld most of the Hawaii law. The Supreme Court then accepted the case on Oct. 3, 2025, to consider the split between the two federal courts.
Link: Read the Arguments Transcript
During arguments on Jan. 20, 2026, the majority of the justices questioned the logic behind the Hawaii bans and the property-owned consent provision labeled as a “vampire rule” (based on folklore and the novel Dracula that states someone must invite a vampire into a residence or room for it to enter a property). In most other states, the owner of a concealed gun permit can enter many private properties without informing owners they are carrying a gun legally unless asked.
Chief Justice John Roberts questioned Neal Katyal, who was representing the state of Hawaii, on how rules about property-owner consent presented First Amendment and Second Amendment conflicts. “You said part of the history and tradition is there’s no right to enter private property without the owner’s consent, right?” Roberts asked Katyal, who agreed with the Chief Justice. “I don't have to have a sign on the sidewalk before you enter my property saying okay to come on if you’re going to give me some leaflet or okay to come on if you’re a candidate.”
Justice Neil Gorsuch asked about the state decision to cite a Reconstruction-era law from Louisiana that suppressed Black rights as supporting Hawaii’s case about gun restrictions. “You rely very heavily on an 1865 black code law in Louisiana. You say it’s a dead ringer and a reason alone to affirm the judgment. And I really want to understand how that could be,” he asked Katyal.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson posed a different point. “Bruen gave rise to the need for clarity about property owners. Once Bruen said you can carry the gun outside of your home and there was an alternative well-established principle that private property owners can exclude people, I think the states were trying to make sure that property owners had the opportunity to do that.”
A Similar Gun Rights Case in Maryland
On the same day, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Wolford v. Lopez, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decided a similar case, Kikpe v. Moore. Maryland is a state, like Hawaii, which passed new legislation after Bruen that expanded the list of what it considered a “sensitive place” where concealed carry was not allowed.
The Maryland law prohibited guns in government buildings; mass transit facilities and vehicles; school grounds; public demonstrations (and areas within 1,000 feet thereof); state parks and forests; healthcare facilities; places of amusement, including museums, stadiums, racetracks, video lottery facilities, amusement parks, and casinos; locations that sell alcohol; and private property.
A divided three-panel court upheld bans for most of the locations cited in the new law, with one exception. “We hold that Maryland’s prohibition on carrying guns on private property held open to the public is unconstitutional,” it said.
All three judges concurred on the private property ruling. “Maryland’s prohibition is directed at gun owners, not property owners,” wrote Judge Roger Gregory. “It is a criminal statute that nowhere references the right of the property owner to exclude a gun owner.”
Gregory added that “Maryland’s reliance on the trespass tradition is inapposite,” and it disagreed with the Ninth Circuit’s “default rules that apply specifically to the carrying of firearms onto private property.”
The Fourth Circuit also determined the historical laws cited by the state of Maryland as supporting their case, including a 1771 New Jersey statute and the 1865 Louisiana statute (cited in Wolford v. Lopez) were outliers. “Maryland’s rule would effectively declare most public places ‘gun-free zones.’ But that likely stretches the sensitive places doctrine too far,” Gregory concluded.
Judge Steve Agee disagreed specifically with upholding the ban on concealed carry within 1,000 feet of a public demonstration. “Maryland has not come forward with evidence that—at the Founding—States enacted measures prohibiting firearms at public demonstrations. On the contrary, the historical record reflects quite the opposite,” he concluded.
For now, a decision in Wolford v. Lopez is expected by late June 2026, and the Court’s holding will likely impact any appeal of the Fourth Circuit decision in Kipke v. Moore. The decision could offer a more defined ruling on the sensitive areas doctrine from Bruen, and rights of property owners and handgun owners alike.
Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.
For the first time, the top 10 cars on Consumer Reports' annual list of best new vehicles also include electric or hybrid models.
Lindsey Vonn, 41, said she ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, but that she was still planning to compete.
Protein is essential, but it shouldn’t be your only focus. A balanced diet requires other nutrients. Here’s what you need to know.
Known as ‘white gold’, lithium is among the most important mined elements on the planet – ideal for the rechargeable batteries used in tech products. Can Europe’s largest deposit bring prosperity to the local community?
It looks more like the past than the future. A vast chasm scooped out of a scarred landscape, this is a Cornwall the summer holidaymakers don’t see: a former china clay pit near St Austell called Trelavour. I’m standing at the edge of the pit looking down with the man who says his plans for it will help the UK’s transition to renewable energy and bring back year-round jobs and prosperity to a part of the country that badly needs both. “And if I manage to make some money in the process, fantastic,” he says. “Though that is not what it’s about.”
We’ll return to him shortly. But first to the past, when this story begins, about 275-280m years ago. “There was a continental collision at the time,” Frances Wall, professor of applied mineralogy at the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, explained to me before my visit. This collision caused the bottom of the Earth’s crust to melt, with the molten material rising higher in the crust and forming granite. “There are lots of different types of granite that intrude at different times, more than 10m years or so,” she says. “The rock is made of minerals and, if you’ve got the right composition in the original material and the right conditions, then within those minerals there are some called mica. Some of those micas contain lithium.”
Continue reading...PepsiCo said the price cuts are aimed at making its products more affordable as consumers struggle with affordability.
Pearson, Experian and others fall sharply after startup unveils software to automate a range of professional services
European publishing and legal software companies have suffered sharp declines in their share prices after the US artificial intelligence startup Anthropic revealed a tool for use by companies’ legal departments.
Anthropic, the company behind the chatbot Claude, said its tool could automate legal work such as contract reviewing, non-disclosure agreement triage, compliance workflows, legal briefings and templated responses.
Continue reading...The organization claims the report, which finds Israel’s denial of the right of return is a crime against humanity, is ‘paused pending further analysis and research’
Two Human Rights Watch (HRW) employees who make up the organization’s entire Israel and Palestine team are stepping down from their positions after leadership blocked a report that deems Israel’s denial of Palestinian refugees the right of return a “crime against humanity”.
In separate resignation letters obtained by Jewish Currents and the Guardian, Omar Shakir, who has headed the team for nearly the last decade, and Milena Ansari, the team’s assistant researcher, said leadership’s decision to pull the report broke from HRW’s customary approval processes and was evidence that the organization was putting fear of political backlash over a commitment to international law.
Continue reading...Springfield businesses are closing and families are making contingency plans for their children
Around the same time that Springfield, Ohio, and its growing Haitian community made national headlines in September 2024, the New Diaspora Live radio station moved into a sleek new studio in a co-working building in the city’s downtown.
Haitian-Creole speakers from across the country called in, sharing tips with fellow listeners and discussing life in Springfield, the Rust Belt city of 60,000 people in western Ohio where thousands of Haitian immigrants had moved.
Continue reading...An anonymous reader shares a report: PayPal said on Tuesday it was booting its CEO and replacing him with its board chair Enrique Lores, sparing no ambiguity as to why: "The pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board's expectations," it said in a statement. One group that was blindsided was HP, where Lores was until Tuesday serving as CEO, according to people familiar with the matter. Lores' switchup sent them rushing to launch a search process, those people said. HP's board does have internal candidates which it's considering for the top job, according to a person familiar with the board's thinking. As chair of PayPal's board, Lores played a role in a process evaluating internal and external candidates. It was unclear when or if he recused himself from the final decision to name him as CEO. But HP's board was only made aware that Lores was taking the CEO role at PayPal in recent weeks, the people said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Even in the scale of global attacks on civilians and crackdowns on dissent, the magnitude of Iran’s violence against protesters stands out.
Unbroken: In Pursuit of Freedom for Palestine is a collection of writings by the Palestinian political leader, who has been held in Israeli prisons since 2002
A collection of writings by the imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti will be published in November, bringing together prison letters, interviews, personal material and documents from the last three decades of Barghouti’s political life and incarceration.
As deadly attacks on Gaza continue despite a nominal ceasefire, the 66-year-old is seen by many as the best hope for a leader of any future Palestinian state.
Continue reading...Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey wants to eliminate the 15-year deadline to prosecute rape in cases where there’s a DNA match.
Current Massachusetts law bars rape prosecutions in older cases, even when DNA testing has identified a suspect.
An investigation last year by WBUR and ProPublica found that nearly all other states allow more time to charge rapes or similar assaults of adults than Massachusetts. Many of those 47 states extended their deadlines in recent decades as DNA technology helped solve old cases and as evidence mounted that police had failed to fully investigate rapes.
The WBUR-ProPublica investigation followed the story of Louise, a woman who had been raped and stabbed after accepting a ride in 2005 from a man who said he recognized her from college, a police report said. Although DNA testing would later connect a man accused of multiple assaults to her case, prosecutors had to drop charges in her attack under Massachusetts’ statute.
(WBUR does not identify victims of sexual assault without their permission. We agreed to identify Louise by her middle name.)
Healey’s proposal would eliminate the statute of limitations for rape cases when DNA evidence exists.
“With technological advances, new evidence is being collected and tested every day, and we need to make sure our judicial system keeps pace,” Healey said in a written statement on Saturday. “I hope this proposal will help survivors who have had to wait far too long for justice, while also improving our ability to hold offenders accountable.”
The new language is part of Healey’s budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year. The provision must pass both chambers of the Legislature. It would take effect for cases in which the statute of limitations has not yet expired and future sexual assaults, but it would not affect older cases.
Legislators have tried to pass similar proposals every session since 2011, WBUR found, but those efforts have failed in part because defense attorneys have opposed changes, saying a longer deadline risks violating the rights of the accused. State Rep. Adam Scanlon, who has introduced legislation to create a DNA exception since 2021, said media attention helped push the issue forward again this year.
He said Healey’s “bill is really a testament to victims to ensure that folks that are in the same situation never have to go through the process of seeing somebody being able to walk away from an alleged rape when they know — when we know as a society — that DNA evidence connects them to that crime.”
That Healey, the state’s former attorney general, is backing the changes gives new hope for victims, said Louise, the woman featured by WBUR as part of its investigation. She was raped and repeatedly stabbed, a police report said. But DNA evidence did not match her assault to a suspect for 17 years.
“ There are several of us that have missed out on having justice. We won’t get to have that day when we know that our perpetrators are not going to get us,” Louise said.
Prosecutors alleged in 2022 that Louise’s attacker was a serial rapist. DNA from Ivan Cheung, a Boston-area man who worked in the financial services industry at the time of his arrest, also matched a 2006 stabbing and rape, court records show. But that attack was also beyond the state’s statute of limitations by the time the match was made.
Cheung has repeatedly maintained his innocence. His attorney did not reply to WBUR’s requests for comment.
Louise decided to advocate for survivors like her after Cheung’s prosecution failed. In June, she testified publicly before a state legislative committee in support of Scanlon’s bill.
She said she’s glad that the governor heard the voices of her and other survivors.
“I have beautiful family members, young women,” Louise said. “I care about all the youth in the community. I want them all safer.”
The post Mass. Governor Proposes Eliminating Statute of Limitations for Rape When DNA Evidence Exists appeared first on ProPublica.
The price of silver has noticeably changed in recent days. Here's where it sits as of February 3, 2026.
If you're looking for heart health supplements, these are the ones to take.
Conservationists find dunlin chicks thriving in boggy habitat created in collaboration with landowners
Deep in the Cumbrian Pennines, walkers might be lucky enough to spot small birds with spindly legs, long beaks and bodies like feathered balls hopping through the peat bogs.
These are endangered dunlins – at risk in England because their favoured soggy landscapes are drained and burned for farming and grouse shooting.
Continue reading...Josh D'Amaro, who oversees Disney theme parks and dozens of resort hotels worldwide, will become the next Disney CEO.
Vonn confident despite ACL rupture before Olympics
Will decide after testing knee at race speeds soon
Olympic downhill scheduled for Sunday at Cortina
Lindsey Vonn said she is “confident” she can compete at the Milano Cortina Winter Games despite revealing she has been managing a ruptured ACL, maintaining that her Olympic comeback remains on track after a crash last week raised fresh doubts over her participation.
Speaking on Tuesday, the 41-year-old American said she was approaching the final decision cautiously but remained focused on lining up for the downhill at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the Olympic women’s alpine programme opens Sunday.
Continue reading...Commentary: The high-profile Hollywood director created a studio dedicated to creating a "new cinematic grammar" built around AI. This is not a good start.
Former minister apparently shared confidential government emails with child sex offender and financier
Peter Mandelson has resigned from the House of Lords after a series of scandalous emails came to light that linked him to the child sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, including ones that apparently leaked confidential UK government communications.
The move came as Keir Starmer said he had handed a dossier to the police after it emerged Mandelson had sent a string of emails to Epstein containing briefings he received as business secretary under Gordon Brown, including action the government was taking to deal with the global financial crisis.
Continue reading...President Trump says his administration is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University after a published report said the school had won some concessions in ongoing settlement negotiations with the government.
A NASA mission is underway to map the heliosphere, which is a huge protective bubble around the solar system that was created by the sun.
The Climate Briefing: What does the EU’s CBAM mean for countries in the Global South? Audio thilton.drupal
Anna speaks to three experts about the implications of the EU’s CBAM for countries in the Global South: What are their main concerns, and what could be done to mitigate negative impacts?
The EU has introduced a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to prevent carbon leakage – when companies move production to countries with weaker climate rules, or when EU products are replaced by more carbon-intensive imports. But the measure has sparked controversy and concern, especially among countries in the Global South, as seen during COP30 in Belém.
This episode of the Climate Briefing explores the implications of the EU’s CBAM for countries in the Global South: What are their main concerns, and what could be done to mitigate negative impacts?
To discuss these questions and more, Anna is joined by Aparna Sharma (Programme Lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water – CEEW), Shimukunku Manchishi (Senior Policy Officer at the African Futures Policy Hub), and Ieva Baršauskaitė (Lead on Trade and Green Transition at the International Institute for Sustainable Development – IISD).
The Climate Briefing explores key themes in the UN climate negotiations and international climate politics. The podcast is hosted by Bhargabi Bharadwaj and Anna Aberg from Chatham House and features interviewees from governments, international organizations, academia and civil society organizations from across the world.
You can also listen to The Climate Briefing on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Feb. 3, 2026 — Diraq has secured a strategic $20 million equity investment from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) backing the company’s ambition to become the global leader in the development of utility-scale quantum computing and deliver its first product by 2029, a quantum computer capable of genuine quantum advantage.
David Gall, NRFC CEO, and Andrew Dzurak, Diraq CEO, standing in front of cryogenic fridges at Diraq’s laboratory. Credit: Diraq.
Diraq Founder & CEO Andrew Dzurak said, “We are at a pivotal moment where years of breakthrough research is transitioning into a commercial reality that will redefine future computing. Australia has always been a quantum powerhouse in the lab and, with the NRFC’s backing, we are ensuring it becomes a quantum powerhouse in the market. I’d like to thank the NRFC for its support, which is precisely the type of mandate the Corporation was created to fulfill. By backing Diraq, the NRFC is not just investing in a company; it is helping to building a sovereign, advanced manufacturing capacity that will allow Australia to lead the next era of computing.
“This investment arrives as Australia builds its strength in critical technology infrastructure, particularly within our booming data centre sector. Diraq’s quantum computers are natively designed to integrate seamlessly with existing data centers, offering a unique, homegrown advantage. By leveraging Australian quantum expertise, local businesses—from energy providers optimizing the power grid to defense and pharmaceutical innovators—can gain a decisive competitive advantage in the global market, ensuring Australia captures the full economic value of its inventions.”
NRFC CEO David Gall said, “Australia has the potential to lead the world in quantum computing and Diraq’s groundbreaking combination of silicon-based qubits and tried and tested semiconductor architecture will revolutionize the industry. Diraq’s growth prospects are immense, and the company represents the exact kind of high-value, transformative manufacturing the NRFC was created to support.”
Diraq is backed by global deep-tech investors including ICM and Quantonation, and has attracted investment from Australian superannuation funds Hostplus, NGS Super and UniSuper, in addition to Australian investors John Higgins Family Office, Taronga Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Co:Act Capital and Uniseed.
The company recently launched operations in Melbourne, in addition to its two hubs in Sydney, and has U.S. operations in Palo Alto, Boston and Chicago.
Main Sequence Ventures Investment Manager Alejandra Romero, said, “At Main Sequence, we look for ‘unfair advantages’. Diraq has the ultimate edge: they are the only players capable of putting millions of qubits on a single chip using the world’s existing multi-trillion-dollar silicon supply chain. While other quantum approaches require exotic materials or massive footprints, Diraq scales. The team has progressed rapidly in a few short years establishing partnerships with global technology leaders, including Dell and Nvidia, that recognize the opportunity and want to partner with Diraq to integrate the company’s quantum technology.”
Diraq’s quantum computers store information in silicon-based quantum bits, known as “qubits”. Diraq’s proprietary technology enables millions of qubits to be placed on a single chip, meaning Diraq is able to produce compact computers – minimizing the intensive cooling facilities required – and deliver practical quantum computing that is both cost-and-energy efficient.
Founded in 2022 and spun out of UNSW Sydney, Diraq currently employs more than 70 staff and PhD students in Australia. The NRFC investment will significantly grow the team with new Australian-based jobs in research, development, and commercialization.
More from HPCwire
Source: Diraq
The post Diraq Wins $20M Backing from Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund appeared first on HPCwire.
Trump administration is accusing protesters of ‘domestic terrorism’ but this brazen tactic is as old as the country itself
When federal immigration agents shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on 23 January, the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, wasted no time claiming to the press, without credible evidence, that Pretti had been engaged in “domestic terrorism”. Though the administration seems to be trying to soften that initial response after fierce backlash, it’s an accusation that members of the Trump administration have been leveling at wide swaths of people beyond Pretti – including Renee Nicole Good, another Minnesotan killed by ICE agents two and a half weeks prior, and Marimar Martinez, who survived being shot by ICE agents in Chicago in October – as part of an ongoing strategy to criminalize dissent.
It’s a claim Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents themselves have started to make directly in confrontations with citizens, seemingly to try and intimidate legal observers, sometimes known as ICE watchers. In one recent video from Portland, Maine, an ICE officer told an observer to stop recording him on her phone, and when she wouldn’t, he took her information down and said, “We have a nice little database … and now you’re considered a domestic terrorist.”
Continue reading...Uber Eats pits Bradley Cooper against Matthew McConaughey, and AI robots can't hold their liquor.
Adobe has emailed users of Adobe Animate to let them know the popular animation and game development program will be discontinued on March 1, an abrupt decision that has angered animators and game developers who say the tool remains an industry standard in television and game production. Animate, the successor to the once-popular Flash, is widely used for graphic creation, animation and building games in HTML5. The company has not offered a reason for the shutdown. On BlueSky, artist and animator Julia Glassman wrote that many television productions, games, and animated media still rely on Animate and Flash pipelines and cannot simply pivot to entirely new software.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Trump has prioritized fossil fuel companies over consumers, hitting the lowest-income families hardest
Donald Trump promised to cut energy prices by 50%. Instead, average electricity prices over the past year have risen by about 6.7%, while natural gas prices have increased by 10.8%. Energy prices are influenced by many factors beyond any president’s direct control, including market conditions, weather-driven demand, regional infrastructure constraints and the rapid growth of energy-intensive datacenters that are driving new system costs. Policy choices do not determine prices on their own, but they do shape market outcomes, and the direction of this administration’s energy policy has been clear.
From his first days in office, President Trump made clear that his energy agenda would prioritize fossil fuel producers over consumers. His administration moved to expand US liquefied natural gas exports, increasing exposure to volatile global markets. At the same time, it froze wind power projects that provide some of the cheapest new electricity, intervened to keep costly coal plants running, and backed the elimination of energy-efficiency tax credits that lower household energy bills.
Mark Wolfe is executive director of National Energy Assistance Directors Association, co-director of the Center on Energy Poverty and Climate and adjunct faculty at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy at George Washington University
Continue reading...Letter comes after FBI executed criminal search warrant to seize almost 700 boxes of 2020 election documentation
Georgia’s Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, this morning, inquiring into the presence of Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, at the scene last week of an FBI seizure of Fulton county election records from 2020.
The letter from Senator Raphael Warnock and representatives Lucy McBath and Nikema Williams asks “whether the Trump administration is investigating a legitimate foreign intelligence nexus, which would legally require immediate congressional briefing”. The group requested a briefing from the Department of Justice “concerning this activity and its related investigation by February 13, 2026”.
Continue reading...LOUISVILLE, Colo., Feb. 3, 2026 — Infleqtion, a global leader in quantum sensing and quantum computing, announced research results from a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin–Madison that demonstrate a more reliable way to measure individual quantum bits, or qubits, without interrupting ongoing circuits. The work addresses one of the central challenges in quantum computing by enabling faster computation cycles while preserving fragile quantum states. This announcement follows Infleqtion’s plans to go public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp X.
As quantum systems grow in size and complexity, the ability to measure qubits accurately and repeatedly becomes increasingly important. Conventional measurement techniques can introduce errors or cause information to be lost, slowing progress and limiting scalability. The results announced today show how combining precise measurement with continuous cooling can reduce these disruptions, allowing researchers to run computations more efficiently and with greater confidence.
“This work addresses a fundamental bottleneck in quantum computing,” said Dr. Pranav Gokhale, CTO at Infleqtion. “If you can measure qubits accurately without losing them, you can move faster, repeat measurements more reliably, and build systems that scale beyond the laboratory. That is why this result matters.”
Led by researchers in Professor Mark Saffman’s group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with sponsored support from Infleqtion, the collaboration delivered two key advances:
“High-fidelity, nondestructive measurement is a key requirement for scaling neutral atom quantum systems,” said Professor Saffman. “By combining measurement and cooling, this work shows a practical path toward faster, more reliable operation, and helps move these platforms from controlled laboratory experiments toward systems that can support larger-scale quantum computation.”
The full research findings are published in Physical Review Letters.
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 RF 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).
Source: Infleqtion
The post Infleqtion and University of Wisconsin–Madison Show 99.93% Qubit Measurement Fidelity appeared first on HPCwire.
D’Amaro will take over next month from Bob Iger, who returned to lead the media company after a bungled succession
Disney has unveiled Josh D’Amaro as its next CEO, drawing a line under a bungled succession at the top of the global entertainment conglomerate.
Bob Iger, who led the media giant for 15 years, stepped down in 2020 – only to abruptly return in 2022 when his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, was fired as the company came under pressure.
Continue reading...I’m sorry, but this is not just a political scandal. Time to refocus on the horrific mistreatment of women and girls, and the role of these ghouls
Like a lot of women, I do vaguely care about the latest political implosion of Peter Mandelson – but I think we’re all massively more obsessed with the fact that there really was a network of incredibly famous and powerful men trying to help a known ex-con minimise and wave away his underage sex crimes. Amirite, ladies? Sure, I’m crying my eyes out about some Gordon Brown adviser having his asset-sale memo forwarded in 2009 … but at the same time I’m a whole lot more concerned about the actual Sex Bilderberg. Which, even now, our eyes seem to keep being conveniently dragged away from. Can we refocus?
We are, naturally, talking about the Jeffrey Epstein files. Since the latest lot dropped, I’ve been collating the emails from extremely famous men who actively sought to help the since-deceased underage sex trafficker trivialise his crimes in the years after his jail release in 2009. Richard Branson, Noam Chomsky, Steve Bannon, Mandelson, Andrew (obviously) – all of these men offer strategic advice, or media training, or chummy solidarity. Or, in the case of Chomsky, all of the above plus a drive-by on the notion of female victimhood. According to text signed under his first name that Epstein sent to a lawyer and publicist in February 2019, months after the Miami Herald had run an explosive series of articles laying out the scale of Epstein’s serial underage sexual abuse and the perversion of justice that covered it up, Chomsky sneered at “the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women”. Wow. Never mind Manufacturing Consent – have a read of Not Giving A Shit About Consent. I thought Chomsky cared about power and exploitative elites? Still, nice photo of him laughing it up with Steve Bannon.
Continue reading...New US-owned app struggled with a storm and was accused of blocking content critical of Trump – can it recover?
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m Blake Montgomery, writing to you from Doha, where I’m moderating panels about AI and investing as part of the Web Summit Qatar.
I want to bring your attention to the impact of a Guardian story. In December, we published a story, “‘A black hole’: families and police say tech giants delay investigations in child abuse and drug cases”, about grieving families and law enforcement officers who say that Meta and Snapchat have slowed down criminal investigations. (The tech companies contend that they cooperate.) This month, Colorado lawmakers introduced a bill to compel social media platforms to respond to warrants in 72 hours.
Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known, emails show
Tesla discontinues Model X and S vehicles as Elon Musk pivots to robotics
What is Moltbook? The strange new social media site for AI bots
The slopaganda era: 10 AI images posted by the White House – and what they teach us
Apple reports record iPhone sales as new lineup reignites worldwide demand
South Korea’s ‘world-first’ AI laws face pushback amid bid to become leading tech power
Can you guess our screen time? A priest, pensioner, tech CEO and teenager reveal all
Continue reading...Whether it's called Clawdbot, Moltbot or OpenClaw, this AI assistant is taking the tech world by storm.
Samsung's buzzed-about new phone was tricky to get my hands on, but I'm excited to use it. Here are my ongoing observations.
This bulky, bizarre accessory for your Switch isn't exactly VR, but it is a lot more fun than I expected.
The 2026 State of AI Infrastructure Report, based on a survey of 600 U.S. IT and business leaders, reveals that infrastructure—more than AI models or accelerators—is now the critical determinant of enterprise AI success. As organizations transition from experimentation to production, four key pressures have emerged: rising infrastructure complexity, strained cloud environments, energy and cooling inefficiencies, and widespread skills gaps that slow progress and delay outcomes.
The report finds that 65% of teams struggle with overly complex AI environments, 93% are working to reduce energy footprints, and 54% have postponed projects due to infrastructure challenges. Cloud adoption is near-universal for scaling AI, and leading teams increasingly partner with external experts to build repeatable, resilient infrastructure strategies.
With actionable insights, benchmarks, and real-world data, this report helps technology leaders understand what’s holding teams back—and how unified, efficient infrastructure unlocks sustainable, scalable AI.
The post 2026 State of AI Infrastructure Report appeared first on HPCwire.
BOSTON, Feb. 3, 2026 — Zapata Quantum, a pioneer in quantum computing application and algorithm development, today announced that its patent for Quantum Intermediate Representation (QIR) has been granted in Canada, Europe, Israel and Australia, in addition to its earlier U.S. grant.
QIR is a hardware-agnostic translation layer that enables quantum applications to interoperate across distinct hardware platforms and programming frameworks. With global patent protection now in place, Zapata has secured exclusive rights to this capability, allowing developers to translate a program once into a universal representation, then execute it across any connected quantum hardware backend.
Core Component of Broader IP Strategy
As the only publicly traded, hardware-agnostic pure-play quantum software company, Zapata’s intellectual property strategy is focused on protecting foundational building blocks of the hybrid quantum-classical computing stack, not just individual algorithms. The Company’s portfolio includes over 60 granted and pending patents spanning key layers of application development, interoperability and deployment.
“QIR is the kind of broadly applicable infrastructure that helps make hybrid quantum-classical computing practical at scale so applications can move from one-off demonstrations to repeatable deployment across an evolving hardware landscape,” said Dr. Jonathan Olson, Zapata’s Strategic Advisor for Intellectual Property. “With QIR now patent-protected in major jurisdictions, we are well positioned to translate that leadership into durable, long-term value.”
QIR serves as a “universal translator” between quantum software and quantum hardware, enabling interoperability across a rapidly evolving ecosystem. Analogous to intermediate representations such as LLVM in classical computing, QIR allows developers to translate a program once into a universal representation and execute it across any connected quantum hardware backend, reducing fragmentation and simplifying application deployment.
Importantly, it also works in the reverse direction: a hardware provider that connects to QIR once can support many software tools and programming frameworks without custom integrations for each one. By reducing translation work on both sides, QIR lowers compatibility barriers and helps speed the path from development to deployment for hybrid quantum-classical applications.
Critical for Quantum Computing Evolution
As the quantum industry expands with many competing hardware approaches, standards-like layers such as QIR become increasingly important. This technology has motivated the ecosystem to collaborate on efforts such as the QIR Alliance, led by Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Quantinuum, Quantum Circuits Inc., and Rigetti Computing, to promote this standardized and interoperable framework for quantum programs.
Zapata views QIR as infrastructure technology critical to accelerating the delivery of useful quantum applications and ensuring they scale alongside advances in hardware. More broadly, these expanded QIR patent protections underscore the importance of clarity and consistency in how quantum technology is developed, adopted and commercialized.
“We’ve been pursuing a deliberate IP strategy for more than eight years, dating back to our origins in Harvard’s quantum computing lab,” concluded Sumit Kapur, Chief Executive Officer of Zapata Quantum. “By entering the field early and staying focused on software, we were able to identify and invest in foundational technologies like QIR at a time when few others were focused on the higher layers of the stack. That long-term perspective is now paying off as the industry shifts toward scalable, interoperable quantum applications.”
More from HPCwire
About Zapata Quantum
Zapata Quantum is a leading hardware-agnostic, pure-play quantum software company focused on accelerating quantum application development. With a portfolio of more than 60 granted and pending patents developed over seven years, Zapata supports applications across cryptography, pharmaceuticals, finance, materials discovery, defense, and more. The Company is the only organization to have participated across all technical areas of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking program and has worked with Fortune 500 enterprises and government agencies to translate quantum advances into real-world impact. Learn more at zapataquantum.com.
Source: Zapata Quantum
The post Zapata Quantum Receives Multinational Patent Grants for Quantum Interoperability Framework appeared first on HPCwire.
This silly $35 toy, available March 12, can dish snark, tell time and play music, but its conversations are strictly one-way.
Ring from Amazon offers a bewildering number of advanced doorbell models: Here are the picks worth your time.
An anonymous reader shares a report: By now, the Forbes 30 Under 30 list has become more than a little notorious for the amount of entrants who go on to be charged with fraud.[...] Gokce Guven, a 26-year-old Turkish national and the founder and CEO of fintech startup Kalder, was charged last week with alleged securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The New York-based fintech startup -- which uses the "Turn Your Rewards into [a] Revenue Engine" tagline -- says it can help companies create and monetize individual rewards programs. The company was founded in 2022, and offers participating firms the opportunity to earn ongoing revenue streams via partner affiliate sales, Axios previously reported. Guven was featured in last year's Forbes 30 Under 30 list. The magazine notes in the writeup that Guven's clients included major chocolatier Godiva and the International Air Transport Association, the trade organization that represents a majority of the world's airlines. Kalder also claims to have enjoyed the backing of a number of prominent VC firms. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that, during Kalder's seed round in April of 2024, Guven managed to raise $7 million from more than a dozen investors after presenting a pitch deck that was rife with false information. According to the government, Kalder's pitch deck claimed that there were 26 brands "using Kalder" and another 53 brands in "live freemium." However, officials say that, in reality, Kalder had, in many cases, only been offering heavily discounted pilot programs to many of those companies. Other brands "had no agreement with Kalder whatsoever -- not even for free services," officials said in a press release announcing the indictment. The pitch deck also "falsely reported that Kalder's recurring revenue had steadily grown month over month since February 2023 and that by March 2024, Kalder had reached $1.2 million in annual recurring revenue." The government also accuses Guven of having kept two separate sets of financial books.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
How many of these chef-approved kitchen tools are you missing?
With masked paramilitary forces grabbing nonwhite people from the streets and shooting civilians with impunity, it can be difficult to keep focus on all the other ways Republicans are entrenching a fascist status quo nationwide. For trans people, however, the legislative and policy assaults, which have been escalating red states for nearly a decade, are only getting worse — and, as ever, drawing all too little concern from Democratic leaders.
Just last week, the Kansas legislature passed some of the most far-reaching measures to push trans and gender-nonconforming people out of public life to date. Bathroom bans that bar trans people from restrooms aligned with their gender identity have become grimly common; over 20 states have such a law on the books. But Kansas’s new anti-trans bathroom bill adds a dangerous twist: a bounty hunter provision.
The law would permit private citizens to sue and seek monetary reward based on claiming to encounter a trans person in the bathroom. That’s on top of some of the harshest punishments of any existing bathroom bans, such as criminal charges, steep fines and even jail time.
As journalist and trans rights advocate Erin Reed first reported, the bill’s vague language means that its reach could extend beyond public buildings — the remit of most bathroom bans around the country.
“As written, it would not only be the first bathroom bounty law to target transgender people directly, but also the first to extend a bathroom ban into private spaces,” noted Reed, “effectively creating the nation’s first private bathroom ban if enacted by empowering bounty hunters to search for trans people in bathrooms.”
The language of the bill, while vague, says that any person who alleges to be “aggrieved” by the presence of a trans person they encounter in a restroom facility can file a civil suit against that individual for “damages” of at least $1,000.
Kansas Republicans rushed through the bathroom ban, skirting public comment by essentially sneaking the bill into another piece of legislation aimed at denying trans people correct government IDs. The ID legislation is in and of itself extreme: it would invalidate driver’s licenses, government IDs, and even birth certificates that don’t list a person’s sex as assigned at birth.
The bill would require trans people to surrender their correctly identifying driver’s license or risk a misdemeanor offense for driving with a invalid license. Trans Kansans would thus have to choose between carrying identification with their assigned sex at birth — inviting potentially further harassment and violence in public — or forgoing aspects of public life entirely. It’s a policy in line with the Trump administration’s move to stop issuing accurate passports to trans Americans.
The aim is to produce a climate of distrust and terror.
The bathroom bounty hunter ban was then layered on top of the ID law in a so-called “gut and go” maneuver.
The twin bills passed both the state House and Senate with over two-thirds of the vote, given the significant Republican majority — enough to override a veto from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
“Transgender people are already vulnerable to violence, especially in restrooms, and this bill layers prospective physical violence on top of the existing privacy violation of forced changes to identification documents,” said Logan DeMond, director of policy and research at the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, in a statement.
The fondness of Trumpian Republicans for bounty hunter laws comes as no surprise, recalling the dark legacies of Fugitive Slave Act laws and Jim Crow civilian surveillance. Now, whether criminalizing abortions, rounding up immigrants, or policing gender expression, far-right leaders and think tanks embrace vigilante violence as a key mechanism of enforcement. The aim is to produce a climate of distrust and terror.
Anti-trans zealots have been harassing people they believe to be trans — including multiple incidents involving cis women — even without the promise of financial payoff. The Kansas legislation only “turbocharges,” as Reed put it, the violent policing of access to public life.
“I have sat here for five and a half hours and listened to this entire room debate my humanity and my ability to participate in the most basic functions of society,” said Kansas Democratic state Rep. Abi Boatman, who is the only trans lawmaker in the state, when the new legislation was debated. “I hope none of you have to ever sit through something like that.”
It should not need repeating that it is trans people who overwhelmingly face harassment and violence in bathroom facilities; the framing of bathroom bills as a question of cis women’s safety has always been a bunk excuse to enforce gender conformism. It should also be obvious that any laws encouraging the surveillance and control of our bodies, particularly with women’s bodies as the site of paranoiac anti-trans obsession, make all women less safe. And as with any such laws, it is always Black trans and cis women who face the worst scrutiny.
We should not forget that just one decade ago, the Christian far-right groups that pushed the first round of model bathroom bills into statehouses largely failed. Politicians faced huge public backlash; the state of North Carolina faced massive boycotts in response to its 2016 bathroom bill. But conservative think tanks got to work, refocused manipulative messaging around children and women’s sports, and astroturfed the issue to activate the right-wing base. In the following years, anti-trans legislation swept through statehouses.
All the while, far too many Democratic leaders, like the serpentine California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have been willing to throw trans people under the bus. While bathroom bills have been the preserve of Republican-led states, Democrats with national standing have roundly failed in supporting the sort of pressure campaigns that gave state lawmakers pause for thought 10 years ago. Bathroom bans now abound, and 27 states have enacted laws or policies restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for trans youth.
Within such a context, there’s little wonder that legislation is only becoming harsher and crueler. And while the attack on trans existence is part of a longer history of Christian right pro-natalism and attacks on bodily autonomy, it is not so long ago that public pressure made attacks on trans rights a political liability.
It is our responsibility to make it so again — particularly for Democrats claiming to represent a united anti-fascist front. And, above all, to ensure we support community-based networks working in solidarity with trans adults and children around the country so that they can have health care, work, learn, socialize, and share in public life without scrutiny or challenge. These are the minimal conditions for freedom — apparently too much to ask for some Democrats.
The post An Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill With a Cruel New Twist appeared first on The Intercept.
What Trump wants from Iran talks – and what Tehran is prepared to give Expert comment thilton.drupal
Iran’s nuclear programme, missile arsenal, militia network and crackdown on protesters could all feature in upcoming negotiations in Turkey.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he prefers to make a deal with Iran over going to war. But what’s not clear is what type of deal he is willing to accept – or what compromises the Iranians are willing to make.
At the time of writing, the two sides agreed to negotiate and meet in Turkey on Friday, 6 February. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will meet in Istanbul, along with representatives from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Reuters reported.
Common sense suggests that the more maximalist Trump’s demands are, the less likely Tehran will concede. In this case, military confrontation therefore becomes more likely. On the other hand, the more flexible Trump is, the more likely Tehran will cooperate and as a result, war becomes less likely.
So, what exactly is Trump asking for?
In May of last year, Trump said he would accept nothing less than the ‘total dismantlement’ of Iran’s nuclear programme. Last week, however, he said ‘NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS.’ But those are two very different things.
Every American president since George W. Bush has warned Iran against acquiring the bomb. If that is what Trump is seeking, then Tehran will happily bargain, lie, and conceal – as it always has – to avoid facing a far superior US military machine. It might give up its highly enriched nuclear material, but in return, keep its programme intact, essentially buying itself time until Trump leaves power so it can resume enrichment.
But if Trump insists on Iran terminating all of its nuclear programme, then Tehran most probably will not agree. This is not only because it has put in a lot of effort, time, and money into building its nuclear programme.
It’s also because for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, it will look like surrendering to the Americans, whom he views (just like his predecessor Khomeini did) as the ‘Great Satan.’ If it comes down to it, Khamenei might decide to take his chances by fighting (and hope Trump doesn’t finish off the regime, given his aversion to open-ended wars) rather than signing a capitulation agreement with his arch-enemy.
The nuclear programme is not the only important issue at play. Iran’s missile arsenal and its regional militia network will also likely feature in negotiations. And there are also the freedom aspirations of the Iranian people, especially in the light of the regime’s recent crackdown on protests.
At first, Trump seemed to show care for the protesters, threatening to bomb Iran if the regime didn’t stop killing them. But now, his focus seems to have shifted. That shouldn’t be shocking, though. The harsh reality is that human rights in Iran have not been the priority for Trump or any American president before him when dealing with the Islamic Republic. The priority has always been security.
On Iran’s missiles, about which Israel and the Gulf Arab states worry a lot, it’s even more complicated than the nuclear programme. It’s doubtful, if not inconceivable, that Iran will give up the only shield that’s preventing its adversaries from toppling its regime.
The bargaining range on the nuclear programme is wider than it is on the missiles, on which Khamenei and his generals are unlikely to make any concessions. Similar to his logic on totally giving up the nuclear programme, Khamenei might as well use those missiles in a war for survival instead of giving them up and thus making Iran especially vulnerable to future attacks.
The biggest space for bargaining, perhaps, is on Tehran’s regional proxies. Those actors – the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis, the Iraqi militias, and the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad – are important tools for Iran to project power. But unlike the missiles and the nuclear programme, they’re not existential issues over which Tehran can’t negotiate.
Former CNN anchor faces charges over coverage of an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service.
Don Lemon says about a dozen federal agents came to his Los Angeles hotel to arrest him overnight on 30 January, even though the former CNN anchor’s attorney had told authorities he would turn himself in to face federal civil rights charges over his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service.
Lemon on Monday told the ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that sending the agents was a waste of resources because law enforcement would not have had to dispatch agents to follow him if he had been allowed to surrender to authorities.
Continue reading...New England have won six Super Bowl titles
2026 class will be announced later this week
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has reportedly joined his team’s former head coach Bill Belichick in missing out on this year’s Hall of Fame class.
ESPN cited several league sources, who said that Kraft did not receive the necessary number of votes to enter the Hall. The new members of the Hall of Fame will be revealed on Thursday night, in the run-up to this weekend’s Super Bowl.
Continue reading...Austin Appelbee is being hailed as a hero after he rescued his family. “I couldn’t feel how tired I was,” the 13-year-old said of his hours-long feat.
Evaluation of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction
This project examines the accomplishments, effectiveness and efficiency of the partnership and its work.
LToremarkWith the ongoing geopolitical tensions and rapid technological evolution, there is a broad acknowledgement of the need to understand whether international initiatives remain fit for purpose in preventing the spread and misuse of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons and materials.
The Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (GP) was established at the 2002 G7 Kananaskis Summit, drawing on post–Cold War initiatives and catalysed by the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. Over 22 years, the GP has provided a platform for partners to fund, coordinate and deliver non proliferation projects on the ground. It began by supporting cooperative projects primarily in Russia, focused on non-proliferation, disarmament and nuclear safety. From 2014, biosecurity moved up the agenda, and since 2021 the GP has broadened its focus to include biological risk reduction in Africa, revitalised efforts to minimise highly enriched uranium (HEU), support to Ukraine in countering CBRN threats and advancing information-sharing and counter-disinformation initiatives.
Understanding the GP’s effectiveness, challenges and how it can evolve is essential for future global CBRN security.
The Global Health Programme and International Security Programme are working together to examine the accomplishments, effectiveness and efficiency of the GP and its work, lessons for the partnership’s programme of work and the way it functions, and the challenges and opportunities it faces going forward in its role as a cornerstone of international cooperation and coordination to counter CBRN threats.
This project is funded by the Weapons Threat Reduction Program of Global Affairs Canada and the UK’s International Biological Security Programme.
Don Lemon says he offered to turn himself in to face charges over his coverage of a protest at a church but federal agents were sent for him anyway.
Many Super Bowl 60 ads are already online, along with teasers for commercials that will be unveiled during the NFL championship on Feb. 8.
"The waves are massive and I have no life jacket on. … I just kept thinking 'just keep swimming, just keep swimming,'" Austin Appelbee said.
The president said he persuaded Russia’s Vladimir Putin to stop striking Ukraine’s energy grid during a frigid period, but missiles fell on Kyiv hours later.
ITV Sport opts for studio in Brooklyn
BBC will stay in UK until at least quarter-finals
ITV has gained an early advantage over the BBC before their ratings battle at this summer’s World Cup by securing a studio in Brooklyn with views of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge. ITV Sport will be basing all of its World Cup coverage, to be presented by Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods, from its New York studio, whereas the BBC team of Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates will be in Salford until at least the quarter-finals.
The BBC’s decision to stay in the United Kingdom was based on a combination of financial and environmental factors, with the corporation committed to limiting air travel in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint.
Continue reading...Erin Jackson is the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Frank Del Duca is the first bobsledder in 70 years to carry the U.S. flag.
The best 55-inch TVs give you the most bang for your buck and are perfect for a smaller room or as a gaming TV. See our top picks from Samsung, Roku and more.
Apple's reportedly releasing a lower-priced iPhone 17, and it might offer notable improvements over last year's iPhone 16E.
How To Train Your Dragon, Tyler Perry's Joe's College Road Trip and The Black Phone are a few of the newest titles arriving on Netflix this month.
The stepson of Crown Prince Haakon is accused of 38 offenses, including four counts of rape, domestic violence, assault and drug possession between 2018 and late 2024.
Chagossian people would be allowed to fish in area that has teemed with life since ban was introduced in 2010
One of the most precious marine reserves in the world, home to sharks, turtles and rare tropical fish, will be opened to some fishing for the first time in 16 years under the UK government’s deal to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Allowing non-commercial fishing in the marine protected area (MPA) is seen as an essential part of the Chagossian people’s return to the islands, as the community previously relied on fishing as their main livelihood. But some conservationists have raised the alarm, as nature has thrived in the waters of the Indian Ocean since it was protected from fishing.
Continue reading...Artemis II mission was due to begin as early as next week and astronauts have spent almost two weeks in quarantine
Nasa has postponed its historic mission to send astronauts around the moon and back again, after issues arose during a critical test of its most powerful rocket yet.
The US space agency had planned to launch the Artemis II mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as next week, but announced overnight that it would be delayed until March, without specifying a date.
Continue reading...French officials search X's office in Paris and ask Elon Musk to answer questions about the platform amid a probe into its algorithms and AI functions.
Apple's streamer is chock-full of must-watch shows.
Picking favorites isn't easy, but after months of wearing both, it's clear they each have their strengths.
Modern refrigerators use far less electricity than their predecessors. I did the math to see how much a new model saves compared with a 10-year-old fridge.
So-called ‘reactionary centrist’ pundits proclaimed that there was a global ‘vibe shift’ in favor of the right. They were wrong
Recent exercises in taking stock after one year of Trump 2.0 – for many an eternity of terrifying news and political traumas – tended to leave something out: the fact that, a mere 12 months ago, plenty of pundits (and politicians, for that matter) were instructing us to accept that a global “vibe shift” in favor of the right had taken place. And that, in the face of what supposedly “felt” like a landslide, resistance was pointless and “cringe”.
Well, it doesn’t feel like that today. But understanding why observers not generally in the pro-Trump propaganda business rushed to portray the spirit of the age as effectively far-right is important. A way of thinking occasionally dubbed “reactionary centrism” plays an important role; it could yet again become influential in hindering or at least holding up post-Trump radical reforms which US democracy desperately requires.
Jan-Werner Müller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University
Continue reading...A burgeoning set of Muslim creatives and intellectuals are thriving amid the backdrop of Zohran Mamdani’s rise. We ask 18 of them about this historic moment in New York City life
Against the backdrop of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral rise is a dynamic scene of Muslim creatives and intellectuals who are helping usher in a new era for New York City. Their prominence represents a rebuke of the ugly Islamophobia that defined the period following 9/11, and is in many ways an outcrop of the mass movement for Palestinian rights forged over the last two years. We ask 18 Muslim New Yorkers to discuss their work and what this moment means.
How Muslim New Yorkers are changing the city’s cultural landscape
From the election of Zohran Mamdani to buzzy restaurants and nightlife, Muslim New Yorkers are creating a growing imprint on the city
Real power in America is often built at dinner tables. That adage is particularly relevant to the past few years in New York City, where Muslims and non-Muslims have come together at Iftar and Eid events, marking the moment and reimagining traditions. In Chinatown lofts and Bushwick studios, Muslim artists and writers have gathered to pass around plates of papri chaat and basboosa. Some of these dinners have made the pages of Vogue and glowing New Yorker write-ups. The New York Times even described Eid morning prayers in Washington Square Park as the “Muslim Met Gala”.
At one Eid al-Fitr event in Bushwick last April, the guest list featured hosts Ramy Youssef, Hasan Minhaj and Zara Rahim, and guests such as Kareem Rahma, Rashid Khalidi, Cynthia Nixon and David Byrne, among others. After dinner, Zohran Mamdani – who was still an outside bet and yet to secure the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor – took the mic. “New York City is at a historic crossroads. Does it want to look to the future,” he asked, “or look to the past?” Six months later, the question was answered resoundingly.
Continue reading...Despite the Galaxy Z TriFold's eye-watering $2,900 debut, this could finally be the year of the foldable iPhone and a wave of other exciting smartphones.
Chuck Negron, a founding member of Three Dog Night whose lead vocals powered a string of hits for one of the top rock acts of the late 1960s and early '70s has died. He was 83.
The original Switch is officially Nintendo's best-selling console of all time after surpassing the DS handheld in lifetime sales. From a report: In its latest earnings release, Nintendo reports that the Nintendo Switch has, as of December 31, 2025, sold 155.37 million units since its launch in 2017, compared to 154.02 million units for the 2004 Nintendo DS. In November, Nintendo reported that the Switch and DS were neck and neck. We expected the holiday sales period would see the Switch surpass the DS, even with Nintendo announcing that primary development would focus on the Switch 2. Nintendo previously said that it would continue to sell the original Switch "while taking consumer demand and the business environment into consideration." Nintendo has to keep selling the Switch if it wants to dethrone Sony's PlayStation 2 as the best-selling video game console of all time. The PlayStation 2, discontinued in January 2013, sold more than 160 million units over its 13-year lifespan.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Marius Borg Høiby, 29, pleads not guilty to most serious charges in trial that has embarrassed the royal family
The son of Norway’s crown princess has pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape on the first day of his trial for multiple offences, a legal saga that has embarrassed the royal family and raised questions over domestic abuse in Norway.
Appearing in front of a packed courtroom at Oslo district court on Tuesday morning, Marius Borg Høiby also denied charges including abuse in close relationships and filming women’s genitals without their knowledge.
Continue reading...The Hennepin County sheriff is considering whether to notify ICE before releasing people accused of the "worst of the worst" crimes — murder, rape and violent felonies.
The Flashback looks, feels and even works like an old-school disposable film camera, except it's digital with a unique, retro experience.
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Whether it’s a small bundle or a small package…does it sound familiar?
Sheikh Yer Booty: (And by booty, I mean cash.)
The Mad Makeover King Strikes Again: Did the Kennedy Center really need a remodel?
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Jukebox Playlist: Always made me laugh- Your feet’s too big
“…a person wrapped up in himself makes a small package.” - Harry Emerson Fosdick
Benjamin Franklin said it first: “A person wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.” A few years later, ordained Baptist minister Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick improved upon it, getting rid of the qualifier (“very”) and changing bundle to package to make it more modern. It must’ve worked, because a hundred years later, we’re still quoting it. And whether you prefer his version or Franklin’s, it makes its point. No matter how talented you are, no matter how many achievements you stack up—hell, you might be the most powerful human in the world!—if that world begins and ends with you, it’s gonna be pretty small.
In other words, when we become centered on the self, we shrink.
Public commentary has often focused on Donald Trump’s communication style, which tends to underscore his personal success, his personal grievances, and other people’s loyalty to (who else?) him. Those who love him and voted for him view this as confidence. Those who can’t stand him (or in any case aren’t in awe) see it as self‑centeredness. They argue that when a leader’s focus remains on personal image, the broader responsibilities of public office take a back seat. Or even no seat at all.
That’s because personal image is tricky. It weighs nothing while taking up too much space…not in the world, but in the mirror. When a leader is heavily centered on how he or she comes off, the scope of decision-making narrows. It has to, because that damned reflection blocks out the view of everything else. Or, if you don’t like the mirror analogy, picture Trump a cupboard under the stairs, like Harry Potter. Picture him angry that you treated him badly, or that you weren’t “fair” to him. Now picture him trying to take a step back, to refocus, to use logic and pragmatism.
He can’t. That cupboard under the stairs of resentments won’t let him.
But, as we know too well, being “other-centered” comes at a price. Fosdick paid it by taking up causes that were unpopular in his day. He was an outspoken critic of racism and fought so eloquently against injustice of all sorts that none other than M.L.K. Jr., called him “the greatest preacher of this century.” He defended the teachings of evolution and rejected creationism. And he was one of the first ministers to give his approval to Alcoholics Anonymous. Why? Because he saw “the other,” the downtrodden, the less fortunate, the needy. And in seeing them instead of himself, his view expanded. He expanded.
If instead it’s all about me, then public messaging, policy choices, or official actions become closely tied to personal branding or personal benefit. Ethics experts warn that when a leader’s attention turns inward, the space for collective responsibility, transparency, and public trust has to shrink. The “small package” becomes a metaphor for leadership that contracts, limiting its ability to serve the American people until all it’s serving is itself.
We're all in on air fryers. This Ninja model is our definitive top pick after testing more than two dozen.
Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Susan Collins of Maine sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a letter warning against any changes that could affect victims' care.
Bezos has not publicly responded to several letters sent by Post staffers urging him to curb potential layoffs
While Washington Post employees remain in the dark about an impending round of cuts that could dramatically reshape the publication, the man that many hoped could soften or stop the blow, owner Jeff Bezos, has remained silent.
So far, three staff-organized letters sent by Post employees to Bezos imploring him to protect the Post’s robust coverage have gone unanswered.
Continue reading...State resolutions are underutilized right now and could be a significant mobilizing factor for the Democratic party
The Democrats hold in their hands constitutional means yet unused to check the Trump regime’s ruthless attempt to impose a police state. That the Democrats thus far have failed to create this oppositional political center of gravity may be because the method has been lost to history, not wielded effectively for 113 years. Focused on the ICE outrages, however, this political instrument can be revived in the 16 states where the Democrats control the governorships and both chambers of the state legislatures, as well as introduced in states with mixed power.
Before the enactment of the 17th amendment in 1913, state legislators and not the voters selected US senators and regarded them frequently as their agents. It was a common practice for legislatures to send what were called “orders of instruction” urging senators and sometimes members of the House of Representatives to take a particular stand on important issues. The orders were not binding, but had significant force given the power of legislatures and political parties to decide who would hold Senate seats. These resolutions were variously called instructions, petitions and memorials.
Continue reading...Advocates call for further disclosures after Trump’s justice department released more than 3m files last week
The release of about 3m Jeffrey Epstein investigative files has failed to quell outrage over justice department officials’ handling of these disclosures, with advocates claiming potentially millions of documents are still being withheld.
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice was required to disclose all investigative files by 19 December under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA). While the justice department did release some documents on that date, last week’s disclosure came nearly six weeks after this deadline.
Continue reading...Phishing attempts continue to grow with help from generative AI and its believable deepfakes and voice impersonations.
The scale of the buildup seems aimed at readying forces for expansive operations, analysts said.
Carlo Soracchi, who infiltrated anti-fascist group in early 2000s, accused of suggesting crime as he had ‘got nothing’
Three anti-fascist activists have accused an undercover police officer of attempting to incite them to firebomb a shop that was said to be a front for the far right, the spycops inquiry has heard.
The accusation has been levelled against Carlo Soracchi, an officer who spent six years infiltrating anti-fascist and leftwing groups. He has denied the claim.
Continue reading...Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 3, No. 498.
The last time the Seahawks and Patriots met in a Super Bowl, a dramatic interception by an undrafted rookie changed the history of both franchises
When the New England Patriots faced off against the Denver Broncos in this season’s AFC championship, Malcolm Butler was at home in Houston. He had considered attending the game in Denver or watching on TV in a No 21 Patriots jersey, which he wore in Foxboro for four seasons through the mid-to-late 2010s, but feared he might jinx the outcome. In the end, it was just him and his nerves for company.
Just as Butler was feeling somewhat at peace with that setup, and the Patriots’ prospects, a bad omen intruded: His wifi glitched, delaying the broadcast as the Patriots clung on to a three-point lead in the fourth-quarter. “I was lagging bad,” Butler tells the Guardian. “But I did get the wifi back working. And as soon as I did my phone was ringing like crazy, so I knew something was going right. It’s crazy that we’re back.”
Continue reading...Latest communications undermine Chomsky’s earlier claims that he primarily had financial dealings with Epstein
The close friendship that Noam Chomsky maintained with Jeffrey Epstein continued being detailed extensively among millions of investigative records pertaining to the late convicted sex offender recently released by the US justice department, including Chomsky “fantasizing about the Caribbean island”.
In Friday’s tranche of the so-called Epstein files, which built upon earlier disclosures of their close social ties, there is no indication that the famed academic and linguist was referring to his friend’s private Caribbean island where children were sexually abused. But the personal familiarity between the two men in that exchange is palpable, as it is in numerous other emails between Chomsky and Epstein aimed at planning more mundane social gatherings.
Continue reading...Outcome of meeting uncertain as ‘erratic, temperamental’ presidents could be either ‘confrontational’ or amicable
One month ago, a White House meeting between Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, would have been unthinkable.
The US raid on Caracas to capture the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, brought already heated relations between them to a boil, with Trump warning the leftist Colombian leader “could be next”, claiming Petro was a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States”.
Continue reading...
Why Should Delaware Care?
On Saturday, Gov. Matt Meyer said he had spoken with superintendents in New Castle County to determine which roads, sidewalks and bus stops remain unsafe, and that the Delaware Department of Transportation would be clearing those streets ahead of school on Monday. But even though the Colonial School District opened its doors on Monday, it was unable to provide transportation to all communities because of remaining road conditions.
Days after Gov. Matt Meyer said it was “unacceptable” that Delaware schools remained closed nearly a week after a crippling snowstorm swept through the state, some students in the Colonial School District were still unable to go to school Monday because of road conditions.
Last week, parts of Kent County received more than 6 inches of snowfall on Sunday, while New Castle County saw up to 10 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Freezing rain in some areas then added an inch of solid ice atop that accumulation.
Temperatures have remained frigid in the days since the storm, and much of the snow has compacted into a dense layer of ice, which has stifled cleanup crews, according to state and city transportation officials.
On Saturday, Meyer said he had spoken with each New Castle County superintendent and “received lists of roads, sidewalks and bus stops that remain unsafe.”
Meyer added that the Delaware Department of Transportation would be clearing those streets over the weekend to ensure schools could open their doors on Monday.
Still, transportation was not available to multiple communities in the Colonial School District on Monday. Those communities included Rosegate, Garfield Park, and Willow Grove, among others.
Colonial Superintendent Jeff Menzer said the district originally released a statement Sunday night saying the district would not be able to pick up students from 11 neighborhoods along Route 9 and one in the lower half of the district due to difficult driving conditions.
Many district bus drivers then reported back to officials that they were unable to finish their routes early Monday morning. Menzer said the district pushed out information to the district’s middle and elementary school families that buses would not be able to pick up students.
Menzer said attendance was down in some of the schools that were part of the impacted communities, such as Eisenberg Elementary School and McCullough Middle School.
Attendance across the district was at roughly 60% to 70% on Monday.
The Brandywine, Red Clay Consolidated, and Christina school districts also reopened their doors on Monday, following Meyer’s weekend announcement.
Some of those districts, though, also experienced complications with picking up students.
Although the Red Clay Consolidated School District’s transportation went well, one bus did temporarily get stuck in a neighborhood, Director of Transportation Kelly Shahan wrote in a statement to Spotlight Delaware. The incident occurred before the bus had picked up any students, and it only resulted in a minor delay, Shahan said.
The Christina School District also wrote to families on Sunday, saying there may be some “unavoidable delays due to neighborhood conditions, which could mean that wait times at bus stops will be longer than usual.”
The Brandywine School District successfully ran all bus routes on a staggered schedule, though some stops and sidewalks still pose a challenge to students, according to a statement from Superintendent Lisa Lawson.
Brandywine will also be returning to its regular bus and school schedules on Tuesday, Lawson said.
All four school districts also said students will not be marked late because of the weather. Districts are also offering excused absences to families who do not feel comfortable sending their children to school with the road conditions.
Menzer said the district had shared a list of priority areas and roads that were impassable with DelDOT on Jan. 29, but his district was not seeing improvements late last week. By Jan. 31, the ice was too thick for salt to help break down the compact, Menzer said.
C.R. McLeod, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Transportation, said in a statement the department had to apply salt to the roads and wait for the sun to melt enough ice for plowing to be effective in neighborhoods.
“We’ve been in communication with the [Colonial] school district and expect to see improvement today and tomorrow with temperatures above freezing,” McLeod wrote.
Last week, Colonial Supervisor of Transportation Marc Emerick told Spotlight Delaware the district’s smaller neighborhoods, “who are digging themselves out,” were the most impacted by the storm.
“If you are fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood with a DART route, you know that at least some of your roads are going to be tended to by DelDOT, which is the most effective way of clearing a road,” he said.
Communities that are not near a DART route or roads that DelDOT plows typically rely on contractor services to clear the snow.
But Emerick said districts must also check the passability of streets, because some contractors’ plows do not create a path wide enough for school buses. If a bus gets stuck or experiences a minor fender-bender that does not impact student safety, it can still delay students’ pickups for an hour.
Colonial’s buses go into neighborhoods and pick students up close to their homes. At the same time, more than half of Colonial’s bus fleet are 84-passenger, flat-nose buses that require a wider turn radius than typical buses, Menzer. said
Menzer said those two factors complicated student pick-ups on Monday.
“Even though our drivers had driven the routes and checked them out in their personal vehicles, it’s different,” Menzer said. “You don’t really know until you get your bus upon it and realize, ‘Man, I can’t make that corner.’”
The district also adjusted its bus stops for students in the communities it had previously suspended transportation to, with buses picking students up at main streets in those communities rather than going down side streets.
The post A week after winter storm, Colonial students still can’t get to school appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
While Israel has faced sharp criticism over its war in Gaza, start-up executives say foreigners are eager to buy systems developed and tested on the battlefield.
Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.
Why Should Delaware Care?
The Port of Wilmington is one of the last anchors of good-paying, blue-collar jobs in Delaware. It also has suffered a string of financial blows over a dramatic six-year-period. How the state responds to the setbacks may determine the shape of Delaware’s workforce into the future.
Delaware’s quest to build one of the mid-Atlantic’s biggest port container terminals may have quietly cleared a key hurdle last month.
During a meeting on Monday of the state board that oversees the Port of Wilmington, Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez said Delaware is no longer required to secure an approval from the Port of Philadelphia in order to move forward with efforts to recapture construction permits that a federal judge invalidated in 2024.
Delaware port officials need the permits to fulfill their longstanding, yet beleaguered, goal of building a new port at the site of a former chemical plant in Edgemoor. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have already been committed to the project, which port officials say will create thousands of new jobs in the state.
Patibanda-Sanchez said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — which is in charge of issuing the permits — agreed last month to grant an exception to a rule requiring Delaware to obtain a formal ”statement of no objection” from the Port of Philadelphia – a regional competitor that has long opposed Delaware plans to expand the Port of Wilmington.
Internal port documents state that the Port of Philadelphia, as of last fall, had declined to sign such a statement.
Now, with an exception to the rule, Patibanda-Sanchez said the Corps of Engineers can begin its review of Delaware’s application for permits to build a port seawall, and to dredge the Delaware River from the Edgemoor docks to the main channel.
“And we’re very excited to have cleared that first step,” she said during the Monday meeting of the board of the Diamond State Port Corporation – the state-owned entity that oversees the Port of Wilmington.
The development follows years of turmoil that has plagued the Port of Wilmington and its $600 million expansion plans.
When the state privatized the port’s operations in 2018, the company that took over, Gulftainer, promised to privately fund the development of Edgemoor by doubling the shipments at the Port of Wilmington’s existing facility along the Christina River. Not only did those bold projections fail to materialize, but the port’s finances under Gulftainer also deteriorated.
Hopes for the port’s expansion were revived in 2023 when Delaware brought in a new operating company, Enstructure. But a year later, a federal judge invalidated the Edgemoor permits following a lawsuit brought by competing ports along the Delaware River, including the Port of Philadelphia.
The upstream ports sued the Army Corps of Engineers for what they said was a “perfunctory and inadequate review” of Delaware’s permit applications. While many in Delaware saw the lawsuit as part of a powerplay between officials at the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia, the legal complaint alleged that ships leaving a future Edgemoor port would cause a dangerous marine bottleneck when turning into the river’s main channel.
In the sharply worded ruling issued in October, 2024, U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney stated that the Army Corps of Engineers had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” when it issued the Edgemoor building permits.
He also criticized Delaware port officials for failing to obtain a statement of no objection to the permits from their upstream neighbor. The requirement was in place because the Port of Philadelphia had been the primary non-federal financial sponsor of a recent Delaware River dredging project along the estuary to deepen the shipping channel.
Kearney also stated that if the Corps of Engineers reevaluated the Edgemoor permits, it must address “navigation and safety issues,” and must ensure that Delaware “obtains a Statement of No Objection from the Philadelphia Port Authority.”
It is not immediately clear how the judge will interpret the Army Corps of Engineers’ recent decision to make an exception for the requirement.
Patibanda-Sanchez did not directly address the issue when asked by email why she believes the exception will pass muster with Kearney.
Instead, she said in a statement that Delaware’s port officials “continue our work on the Delaware Container Terminal project and are encouraged with the progress we have made so far.”
“We look forward to the USACE’s (Corps of Engineers’) complete review of our application. As we make progress on the permitting, we are also working on issues raised by the community and all the stakeholders involved with this project,” Patibanda-Sanchez said in the statement.
The post Port of Wilmington officials: Edgemoor plans clear a key hurdle appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Valdis Dombrovskis says bloc is ‘ready to engage’ amid meetings with ministers including Rachel Reeves
The European Commission would be “open-minded” to discussing closer trade ties with the UK, including a customs union, a senior EU official has said.
The EU economy commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, told the BBC that the European bloc was “ready to engage with an open mind” when asked about a customs union.
Continue reading...Britons cut back in January after record grocery spending in December, turning to own-label products
Britons started 2026 by buying more healthy food such as fruit and yoghurt as they attempted to hit new year health goals, while grocery price inflation eased to the lowest level since April, research has shown.
Annual grocery inflation fell back to 4% in the four weeks to 25 January from 4.7% in December, offering some relief for shoppers, according to a monthly snapshot of the grocery sector from the research company Worldpanel by Numerator.
Continue reading...Aerospace business and artificial intelligence firm to unite for IPO as world’s most valuable private company
Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence business xAI, in a $1.25tn (£910bn) merger that consolidates part of Musk’s empire as SpaceX prepares to go public later this year.
The two companies announced the deal on Monday in a statement on SpaceX’s website, saying the merger would form “the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform”.
Continue reading...Tributes for Queensland snowboarder Brooke Day recall a ‘cherished team mate’ who had an ‘infectious sense of humour’
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The family of an Australian woman who died in a ski lift accident in Japan have remembered their “beautiful girl” as someone who kept others safe as tributes pour in for the 22-year-old “vibrant spirit”.
The Queensland snowboarder Brooke Day sustained critical injuries on Friday after her backpack was caught in a ski lift at Tsugaike Mountain resort in Otari, near Nagano.
Continue reading...sinij writes: Automakers have increasingly implemented door handles that retract into the bodywork for aerodynamic reasons, but they are now off limits in China. My issue is with electronic-only door latch mechanism. It should be possible to open the door from both inside and outside the car in case of complete power loss.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
US president makes further claims of antisemitism against Ivy League school amid wider dispute with higher eduction institutions
Donald Trump has announced that his administration is seeking $1bn in damages from Harvard University, the latest step in a long-running battle with the university over allegations of antisemitism.
In a Truth Social post late on Monday, Trump accused the Ivy League school of being “strongly antisemitic”, adding that Harvard president Alan Garber “has done a terrible job of rectifying a very bad situation for his institution and, more importantly, America itself”.
Continue reading...Iran’s leaders now face unprecedented peril. The regime has lost its footing, and the global mechanisms to avoid conflict no longer work
Dr Sanam Vakil is the director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa programme
Forty-seven years on from the Iranian revolution, Iran is confronting a strategic reality it has never faced before – a simultaneous crisis of domestic legitimacy and a credible threat of external attack so severe that regime survival can no longer be taken for granted. Until now, Tehran has survived wars, sanctions, assassinations, mass protests and international isolation through a strategy of projecting strength abroad, repressing dissent at home and generating a permanent crisis to justify poor leadership and political failure.
Today, Donald Trump has mobilised an “armada” to the Middle East that includes the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, guided-missile destroyers, an expanded air presence and missile defence systems. This force projection suggests the US is no longer focused on containing Iran but rather compelling a final resolution of a long-running conflict. The choice at hand is either the acceptance of a US-imposed settlement or the destruction of the Islamic republic as it exists today.
Continue reading...Masoud Pezeshkian instructs foreign minister to seek negotiations with US as Trump warns ‘bad things would happen’ if no solution agreed
Iran’s president said on Tuesday that he had instructed his foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the US, as the two countries reportedly prepared to send top envoys to Istanbul for high-stakes talks on the Iranian nuclear programme later this week.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X: “I have instructed my minister of foreign affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists – one free from threats and unreasonable expectations – to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency.”
Continue reading...Authorities in the Tucson, Arizona, area are searching for the mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.
Sleek car doors reduce vehicle drag but are prone to losing operability in the event of a crash, officials say
China will soon ban concealed door handles on electric vehicles (EVs), becoming the first country to do so after several deadly incidents triggered global scrutiny of the controversial design first popularised by Tesla.
According to regulations announced on Monday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, cars sold in China will now be required to have a mechanical release on both the inside and outside of every door except the boot.
Continue reading...Euphoric scenes are a snub to theocracy’s culture of piety, say analysts, and carry message of rebellion
Iranians killed in recent protests that rocked the country have been laid to rest in boisterous funerals featuring loud pop music and dancing, apparently intended to convey defiance to the ruling Islamic regime.
Instead of holding sombre traditional mourning ceremonies presided over by a Shia cleric, bereaved relatives are turning the burials into exultant celebrations of the lives of their loved ones in what analysts say is an intentional snub to the culture of piety demanded by Iran’s theocracy.
Continue reading...Annual review highlights growing capabilities of AI models, while examining issues from cyber-attacks to job disruption
The International AI Safety report is an annual survey of technological progress and the risks it is creating across multiple areas, from deepfakes to the jobs market.
Commissioned at the 2023 global AI safety summit, it is chaired by the Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, who describes the “daunting challenges” posed by rapid developments in the field. The report is also guided by senior advisers, including Nobel laureates Geoffrey Hinton and Daron Acemoglu.
Continue reading...Why states keep trading even in the midst of conflict.
I saw some comments about tennis racket grip tape, is that my best option?
Thank you! :)
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 3
 | I ordered mint rail guards and red bumpers which I think would look awesome together. The problem is the “mint” is blue. Photos attached [link] [comments] |
Elon Musk's SpaceX has acquired his AI startup xAI in an all-stock deal that values the combined entity at $1.25 trillion, ahead of what would be the largest initial public offering in history. SpaceX pegged its own valuation at $1 trillion -- a markup from the $800 billion it commanded in a December secondary stock sale -- and priced xAI at $250 billion based on a recent $20 billion funding round that valued the two-year-old AI company at $230 billion. SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen told investors on a call Monday that shares in the combined company would be priced at $527 and that xAI shares would convert into SpaceX stock at a roughly seven-to-one exchange rate. The company is still targeting a June IPO expected to raise as much as $50 billion, surpassing Saudi Aramco's $29 billion listing in 2019. Musk said the least expensive way to do AI computation within two to three years will be in space. "Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions, even in the near term, without imposing hardship on communities and the environment," he wrote. SpaceX filed last Friday for permission to launch up to a million satellites into Earth's orbit. xAI merged with Musk's social media platform X last March in a $113 billion deal, and Tesla announced a $2 billion investment in xAI last week.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The judge said the Trump administration’s move to withdraw the temporary protected status was probably illegal. The Department of Homeland Security plans to appeal.
This live blog is now closed.
House speaker Mike Johnson is set to swear in Christian Menefee, a Democrat who recently won a runoff election for a reliably blue seat in Texas.
Menefee’s victory, however, means the margin in the House is even more slim: 218 Republicans to 214 Democrats. His current term will end at the end of the year, and he’ll have to start campaigning almost immediately for the 2026 midterms. But this time, it will be for a new district, after the GOP-controlled legislature successfully gerrymandered the state’s congressional map.
Continue reading...By the end of 2026, most United flights will have the faster in-flight Wi-Fi, the companies say.
Scientists at the University of Utah have analyzed nearly a century's worth of human hair samples and found that lead concentrations dropped 100-fold after the EPA began cracking down on leaded gasoline and other lead-based products in the 1970s. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, drew on hair collected from Utah residents -- some preserved in family scrapbooks going back generations. Lead levels peaked between 1916 and 1969 at around 100 parts per million, fell to 10 ppm by 1990, and dropped below 1 ppm by 2024. The decline largely tracks the phase-out of leaded gasoline after President Nixon established the EPA in 1970; before the agency acted, most gasolines contained about 2 grams of lead per gallon, releasing nearly 2 pounds of lead per person into the environment each year. The study arrives amid the Trump administration's broader push to scale back the EPA. Lead regulations have not yet been targeted, but the authors note concerns about loosened enforcement of the 2024 Lead and Copper rule on replacing old lead pipes.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Other countries are expected to join Project Vault, which US president said would ensure that US businesses are ‘never harmed by any shortage’
Donald Trump has announced the creation of a critical mineral reserve worth nearly $12bn, a stockpile that could counter China’s ability to use its dominance of the hard-to-process metals as leverage in trade talks.
“Today we’re launching what will be known as Project Vault to ensure that American businesses and workers are never harmed by any shortage,” Trump said at the White House on Monday.
Continue reading...The Clintons made a last-ditch effort to avoid a contempt vote.
A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from revoking Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, granting a last-minute reprieve to 350,000 immigrants who were set to lose protections on Tuesday.
Up to 350,000 Haitians legally live and work in the US due to being granted temporary protected status
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from stripping temporary protected status from up to 350,000 Haitians, a status that allows them to legally live and work in the United States amid the turmoil in their homeland.
Judge Ana Reyes issued a temporary stay that prevents Kristi Noem, the US homeland security secretary, from implementing her decision to remove the status known as TPS, which was scheduled to expire on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for Feb. 3, No. 1,690.
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 3 #968.
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 3, No. 702.
CEO Alex Karp hails ‘iconic’ financial results despite criticism over contracts with ICE and homeland security
Palantir celebrated its latest financial results on Monday, as the tech company blew past Wall Street expectations and continues to prop up the Trump administration’s push to deport immigrants.
Palantir has secured millions of dollars in federal contracts amid Trump’s crackdown on immigrants. The multibillion-dollar Denver-based firm creates tech focused on surveillance and analytics, to be used by the government agencies and private companies.
Continue reading...Rusne Augustinaite is from Lithuania, and her mom had never been to the U.S. to see her play a college game in person.
As President Trump prepares to shut down the Kennedy Center for renovations, sources told CBS News there has been no discussion of demolishing or gutting the building.
All federal immigration agents in Minneapolis will begin wearing body cameras, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Monday, a policy that could be rolled out nationwide.
Brendan Banfield, who was having an affair with the family's Brazilian au pair, was found guilty on Monday of murdering his wife and another man.
Latest release of files about disgraced financier reveals she told Epstein he was ‘the brother I have always wished for
The charity of Sarah Ferguson has announced that it is closing after new revelations emerged about the former duchess’s friendship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Sarah’s Trust, the international charity launched by the ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, will close “for the foreseeable future” after “some months” of discussion, according to a spokesperson.
Continue reading...Donald Trump hit out at Trevor Noah over a joke about the US president and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at the 2026 Grammys. 'I think he’s terrible. I think he did a terrible job at the Grammys,' Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting. In a social media post, Trump earlier threatened to sue Noah
Continue reading...We recently talked about Apple’s pre-Mac OS X dabblings in UNIX, but Apple wasn’t the only computer and operating system company exploring UNIX alternatives. Microsoft had the rather successful Xenix, Atari had ASV, Sony had NEWS, to name just a very small few. The Amiga, too, wanted in on the UNIX action, and as such, released Amiga UNIX, based on AT&T System V Release 4. The Amiga UNIX website is dedicated to everything you would ever want to know about this operating system.
This site is dedicated on preserving Amix’s history and sharing information and instructions on what Amix is, how to install it (either on real hardware or in emulation) and what can you do with it. Mainly, it tries to cater to people who wish to run AMIX for whatever reason on their hardware. By documenting experiences with it, it is hoped that subsequent SVR4 junkies will find the way more smooth than it might have been without any guidance at all. For even a relatively experienced modern Unix or GNU/Linux administrator, System V UNIX is sufficiently different to present difficulty in installation and administration. Not so much in moving around between directories, and using common utilities that persist to this day – although many of those are hoary and somewhat forgetful in their retirement – but of doing more in depth tasks and understanding the differences.
↫ The Amiga Unix Wiki
If you wish to run Amiga UNIX yourself, you’ll either have to have one of the original two models sold with it – the 2500UX and 3000UX – or one of the Amigas that meets the minimum requirements. Another option is, of course, emulation, and WinUAE has support for running Amiga UNIX.
Decision to give testimony comes days before House was expected to vote to hold pair in contempt of Congress
Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed on Monday to testify in a House investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, days before the chamber was expected to vote to hold them in contempt of Congress.
The concession follows a tense back-and-forth between the Clintons and the Republican James Comer, chair of the House oversight committee, who on Monday said that he would insist both Clintons sit for a sworn deposition before the committee in order to fulfill the panel’s subpoenas.
Continue reading...There were 579,475 instances of emergency hospitalisation being needed in the year to March 2025, analysis finds
The number of people requiring emergency care for pneumonia has risen by a quarter over two years to reach more than half a million cases, new figures show, amid warnings that preventable cases are adding pressure on overstretched A&E departments.
Analysis of the most recent NHS England data from between April 2024 and March 2025 found that there were 579,475 cases of pneumonia requiring emergency hospitalisation, and this was likely to have risen further since, according to the charity Asthma + Lung UK. There were 461,995 cases between April 2022 and March 2023.
Continue reading...Caroline Willgoose, whose 15-year-old son was killed by another pupil, says murder was ‘senseless and avoidable’
The family of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death at school by another pupil has said her son’s murder was “senseless and avoidable” and that a report ordered by the school showed too many “red flags” were missed.
Harvey Willgoose died one year ago to the day, and his killer, Mohammed Umar Khan, is serving a minimum term of 16 years’ detention. A report commissioned by the trust that runs Harvey’s school, All Saints Catholic high school in Sheffield, has highlighted a number of missed opportunities in the run-up to the murder. The review was undertaken by a former school headteacher and inspector of schools at Learn Sheffield.
Continue reading...The owners of Leica Camera AG -- Austrian billionaire Andreas Kaufmann and private equity giant Blackstone -- are considering a sale of a controlling stake in the German camera maker in a deal that could value the company at about $1.2 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. HSG, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, and Altor Equity Partners are among a handful of bidders. The Kaufmann family could re-invest following a transaction. Leica traces its roots roughly 150 years to Ernst Leitz's microscope company and was publicly traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange until the Kaufmann family took it private in 2012.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Minister announces Microsoft, Cisco and Adobe to help apply AI to local schools, hospitals, GPs and businesses
In 2002 Barnsley toyed with a redesign as a Tuscan hill village as it sought out a brighter post-industrial future. In 2021 it adopted the airily vague slogan “the place of possibilities”. Now it is trying a different image: Britain’s first “tech town”.
The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, has anointed the South Yorkshire community as a trailblazer for “how AI can improve everyday life” in the UK.
Continue reading...Starting early Wednesday, United customers won't be able to book flights and access other services as the airline upgrades its reservation system.
Numbers Israel permitted to enter Egypt after reopening border were far lower than expected following delays
A small number of sick and wounded Palestinians have begun crossing into Egypt to seek medical treatment after Israel permitted a limited reopening of the Palestinian territory’s Rafah border post as fragile diplomatic efforts to stabilise the conflict inch forward.
About 150 people were due to leave the territory on Monday, and 50 to enter it, according to Egyptian officials, more than 20 months after Israeli forces closed the crossing. However, by nightfall, Reuters reported that Israel had permitted 12 Palestinians to re-enter the territory, according to Palestinian and Egyptian sources. A further 38 had not cleared security and would wait on the Egyptian side of the crossing overnight, it said.
Continue reading...Peter Attia, a doctor and author well known for his research on longevity, is apologizing for what he calls "embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible" emails he exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein.
Regional powers are working to bring together high-level negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, in hopes of staving off war.
Messages show Epstein arranging women for Tisch
76-year-old denies any wrongdoing over matter
The NFL says it is looking into links between New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Tisch’s name was mentioned more than 400 times in emails relating to Epstein that were released by the US justice department last week. Tisch has never been charged with any crime connected to the investigation into Epstein.
Continue reading...Prosecutors say other man was lured to Brendan Banfield’s house as a fall guy in scheme to get rid of Banfield’s wife
A Virginia man having an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair was found guilty Monday of murdering his wife and another man that prosecutors say was lured to the house as a fall guy.
Brendan Banfield, a former IRS law enforcement officer, told police he came across Joseph Ryan attacking his wife, Christine Banfield, with a knife on the morning of 24 February 2023. He shot Ryan and then Juliana Magalhães, the au pair, shot him, too.
Continue reading...  | So my board stopped charging and I can see two of the 3 connectors is sunk. Any ideas on how to fix this? Should I open it up and see if I can push them out from the other side? Is there another way I'm not considering? Any help is appreciated [link] [comments] |
An anonymous reader shares a report: The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency won't attend the annual RSA Conference in March, an agency spokesperson confirmed to The Register. Sessions involving speakers from the FBI and National Security Agency (NSA) have also disappeared from the agenda. "Since the beginning of this administration, CISA has made significant progress in returning to our statutory, core mission and focusing on President Trump's policies for maximum security for all Americans," CISA spokesperson Marci McCarthy told us. "CISA has reviewed and determined that we will not participate in the RSA Conference since we regularly review all stakeholder engagements, to ensure maximum impact and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars." McCarthy declined to comment on whether the decision had anything to do with former CISA director Jen Easterly being named chief executive of RSAC last week. Easterly, who was appointed to lead America's top cyber-defense agency under the Biden administration, joined her predecessor and CISA's first-ever director Chris Krebs in President Trump's line of fire back in July.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
It was a reunion of sorts as former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino relaunched his podcast and brought in the man who tapped him for the federal job — President Donald Trump — for an interview.
Bongino and Trump talked about a variety of issues, including Minnesota, where Trump’s administration has sent some 3,000 immigration enforcement officers, prompting a backlash, especially after the deadly shootings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Minneapolis, the focus of the enforcement effort, is home to many Somalis, most of whom are U.S. citizens, either by birth or naturalization.
During the interview with Bongino, Trump referred to Somali immigrants in Minnesota.
"These are people that don’t work," Trump said. "These are people that are just not an asset to our society, to put it mildly. And we’ve got to get them out. … Ninety-two percent don’t work. They have an unbelievable corrupt system of welfare. You know, many of them drive Mercedes Benzes. They had nothing when they came over."
Federal data shows that Somalis are poorer, on average, than other Minnesotans. But the notion that 92% of them don’t work is unfounded; official government data shows far lower percentages.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson did not provide support for the 92% figure. "Aliens who come to our country, complain about how much they hate America, fail to contribute to our economy, rip off Americans, and refuse to assimilate into our society should not be here," she said.
The immigration enforcement buildup came after Trump criticized a spate of fraud cases involving Somalis in Minnesota, which have been prosecuted under former President Joe Biden and Trump. Since 2022, federal prosecutors have charged about 98 people with defrauding the federal government. The majority have been convicted; many cases are pending.
There are about 108,000 Somalis in Minnesota, representing roughly 2% of the state’s population. Most Somalis came to the state in the 1990s, fleeing civil war in their home country. Some came as refugees — an immigration category for those fleeing persecution — while others were sponsored by family members or moved from other states.
Census Bureau data from 2024 estimates that for Somalis in Minnesota, the labor force participation rate — that is, the share of the population 16 and older that is either working or looking for work — is about 72%. That means that about 28% of the Minnesota Somali population is not employed and not looking for work — less than one-third of the 92% share Trump cited.
The rate of labor force participation is higher for Somalis than it is for Minnesotans overall. In December 2025, Minnesota’s overall labor force participation rate was 68%; that would make the non-working rate about 32%, or four percentage points higher than for Somalis.
The Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that favors low immigration levels, produced a December report that details demographics of the Somali community in Minnesota using Census data.
The report found significant economic and social challenges, including that 52% of children in Somali immigrant homes in Minnesota live in poverty, compared with 8% of children in homes headed by U.S.-born people. It also found that about 39% of working-age Somalis have no high school diploma, compared with 5% of U.S. natives, and that half of working-age Somalis who have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years cannot speak English "very well."
But the report found that when it comes to employment, Somalis in Minnesota measure up relatively well.
"Somali joblessness is not as common as one would predict based on their population’s low education level," the report said. "Employment is therefore a bright spot in the data for Somalis, relatively speaking."
The report’s author, resident scholar Jason Richwine, told PolitiFact he suspects Trump’s 92% figure results from "a common misunderstanding about welfare and work."
Richwine said his research found that about 9 of every 10 Somali immigrant households with children receive means-tested, anti-poverty benefits — but that doesn't mean that 90%, or 92%, don't work. That’s because most welfare programs are available to workers, including food stamps and Medicaid.
Richwine said the economic challenge associated with Somali immigration "isn't so much that they don't work. Rather, it's that their marketable skills are in many cases insufficient to raise their families out of poverty. As a consequence, they use a lot of welfare."
Trump said that among Somalis in Minnesota, "92% of them don’t work."
The most recent data shows that about 28% of Somalis in Minnesota aren’t working — a far lower number than Trump’s 92%, and a smaller rate than for Minnesotans overall.
About 9 in 10 Somalis receive some form of public assistance, but these programs typically allow low-wage workers to participate; receiving public benefits does not mean someone isn’t working.
We rate the statement Pants on Fire!
RELATED: Trump leaders say Minnesota officials withhold detained immigrants from ICE. Is that true?
Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for Feb. 2, No. 1,689. And it's an iconic word in Wordle history!
Lawyers discussed possibility of Epstein’s cooperation with prosecutors – and more names surfaced in new documents
A new trove of about 3m files related to the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was released on Friday, offering new details about his network and interactions with wealthy and powerful figures and the federal investigations into his crimes.
The release follows legislation passed in November by US lawmakers that mandated the disclosure of all Epstein-related documents.
Continue reading...  | Thanks city workers for fixing streets and sidewalks but also grrr. [link] [comments] |
White House says president is not involved in running his businesses. Ethics experts remain concerned
Donald Trump has been accused of “corruption, plain and simple” after it was revealed that a member of the Emirati royal family was behind a $500m investment into the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company.
Ethics experts say the deal – struck just days before the US president’s inauguration last January – amounts to a deep conflict of interest for the White House, amid calls for a congressional investigation into the transaction.
Continue reading...Several iPhone Fold leaks have been reported, including a massive battery life, design elements, cameras and more.
Social media posts claim to show photos of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a child, along with his mother Mira Nair, attending multiple events with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But the images aren’t real.
American actor Michael Rapaport posted a picture on X showing Nair, a filmmaker, holding a baby and standing next to former President Bill Clinton and Epstein in what looks like a tropical setting.
"Mira Nair holding her baby Zohran Mamdani with Bill and Epstein," Rapaport wrote Jan. 31. "Yeah….read that again…."
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones shared another image Feb. 1 on X of what appeared to be Mamdani as a child posing with Nair, Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein, Clinton, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Other X users also shared multiple images of Mamdani as a child supposedly attending Epstein’s events.
(Screenshot of X post)
The images went viral online after the Department of Justice released millions of more documents related to the Epstein files. The files include a 2009 email that says Nair attended an after-party for the film Amelia, which she directed. The party was held at Maxwell’s Manhattan townhouse.
Mamdani was born in 1991 and the email is from 2009, so if Mamdani had attended the party with his mother, he would have been about 18 years old at the time, not a child as the images claim to show.
PolitiFact found that the images of Nair with Mamdani as a child and Epstein were generated with artificial intelligence.
The photos originated on a parody account known as "DFF," which describes itself on X as sharing "high quality AI videos and memes."
The account shared the fake photos Jan. 31 and all of them had a "DFF" watermark. It also admitted one of the images was fake, saying, "Damn you guys failed. I purposely made him a baby which would technically make this pic 34 years old. Yikes."
(Screenshot of AI-images with DFF watermarks)
PolitiFact uploaded the three images shared by DFF to Gemini, Google’s AI tool. It found the images contain the SynthID watermark for images created or edited by the tool. It's not visible looking at the images, but Google's technology can detect it.
We rate the claim that images shared on X are real photos of Mamdani as a child with his mother and Epstein Pants on Fire!
Several documents and ‘media’ may have inadvertently exposed sensitive information of victims, drawing outcry
The justice department said on Monday it had taken down several thousand documents and “media” that may have inadvertently included victim-identifying information since it began releasing the latest batch of documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Friday.
It blamed the release of sensitive information that drew an outcry from victims and their lawyers on mistakes that were “technical or human error”.
Continue reading...He acknowledged that the weekend’s revelations further entangled him in the “understandable furor” surrounding the convicted sex offender.
Ron Johnson says he does not ‘have a problem’ with key demand made by Democrats blocking agency’s funding
The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, said that all federal agents in Minneapolis will immediately begin wearing body cameras and that the program will be expanded nationwide “as funding is available”.
The announcement on Monday comes after Republican senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin suggested, in a concession that could pave the way to an agreement on Capitol Hill to fund the much criticized agency, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could wear body cameras on immigration patrols.
Continue reading...Complete closure of the performing arts center in Washington, D.C., will start on July 4, Mr. Trump said. It's not yet clear how extensive the changes to the building might be.
Apple's co-founders signed the check in 1976, just weeks before establishing their partnership agreement.
"Project Vault" will be funded by a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, along with $2 billion in private-sector financing, President Trump said.
Kennedy’s pilot program to offer funding for long-term recovery after Trump signed order related to addiction
Robert F Kennedy Jr announced on Monday $100m in new grants for a pilot program aimed at addressing homelessness and substance use recovery in eight cities, building on an executive order Donald Trump signed last week related to addiction.
The funds will be distributed as part of the Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Supports (Streets) program, which will be managed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa) within the Department of Health and Human Services.
Continue reading...Author says accusations ‘spread and amplified’ by people more interested in ‘outrage and getting clicks’
Neil Gaiman has said that multiple sexual assault allegations against him are “simply untrue” and claimed to be the victim of a “smear campaign”, in the first post addressing the accusations for almost a year.
Gaiman, 65, author of novels including American Gods and the Ocean at the End of the Lane, has faced allegations of sexual abuse and coercive behaviour, which were outlined in a podcast by the Tortoise Media team in July 2024.
Continue reading...The smaller, squarish model could quickly follow the company's first foldable phone, if that device sells well.
Move from Claudia Sheinbaum comes after Trump signed an order threatening tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has pledged to send humanitarian aid this week to Cuba and said Mexico was “exploring all diplomatic avenues to be able to send fuel to the Cuban people”, despite efforts from Washington to cut off oil to the Caribbean nation.
Donald Trump last week signed an executive order allowing the US to slap tariffs on countries sending crude oil to Cuba and on Saturday said that Sheinbaum had agreed to halt shipments of oil at his request – a claim the Mexican leader rejected.
Continue reading...Democrats and one Republican demand release of millions more pages they insist are still being deliberately withheld
Democrats have promised to fight what they say is a “full-blown cover-up” of the Epstein files after the Trump administration on Sunday effectively declared its investigation into the disgraced late financier and sex offender closed.
The release of more than 3m new pages by the justice department on Friday represented the final act of compliance with legislation ordering the full disclosure of all investigative documents in its possession, according to the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche.
Continue reading...Met police assessing reports of alleged misconduct in public office after government information apparently shared
Peter Mandelson is facing a possible police investigation into his alleged leak of market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein at the height of the financial crisis.
New disclosures from the Epstein files appear to show Mandelson sent a string of emails to the late sex offender containing confidential information that the government was receiving to deal with the global crash while he was business secretary under Gordon Brown.
A confidential UK government document outlining £20bn in asset sales.
Mandelson claiming he was “trying hard” to change government policy on bankers’ bonuses.
An imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced in 2010.
A suggestion that the JPMorgan boss “mildly threaten” the chancellor.
Continue reading...Couple say they love their daughter immeasurably but have a moral obligation to try to find child’s biological parents
A couple is suing a Florida fertility clinic after learning that they were implanted with the wrong embryo, and are going public with their attempts to find their child’s biological parents.
Tiffany Score and Steven Mills have filed a lawsuit against IVF Life Inc, which operates as the Fertility Center of Orlando, and its lead physician, Dr Milton McNichol. The suit, which was initially filed under pseudonyms to protect their family’s privacy, states that three viable embryos were created with Score’s eggs and Mills’s sperm, and an embryo was successfully implanted in April 2025.
Continue reading...Martin was tapped to lead the Weaponization Working Group after he failed to win enough support from the Senate to be confirmed as D.C.'s U.S. attorney.
The American Federation of Teachers called on Target CEO Michael Fiddelke to "clearly state" that the company wants ICE agents to leave Minnesota.
The proposed site is situated along a flight path for nearby Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
The House is back in Washington on Monday to begin considering a revised funding package to end the partial government shutdown.
alternative_right writes: Fintraffic's national traffic priority system, which is set to be introduced this summer, will recognize the location of an emergency vehicle and automatically change the lights to green to facilitate its passage. (Why isn't everyone doing this already?)
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Commissioner to file motion requesting return of property unlawfully taken during raid related to 2020 election
Fulton county leaders said they would fire back in court on Monday, intent on limiting the scope of a federal warrant that led the FBI to seize 2020 elections documents last week.
County attorneys intend to file a motion in federal court asking for an order mandating the return of property that was unlawfully seized or retained, said the Fulton county commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr.
Continue reading...Trump and Petro’s unpredictable meeting could be pivotal for Latin America Expert comment thilton.drupal
Drugs, migration, China and Venezuela likely to be on the agenda as two outspoken leaders meet in Washington ahead of Colombia’s elections later this year.
Over the past year, US President Donald Trump and Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro have exchanged criticism, insults and even apparent threats. On February 3, they will meet at the White House where they are expected to discuss wide-ranging topics including drug trafficking, migration, Colombia’s border security with Venezuela and relations with China.
The meeting, which has been in preparation for months, is unpredictable due to the personalities of both men, who are known for being outspoken.
Colombia’s President Petro has been a vocal critic of US foreign policy in Latin America as the Trump administration seeks to revive the Monroe Doctrine. Petro condemned the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and accused the US of committing ‘murder’ in its strikes against vessels allegedly manned by drug traffickers in the Caribbean. He has also criticized the deportation of migrants from the US.
The Trump administration sees the leftist Colombian president as hostile to its strategy in the Western Hemisphere and its wider Make America Great Again ideology. In line with its new National Security Strategy, Washington has sought to curb migration and combat organized crime and drug trafficking into the US while projecting its influence and expanding its control in the Western Hemisphere.
The Trump administration has accused Petro’s government of not doing enough to stop the drug trade (accusations Petro denies) and has pressured Bogota to clamp down on drug traffickers and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas who operate in Colombia. Cocaine production in Colombia has reportedly risen to between 2,600 to 3,000 tons in 2024 (although the figures are disputed) while armed groups involved in the drug trade have expanded their territory.
In September, Washington removed Colombia’s certification that it is doing enough to eliminate cocaine crops. Later that month, the Trump administration revoked Petro and his family’s US visas and included them on the OFAC US Sanctions list. Trump then announced the US would stop sending subsidies to Colombia.
In December, Trump appeared to threaten Petro when he said that ‘he better wise up or he’ll be next’ in the US’s war on drugs. However, relations appeared to thaw with a phone call earlier this month, and the US granted Petro a temporary visa, paving the way for the February 3 meeting.
The meeting will be shaped by internal issues with both countries facing important election years. ‘Both presidents know that when they talk, they will be speaking to their constituencies,’ says Gimena Sánchez, a researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).
Ahead of crucial mid-term elections in November, Trump may want to show American voters who oppose US involvement in ‘endless wars’ that his actions towards Petro’s government have been taken to avoid a full-scale military intervention.
The Trump administration may also be considering how its interactions with Colombia are perceived by Latino voters. This is especially the case in Florida, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s political base, which is home to a large Colombian diaspora alongside many Venezuelans and Cubans.
For his part, Petro is travelling to Washington just months before Colombia holds presidential elections in May. Petro is not eligible to run for re-election himself due to the country’s term limits, but his handling of relations with the US could impact the outcome.
Colombian right-wing opposition members have accused Petro of ruining relations with the country’s most important international ally and creating an economic crisis; if Petro manages to ease tensions with the US, it would be a success for his Pacto Histórico coalition and its candidate, Ivan Cepeda.
The Colombian business community is also closely watching the meeting in Washington. The two countries have substantial trade relations. The Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Colombia) has just indicated that the meeting will be ‘one step in a process of gradual reconfiguration that will be subject to constant evaluation by Washington.’
Trump will likely demand that Petro reduce his relationship with China. While the US is Colombia’s leading overall trade partner, China is a fast-growing partner for imports. Since October 2023, China and Colombia have elevated their relations to a strategic partnership based on trade and investment. By 2024, bilateral trade in goods reached approximately $21 billion.
UPTON, N.Y., Feb. 2, 2026 — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based method to dramatically tame the flood of data generated by particle detectors at modern accelerators. The new custom-built algorithm uses a neural network to intelligently compress collision data, adapting automatically to the density or “sparsity” of the signals it receives.
Particle collisions produce many tracks inside the sPHENIX time projection chamber, but most of the volume of the house-sized detector is empty. Brookhaven scientists have developed a new algorithm for compressing such “sparse” data so the detector can record many more collision events that could lead to discoveries. Credit: sPHENIX Collaboration.
As described in a paper just published in the journal Patterns, the scientists used simulated data from sPHENIX, a particle detector at Brookhaven Lab’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), to demonstrate the algorithm’s potential to handle trillions of bits of detector data per second while preserving the fine details physicists need to explore the building blocks of matter. The algorithm will help physicists gear up for a new era of streaming data acquisition, where every collision is recorded without pre-selecting which ones might be of interest. This will vastly expand the potential for more accurate measurements and unanticipated discoveries.
“Our goal is to improve the scientific capability of particle detectors like sPHENIX at RHIC and detectors at future colliders, including the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC),” said Jin Huang, the principal investigator for this project. The EIC is a state-of-the-art nuclear physics research facility to be built at Brookhaven Lab after RHIC completes its scientific mission later this year.
Taming the Data Deluge
RHIC is a DOE Office of Science user facility that accelerates beams of particles ranging from protons to heavy atomic nuclei, such as gold, and steers them into head-on collisions so scientists can explore the building blocks of matter and the forces that hold them together. Collisions occur thousands of times per second, each potentially creating thousands of new subatomic particles that streak through detectors like the time projection chamber at sPHENIX.
Acting like a 3D digital camera, the time projection chamber records the particles’ trajectories in a gas-filled chamber using nearly 160,000 electronic channels. The electronic sensors that make up the detector produce a data flow of trillions of data points — known as voxels in such 3D images — per second.
“Right now, RHIC is producing more collision events than we can record in our experiments,” Huang said. “To maximize the physics output from the facility, we need a reliable and innovative way to pack more information into each byte of data recorded so we can eliminate the need for an event selection bias and record more and more collision events.”
The most promising approach is data compression on the fly — finding shorthand ways to collectively describe key features of the data instead of including all the repeating details of every data point. Successful shorthand encoding would allow an accurate picture to be reconstructed once the data is decompressed while minimizing the loss of crucial information.
“As an example, instead of recording every single pixel of a red square, it would be more efficient to describe a square with a particular side length and red color. AI is very good finding such high-level abstraction of patterns,” said Yihui (Ray) Ren, a member of Brookhaven Lab’s Computing and Data Sciences team who led the AI aspects of this project.
Of course, the data produced in particle collisions is considerably more complex. And the data is actually quite sparse. This may sound like a contradiction, given the scale of the signals described above. But even with the number of particles produced during energetic smashups inside the house-sized detector, their tracks take up very little space in the time projection chamber; most of the vast number of voxels recorded for each collision are empty.
“Traditional data compression tools designed for weather models or fluid simulations, which work well for data that is more continuous, don’t work well on such sparse data,” said Ren. “So, we have to innovate and design our own approach.”
Smarter Data Compression
The new algorithm uses an AI architecture that processes only the non-empty parts of the data. It was developed by a Brookhaven-led team, including members of sPHENIX and the Lab’s Computing and Data Sciences directorate, along with collaborators from Texas A&M University, Columbia University, UCLA, and Stony Brook University.
“Our algorithm can zoom in on the meaningful parts of the picture — the few voxels filled by particle tracks — and do computation only on these values,” said Yi Huang, a computational scientist at Brookhaven Lab and the lead author on the paper. Contrast this with a conventional algorithm that would run computations on even the empty background voxels, which can often impede performance.
“In this way, sparsity becomes an advantage for us,” she said. “The fewer voxels with meaningful values, the less computation our algorithm needs to do, resulting in faster data processing.”
In addition, as in the red square example, the algorithm scans through the data to identify repetitive features or key points, and it develops shorthand to describe those features collectively. In parallel, a decompressor component of the algorithm tries to use that description, or code, to reconstruct the data, and it compares the reconstructed data with the original input, prior to compression.
After training over a large dataset, the algorithm learns the best ways to maximize data compression while keeping information loss as low as possible to avoid sacrificing key data features essential for discoveries.
More Compact, Faster, and More Accurate
So far, the team has tested the algorithm on simulated data generated for sPHENIX’s time projection chamber. In those tests, compared to previous models, the new algorithm achieved: a model size that is more than 100 times more compact — all while maintaining high processing speed as the data become sparser; 75% less error in reconstructing raw data; and 10% higher compression ratio, meaning 10% more collision data can be saved.
This performance makes the algorithm especially promising for streaming data acquisition systems, which continuously record all collisions instead of using “triggers” to capture only events that meet certain predetermined criteria.
“Triggers are an effective way to narrow the data you collect if you already know what kind of event you are looking for,” Huang said. “But if you want to be able to minimize selection bias or to make discoveries about unknown physics, it’s better to have all the data preserved so you can analyze it in many different ways — even many years in the future.”
sPHENIX’s particle-tracking system was designed to use streaming readout, and the ePIC detector for the EIC is expected to use this approach as well.
To move beyond simulations to handling real detector signals, the team will need to expand their work and demonstrate that the algorithm can manage electronic noise and other signal-masking complexities. They are also exploring optimizations that could enable deployment on innovative AI chips that are much faster and more energy efficient than the processing units currently used for many computing applications
“Our ultimate goal is to integrate intelligent data compression directly into the detector readout chain to better explore the frontier of physics with a faster and smarter data pipeline,” said Huang.
The custom AI approach could also be useful in other fields involving sparse data, for example, in event-based cameras used for security applications.
This research was supported by Brookhaven’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program and carried out in collaboration with the sPHENIX Collaboration at RHIC. The project builds on earlier work by the same team listed in the related links. RHIC operations are funded 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: BNL
The post Brookhaven Unveils AI-Based Approach for Managing High-Volume Particle Physics Data appeared first on HPCwire.
Feb. 2, 2026 — Fifty years after Seymour Cray unveiled his Cray-1 supercomputer in Chippewa Falls, technology advancements at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are creating more extraordinary opportunities for students and faculty to conduct deep research using artificial intelligence.
Credit: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
From improved drug screening to faster cancer detection and improved crop yields, Blugolds are producing results in AI research thanks in large part to unique access to high-performance computing.
HPC is a standard of computing that far exceeds the conventional desktop by using a network of powerful machines to process information faster. The Blugold Center for High Performance Computing supports undergraduate research, faculty research and classroom learning by providing free access to the supercomputing infrastructure necessary to make new discoveries and opportunities possible.
The center, formed in 2021, has two supercomputer clusters with more than 90 machines available for students, staff and faculty to use for research and class activities. Last semester alone, the campus completed more than a million hours worth of research in only five months thanks to the system’s capacity to complete multiple calculations at the same time, according to Tyler Bauer, the HPC clusters’ system administrator.
UW-Eau Claire is one of only three Universities of Wisconsin schools with campuswide supercomputing cluster access, along with UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. UW-Eau Claire saw its first cluster arrive in the chemistry department in 2009, and upgrades came in 2012 when a group of faculty members wrote a grant to secure funding to establish a campuswide cluster. In 2019-20, a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant and an in-kind grant from Hewlett Packard Enterprise brought the now flagship BOSE system online.
The latest transformation came last summer, when UW-Eau Claire designated a new graphics processing unit server with two Nvidia H100 94 gigabyte cards for the BOSE system. Bauer says it has created more opportunities while solving a capacity problem, since the cards can be split seven ways, allowing up to 14 students to use a single machine.
“That not only allows for the type of generative AI work and [large language model] work that a lot of different research groups are starting to look at and industry in general,” Bauer says. “It also added the capacity to support computer science classes, in general, to take advantage of GPUs.”
The HPC clusters supported 10 academic departments, 13 courses — including three with an emphasis in AI artificial intelligence — and 639 undergraduate students during the recent fall semester. Bauer says it also supported a geography class at UW-La Crosse and has the capacity to host more classes for other campuses moving forward.
Life-Changing Opportunities
Free access to the HPC clusters has proven to be life-changing for UW-Eau Claire student Will Jerome. He came to campus four years ago interested in computer science, but unsure of how to utilize his knowledge. Access to the clusters provided an opportunity to perform more intensive research than most students, which Jerome used to develop and optimize multiple U-Net variations, a deep learning model often used for image segmentation in the medical imaging domain.
“Essentially, you’ll feed the U-Net model a CT scan of the abdomen, and in turn, the model will provide pixel-wise classification identifying the pancreas as well as any potential cancerous lesions,” Jerome says.
Last June, he earned the opportunity to present at the Mayo Clinic’s AI Summit, where his research abstract on a clinical agentic pipeline was chosen for publication.
“I was pretty fired up,” says Jerome, who beat out dozens of other entries.
The experience also deepened his knowledge and helped him land an internship in the Mayo Clinic GI AI Lab, known as GAIL, starting this spring.
“For me to have that opportunity to be able to find my niche, to be able to know what I want to do for my career, I’m just extremely thankful,” Jerome says.
The senior enjoyed working with the clusters so much he joined Bauer’s team as a student administrator to assist other students with their research needs. Jerome works alongside fellow administrator and AI researcher Jack Hagen, a junior majoring in both computer science and political science.
Hagen has utilized the HPC clusters for dozens of projects, including his favorite that used AI models to analyze themes found in scripts from series across the “Star Trek” universe. He’s working on multiple other projects, including one that creates a dataset of AI-generated phishing messages to develop more effective modern-day detection.
“I feel like I come up with more projects I can use the cluster for every day,” Hagen says. “Just having this resource available for free 24/7 is super helpful and makes it much, much, much easier to do really any of the research that I want to do.”
Dr. Matt Jewell, professor and chair of the materials science and biomedical engineering department, uses the HPC clusters to advance his work in superconductivity. He says his research would not happen without the technology readily available on campus.
“It’s really the presence of the cluster and the resources and support like Tyler that make it feasible for me to do the work,” Jewell says. “Now I can give my students a totally new field of research for them, a new set of techniques.”
A Hub for Collaboration
The HPC clusters have become an interactive community of students, faculty and research groups advancing AI on campus.
Dr. Rahul Gomes, associate professor and chair of the computer science department, has worked with students like Jerome and with faculty members in different areas to facilitate research in addition to his own work.
Gomes is currently collaborating with CareChronical founder Justin Flechsig to help patients better understand their health with AI. Gomes is working with students on developing large language models that can be reliable and explainable for diabetes management while experiencing a fresh look at new technology through Flechsig.
“Justin’s collaboration is also giving us the opportunity to use the open-source models and build a foundation of these explainable AI models,” Gomes says. “If this turns out to be good, then Justin would take the open-source ones and try to make it better or commercialize it in their setting.”
Gomes leads summer projects through Research Experiences for Undergraduates, an NSF grant-supported nine-week program that brings 10 students from across the country to campus. Machine and deep learning will be a focus of interest once again in the fifth year of the initiative.
The HPC clusters also support Research Experiences for Teachers, another NSF-funded program that provides K-12 STEM educators with hands-on research experience. This summer, Teachers As Researchers in Computing Classrooms will host 10 teachers from western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota for an intensive seven-week experience that will include computer science projects at UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls and UW-Stout.
Bauer says the center has held summer workshops for Upward Bound students for the last five summers to introduce computational science. The federally funded program helps local high school students from underrepresented populations prepare for college.
Beyond that, there are also faculty-led research opportunities for high school students. Last summer, UW-Eau Claire’s Dr. Sudeep Bhattacharyay, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, worked with a student from Eau Claire North High School to develop a computing technique that can be used to produce an AI tool for studying molecular recognition hidden in multiple enzyme active sites.
“It’s students like that that really show, one, how much computational work supports their learning initiatives, but also their growth as a future college student,” Bauer says. “A high school student really pushed everything forward beyond what we’ve ever expected.”
Bauer says UW-Eau Claire is constantly looking for proposals to write and for grants to better position itself as a regional leader in supercomputing. The center is also looking at acquiring more GPUs and large memory machines, which should sustain student innovation.
“Seeing the passion that many of them have for the type of work they’re doing to really try new things beyond the bounds of what they learn in the classroom is pretty cool,” Bauer says. “The HPC team looks forward to continuing to collaborate with our Blugolds and campus partners to see what’s possible and bring new ideas to life.”
Learn more about the Blugold Center for High Performance Computing here.
Source: UW-Eau Claire
The post UW-Eau Claire’s HPC Center Fuels Student and Faculty AI Research appeared first on HPCwire.
Ruling clears Denmark’s Ørsted to resume construction on its Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York
All five offshore wind projects halted by the Trump administration in December can resume construction after a federal judge’s ruling on Monday that cleared Denmark’s Ørsted to proceed with its Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York.
Ørsted’s request for an injunction blocking the interior department order was the fifth brought by an offshore wind developer since the 22 December pause on five leases. The agency stopped work on the multibillion-dollar facilities due to national security concerns around radar interference.
Continue reading...Gordon Brown calls for inquiry over Peter Mandelson’s apparent disclosure of highly sensitive government information to Jeffrey Epstein
Peter Mandelson “leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans”, the Financial Times is reporting.
In his story, Jim Pickard says:
The memo, dubbed “Business Issues”, was written on June 13 2009 by Nick Butler, who at the time was special adviser to the then prime minister Gordon Brown.
The confidential document, which was released by the US Department of Justice as part of a tranche of millions of files relating to Epstein, had been sent to British government officials including cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood.
It is right that Peter Mandelson is no longer a member of the Labour party. Disciplinary action was underway prior to his resignation.
Jeffrey Epstein’s heinous crimes destroyed the lives of so many women and girls, and our thoughts remain with his victims.
A slew of notable individuals appear in the latest Justice Department release of Jeffrey Epstein files.
After a seemingly endless stream of tone deaf news from Mozilla, we’ve finally got some good news for Firefox users. As the company’s been hinting at for a while on social media now, they’ve added an “AI” kill switch to the latest Firefox nightly release, as well as a set of toggles to disable specific “AI” features.
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. You can also change them whenever you want.
↫ Ajit Varma at the Mozilla blog
I’m particularly enamoured with the specific mention that the setting will remain unaffected by updates. It’s incredibly sad that Mozilla even has to mention this, but they have nobody to blame but themselves for that one. None of this is enough to draw me away from Librewolf and back to Firefox, but at least it gives those of us who prefer to keep using Firefox the option to disable all of this “AI” nonsense. Also, there’s no Librewolf for POWER9, so I have to use Firefox somewhere.
It’s unlikely Chrome or Safari will get such clear “AI” kill switches, so it might become a reason for some to switch to Firefox from Chrome or Safari.
Fittingly, the puzzle has begun reusing words on Groundhog Day, and it chose the very first Wordle answer ever to use again.
Amazon's Echo brand has great sales all the time, but this is different. For a limited time, you can get the 11-inch version for under $200.
Action could begin next week in some of state’s largest districts including San Diego, San Francisco and LA
California is facing the prospect of massive teacher strikes across the state as conflicts over working conditions, pay and special education staffing reach a boiling point.
The strikes, which could begin as soon as next week, have been approved by thousands of educators – affecting schools in some of the state’s largest districts including San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.
Continue reading...Israeli troops seized the Rafah border crossing in May 2024. The reopening marks progress toward the second phase of the U.S.-backed ceasefire deal.
Allies downplay president’s links to Epstein but newly released documents offer slightly more complicated picture
Almost immediately after deputy attorney general Todd Blanche announced the justice department was releasing 3m additional pages of files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, Fox News published an exclusive interview with him seeking to shape what Americans could expect to find in the files.
After reviewing years of Epstein’s correspondence, Blanche said, the justice department determined that there was nothing in them in which Epstein said anything criminally implicating Trump.
Continue reading...In the late 1980s, with the expansion of the Internet (even though it was not open to commercial activities yet) and the slowly increasing capabilities of workstations, some people started to imagine the unthinkable: that, some day, you may use your computer to record voice messages, send them over the Internet, and the recipient could listen to these messages on his own computer.
That was definitely science fiction… until workstation manufacturers started to add audio capabilities to their hardware.
↫ Miod Vallat
A great story detailing how the audio hardware in the HP 9000/425e was made to work on OpenBSD and NetBSD.
The United States and India finalized a trade agreement Monday, helping stabilize a relationship that had been in decline during Trump’s second term.
I have a onewheel pint and finally have some money to replace the tyre.
My friend says he may be able to change it at his uni workshops as they have garages for motorsport and automotive engineering. Is there a way of safely changing the tyre ourselves?
Is it ideally better to just send my board to the guys i'm buying from to tyre change?
Microsoft is reevaluating its AI strategy on Windows 11 and plans to scale back or remove Copilot integrations across built-in apps after months of sustained user backlash, according to a Windows Central report citing people familiar with the company's plans. Copilot features in apps like Notepad and Paint are under review and could be pulled entirely or stripped of their Copilot branding in favor of a more streamlined experience. The company has paused work on adding new Copilot buttons to any other in-box apps. Windows Recall, the screenshot-based search feature delayed by an entire year in 2024 over security and privacy concerns, is separately under review -- Microsoft internally considers the current implementation a failure and is exploring ways to rework or rename the feature rather than scrap it entirely, the report said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
BETHESDA, Md., and KAWASAKI, Japan, Feb. 2, 2026 — Lockheed Martin and Fujitsu Limited today announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly accelerate technology development in several critical areas, leveraging Lockheed Martin’s integrated systems expertise and Fujitsu’s world-leading technologies and commercial scale to advance innovation of dual-use capabilities.
Credit: Sergiy Palamarchuk/Shutterstock
Through the MOU the companies plan to strengthen the technological foundation for dual-use solutions in quantum computing, edge computing enabled by advanced sensing and real-time data fusion, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), advanced microelectronics, and multi-domain next-generation network solutions.
“This collaboration accelerates technologies that are critical to meeting the future needs of our customers,” said Craig Martell, vice president and chief technology officer, Lockheed Martin. “Coupling the expertise of Lockheed Martin and Fujitsu across technology areas will be a force multiplier, advancing leadership in critical technologies like microelectronics, inference at the edge and quantum solutions. We look forward to our work together and delivering innovation with speed to our customers.”
“We are honored to collaborate with Lockheed Martin, a leader in defense technologies, on the development of advanced ICT technologies for future dual-use applications,” said Vivek Mahajan, corporate executive officer, corporate vice president, and chief technology officer in charge of System Platform, Fujitsu Limited. “Through this collaboration, we aim to strengthen the competitive standing of both companies.”
The MOU expands on a May 2025 agreement that selected Fujitsu as the supplier of Lockheed Martin’s SPY-7 Subarray Suite Power Supply Line Replaceable Unit, and established a strategic collaboration to strengthen Japan’s defense industrial base.
About Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is a global defense technology company driving innovation and advancing scientific discovery. Our all-domain mission solutions and 21st Century Security vision accelerate the delivery of transformative technologies to ensure those we serve always stay ahead of ready.
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu’s purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers around the globe, our 113,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: AI, Computing, Networks, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$23 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share.
Source: Fujitsu
The post Lockheed Martin and Fujitsu to Accelerate Dual-Use Tech Development appeared first on HPCwire.
January 2026 report to be rescheduled after BLS has already been faced with major delays from last year’s shutdown
The US’s closely watched jobs report will once again be delayed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced on Monday, amid a government shutdown.
The January 2026 jobs report, originally scheduled to be released on Friday, will be rescheduled when federal funding resumes. Data collection for the report has been completed, but the shutdown has forced a delay to releasing the report, which will provide crucial jobs data on the US labor market following the weakest year for job growth since 2020, with the addition of only 584,000 jobs in 2025 compared with 2 million in 2024.
Continue reading...Feb. 2, 2026 — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is working to transform petabytes of imaging data from advanced light and neutron scattering user facilities in the U.S. into actionable knowledge, demonstrating AI-accelerated advanced discovery capabilities that can be applied to energy, semiconductors, medicine, and other essential technologies.
Alexander Hexemer, Tanny Chavez, and Liz Clark pictured at the ALS microtomography beamline with an AI-driven web interface that will be leveraged by SYNAPS-I. Credit: Marilyn Sargent, Berkeley Lab.
The multi-lab effort, called SYNAPS-I (SYnergistic Neutron and Photon Science – Intelligence), is part of the Genesis Mission, a new national initiative led by the Department of Energy to advance AI and accelerate discovery, providing solutions for challenges in science, energy, and national security. A cornerstone of the Genesis Mission is the Transformational AI Models Consortium, which will build and deploy self-improving AI models by harnessing DOE’s unique data, facilities, and expertise. SYNAPS-I is one of three AI model teams that Berkeley Lab leads or plays a key role in, building on AI expertise in high-performance computing, managing large datasets, and pioneering AI models in partnership with industry.
“Our national lab facilities are already world leaders in scientific discovery. SYNAPS-I will radically accelerate the path from experiment to insight by embedding AI directly into the analysis workflow,” said Alex Hexemer, a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS) and SYNAPS-I lead point of contact.
The SYNAPS-I platform will integrate large machine learning models as well as foundation models across all participating light and neutron sources, enabling unified analysis of imaging data from cutting-edge X-ray and neutron instruments at seven DOE Basic Energy Sciences user facilities, including the ALS, a synchrotron light source that produces X-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared light. The increased data outputs of recently completed and in-progress facility upgrades, such as Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source Upgrade (ALS-U) project, bring even greater opportunities to accelerate scientific discovery across a wide range of disciplines.
SYNAPS-I is a public-private partnership uniting national laboratories, university researchers, and key industry innovators in AI, materials, pharmaceuticals, and energy, including partners from Berkeley Lab, Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
“By pooling expertise and data across facilities, we can build AI capabilities that benefit all users and accelerate scientific discovery in ways that no single facility could achieve alone,” Hexemer said.
“SYNAPS-I marks the first step into an exciting new era for science at modern facilities. With the ALS — especially after the ALS-U upgrade — we’ll gain an unprecedented view into the inner workings of nature and technology. The challenge lies in turning that immense detail into knowledge that advances humanity. SYNAPS-I begins this next chapter of discovery,” said Dimitrios Argyriou, Interim ALS-U Project Director.
An Advanced AI Tool for X-ray and Neutron Science
X-ray microscopy and neutron scattering techniques help scientists study phase changes in the chemical composition and molecular makeup of active materials. This information can show how chemical processes and structural defects evolve in a material, and those insights can assist in the development of more durable materials for batteries and other useful applications.
Advances in automation for X-ray microscopy have allowed scientists to speed materials analysis for new applications. For example, more than a decade ago at the ALS, a collaboration of researchers used ptychography — a lensless, computational X-ray microscopy technique that analyzes the structure of a sample down to the atomic level — to image 5-nanometer structures in lithium iron phosphate, a material of interest for energy storage applications. That record-setting breakthrough allowed new understanding of the formation of defects in lithium iron phosphate during a chemical phase transformation.
Over the next few years, the multi-lab SYNAPS-I team wants to further accelerate knowledge extraction from X-ray microscopy and neutron scattering. To meet this goal, the team will build a machine-learning pipeline to augment existing algorithms for automated ptychography and image segmentation of X-ray and neutron data. Ptychography scans a sample with overlapping beam positions, collects diffraction patterns, and computationally reconstructs them into high-resolution images in 2D, or scans a sample from multiple angles to form a 3D image. Segmentation identifies patterns and features in X-ray and neutron imaging.
A battery material can be made up of millions of grains and particles. And with image segmentation done the traditional way, the painstaking manual process of identifying individual grains can take considerable time to complete. The SYNAPS-I AI platform will make this significantly easier and faster. By taking advantage of existing and to be developed AI solutions, SYNAPS-I will replace the tedious task of manual segmentation with an automated tool that segments and characterizes particles while you’re viewing the material at an X-ray or neutron beamline instrument.
“Automated segmentation in advanced microscopy is still a significant challenge in science. There are segmentation AI models available today for images of everyday objects, but they don’t work well for scientific data. We’re building SYNAPS-I to fill that gap,” Hexemer said.
Berkeley Lab is also contributing to other projects focused on AI code development, critical minerals and materials, cosmology, microelectronics, and quantum algorithms. Berkeley Lab’s contributions to the Genesis Mission build on decades of research in high-performance computing, managing large datasets, and pioneering AI models that yield insights across many science domains.
About Berkeley Lab
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
Source: Theresa Duque, Berkeley Lab
The post Berkeley Lab: How a Machine Learning Pipeline Could Accelerate Innovation appeared first on HPCwire.
BOZEMAN, Mont., Feb. 2, 2026 — Snowflake today announced a new collaboration with OpenAI that enables global enterprises to unlock greater value from their proprietary data with AI. This multi-year, $200 million partnership agreement cements Snowflake and OpenAI’s commitment to co-innovation and joint go-to-market (GTM) strategies aimed at deploying AI agents across global enterprises. Snowflake and OpenAI will work closely together to develop and deploy customized AI solutions for joint enterprise customers that deliver tangible return on investment.
Credit: Shutterstock
The direct, first-party partnership agreement also makes OpenAI models natively available to Snowflake’s 12,600 global customers within Snowflake Cortex AI across all three major clouds. This empowers global organizations like Canva and WHOOP to bring OpenAI models to their enterprise data for deep research and instant insights. OpenAI models like GPT-5.2 will be accessible within Snowflake Intelligence, the trusted enterprise intelligence agent that empowers every employee to securely access, analyze, and act on all their organization’s knowledge using natural language.
“By bringing OpenAI models to enterprise data, Snowflake enables organizations to build and deploy AI on top of their most valuable asset using the secure, governed platform they already trust,” said Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO, Snowflake. “Customers can now harness all their enterprise knowledge in Snowflake together with the world-class intelligence of OpenAI models, enabling them to build AI agents that are powerful, responsible, and trustworthy. Together, we’re setting a new standard for AI innovation, helping businesses transform with confidence, while maintaining strong security and compliance standards.”
“Snowflake is a trusted platform that sits at the center of how enterprises manage and activate their most critical data,” said Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI. “This partnership brings our advanced models directly into that environment, making it easier to deploy AI agents and apps, so businesses can close the gap between what AI is capable of and the value they can create today.”
“As we scale our visual AI offering on Canva, both OpenAI and Snowflake have played key roles in how we rapidly empower our users with new creative tools,” said Helen Crossley, Head of Data Science, Canva. “As our platform continues to scale, Snowflake has been foundational to how we manage and activate data, and we’re excited to explore how leveraging OpenAI models in Snowflake Cortex AI can help us extend that foundation. The ability to bridge advanced AI models with our enterprise data allows us to move quickly and test new ideas, without compromising on security or performance.”
“Speed and precision in decision-making are critical for us as WHOOP continues to scale,” said Matt Luizzi, Senior Director of Business Analytics, WHOOP. “Rolling out Snowflake Intelligence to our employees and developing Cortex Agents has provided a secure and governed way for WHOOP to analyze data and make decisions. With OpenAI’s models available directly within Snowflake Cortex AI, we can further enhance those agents with advanced reasoning and analysis, all while maintaining strong security and governance. This partnership will help us continue to make AI a practical, everyday tool for the business.”
Snowflake and OpenAI Help Global Enterprises Deploy AI Agents
By bringing OpenAI models to Cortex AI, global enterprises can gain insights from all their data to deliver richer, more engaging AI agents. Key benefits of the partnership include:
Snowflake and OpenAI Deepen Collaboration to Advance Responsible AI and Workforce Productivity
This partnership builds on the companies’ existing collaboration, with OpenAI leveraging Snowflake as a secure, scalable data platform for experiment tracking, analytics, and testing.
In turn, Snowflake leverages OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise product internally, empowering employees to harness AI in their day-to-day work and accelerate productivity. As a result, employees can make decisions faster, streamline workflows, and drive stronger cross-functional collaboration through AI-powered insights.
About Snowflake
Snowflake is the platform for the AI era, making it easy for enterprises to innovate faster and get more value from data. More than 12,600 customers around the globe, including hundreds of the world’s largest companies, use Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud to build, use and share data, applications and AI. With Snowflake, data and AI are transformative for everyone. Learn more at snowflake.com (NYSE: SNOW).
Source: Snowflake
The post Snowflake, OpenAI Sign $200M Deal to Deploy Enterprise AI Agents appeared first on HPCwire.
PM Sébastien Lecornu pushes budget through using constitutional powers that avoided vote in parliament
France has finally passed a budget for this year after the minority government survived a series of no-confidence votes in a long-running political saga that has unsettled debt markets and alarmed the country’s European partners.
The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, told parliament on Monday, after months of wrangling, that French people “refuse this disorder and want our institutions to function”.
Continue reading...The Department of Energy is seeking input to determine how the nation can train 100,000 scientists and engineers in AI technologies and techniques over the next decade as part of its Genesis Mission project to accelerate scientific discovery.
“The goals of the Genesis Mission require rapid mobilization of the full capabilities of our nation’s S&T [science and technology] enterprise and tightly coordinated efforts across DOE and its National Laboratories, universities, industry, and philanthropic organizations,” the DOE stated in its January 16 request for information (RFI). “Further, a workforce of 100,000 American scientists and engineers will need to be trained over the next decade to lead the world in AI-powered science innovation and applications.”
The Genesis Mission was launched in November 2025 as “a dedicated, coordinated national effort to unleash a new age of AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century,” President Trump stated in his executive order creating the program. The endeavor, which is being led by Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil, will leverage the Department of Energy’s 17 National Laboratories as well as industry and academia partners, in pursuit of three main goals: advancing research in energy; building new tools for AI-powered scientific discovery; and developing advanced AI technologies to ensure national security.
Darío Gil, Under Secretary for Science, DOE (Credit: DOE)
The January 16 RFI states that the AI-focused science and engineering jobs of the future “requires formulation of new training approaches.” DOE is looking to establish “an AI for Science and Engineering pipeline” in American universities that focus on bolstering “dual competencies” in AI and a scientific or engineering discipline at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This pipeline would feed into “rapidly expanding private and government sector jobs, as well as advanced degree educational programs.” New training and research opportunities for students will also exist at the graduate and post-doctorate levels, the RFI states.
Specifically, DOE is asking for help in expanding and reformulating educational and training programs in AI, science, and engineering. It’s looking for schools to strengthen its curricula in these areas, and also to find additional ways to incentivize students to seek careers in this area.
You can view the DOE’s January 16 RFI here. Interested parties are encouraged to share their ideas for bolstering AI for science and engineering education. The deadline for submitting information is March 4.
The Federal Government sought to bolster the AI education of American students even before the Genesis Mission was launched. In April 2025, President Trump signed a pair of executive orders, titled “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth” and “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future.” The White House also included a section titled “Training a Skilled Workforce for AI Infrastructure” in Trump’s “America’s AI Action Plan,” which was unveiled in July 2025.
While Genesis Mission focuses primarily on advancing the interests of the United States, the effort also includes some overseas partners. Last week, Argonne National Laboratory, one of the top DOE labs for AI-driven science, announced a new partnership with RIKEN, Fujitsu, and Nvidia in support of the Genesis Mission goals. RIKEN is Japan’s top government-run research laboratory and development institute, while Fujitsu is one of the country’s top server makers. Nvidia, meanwhile, is a leading developers of GPUs.
The four organizations will collaborate in several areas, including defining and prototyping next-generation compute architectures that tightly couple modeling, simulation, and AI workloads. They’re also looking to build integrated HPC systems and platforms; provide a shared software ecosystem for AI-enabled science; develop flagship AI for science applications and use cases; develop AI-powered lab robots; and accelerate quantum supercomputing and integration.
“This U.S.-Japanese collaboration with industry is an important opportunity to accelerate discovery, and demonstrates the powerful impact of combining advanced AI, high-performance computing, next-generation computing platform development, and quantum technologies with open innovation,” stated Ian Buck, vice president of Hyperscale and HPC at Nvidia. “Together, we are making progress across fields such as materials science, drug discovery, and energy research-empowering scientists to tackle challenges that were once beyond reach.”
The Genesis Mission is barely two months old, but it is moving quickly. There are several deadlines looming for Genesis Mission, including finding federal computing, storage, and networking resources to support the mission (due by February 22) and identifying and beginning to centralize the initial data sets in support of AI-powered scientific research (due by March 24). The DOE secretary must complete a review of capabilities across DOE labs by July 22, and the system should be demonstrated to be working by August 21. The DOE secretary was to have submitted a list of 20 science and technology challenges of national importance by January 23.
The post DOE Seeks ‘Rapid Mobilization’ to Train Army of Scientists and Engineers for Genesis Mission appeared first on HPCwire.
The latest revelations and reaction to them may mean he has finally encountered a scandal he is unable to outrun
It was the evening of 6 May 2010 and months after being released from jail for procuring a child for prostitution, Jeffrey Epstein was curious as to the result of Britain’s general election.
“Well?” he emailed Peter Mandelson, the then de facto deputy prime minister in Gordon Brown’s government.
Continue reading...Mortgage interest rates have been gradually declining, but will they continue to fall this month? Here's what to know.
 | Hey everyone. My board randomly jerks when I power off sometimes. I do have my thumb on the sensor but that’s how I power off my GT and my old plus with no issues. Has anyone else had this issue or know what’s causing it? [link] [comments] |
President Trump announced that he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to a trade deal that will lower tariffs and halt India's purchase of Russian oil.
The latest partial government shutdown is disrupting the release of closely watched economic data.
A look back at the esteemed personalities who've left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.
Apple's long-standing dominance over its electronics supply chain is eroding as AI companies outbid the iPhone maker for critical components like chips, memory and specialized glass fiber, giving suppliers the leverage to demand that Apple pay more. CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the pressure during a Thursday earnings call, noting constraints in chip supplies and significant increases in memory prices. Nvidia has overtaken Apple as TSMC's largest customer, CEO Jensen Huang said on a podcast; Apple had held that position by a wide margin for years. DRAM prices are set to quadruple from 2023 levels by year-end and NAND prices will more than triple, according to TechInsights. The firm estimates Apple could pay $57 more for memory in the base iPhone 18 due this fall compared to the base iPhone 17 currently on sale -- a significant hit on a device that retails for $799.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Ring is bringing its pup-finding AI to everyone, even non-Ring owners, with an adorable video for the big game day.
British Medical Association members back further action as union’s chair says ‘a deal is there to be done’
Resident doctors in England have voted to strike for another six months in their long-running jobs and pay dispute with the government.
Their decision means that, unless an agreement emerges, the campaign of strikes by resident – formerly junior – doctors will enter its fourth year, as the industrial action began in March 2023.
Continue reading...I think I really want to DIY build and tinker. I do this with cars, stereos, guitar equipment- amps and electronics- so it fits my style. I like the part of self-repair and switching things per my lifestyle.
Again: what do you wish you had known beforehand or what have you learned so far you want to tell me?
Wondering how much silver is too much? Here's what you should know about silver ownership limits under federal law.
This live blog is now closed. You can read the latest full report here:
More than 400 European former top diplomats and officials have urged the EU to increase pressure on Israel to end “excesses and unremitting violations of international law” over Gaza and the West Bank.
The statement, due to be sent to EU leaders on Monday, calls on the bloc and its member states to take action in line with its support for a UN resolution for a two-state solution and a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
Continue reading...Want to find the best true-wireless earbuds? Start here with CNET's top earbuds lists, curated by style, price and use case.
Reports estimate that Grok's AI image generator created millions of nonconsensual sexual images last month.
Demand for year 7 pupils is expected to fall by 7.6% over the next four years, with similar numbers expected in primary schools
Schools in London could lose £45m in funding over the next four years as pupil numbers continue to fall, a report has warned, with secondary schools facing staff and curriculum cuts as budgets dwindle.
Until now, primary schools in the capital have been worst hit by falling birth rates, leading to about 90 school closures or mergers in the past five years. But the crisis is now spreading to secondary schools, which are expected to see steep declines in pupil numbers.
Continue reading...Both accounts remain viable for savers right now. Here's which one could earn more with a $10,000 deposit this year.
New MacBook Pro models with faster processors should be available within a month, according to a report.
Feb. 2, 2026 — The European Union has granted EUR 25 million to the SUPREME consortium, marking a significant milestone in industrialization of superconducting quantum technologies across Europe. Together with national funding from the member states, the total funding adds up to 50 million Euros. Key objectives of the initiative include developing stable superconducting technology and giving access to it for both industry and academia. The first phase will commence in early 2026 and span three and a half years, bringing together 23 partners from eight Member States.
Credit: Shutterstock
SUPREME launched with the mission to industrialize superconducting quantum technologies and strengthen Europe’s position as a global leader in quantum innovation. The aim is to develop scalable and stable fabrication processes for superconducting quantum devices and make them accessible to European SME’s, large enterprises, startups and academia.
The project has a total budget of approximately EUR 50 million, with funding provided equally by the EU Chips Joint Undertaking and national funding agencies. The funding has been approved to cover the first phase of the initiative, spanning 3.5 years.
“This initiative has been set to strengthen the European quantum ecosystem. We will make sure that the innovations developed through SUPREME can be widely adopted by businesses across Europe, ultimately delivering significant market impact. To support this, we will execute on an ambitious roadmap, which will guide and accelerate the industrialization of superconducting quantum technologies,” said Pekka Pursula, Vice President for Microelectronics and Quantum Technology at VTT and coordinator of the SUPREME consortium.
The key objective is the development of stable technologies and giving access to them for industry and academia. A significant milestone will be fabrication and demonstration of a 3D-integrated qubit module containing 200 qubits. This will showcase the improved stability, higher yield and improved reproducibility of the key fabrication processes for superconducting quantum chips.
SUPREME focuses on developing and validating key quantum processes, including angle-evaporated junctions, etched junctions, 3D integration and hybrid processes for applications in quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum communication. The aim is to reach technology readiness level TRL 6 and manufacturing readiness level MRL 6.
Enabling European Industry Growth and Innovation
To maximize impact, SUPREME will make its fabrication processes available for companies by offering piloting services. Access to the technologies will be given through Process Design Kits (PDKs) and pilot runs to enable companies to design and develop their own quantum devices and systems.
Shared fabrication runs are particularly beneficial for early-stage companies, allowing sharing the cost of full wafer fabrication run between many users. Process design kits (PDKs) provide design rules and validated process specifications.
SUPREME is committed to strengthen Europe’s position in quantum technology by building the basis for European technology sovereignty for superconducting quantum technologies. It significantly contributes to goals of the European Quantum and the European Chips Act.
Consortium Partners
The consortium combines European expertise in superconducting technology from academia, RTO’s, industrial technology developers and end-users.
The consortium involves the following 23 partners from eight EU Member States:
More from HPCwire: EU Selects SUPREME Consortium to Scale Up Industrial Production of Superconducting Quantum Chips
About VTT
VTT is a visionary research, development and innovation partner. We drive sustainable growth and tackle the biggest global challenges of our time and turn them into growth opportunities. We go beyond the obvious to help the society and companies to grow through technological innovations. We have over 80 years of experience of top-level research and science-based results. VTT is at the sweet spot where innovation and business come together.
Source: VTT
The post EU Selects SUPREME Consortium to Develop Superconducting Tech for Wider Industrialization appeared first on HPCwire.
Lawmakers are working to create a state-level version of the act as the US high court decides on latest voting rights case
On Martin Luther King Jr Day this year, hundreds of Mississippians gathered on the steps of the state capitol building in support of protecting voting rights in the state. The Mississippi house representative Zakiya Summers and state senator Johnny DuPree, both Democrats, introduced legislation that would create a state-level version of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The move comes after years of the supreme court weakening protections formerly guaranteed by the act, and aims to prohibit the dilution of minority voters in the state.
The legislation would create a Mississippi voting rights commission, which would require certain jurisdictions to obtain pre-clearance approval from said commission for any changes to election policy or practice. It would also establish protections for people with limited English proficiency along with additional measures.
Continue reading...Donald Trump claims that the release of millions more files related to Jeffrey Epstein 'absolve' him of wrongdoing, even though his name appears hundreds of times. The latest documents also indicate high-profile figures , including the former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Labour peer Peter Mandelson, continued friendships with the disgraced financier after his child sex abuse convictions. So what have we learned from the newly released files and what happens next? Lucy Hough speaks to columnist and host of Politics Weekly America Jonathan Freedland
Continue reading...Moltbook, a Reddit-like social network that launched last week and bills itself as a platform "built exclusively for AI agents," had a security vulnerability that exposed private messages shared between agents, the email addresses of more than 6,000 human owners, and over a million credentials, according to research published Monday by cybersecurity firm Wiz. The flaw has since been fixed after Wiz contacted Moltbook. Wiz cofounder Ami Luttwak called it a classic byproduct of "vibe coding." Moltbook creator Matt Schlicht posted on X last Friday that he "didn't write one line of code" for the site. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment when reached out by Reuters. Luttwak said the vulnerability also allowed anyone to post to the site, bot or human. "There was no verification of identity," he said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Cooking in the air fryer is fast and easy. Here's how to make (almost) any recipe air fryer friendly.
Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, 84, was last seen on Saturday evening and signs indicate she did not leave alone
Authorities in Arizona searching for the 84-year-old mother of the Today show presenter Savannah Guthrie said on Monday they were treating the missing woman’s home as a crime scene, and expressed “grave concern” for her safety.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen by her family at her house near Tucson on Saturday night, and was reported missing on Sunday at lunchtime, sparking a search using a helicopter, drones and dogs, officials said.
Continue reading...US president made announcement on Truth Social after a Monday call with India’s prime minister
Donald Trump claimed India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil as he announced plans to cut US tariffs on Indian exports.
The US president announced that he and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, whom he proclaimed to be “one of my greatest friends”, had agreed to strike a trade deal.
Continue reading...January ended with a big chainsword to the face.
I took apart and weighed every part of my Pint. It has 1400 miles of wear and some dirt on it, so other boards will be a tiny bit different. The weight of screws were included mostly with the part they hold in place. Anything marked with (*) was too heavy to weigh with my scales and was calculated by adding up the weights of its components
| Onewheel Pint | 12,305* |
|---|---|
| mudguard | 463g |
| bottom plate | 487g |
| raw onewheel pint | 11,355g |
| Raw Onewheel Pint | 11,355g* |
|---|---|
| front footplate | 388g |
| rear footplate | 338g |
| front bottom plate | 299g |
| rear bottom plate | 100g |
| left rail w/ wire guide | 487g |
| right rail | 482g |
| mag handle | 197g |
| wheel | 6,426g* |
| control unit | 650g |
| battery unit | 1,988g |
| Wheel | 6,426g* |
|---|---|
| stator + flange | 3,027g |
| rim + rotor + tyre | 3,399g |
| Control Unit | 650g |
|---|---|
| lid | 172 |
| bottom tub | 354g |
| controller board | 119g |
| Battery Unit | 1,988g |
|---|---|
| lid | 366g |
| bottom tub | 455g |
| battery | 1,110g |
| bms | 38g |
Prosecutors said the suspects ran an export network that sent more than 16,000 shipments worth more than $30 million to Russian customers, including arms manufacturers.
Fifa president sorry for comment about arrests
Infantino says it is time to look at readmitting Russia
The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has apologised over remarks he made about British fans and defended the decision to award a peace prize to the US president, Donald Trump.
Infantino said at last month’s World Economic Forum in Davos that the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 had been special because “for the first time in history no Brit was arrested”.
Continue reading...Trump’s pick of ‘respected central banker’ Kevin Warsh as Fed chair prompts investors to sell safe haven assets
Gold and silver prices seesawed on Monday, after a “meltdown” in the metals market deepened and rattled investors around the world.
Gold prices tumbled by as much as 8% to $4,465 an ounce on Monday, ending a run of record highs that took it to nearly $5,600 last week. It later recovered some ground, but was still down by 3.5% at $4,700 in afternoon trading.
Continue reading...Detention of Marius Borg Høiby comes as Epstein files pile pressure on his mother, crown princess Mette-Marit
The son of Norway’s crown princess, Marius Borg Høiby, has been arrested on new charges just days before the start of his rape trial, as his mother continues to face questions over her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The Oslo police district said Høiby had been arrested on Sunday evening on suspicion of assault, making threats with a knife and violating a restraining order.
Continue reading...For real this time.
Several factors are weighing on the value of gold and silver after the precious metals ascended to record highs last week.
Blizzardlike conditions stemming from a "bomb cyclone" brought heavy snow to the Southeast and ushered in frigid temperatures to much of the East Coast.
Luthair writes: Notepad++ claims to have been targeted by a state actor, given their previous stance on Uyghurs one can speculate about a candidate. Notepad++, in a blog post: According to the analysis provided by the security experts, the attack involved infrastructure-level compromise that allowed malicious actors to intercept and redirect update traffic destined for notepad-plus-plus.org. The exact technical mechanism remains under investigation, though the compromise occurred at the hosting provider level rather than through vulnerabilities in Notepad++ code itself. Traffic from certain targeted users was selectively redirected to attacker-controlled served malicious update manifests.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
I think I really want to DIY build and tinker. I do this with cars, stereos, guitar equipment- amps and electronics- so it fits my style. I like the part of self-repair and switching things per my lifestyle.
For the X7: what are the must reads for vesc programming? (I want to read to ensure I understand and don’t overestimate my skill set)
I’d like to be able to install a fender. What have you done to make this happen?
Which accessories for customization fit this? Bumper brands, etc
Again: what do you wish you had known beforehand or what have you learned so far you want to tell me?
Pep Guardiola’s side would be on top of the league had they not consistently struggled to hold leads
The focus had been on Arsenal. They had not won in three Premier League games before this weekend and it was reasonable to ask how secure their position at the top of the table was. But the impact of their wobble was not that their lead was eaten into, but that they missed opportunities to extend it, because those in the chasing pack were also dropping points.
In their six league games since the New Year fixtures, Arsenal have dropped seven points. But City in the same period have dropped 11, as have Aston Villa and Liverpool. Fulham have dropped 10, Everton have dropped nine, Brentford and Newcastle have dropped eight, Chelsea seven and Manchester United six; hardly anyone in the top half of the table has closed the gap on Arsenal at all, which is why, after Saturday’s comfortable win at Leeds, their lead remains at six points.
Continue reading...The rodent forecasters of Groundhog Day are notoriously bad at their jobs. Is AI any better? Probably not.
Lawyers of woman said to be in her 20s at the time said she spent night with former prince at Royal Lodge in 2010
Lawyers for a second woman who alleges she was sent to the UK by Jeffrey Epstein for a sexual encounter with the then Prince Andrew have urged King Charles’s lawyers to issue a “real apology”.
Brad Edwards, from the US firm Edwards Henderson, previously told the BBC his client, said not to be British and in her 20s at the time, had spent the night with Andrew at Royal Lodge in 2010 and been given a tour of Buckingham Palace.
Continue reading...The Girl, based on Samantha Geimer’s memoir, will revisit ‘one of Hollywood’s most notorious scandals through the eyes of the person most misrepresented by it’
A new movie will explore the notorious Roman Polanski statutory rape scandal from the perspective of the 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer.
The Girl, based on Geimer’s 2013 memoir The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski, will trace her time in the famous director’s orbit in the 1970s, her experience being subjected to sexual assault and the media maelstrom that followed after Polanski, then 43, was arrested in 1977 on charges of statutory rape and lewd and lascivious act with a child.
Continue reading...Vladimir Motin was on sole watch when his vessel crashed into the Stena Immaculate near the Humber estuary
The Russian captain of a ship that crashed into an oil tanker off the Yorkshire coast has been found guilty of killing a crew member in the collision.
Vladimir Motin, a 59-year-old from St Petersburg, was on sole watch when his ship, the Solong, collided into the Stena Immaculate oil tanker near the Humber estuary on 10 March last year. Mark Angelo Pernia, a 38-year-old Filipino man, was killed in the wreck.
Continue reading...Residents of 16 houses on Clydach Terrace in Ynysybwl express relief after repeated floods caused by climate crisis
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
It will cost Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council more than £2.5m to buy the 16 riverside properties, pay for legal costs and help to rehouse dozens of residents.
Continue reading...Take to the air, start a fight, explore the ice or shoot some aliens this month.
A teacher who lost her sister in a car accident more than a decade ago is carrying on her legacy through a kindness challenge with her students.
Struggling with high credit card balances? You may have options to reduce or erase some of your debt this month.
An 18-year-old student at Northern Arizona University died after a fraternity rush event, police said. Three students were arrested and charged with hazing.
The U.S. laid fiber-optic cables to a record number of homes last year as billions of dollars in federal broadband grants and a surge in data-center construction fueled an enormous buildout, but the industry does not have enough workers to sustain the pace. A 2024 report by the Fiber Broadband Association and the Power & Communication Contractors Association projects 58,000 new fiber jobs between 2025 and 2032 and estimates 120,000 workers will leave the field in that period, mostly through retirement -- a combined shortage of 178,000. The gap is especially acute among splicers, who fuse hair-thin filaments by hand, and directional drill operators. Telecommunications line installers and repairers earned annual median wages of $70,500 for the year ended May 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, against a $49,500 national median. Push, a utility-construction firm, raised hourly pay for fiber crews by 5% to 8% in each of the past several years and expects the pace to quicken.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Gothams LLC’s draft proposal, obtained by the Guardian, suggests seven-year trucking and logistics monopoly
A US disaster response firm submitted a plan to White House officials that would guarantee 300% profits and a seven-year monopoly over a new trucking and logistics plan for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza, according to a November proposal obtained by the Guardian.
The draft plan from Gothams LLC would allow it to collect a fee for every truck moving goods into Gaza, and charge for the use of its warehousing and distribution system.
Continue reading...Auditor calls renewable energy targets ‘unrealistic’ unless ‘EU ups its game’ in mining, refining and recycling of metals such as rare earths
The EU is struggling to free itself from dependence on China and countries in the global south for critical minerals and rare earths needed for everything from smartphones to wind turbines and military jets.
A damning report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in Luxembourg found that the bloc’s targets for 2030 were “out of reach” because of lack of progress in domestic production, refining and recycling.
Continue reading...Former Italian PM and ECB chief says Europe must urgently unify on defence and foreign affairs
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country’s energy system remained “seriously” challenged by the impact of recent Russian strikes.
More than 200 buildings are still without heating in Kyiv, as temperatures plummeted to -17 Celsius, with “crews from many regions of Ukraine … deployed for the repair work.”
“Europe absolutely can defend yourself. Please stop whining. Why is this so much whingeing about [on], you know, if the US leave, what are we going to do? Come on.
… Europe … why are we so scared: ‘please, don’t leave the US leave…’ Please stand up to my president. Hold us accountable. Make us live up to our talking points.”
Continue reading...Charge is designed to protect much-loved monument from overtourism, but not all visitors like the idea
Teresa Romero is in Rome to celebrate a milestone birthday and one of the first things she did on Monday was visit the Trevi fountain to participate in the ritual of tossing a coin into the waters of the late baroque masterpiece.
But before the Portuguese tourist could get close to the fountain, she had to hand over €2 (£1.70) – the cost of an access fee that has finally been enacted by Rome council officials after years of discussions.
Continue reading...President Trump has attacked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg for his decisions against the administration in a case involving the summary removals of Venezuelan migrants to a Salvadoran prison.
Feb. 2, 2026 — Modern biological research generates data at unprecedented scale—from single-cell sequencing to whole-brain connectomics—yet transforming that data into validated biological insights remains a fundamental bottleneck. Knowledge synthesis, hypothesis generation, and experimental interpretation still depend on manual processes that can’t keep pace with the data being produced.
Today, Anthropic is announcing two flagship partnerships designed to close that gap. The Allen Institute and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) will serve as founding partners in life sciences, extending Claude’s capabilities to frontier scientific research and enabling teams of scientists to work more effectively together and take on ambitious scientific challenges. Each collaboration brings together Anthropic’s expertise in foundation models, agentic systems, and interpretability with world-class research institutions tackling distinct but complementary problems in biology and biomedical science. These partnerships position Claude at the center of scientific experimentation and will build a foundation in which scientists actively use Claude to plan and execute experiments.
Both partnerships are committed to transparency and advances that will help the broader scientific community rigorously deploy AI tools across many scientific domains. Scientific AI systems must not only produce accurate predictions but also provide reasoning that researchers can evaluate, trace, and build upon. These collaborations position Claude as a tool that augments, rather than replaces, human scientific judgment — ensuring that AI-generated insights are grounded in evidence and legible to the scientists who use them.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Building the Infrastructure for AI-Enabled Scientific Discovery
HHMI will partner with Anthropic to accelerate discovery in the biological sciences as one part of the Institute’s AI@HHMI initiative. The collaboration is anchored at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus, which has been developing transformative technologies—from genetically encoded calcium sensors to electron microscopes engineered for understanding the architecture of the brain—for two decades. This foundation uniquely positions HHMI to help shape how AI systems participate in and enhance the research process.
The partnership with Anthropic will involve close collaboration on both the deployment and ongoing development of AI models, ensuring that AI tools evolve in direct response to real experimental needs. Since announcing AI@HHMI in 2024, HHMI has launched several projects that seek to use AI tools to solve longstanding scientific problems ranging from computational protein design to neural mechanisms of cognition. The collaboration with Anthropic will focus on developing specialized AI agents for use within labs. These will serve as a comprehensive source of experimental knowledge integrated with cutting-edge scientific instruments and analysis pipelines to speed the pace of discovery.
Allen Institute: Multi-Agent Systems for Mechanistic Discovery
The Allen Institute will collaborate with Anthropic to develop multi-agent AI systems for multi-modal data analysis and exploration across the institute’s areas of scientific focus. The work will explore how multiple specialized AI agents—for multi-omic data integration, knowledge graph management, temporal dynamics modeling, and experimental design—can be coordinated to support the full arc of scientific investigation.
This collaboration will explore how agentic AI systems can compress months of manual analysis into hours while surfacing patterns that human researchers might otherwise miss. These systems are designed to amplify scientific intuition rather than replace it, keeping researchers in control of scientific direction while handling computational complexity.
For Anthropic, this collaboration provides in-depth feedback from real scientific use with day-to-day workflows where reliability and judgment matter. Working with the Allen Institute helps surface usability gaps and failure modes that don’t appear in more controlled settings.
Looking Ahead
These partnerships will inform the broader development of Claude’s life science capabilities, generating insights about how AI systems can most effectively support scientific workflows across diverse research contexts. Anthropic is committed to responsible development that prioritizes scientific rigor, interpretability, and researcher autonomy.
Source: Anthropic
The post Anthropic Launches Life Sciences Collaborations with Allen Institute and HHMI appeared first on HPCwire.
Trump supporter Júnior Pena falsely claimed migrants being rounded up, including Brazilians, were ‘all crooks’
A rightwing Brazilian influencer who claimed Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown targeted only “crooks” has been arrested by ICE agents in New Jersey.
Júnior Pena, whose full name is Eustáquio da Silva Pena Júnior, declared his support for the US president in a recent video message to his hundreds of thousands of social media followers.
Continue reading...The president called the ceremony ‘garbage’, but in reality it was a celebration of artists whose commercial success was matched by boundary-pushing boldness
Donald Trump, it seems, did not much enjoy the 2026 Grammys. Shortly after the conclusion of the ceremony’s live broadcast in the US, there he was on Truth Social, calling it “the worst”, “garbage”, “unwatchable” and threatening to sue host Trevor Noah.
Perhaps that was the reaction the Recording Academy wanted. You could, if you wished, divine a certain Maga-baiting intent not just in the decision to give the album of the year award to Bad Bunny – a Puerto Rican who attracted criticism from the Trump administration after he was booked to headline the SuperBowl LX half-time show – but the choice of the Buena Vista Social Club, a Broadway hit based on the 1997 album of the same name featuring veteran Cuban musicians, as the best musical theatre album: the latter two weeks after the New York Times reported that Cubans settled in Florida are being deported in record numbers.
Continue reading...The victim's wife managed to escape after park rangers scared the animal away, officials said.
British pop collective decry use of 1997 hit Tubthumping to promote the party’s ‘small-minded, hate-fuelled agenda’
The British pop collective Chumbawamba has asked Spain’s Vox to stop using their best-known song to promote “its small-minded, hate-fuelled agenda” after the far-right party chose its 1997 hit single Tubthumping to soundtrack a social media post railing against migration.
Santiago Abascal, who leads Vox, visited the north-eastern Spanish town of Caspe last week in the run-up to this weekend’s regional election in Aragón. He posted images of the visit to Facebook on Friday, along with the caption: “Great welcome yesterday in Caspe … for a street press conference. The locals are sick of the migratory invasion. And we stand with them.”
Continue reading...Looking to buy a home or refinance your existing one? Here are the mortgage interest rates you'll need to know now.
A VPN can help you unlock the entire Olympic games, potentially for free.
See Budweiser celebrate its birthday, Derrick Henry on an adventurous trolley ride and a KPop Demon Hunters star.
Awards host alluded to president’s association with late sex offender in awards ceremony remarks
Grammys host Trevor Noah has been threatened with legal action by Donald Trump for a joke during Sunday’s awards ceremony about the president’s connection to the disgraced late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump fired off an angry post on his Truth Social platform shortly after the comedian said the song of the year award was “a Grammy that every artist wants – almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton”.
Continue reading...Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son hit with new criminal charges as she apologizes for "poor judgment" over Epstein ties.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. and BOSTON, Feb. 2, 2026 — QuEra Computing and Roadrunner Venture Studios today announced a $4 million strategic partnership to build a quantum testbed at the Roadrunner Quantum Lab (RQL) powered by the State of New Mexico in Albuquerque. QuEra’s commitment includes running facilities with full-time hires in state, making Albuquerque’s Innovation District a world-class center for quantum companies.
“QuEra is one of the most innovative quantum companies in the world and they are now bringing their neutral atom platform to New Mexico,” said Adam Hammer, CEO and Co-Founder of Roadrunner Venture Studios. “Together, QuEra, Roadrunner, and the State of New Mexico are removing a significant burden that New Mexico-based founders face in validating their technologies: access to leading engineers, top-of-market equipment, and compute. This new facility will be an unparalleled proving ground for America’s next generation of quantum companies.”
The partnership is a significant economic investment in New Mexico and the first step in a long-term commitment to the state. QuEra will establish a physical presence at the RQL and hire multiple full-time employees, while expanding access to its quantum computing systems for resident companies. The testbed is designed to generate high-skill jobs, workforce training programs, startup formation, and increased federal and private capital—building the foundation for a durable advanced technology economy in New Mexico.
“To build a quantum economy, companies need to test and prove their technologies quickly, efficiently, and accurately,” said Nate Gemelke, Chief Technology Strategist of QuEra Computing. “This partnership brings infrastructure to New Mexico that fills a real gap in getting quantum technology to market. With the help of our New Mexico partners, QuEra’s vision is to bring more resources to New Mexico in the coming years and make the state a national hub for neutral-atom quantum computing.”
The collaboration is the latest accomplishment in the state’s $300 million effort to build a globally competitive quantum economy. Backed by the New Mexico Economic Development Department and the State of New Mexico, Roadrunner is advancing its quantum coalition promise to bring quantum companies from around the United States to the state by bringing one of the world’s leading quantum compute companies to New Mexico’s innovation ecosystem.
“New Mexico has always had research strengths in quantum. Now, the state’s investments and unique partnerships are bringing industry growth that means real economic impact for New Mexicans,” said Nora Meyers Sackett, Director of the Technology and Innovation Office at the New Mexico Economic Development Department. “QuEra’s addition to the state’s fast-growing quantum ecosystem is more confirmation that New Mexico is the quantum state.”
Neutral-atom quantum computing offers unique advantages—such as scalability, performance, and speed—for founders aiming to validate quantum components including laser systems. By testing on QuEra’s systems, founders and scientists can speed up expensive, time-consuming builds and deliver and deploy technology more efficiently.
The testbeds will support R&D across multiple domains, including:
The facilities are expected to launch later this year, starting with academic and national lab partners before opening to industry collaborators and quantum startups. Roadrunner’s quantum coalition includes nearly a dozen partners spanning national laboratories (Sandia, Los Alamos), the private sector (Qunnect, QuEra Computing, Maybell), academic institutions (University of New Mexico), and venture capital firms (DCVC, Playground Global, Quantonation). These partnerships have been made possible with the support of the State of New Mexico.
About QuEra Computing
QuEra is putting quantum to work. As the scientific and commercial leader in neutral-atom quantum computing, we help enterprise innovators leverage quantum to gain competitive advantage, support HPC centers as they help users tackle classically intractable problems, and enable government programs to build national capability and sovereign capabilities. We do this through our quantum innovation platform, combining quantum systems available on-premises and via the cloud with application co-design and collaborative research. Born at Harvard and MIT, still advancing together, QuEra operates globally from Boston, Tokyo, and the United Kingdom. As quantum computing moves from “one day” to “Day One,” QuEra delivers practical impact today while advancing toward large-scale, fault-tolerant systems. See what’s possible at quera.com.
About Roadrunner Venture Studios
Roadrunner is the nation’s first venture studio purpose-built for hard science company creation. The studio works with national labs, research institutions, and venture capital firms to turn research in advanced energy, robotics, and quantum into scalable, venture-backable companies. For more information, visit www.roadrunnerventurestudios.com.
Source: QuEra Computing
The post QuEra Partners with Roadrunner Venture Studios on $4M Quantum Testbed in New Mexico appeared first on HPCwire.
Starbucks has been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into AI and automation -- testing robots that take drive-through orders, virtual assistants that help baristas recall recipes and manage schedules, and scanning tools that count inventory -- as the 55-year-old coffee chain tries to reverse several years of struggling sales. The company last week reported its first same-store sales increase in two years in the U.S., where it earns roughly 70% of its revenue. Shares still slid 5% on concerns that heavy spending, including $500 million to boost staffing, had hurt profits. CEO Brian Niccol, who joined in 2024 after engineering Chipotle's turnaround, told the BBC he is confident consistent growth will address that; the company has pledged to find $2 billion in cost savings over three years.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Millions of dollars have been raised for Bondi hero Ahmed al-Ahmed, while campaigns are backing families hit by Victoria’s bushfires. What does this way of giving mean for the charity sector?
Within hours of the Bondi beach terror attack, the money had already begun to pour in. As images of the tragedy flooded social media, people from around the world donated tens of thousands of dollars to the victims, their families and first responders.
Passing the hat around the neighbourhood or the local pub has always been a staple response in times of crisis. But today, that instinct to open your wallet has been exponentially supercharged via a digital simulacrum: online crowdfunding platforms.
Continue reading...Wael Tarabishi, who has a lifelong muscle disorder, died after Maher, his father and primary caretaker, was detained
Until three months ago, Wael Tarabishi and his father, Maher, were inseparable. It was a necessity; in addition to being best friends, Maher was the caretaker for 30-year-old Wael, who was diagnosed with a progressive muscle disorder called Pompe disease when he was a child.
As Wael’s mother said in November, Maher was his son’s “case manager, his equipment company, his doctor, his everything”.
Continue reading...New rates will impact subscribers in the US.
China's decades-old network of elite high-school "genius classes" -- ultra-competitive talent streams that pull an estimated 100,000 gifted teenagers out of regular schooling every year and run them through college-level science curricula -- has produced the core technical talent now building the country's leading AI and technology companies, the Financial Times reported Saturday. Graduates of these programs include the founder of ByteDance, the leaders of e-commerce giants Taobao and PDD, the billionaire behind super-app Meituan, the brothers who started Nvidia rival Cambricon, and the core engineers behind large language models at DeepSeek and Alibaba's Qwen. DeepSeek's research team of more than 100 was almost entirely composed of genius-class alumni when the startup released its R1 reasoning model last year at a fraction of the cost of its international rivals. The system traces to the mid-1980s, when China first sent students to the International Mathematical Olympiad and a handful of top high schools began creating dedicated competition-track classes. China now graduates around five million STEM majors annually -- compared to roughly half a million in the United States -- and in 2025, 22 of the 23 students it sent to the International Science Olympiads returned with gold medals. The computer science track has overtaken maths and physics as the most popular competition subject, a shift that accelerated after Beijing designated AI development a "key national growth strategy" in 2017.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Demand by US that it take control of Arctic island is for many a reminder of troubling imperial past
On a bitterly cold recent morning in the Canadian Arctic, about 70 people took to the streets. Braving the bone-chilling winds, they marched through the Inuit territory of Nunavut, waving signs that read: “We stand with Greenland” and “Greenland is a partner, not a purchase.”
It was a glimpse of how, for Indigenous peoples across the Arctic, the battle over Greenland has become a wider reckoning, seemingly pitting the long-fought battle to assert their rights against a global push for power.
Continue reading...Fulton County plans to file a motion challenging what local leaders call an unprecedented and improper seizure of 2020 election records, following an FBI search of the county's elections office last week.
India wants to reset relations after Bangladesh elections. It will be easier said than done Expert comment LToremark
India is hoping a new democratically elected government in Bangladesh will help improve bilateral relations. But identity politics in both countries could derail progress.
As Bangladesh prepares to hold elections on 12 February – after almost 18 months under an unelected interim government – India is seeking a reset in bilateral relations. The relationship between Dhaka and New Delhi has deteriorated after the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024 following large-scale unrest in which some 1,400 people were killed. India’s historically close relations with Hasina’s party – the Awami League – fuelled allegations that New Delhi empowered her government’s increasingly autocratic tendencies.
The fact that Hasina fled to India and has continued to make statements from there has added to the bad blood, as has the verdict issued in November which found her guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced her to death. Bangladesh and India maintain an extradition treaty, but New Delhi has so far refused to extradite Hasina on the grounds that it has the right to refuse requests if the offence is of a ‘political character’.
New Delhi fears that Hasina’s removal from power has created space for groups that are hostile towards India, amid growing anti-India rhetoric and violence in Bangladesh. Attacks on minorities – including Bangladesh’s 13 million-strong Hindu population – have exacerbated tensions. The Bangladeshi government claims that such attacks have been exaggerated and are largely politically motivated, not about religious affiliation. The murder in December of a Bangladeshi youth activist who had been critical of India triggered further unrest, including the lynching of a Hindu man. Claims that the suspects fled to India worsened relations between the two countries.
Reflecting the poor state of bilateral relations, India halved its financial assistance to Bangladesh in its latest budget.
Adding insult to injury is the Bangladeshi government’s outreach to countries that have historically difficult relations with India, including China and Pakistan. But close ties with China are not new. Beijing has been a longstanding trade, investment and defence partner for Bangladesh – more than 70 per cent of the country’s arms imports came from China in the 2019-23 period for example. Nonetheless, India fears that China is seeking to exploit its deteriorating relations with Bangladesh. In June, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan held the inaugural meeting of a foreign secretary/vice foreign minister dialogue. This parallels a similar initiative between Afghanistan, China and Pakistan. New Delhi views this as an effort to marginalize India in its own neighbourhood.
During a visit to China in March 2025, Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammed Yunus referred to India’s ‘landlocked’ northeastern states and said Bangladesh is the ‘only guardian of the ocean’ that could serve as an ‘extension of the Chinese economy’. This did not go down well in New Delhi. China is involved in several high-profile infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, including modernization of the Mongla Port – its second-largest seaport – and a water management project along the Teesta River. The latter is of particular concern to New Delhi as Bangladesh and India have been engaged in stalled negotiations on sharing the river waters.
Dhaka’s engagement with Islamabad have seen a more notable shift. The two countries have had historically strained relations following Bangladesh’s secession from Pakistan in 1971 following a violent independence struggle. Improved relations have seen a relaxation of visa rules and trade restrictions, the establishment of direct sea links between Chittagong and Karachi and several senior-level interactions. Dhaka and Islamabad have also discussed deepening defence cooperation. For example, Bangladesh is considering procuring the JF-17 fighter aircraft, which is jointly produced by China and Pakistan.
India is hoping the return to democratic rule in Bangladesh will help reset relations. In preparation, New Delhi has sought to deepen and diversify its political engagement with Bangladesh, to dispel allegations surrounding its historic ties with the Awami League. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yunus met on the sidelines of a conference in Bangkok in April and Modi sent a condolence letter following the death of Khaleda Zia – leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – in December. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also attended Zia’s funeral where he met her son, Tarique Rahman. Rahman has recently returned to Bangladesh after 17 years in exile and is widely tipped to be the next prime minister if the BNP performs well in the election.
However, identity politics in both countries threatens to derail progress. A new government in Dhaka that is overtly hostile towards India, for example one that includes Islamic hardliners, will make rapprochement difficult. Even a BNP-led government does not guarantee improved relations. In an interview, Rahman stated that ‘the people of Bangladesh have decided that relations will remain cool. So, I have to stand with my country’s people’. When the BNP ruled Bangladesh in 2001-06 relations with India deteriorated amid growing instability along the border and a surge in terrorist activity.
Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus on how India’s Modi could help
A shift in mindset towards India will be dictated in part by the issue of Hasina’s extradition. Publicly, New Delhi will remain averse to extraditing her. Privately, however, the Indian government will be looking to make the issue go away, for example by Hasina moving onto a third country.
In India, meanwhile, attacks on Bangladeshi Hindus have become a prominent issue in public and media discourse. India will be holding elections this year in two states that border Bangladesh – Assam and West Bengal – which could see an increase in anti-Bangladesh rhetoric in the run-up to the polls.
The credibility of the Bangladeshi election and its outcome will also determine the trajectory of the bilateral relationship. A low voter turnout fuelled by violence could undermine the credibility of the electoral process. Supporters of the Awami League have threatened to disrupt the elections after the party has been effectively banned from standing in the election. The former foreign minister in the Hasina government, Hasan Mahmud, has said stability will not return to Bangladesh if the Awami League is excluded.
Deputy US attorney general says the government cannot ‘just create evidence’ but victims’ attorney accuses government of hiding perpetrators while exposing survivors. Plus, the Mormon women who fought a Republican-led redistricting initiative in Utah – and won
Good morning.
The deputy US attorney general, Todd Blanche, told ABC News yesterday that prosecutors’ review of the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking case “is over”, and in a separate interview to CNN said “victims want to be made whole”. “And we want that,” Blanche said. “But that doesn’t mean we can just create evidence or that we can just kind of come up with a case that isn’t there.”
What are the latest disclosures to emerge from the huge dump of 3.5m documents related to Epstein on Friday? Some of the documents suggest that other men were involved in his sexual abuse, prompting questions about officials’ contentions that there isn’t evidence to investigate third parties for potential involvement in the late financier’s crimes.
What did Bad Bunny say? “Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ICE out,” he said. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, we’re humans and we are Americans … The only thing more powerful than hate is love so please we need to be different.”
Continue reading...Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy system 5 February 2026 — 1:00PM TO 2:30PM Anonymous (not verified) Online
What are the consequences and how should Europe respond?
What are the consequences and how should Europe respond?
Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, Russia has launched systematic, high-precision strikes against Ukraine’s civilian energy grid. By February 2026, the cumulative degradation of critical infrastructure has reached a critical point that threatens the continuity of essential services and puts civilian lives at risk during the winter season. In destroying power, heating and water systems during sub-zero temperatures, Russia’s attacks aim to undermine morale and put pressure on the Ukrainian state to divert its limited resources from the battlefield to constant, costly infrastructure repairs. Russia’s damage of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure also increases the risk of new waves of displacement which could further strain Western European social systems and political unity.
This discussion will examine the economic and humanitarian impact of Russia’s strikes and explore different response options for Ukraine and its partners.
Rightwing populist elected in landslide after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to cocaine trade
The rightwing populist Laura Fernández has won Costa Rica’s presidential election in a landslide after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade.
Fernández’s nearest rival, centre-right economist Álvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40% needed to avoid a runoff.
Continue reading...The U.N. and IOC are asking for a pause in wars, an ancient Olympic tradition, amid the Winter Games. Athletes from countries beset by violence are set to compete.
Punxsutawney Phil looked for his shadow during the 2026 Groundhog Day ceremony.
Trump’s presidency has brought a windfall to billionaires while hurting the poor. In these conditions, democracy cannot survive
Trump ran on a promise to lower costs on day one, but a year into his presidency, the real beneficiaries are his billionaire donors. Instead of making life more affordable for everyday Americans, Trump has used the presidency to enrich himself and his billionaire allies, while making the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in history and leaving working families behind.
As families struggle with rising costs, Trump has effectively turned the White House into a slush fund, running the federal government like a personal ATM. Public money, political favors and government power are funneled to his friends and family businesses, while regulatory agencies and enforcement mechanisms are hollowed out or weaponized for profit. His oligarch allies, from big tech executives to big oil barons, are already seeing massive returns on their political investments. This is not democracy. It is a hostile corporate takeover and working people are being exploited.
Joseph Geevarghese is the executive director of Our Revolution. Rashida Tlaib is a US representative for Michigan
Continue reading...Scores of live music fans in New York’s hip borough report having their phones stolen during live music shows
During a December visit to see family in his home state of New York, Zander Cammarata, who now lives in Berlin, purchased a new iPhone because they cost less in the United States. He then went to see one of his favorite bands, Silverstein, a post-hardcore emo group, in Brooklyn.
By the time he flew back to Germany, he was again using his old phone.
Continue reading...2027 is going to be a big year for iPhones and here's what you can expect.
Online gaming legend Mark Fischbach writes, directs and stars in this feature about a convict on a vague intergalactic mission – but his barebones production has nothing to show
William Goldman’s old showbiz maxim continues to apply that nobody knows anything. Independently financed horror movie Iron Lung has been smuggled into multiplexes without the usual promotional hoopla, where it was keenly awaited by the massed followers of its Hawaiian writer-director-star Mark Fischbach, better known as YouTube gaming legend Markiplier. Many of us have long sensed culture is making a decisive break with the analogue in favour of the (perhaps terminally) online and Fischbach’s film makes that paradigm shift not just visible but visceral; it feels not unlike spending 12 hours on Twitch with all the curtains closed.
Though Markiplier is approaching the horror genre from a notionally fresh angle – by adapting Dave Szymanski’s eponymous space-submarine sim – he lands on the narratively rusty idea of an astronaut straying beyond his depth; this is Moon in dimmer light. Beset by ominous rumbles and mounting doubts about the state of mankind, the begrimed and squalid craft singlehandedly piloted by Fischbach’s straggle-haired convict Simon is indistinguishable from the average teenage bedroom. Our hero staggers round this intergalactic deathtrap completing vaguely specified missions – ram this, repair that, download something or other – like a harassed dad ticking off his Sunday to-do list. In this, Simon proves more proficient than Fischbach’s offscreen self, who is either stumped by or oblivious to the film’s fundamental issues.
Continue reading...Volunteer workers say increasing case numbers and dozens of dead birds raise fears spread is wider than recorded
Members of the public and charity volunteers are working to contain a suspected outbreak of bird flu among swans in the Thames Valley, amid signs that confirmed cases are continuing to rise.
Since October, 324 cases of bird flu in swans have been recorded by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha), which is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Of these, 39 were recorded in the first four weeks of 2026 alone.
Continue reading...PM believes ex-Labour minister should not be member of House of Lords or use title, No 10 spokesperson says
Keir Starmer has suggested that Peter Mandelson should resign from the House of Lords and that the upper chamber should urgently modernise its disciplinary procedures to strip him of his peerage.
The cabinet secretary, the UK’s most senior civil servant, will also investigate Mandelson’s actions as business secretary when Labour was last in power, after emails to Jeffrey Epstein about government policy emerged.
Continue reading...“Terrorist” is the word that the Trump administration employs to describe the victims of its most egregious acts of state violence.
President Donald Trump has used the word “terrorist” to justify the extrajudicial killings of civilians in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. And his deputies used it to explain away the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis by federal agents.
“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narco terrorists,” Trump wrote following the initial boat strike on September 2, 2025. He said the attack “occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that Good and Pretti were guilty of “domestic terrorism.” And top White House adviser Stephen Miller used similar language to describe both.
These killings were conducted thousands of miles apart by different agencies in very different contexts. But the connection between them could be more than semantic.
Under National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, or NSPM-7, Trump’s Justice Department is now assembling a secret “domestic terrorist organization” database. It also maintains a secret list of “designated terrorist organizations” with whom the U.S. claims to be at war.
For months, the White House and Justice Department have failed to answer a question that becomes more relevant with every person branded a domestic terrorist, shot by federal agents, or both: Are Americans who the federal government deems to be domestic terrorists under NSPM-7 subject to extrajudicial killings like those it claims are members of designated terrorist organizations on boats at sea?
“If we’re going to say it’s OK to kill so-called terrorists in the Caribbean, for actions that have traditionally been dealt with as a criminal matter, using due process — what’s to say you can’t do the same in an American city?” asked Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government. “That is the very scary but logical end of all these things the Trump administration is doing.”
Trump’s de facto declaration of war on dissent, NSPM-7, conflates constitutionally protected speech and political activism with “domestic terrorism” — a term that has no basis in U.S. law. That memorandum, which was issued in September, and an implementation memo released in December by Attorney General Pam Bondi, specifically targets those that espouse what the administration defines as anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity, anti-fascism, and radical gender ideologies, as well as those with “hostility toward those who hold traditional American views.” At a minimum, the memorandum raises serious First Amendment, due process, and civil liberties concerns.
Bondi’s December memo, “Implementing National Security Presidential Memorandum-7: Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” which the Justice Department shared with The Intercept, defines “domestic terrorism” in the broadest possible terms, including “doxing” and “conspiracies to impede … law enforcement.”
Federal immigration agents consider observing, following, and filming their operations a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 111: assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer. This is also the foremost statute in a directory of prioritized crimes listed in NSPM-7.
Federal officers frequently confront and threaten those observing, following, and filming them for “impeding” their efforts. In numerous instances, they have unholstered or pointed weapons at the people who filmed or followed them.
A recent report by the CATO Institute notes that it is “crucial to understand that ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) consider people who follow DHS and ICE agents to observe, record, or protest their operations as engaging in ‘impeding.’” It goes on to note that DHS “has a systematic policy of threatening people who follow ICE or DHS agents to record their activities with detentions, arrests, and violence, and agents have already chased, detained, arrested, charged, struck, and shot at people who follow them.”
Before their killings, both Pretti and Good had been observing agents’ activities. In the wake of Good’s death, the Justice Department opened an investigation of Good’s widow for allegedly “interfering” with an ICE operation — apparently for filming the shooting.
NSPM-7 alleges vast “organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, [and] funding sources” support leftist “criminal and terroristic conspiracies.” It adds, “These campaigns are coordinated and perpetrated by actors who have developed a comprehensive strategy to achieve specific policy goals through radicalization and violent intimidation.”
The Trump administration has framed the Minneapolis protests and a larger movement in Minnesota and beyond in the same terms as NSPM-7, painting it as a “Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate” coordinated by a vast network of “highly paid professional agitators and anarchists,” as well as “insurrectionists” supported by corrupt Democratic lawmakers and officials or “sanctuary politicians” who are inciting violence against federal officers.
Trump endorsed Vice President JD Vance’s baseless claim that Good was part of a “broader left-wing network” that sometimes uses “domestic terror techniques” to “attack, to dox, to assault and to make it impossible for our ICE officers to do their job.” Miller suggested Pretti was one of an unknown number of militants operating in Minneapolis. “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists,” he wrote on X on Saturday, referring to comments by a Democratic party account calling for ICE to withdraw from Minneapolis.
Trump initially described Pretti as a “gunman,” although the ICU nurse never drew his licensed handgun before being executed at point blank range by federal agents. After briefly softening his tone on Pretti, Trump called him an “Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist” in a Friday Truth Social post.
Miller bills NSPM-7 as the first “all-of-government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism,” which he calls a sophisticated, well-funded network supported by an “entire system of feeder organizations that provide money, resources, weapons.” Bondi’s implementation memo also offers a fictitious apocalyptic vision of urban America which the Trump administration has employed to justify its domestic military occupations, including “mass rioting and destruction in our cities” and “violent efforts to shut down immigration enforcement.”
“Every accusation is a confession with this administration.”
“This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically,” Scanlon told The Intercept, quoting from a section of NSPM-7 that details a supposed coordinated effort by antifascists and other administration enemies. But Scanlon framed it in terms of the Trump administration’s own authoritarian campaign. “The paragraph describing how political violence takes root and becomes more widespread basically describes the Trump era. Every accusation is a confession with this administration. You talk about targeted intimidation and radicalization and threats and violence designed to silence opposing speech — it’s all there, and we’re seeing it unfold.”
Federal immigration officers have shot at least 13 people since September, killing at least five, including Pretti and Good, according to data compiled by The Trace.
“What the Trump Administration is doing in Minnesota is a testing ground for a paramilitary police state across the country,” said Rep. April McClain Delaney, D-Md., on January 25. “Masked DHS agents are now operating in Minnesota neighborhoods with impunity — terrorizing families and neighborhoods, slandering the victims with lies, silencing dissent, seizing and detaining protesters, eroding basic civil liberties and killing American citizens.”
At the same time shootings by immigration agents have ramped up at home, the Trump administration has been killing civilians in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The U.S. military has carried out 36 known attacks, destroying 37 boats, since September, killing at least 126 civilians. The most recent attack occurred in the Pacific Ocean on January 23, killing three people. The administration insists the attacks are permitted because the U.S. is engaged in “non-international armed conflict” with “designated terrorist organizations” it refuses to name. Experts, current and former government officials, and lawmakers say these killings are outright murders.
“This administration has asserted the prerogative to kill people outside the law, solely on the basis of the president labeling them terrorists. And there are no obvious limits to this license to kill,” said Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who is a specialist in counterterrorism issues and the laws of war. “The president has wielded that authority in the Caribbean and the Pacific and could wield it domestically. Indeed, the fact that they invoked domestic terrorism to justify the killings of Rene Good and Alex Pretti suggests they already might have.”
Since October, The Intercept has been asking if the White House would rule out conducting summary executions of members of the list “of any such groups or entities” designated as “domestic terrorist organization[s]” under NSPM-7, without a response. Return receipts also show that Justice Department spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre has repeatedly read The Intercept’s questions on this subject over months but has failed to offer an answer.
Faiza Patel, the senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty and national security program, told The Intercept that while it wasn’t possible to directly link NSPM-7 to the killings of Good and Pretti, the memorandum’s rhetoric about what constitutes domestic terrorism “is reflected in senior officials’ statements and it seems that DHS agents on the ground view any opposition to their actions as warranting extreme and even lethal force.”
Federal agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations assigned to Minneapolis received a memo earlier in January asking them to collect identifying information on “agitators, protestors, etc.,” CNN reported Tuesday. Last week, a masked immigration agent warned a woman filming their activities in Portland, Maine, that her information would be entered into a “nice little database” that would label her a “domestic terrorist.” Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar and Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino’s replacement, also mentioned the database the same month on Fox News. “We’re going to create a database,” he said, noting that it would include those “arrested for interference, impeding and assault.” Journalist Ken Klippenstein recently reported on more than a dozen “secret and obscure watchlists” being used to track protesters and supposed “domestic terrorists.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin says her department does not administer the secret database. “There is NO database of ‘domestic terrorists’ run by DHS,” she told The Intercept by email. “We do of course monitor and investigate and refer all threats, assaults and obstruction of our officers to the appropriate law enforcement.” DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis does admit that it “nominated over 4,600 people to the terrorist watchlist” in the last year and says ICE arrested more than 1,400 “known or suspected terrorists.”
NSPM-7 directs Bondi to compile a list “of any such groups or entities” to be designated as “domestic terrorist organization[s],” and Bondi has ordered the FBI to “compile a list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism,” according to the December 4 memo. Last fall, FBI Director Kash Patel told senators that there were “1,700 domestic terrorism investigations” and that it represented “a 300% increase in cases opened this year alone versus the same time last year.”
When asked if Good or Pretti were on any domestic terrorism list, watchlist, or under surveillance by federal authorities, a bureau spokesperson said: “The FBI has no comment.”
Neither NSPM-7 nor the December 4 memo mentions summary executions, and both speak explicitly in terms of “prosecution” and “arrest” of members of domestic terrorist organizations. Attacks on members of designated terrorist organizations are justified by another document: a classified opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel with a secret list of cartels and gangs attached to it.
The Justice Department memo notes that under Section 3 of NSPM-7, “the FBI, in coordination with its partners on the [Joint Terrorism Task Forces], and consistent with applicable law, shall compile a list of groups or entities engaged in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism” and “provide that list to the Deputy Attorney General.”
The FBI’s national press office directed The Intercept to contact the Department of Justice concerning questions about the NSPM-7 list. Baldassarre also failed to respond to those queries.
“To the extent that the White House somehow has a secret enemies list and people don’t know who’s on it — that goes beyond McCarthyism,” Scanlon told The Intercept. “It’s absolutely horrific.”
“To the extent that the White House somehow has a secret enemies list and people don’t know who’s on it — that goes beyond McCarthyism.”
Recent reported statements by Trump suggest that the president may see little difference between those the administration brands foreign and domestic terrorists nor in efforts to combat them. Last month, the U.S. attacked Venezuela and abducted its president, Nicolás Maduro, killing scores of people, including civilians. Maduro — whom Trump branded a terrorist — was brought to the U.S. and charged with numerous offenses, foremost among them, according to the State Department, “narco-terrorism.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said last week that Trump compared his federal immigration crackdown in his state to the attack in Venezuela that ousted Maduro. “He told me how well that went,” Walz told MS NOW. “Which really was strange to me was he saw an operation in Venezuela against a foreign nation in the same context he saw an operation against a U.S. state and a U.S. city.”
The White House did not return a request for comment.
The post Trump Calls His Enemies Terrorists. Does That Mean He Can Just Kill Them? appeared first on The Intercept.
The New York Times lists other reasons a company lays off people. ("It didn't meet financial targets. It overhired. Tariffs, or the loss of a big client, rocked it...") "But lately, many companies are highlighting a new factor: artificial intelligence. Executives, saying they anticipate huge changes from the technology, are making cuts now." A.I. was cited in the announcements of more than 50,000 layoffs in 2025, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a research firm... Investors may applaud such pre-emptive moves. But some skeptics (including media outlets) suggest that corporations are disingenuously blaming A.I. for layoffs, or "A.I.-washing." As the market research firm Forrester put it in a January report: "Many companies announcing A.I.-related layoffs do not have mature, vetted A.I. applications ready to fill those roles, highlighting a trend of 'A.I.-washing' — attributing financially motivated cuts to future A.I. implementation...." "Companies are saying that 'we're anticipating that we're going to introduce A.I. that will take over these jobs.' But it hasn't happened yet. So that's one reason to be skeptical," said Peter Cappelli, a professor at the Wharton School... Of course, A.I. may well end up transforming the job market, in tech and beyond. But a recent study... [by a senior research fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies A.I. and work] found that AI has not yet meaningfully shifted the overall market. Tech firms have cut more than 700,000 employees globally since 2022, according to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks industry job losses. But much of that was a correction for overhiring during the pandemic. As unpopular as A.I. job cuts may be to the public, they may be less controversial than other reasons — like bad company planning. Amazon CEO Jassy has even said the reason for most of their layoffs was reducing bureaucracy, the article points out, although "Most analysts, however, believe Amazon is cutting jobs to clear money for A.I. investments, such as data centers."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The US president tried to kill offshore wind projects – now four are back under construction
Construction has resumed on four offshore wind mega-projects after they survived a near fatal attack by Donald Trump’s administration thanks to rulings by federal judges. These are being seen as victories for clean energy amid a wider war being waged on it by the Trump administration.
The wind farms are considered critical by grid planners as America faces an energy affordability crisis. Together, the four projects will contribute nearly five gigawatts of energy to the east coast, enough to power 3.5 million homes.
Continue reading...Island’s first tropical storm of season may bring 150mm of rain – meanwhile, eastern Europe freezes with possible night-time lows of -30C
At least three people have died and nearly 30,000 people have been affected by flooding after Madagascar’s first tropical storm of the season hit over the weekend.
Tropical Cyclone Fytia formed to the north-west of Madagascar over the northern Mozambique Channel on Thursday.
Continue reading...The once-lauded director of Black Swan and The Wrestler has drowned himself in AI slop with an embarrassing new online series
If you happen to find yourself stumbling through Time magazine’s YouTube account, perhaps because you are a time traveller from the 1970s who doesn’t fully understand how the present works yet – then you will be presented with something that many believe represents the vanguard of entertainment as we know it.
On This Day … 1776 is a series of short videos depicting America’s revolutionary war. What makes On This Day notable is that it was made by Darren Aronofsky’s studio Primordial Soup. What also makes it interesting is that it was created with AI. The third thing that makes it interesting is that it is terrible.
Continue reading...Labour suspended Norris, 66, last year after his original arrest on suspicion of child sexual abuse offences
Dan Norris, a former Labour minister and now an independent MP, has been rearrested on suspicion of rape, sexual assault, voyeurism and upskirting, it is understood.
Labour suspended Norris, 66, who defeated Jacob Rees-Mogg at the last election, last year after his original arrest.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Charities and experts fear changes to special needs education in England may weaken legal protections
Ministers have been warned that any dilution of legal rights for disabled children and their families would cross “red lines”, as the government prepares substantial changes to special education needs and disabilities (Send) provision in England.
The Disabled Children’s Partnership, which represents more than 130 charities and professional groups, has written to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and MPs to raise concerns that the overhaul will “come at the expense of children’s legal protections”.
Continue reading...Lionel Messi’s presence has been crucial to the defending champions’ excellent offseason
Winning MLS Cup brings only a couple guaranteed returns: the cup itself and a cash prize ($300,000, roughly the salary of one MLS backup defender). Historically, it has also ushered in a near-mandatory squad rebuild, a consequence of MLS’s parity-driven design. With rare exceptions, great teams find it nigh-on-impossible to keep the band together, or to improve on what they already have.
Not so for Inter Miami this year. After a slew of high-powered offseason additions capped by Friday’s $15m capture of Monterrey striker Germán Berterame, a historically fortunate franchise has gotten even better; completely unlike the 29 MLS Cup champions that preceded them.
Continue reading...Providers are arranging home visits and telehealth as neighbors pick up prescriptions, groceries and diapers
A public health crisis is unfolding in Minnesota as people targeted by federal agents are afraid to seek healthcare while some healthcare staff are also fearful for their safety at work.
Community organizations and health providers are now arranging home visits, telehealth appointments and other alternate care.
Continue reading...We are witnessing a dangerous escalation in the Trump administration’s attacks on the press and a clear threat to first amendment freedoms
The extraordinary arrests of the journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort last week are a dangerous escalation in the Trump administration’s attacks on the press and pose a clear threat to first amendment freedoms. Mere weeks after federal law enforcement executed a search warrant targeting a Washington Post reporter, the justice department is now pursuing criminal charges against two independent journalists for reporting from the scene of a protest in Minnesota citing – ironically – federal laws intended to protect the exercise of constitutional rights. These indictments are an affront to the first amendment of the US constitution.
On 18 January, protesters entered the Cities church in St Paul, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official is a pastor, and interrupted a service with chants of “ICE out.” By all indications, Lemon, a former CNN host, and Fort, a local journalist, entered the church to cover the demonstration against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.
Theodore J Boutrous, Jr & Katie Townsend are partners in the law firm of Gibson Dunn and co-chairs of the firm’s first amendment and free expression group
Continue reading...Authorities said officers killed three suspects in the shooting of two women, whom Secretary of Public Education Mario Delgado later identified as his aunt and cousin.
The 2026 Grammy Awards recognized the best of the best in music from last year, with big wins for Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny. Here's the full list of winners and nominees.
Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step as the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire moves ahead, Egyptian and Israeli security officials said.
I take hydration seriously, but this reusable, smart water bottle helped me realize I wasn't drinking enough water.
A panic pervades the internet: terrified talk of troops in American cities, federal shock troops brutalizing citizens and neighbors, the targeting of gun owners, mass surveillance, the deployment of militarized artificial intelligence, and the suspension of the Constitution. The year is 2015, and the far right is incensed.
This was a period of intense American paranoia and anger, largely spurred by the right-wing meltdown over the consecutive victories of President Barack Obama. It was also a time of post-Snowden horror, as a nation realized it lived inside an unfathomably immense government surveillance dragnet endorsed and expanded by both political parties. It was in this moment that, for a certain segment of conservatives, Jade Helm 15 became an American crisis.
A decade later, this imaginary emergency reveals much about the hucksters who pushed it and the tolerance of many Americans for state oppression — so long as they are not the intended targets. The cauldron of race hatred, federal violence, and surveillance brewed by the paranoiacs who pounced on Jade Helm has spilled over today not in the form of right-wing phobia, but right-wing policy.
In July 2015, Alex Jones, at that point still little more than a punchline, issued a dire warning on his website InfoWars: “This is an emergency broadcast,” Jones began, warning of an impending campaign to “militarize police and to put standing armies on the streets to suppress the population and to carry out political operations.”
Jones was referring to publicly released Pentagon planning documents detailing Jade Helm 15, a military training exercise throughout sparsely populated swaths of the American South, from Florida to Texas. As is often the case when the dishonest have primary documents and a vast megaphone, Jones misstated nearly every detail of the materials. A map from what was essentially a large-scale military roleplaying game labeling Texas as “hostile,” colored in red, was irrefutable evidence to Jones that the Obama administration was preparing to let loose the national security state on the conservative heartland.
“We’re not becoming a police state. We’re already here.”
All of this was simple pretext, he claimed. The White House was leveraging the national security state to build the infrastructure for the federal paramilitary occupation of the country to choke out political dissent by force. Unwanted portions of the populations would be herded into Department of Homeland Security-administered camps, warned Jones and other stalwarts of right-wing paranoia. “We’re not becoming a police state,” he told viewers. “We’re already here.”
Though there was never any factual reason to suspect Jade Helm disguised a federal takeover, the broader paranoia was anchored in some fact. Jones claimed that the training exercise was connected to the broader militarization of American police agencies, a real trend he misconstrued as a leftist scheme against his audience. “You have massive military gear being cached — armored vehicles, machine guns, helicopters, night vision, Humvees — with the police departments around the country,” Jones explained. “It’s about suppressing the patriot population.”
Jones was not alone. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott quickly endorsed InfoWars’ ravings, deploying the state guard to “monitor” Jade Helm so that “Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed,” as he put it in an April 2015 letter ordering their mobilization. Former Texas congressman Louie Gohmert suggested the White House was hoping to provoke an armed confrontation between the military and the administration’s critics. “It is no surprise that those who have experienced or noticed such persecution are legitimately suspicious,” he said. “I understand the reason for concern and uncertainty,” agreed Sen. Ted Cruz.
Some Americans heeded the warning. The New York Times interviewed a Texas doctor stockpiling ammunition. Locals organized Jade Helm volunteer groups that monitored and recorded military movement. The Oath Keepers, a prominent American anti-government militia, described Jade Helm on its website as a “Portentous government plan, a pre-fabricated and pre-constructed umbrella under which a black op by the Deep State’s compartmentalized agencies could possibly ‘Go Live’ in a fantastic sort of Shock and Awe False Flag psycho-coup to jar the public mind of America through fear into acceptance of some nefarious policy the government desired, such as the establishment of Martial Law and the complete loss of individual liberty and our Constitution.”
These days, Jade Helm isn’t talked about much because nothing happened. But in the decade since, there has been a near-total inversion of the panic that Jade Helm sparked. Largely unconcerned and frequently unconstrained by law, Trump has found in his Department of Homeland Security what Jones warned was coming a decade ago: a paramilitary force to terrorize political opponents and demographic undesirables. Eleven years past schedule, Trump and a docile American right wing have finally delivered the Jade Helm presidency.
Armored personnel carriers today carry masked, heavily armed, pointlessly camouflaged federal commandos through American cities that voted against the president, backed by a sophisticated national surveillance apparatus. Trump and his lieutenants, beneficiaries of an American right-wing reshaped by the likes of Jones and his audience, make real and explicit the quiet fantasizing attributed to Obama’s during Jade Helm, speaking openly of American communities as hives of the enemy. In September, Trump announced impending deportation operations in Chicago with a doctored image depicting the city under attack by napalm, captioned “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
The notion of ideological foes not as electoral enemies but legitimate targets of violence is no longer the stuff of conspiracy podcasts, but the political mainstream. Trump referred to a need to stamp out the “enemy within” the United States in September speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, suggesting the unconstitutional use of the military to “handle” them, and mused about using American cities as “training grounds” for the Pentagon. Gun-toting agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Custom and Border Protection are the foot soldiers of a government that describes its people as terrorists. They have been joined at times by actual soldiers, Marines and National Guard members, deployed illegally in cities like Los Angeles where the president’s policies are unpopular.
Since Trump’s speech, DHS agents have shot 12 people, killing four of them. Minneapolis residents describe the experience of ICE and CBP’s surge as something akin to a military occupation. Where Obama’s Jade Helm fell short in the collective imaginations of the InfoWars right, Trump’s second term has succeeded in wielding DHS as an ideological cudgel. After Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti were gunned down by DHS agents, the department’s justification for dispensing the death penalty on the sidewalk — that they were both domestic terrorists bent on killing federal personnel — quickly disintegrated in the face of video evidence. All that was left was a rationale more foreboding than anything Jade Helm truthers attributed to the Obama administration, a shrug that boils down to this brutal view: That’s what they get for wanting this to stop.
“Was he simply walking by and just happened to walk into a law enforcement situation and try to direct traffic and stand in the middle of the road, and then assault, delay, and obstruct law enforcement?” CBP’s Greg Bovino wondered of Pretti at a press conference. “Or was he there for a reason?” (Pretti’s reason for being there that day was clear, having been filmed from multiple angles: to legally observe and record the agents who then killed him.)
The idea that merely opposing the president’s immigration policy is reason enough to warrant summary execution is, if not stated outright, now on the lips of many right-wing commentators. It’s an implicit threat that the next person to record a masked cop on their block could receive the same.
Immigration authorities have brought to life the id of Jade Helm not just through overt displays of force, but also through the vast intelligence and surveillance apparatus within DHS.
In May 2015, InfoWars correspondent David Knight warned that Jade Helm would involve the collection and exploitation of enormous reams of personal information. “They analyze the data, and then because you stick out in some way, now you’re treated as if you’ve already had due process, as if you’ve already been found guilty of a crime,” resulting in the government kicking down the doors of innocent people. “If you understand the technology that’s involved, then you’ll see that Jade Helm is more of an intelligence operation using geospatial intelligence mapping,” claimed InfoWars correspondent Lee Ann McAdoo. “And as information from low-level surveillance technologies such as stingrays and predictive policing programs are all getting siphoned up into NSA data centers, a detailed global map will continue to grow with near-endless stats on all individuals.”
This much was true — in broad strokes, if not the specifics — back in 2015 and even more so today. DHS has steadily amassed for itself a security state within the security state, one now plump with record funding under a Trump second term clinched with the promise of a ruthless immigration crackdown. “With a budget for 2025 that is 10 times the size of the agency’s total surveillance spending over the last 13 years,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote last month, “ICE is going on a shopping spree, creating one of the largest, most comprehensive domestic surveillance machines in history.”
Thanks to the unregulated market in commercial surveillance technology, DHS has little need for a spy agency like the NSA.
Thanks to the unregulated market in commercial surveillance technology, DHS has little need for a spy agency like the NSA. Last fall, ICE reactivated its contract with spyware-maker Paragon, which makes software that can remotely break into a smartphone. DHS also makes ample use of phone-cracking tools like Cellebrite, and has been purchasing warrantless access to cellphone location data since at least 2017, providing a turn-key means of tracking virtually anyone, anywhere, while bypassing the Fourth Amendment entirely. A 2023 DHS inspector general’s report found that both ICE and CBP consistently used this data illegally. Smartphone-based face recognition makes suspects out of anyone DHS agents might encounter on the street, immigrant and citizen alike.
Some in the InfoWars orbit speculated the word Jade itself “may or may not be an acronym for a military-developed artificial intelligence,” columnist Mark Saal observed in 2015. Like other facets of the Jade Helm freakout, this fear managed to be prescient despite its own baselessness. What’s unimpeachably true today is that DHS uses a litany of sophisticated artificial intelligence tools, including those provided by Palantir, a longtime military and intelligence contractor that has previously aided the NSA and continues to provide analytic and database services to ICE.
The role of Palantir alone within DHS is the stuff of InfoWars reverie: The company is building a tool “that populates a map with potential deportation targets, brings up a dossier on each person, and provides a ‘confidence score’ on the person’s current address,” according to a recent report by 404 Media. In contract documents renewing ICE’s use of Palantir case management software reviewed by The Intercept, the agency notes that the company has a “critical role in supporting the daily operations of ICE.” The case management system alone ingests data from across the federal government, including the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services, Department of Justice databases, the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, and the Office of Biometric Identity Management, among others.
Omnipresent data collection in the name of Homeland Security has allowed for novel means of taunting and intimidating the president’s critics. In a video clip that began circulating on X last week, a masked DHS agent is seen recording a car’s license plate with his phone.
“Why are you taking my information down?” the woman asks. “Because we have a nice little database,” the agent replies. “And now you’re considered a domestic terrorist.”
It’s unclear what “little database” the agent was referring to, or on what grounds recording a video on a public street would be considered an act of terrorism. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Intercept there is “no such database.” McLaughlin would not answer when asked repeatedly whether DHS endorsed its personnel threatening to place people on a domestic terrorism database it now claims does not exist.
A national security presidential memorandum issued by Trump in September, known as NSPM-7, explicitly labels certain political and ideological stances — including “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” along with unspecified views on race and gender — as forms of domestic terrorism.
The Jade Helm presidency hasn’t matched the scope and scale of what Jones et al. hallucinated a decade ago. But Trump’s DHS — a department already plagued by bipartisan abuse, brutalization, and overreach since its founding — represents in spirit and practice exactly what far-right and right-libertarians once warned was a genuine emergency.
Though it made no effort to attach itself to facts, Jade Helm fearmongering touched, glancingly, on some uncomfortable truths: The federal government is willing to use force, surveillance, and extraconstitutional power to suppress dissent. But the greater truth revealed in the intervening decade is that for many Americans, these abuses aren’t a problem so long as it’s someone else’s back pushed onto the concrete, someone else’s car windows smashed, and someone else dealing with the pain of a chemical irritant.
Far-right commentators and elected officials are making clear that their opposition was never to authoritarian violence or state terror, but instead to being subjected to that violence and terror themselves. The contingent of the country that swore to avenge Ruby Ridge and Waco now seem mostly content to cheer on more of the same beneath X videos.
The far right is making clear that their opposition was never to authoritarian violence or state terror, but instead to being subjected to that violence and terror themselves.
When the administration blamed Alex Pretti’s death on his wholly legal gun ownership, having failed to slander him as an “assassin,” even the National Rifle Association, which once derided federal police as “jackbooted government thugs,” felt obliged to claim he was “antagonizing” ICE, even while defending his right to bear arms.
“We now know that Alex Pretti was a violent agitator who repeatedly went out armed to deliberately instigate physical confrontations with law enforcement,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted on X. “He is not a victim. He was not a mere ‘protester.’ And he got what was coming to him. Simple as that.”
InfoWars’ Jade Helm coverage is now seemingly scrubbed from the site. With a friendly president in the White House, the publication has shifted from condemning the Pentagon as the harbinger of American apocalypse to joining its official press corps. But the spirit of the old anti-state paranoia of InfoWars remains — just inverted entirely in the state’s service.
Headlines like “Could the Minneapolis Rioters Be Using Automatic License Plate Recognition Systems?” are what the Jade Helm-believers now wonder about dragnet surveillance. “Watch Two Brave ICE Officers Fight Off A Violent Leftist Mob That Invaded Their Hotel!” is the formerly paranoid right’s assessment of DHS. The notion of camouflaged agents in the streets is cause for celebration, not an “emergency broadcast” of 2015. “A War Has Erupted On The Streets Of America, And It Is Going To End With Martial Law In Major U.S. Cities,” InfoWars warns today, paired with an AI-generated image of federal officers defending themselves from an antifa onslaught.
Eleven years after Jade Helm, this is forecast with at least a little excitement.
The post Welcome to the Jade Helm Presidency appeared first on The Intercept.
He has the chance to be the steward of a national treasure, but he’s blowing it
Would you inherit a rare Stradivarius violin, polish it up for a few years, and then decide to take a hammer to it?
Would you somehow acquire the Hope diamond, set it in a blue velvet case, and then toss the whole thing into the Potomac River?
Continue reading...Allegations prompt questions about officials’ contentions that there isn’t evidence to investigate third parties
The disclosure of more than 3m files related to Jeffrey Epstein suggests that other men were involved in his sexual abuse, prompting questions about officials’ contentions that there isn’t evidence to investigate third parties for potential involvement in the late financier’s crimes.
Some newly released documents contain allegations that Epstein provided victims to other men. Documents released in prior disclosures, as well as court documents, also point to others’ possible criminal involvement with Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Continue reading...Heather Jones of Alabama says two-year probation agreement leaves her ‘free and clear’ of legal matter
An Alabama woman has resolved a misdemeanor case that authorities opened against her within days of speaking out about a Roman Catholic priest whom she accused of predatory behavior.
Heather Jones had publicly recounted that she was 17 when the priest, Robert “Bob” Sullivan, arranged to provide her financial support in exchange for companionship including sex – prompting him to resign from the clergy in November.
Continue reading...The city of Milan and beyond will light up to spread the Olympic spirit during the event.
The science fiction on Prime Video hits different.
A seemingly esoteric dispute over the proper way to take Communion signals the rising power of more traditional voices within the Catholic Church.
New Mexico attorney general accuses Meta of failing to safeguard children against trafficking and sexual abuse
Meta’s second major trial of 2026 over alleged harms to children begins on Monday.
The landmark jury trial in Santa Fe pits the New Mexico attorney general’s office against the social media giant. The state alleges that the company knowingly enabled predators to use Facebook and Instagram to exploit children.
Continue reading...Do the people imprisoning kids like Liam Ramos have no children of their own? Do they have no decency, compassion or basic humanity?
Liam Conejo Ramos. We have all seen his picture, or by now we all should have seen the image of the adorable five-year-old in his bright blue hat, its floppy bunny ears so appropriate for a child whose middle name means “rabbit”. In the photo, he is wearing his Spider-Man backpack, which, like so many kids his age, he loves and is very proud of. And we know – or we should know – what happened to him.
On 20 January 2026, the pre-K student was seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on his way home from school in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. His family, which had emigrated from Ecuador in 2024, had applied for political asylum. No order of deportation had been issued against them, nor had any of them – obviously, not little Liam – been accused of a crime.
Francine Prose is a former president of the PEN American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
This article was amended on 2 February 2026. A previous version misspelled a name in the headline.
Continue reading...One resident said she was hit with rubber bullets while trying to get home. Others said they wore gas masks or slept in their bathtubs to escape the tear gas.
Rose wins Farmers Insurance Open with 72-hole record
Total of 265 pips Woods’s 1999 mark by one
Justin Rose became the first wire-to-wire winner at Torrey Pines in 71 years, starting with a six-shot lead and never letting anyone get any closer to him Sunday as he closed with a two-under 70 to win the Farmers Insurance Open.
Rose opened with a 62 on the North course and never let up, playing even better on the South course that has hosted two US Opens. He broke the 72-hole tournament record at 23-under, 265, one better than Tiger Woods in 1999. George Burns also shot 266 in 1987. “Sorry, T-dub, if you’re watching,” Rose said.
Continue reading...Defending NATO’s Eastern Flank: How Romania Is Responding to Russian Aggression and European Rearmament 9 February 2026 — 5:30PM TO 6:30PM Anonymous (not verified) Chatham House and Online
Oana Țoiu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, speaks at Chatham House on support for Ukraine, European security, and tackling the Russian threat.
Oana Țoiu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, speaks at Chatham House on support for Ukraine, European security, and tackling the Russian threat.
Romania’s geographical position places it at the heart of the effort to defend NATO’s eastern flank.
Amid Russian drone incursions near Romanian territory and intensified information warfare. As a frontline state bordering the war in Ukraine, Romania is acutely aware of the threat Russia poses to European stability. Ukrainian and Russian operations in the Black Sea have given Romania a unique vantage point on the future of naval warfare, while the relocation of NATO’s largest base to Romanian territory underscores the country’s strategic importance within the Alliance.
Oana Țoiu, Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, has repeatedly reaffirmed Romania’s commitment to supporting Ukraine and strengthening European security. She has highlighted Romania’s ongoing defence modernization, sustained investment in its armed forces. Her message aligns closely with NATO’s push to reinforce deterrence along its eastern perimeter and ensure member states remain coordinated and resilient.
But critical questions remain: Is Europe making meaningful progress on rearmament? And is it doing enough to deter an increasingly assertive, imperialist Russia—especially at a time when the United States appears less engaged in Europe’s security affairs?
How can Libya reconcile and reunify after 15 years of instability? 12 February 2026 — 12:00PM TO 1:00PM Anonymous (not verified) Chatham House and Online
HE Abdullah al-Lafi, Member of the Libyan Presidential Council—the three‑member body that serves as Libya’s head of state—will outline how international partners can support and engage with Libya to tackle the global challenges it faces.
HE Abdullah al-Lafi, vice-chairman of the Libyan Presidency Council—the three member body that serves as Libya’s head of state—will outline how international partners can support and engage with Libya to tackle the global challenges it faces.
Fifteen years after the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya remains in a state of ‘no war and no peace’. Governance is still contested, with rival administrations in western Libya (internationally recognised) and eastern Libya (unrecognised). The Presidency Council continues to act as the country’s collective head of state, while Libyans face a worsening economic climate marked by rising inflation and declining purchasing power.
The United Nations is working to help Libya hold elections and reunify its political institutions. Its efforts continue to focus on mediating between factions and supporting initiatives to repair the country’s fractured social fabric.
In this session, HE Abdullah al-Lafi will assess the current situation in Libya and outline the Presidency Council’s progress on national reconciliation. He will also discuss how international partners can best work with Libya on shared concerns—such as organised migration crime—and contribute to addressing the country’s ongoing political divisions.
With the Presidential Council facing a wide range of immediate challenges, can these issues wait for the formation of a new government?
Key questions to be discussed include:
Explore the Guardian’s tracker to see which operators are nationalised and if services are improving under public ownership
The majority of Great Britain’s major rail operators are now in public ownership, as the Labour government continues its efforts to make the railways “more reliable, affordable and accessible”.
The nationalisation of West Midlands Trains on 1 February represents the tenth major passenger service to be brought back into public ownership, leaving six to go before the government’s deadline of completing every operator by 2027.
Continue reading...The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a sharp warning that rocket launches could “significantly reduce safety” for airplanes, urging pilots to prepare for the possibility that “catastrophic failures” could create dangerous debris fields.
The official notice, known as a safety alert for operators, was dated Jan. 8, the same day that ProPublica published an investigation showing how pilots scrambled to avoid debris after two SpaceX Starship megarockets exploded over busy airspace last year. The alert was an acknowledgment that travelers were at risk on those days, when the FAA hastily activated no-fly zones to help air traffic controllers steer planes away from falling rocket parts.
In the last two decades, the agency has issued about 245 such safety alerts to the aviation community about issues ranging from runway threats to mechanical problems, but last month’s warning is the first to address the danger to airplanes when rockets launch or reenter Earth’s atmosphere, according to the FAA’s website.
SpaceX and other companies have ramped up launches in recent years. Starship, a version of which is supposed to one day land on the moon, has followed a flight path that soars over well-trafficked commercial airways in the Caribbean.
The FAA previously told ProPublica that it “limits the number of aircraft exposed to the hazards, making the likelihood of a catastrophic event extremely improbable.” It also said it takes steps to keep pilots informed and planes safe during launches, such as creating the emergency no-fly zones, known as debris response areas.
The January alert also pointed to those procedures.
“Past events have shown that when a mishap does occur, debris has fallen within or near the DRA, and pilots should exercise extreme caution near these areas,” the notice said.
But it warned that debris can fall in places where the FAA doesn’t enact no-fly zones, such as international airspace over oceans without radar coverage, saying pilots need to have “additional situational awareness” to avoid debris fields there.
Neither SpaceX nor the FAA has released data showing where debris fell after the Starship explosions last year.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Previously, the company has said that it learns from its mistakes and that each test improves Starship’s reliability. “SpaceX is committed to responsibly using airspace during launches and reentries, prioritizing public safety to protect people on the ground, at sea, and in the air,” it said on X in December.
Last year, the FAA granted SpaceX permission to launch Starship as many as 25 times a year from its base in Texas. But, after repeated setbacks, only five of the giant space vehicles lifted off in 2025.
In its warning, the FAA urged aircraft operators to “evaluate the impact of space launch and reentry operations on their planned flight routes and take appropriate precautionary measures.” Those should include ensuring they have enough fuel in case air traffic controllers put them in a holding pattern, the agency said. In its investigation, ProPublica found several airplanes began running low on fuel after the January 2025 Starship incident, with at least one declaring an emergency and crossing the no-fly zone to reach an airport.
The world’s largest pilots union told the FAA in October that such events call into question whether “a suitable process” is in place to respond to unexpected rocket mishaps. “There is high potential for debris striking an aircraft resulting in devastating loss of the aircraft, flight crew, and passengers,” wrote Steve Jangelis, a pilot and the group’s aviation safety chair.
The FAA adjusted its practices over the course of the failed launches last year but still allowed SpaceX to launch more Starship prototypes over the same airspace, adding stress to the already-taxed air traffic control system, ProPublica found. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that an air traffic controller needed to intervene to prevent a collision when at least two aircraft flew too close to each other after one of the explosions.
The FAA did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Airlines for America, a trade association for the leading U.S. airlines, said it is “committed to ensuring the safety of all flights especially amid the growing number of space launches.” The association said in a statement that airlines coordinate with both the federal government and commercial space companies to make sure the airspace stays safe.
Rep. Nellie Pou of New Jersey, a Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation panel, applauded the FAA for issuing the warning, saying the Trump administration “must protect American travelers from all threats, including space launches and reentry operations.”
“Perfect safety demands scrupulous and forward-looking attention to detail from our federal agencies and close coordination with operators,” Pou said. “I am heartened FAA is showing both here.”
ProPublica’s Jan. 8 story showed how airplanes had to maneuver quickly to clear wide swaths of airspace after SpaceX Starships blew up over the Caribbean in January and March last year.
Our analysis of flight tracking data found that in each incident, multiple planes were in the projected debris zones at the time of the explosions and that others likely had to change course to steer clear of falling debris. Pilots reported seeing flaming streaks far above the horizon.
Before the third Starship launch last year, in May, the agency settled on a more conservative approach, proactively closing more airspace ahead of time. That mission failed too, with the rocket’s booster exploding over the Gulf and its upper stage blowing up over the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX is now seeking FAA approval to add new trajectories as Starship strives to reach orbit. Under the plan, the rocket would fly over land in Florida and Mexico, as well as the airspace of Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, likely disrupting hundreds of flights.
The company says it’s committed to public safety as it ramps up its launch cadence, saying in a post on X that it “will continue to ensure maximum public safety while also working to integrate Starship more efficiently into the airspace.”
The post FAA Warns Airlines About Safety Risks From Rocket Launches, Urges “Extreme Caution” appeared first on ProPublica.
As health care costs skyrocket and federal lawmakers pull back help on ACA insurance premiums, more middle-income families are facing tough choices on health care.
Many Americans are expected to lose ACA or Medicaid coverage in the coming months and years, but doctors and researchers say there are still ways to find affordable care.
Washington and Caracas have moved quickly to open Venezuela’s oil sector to U.S. investment. Ordinary Venezuelans will wait longer to feel any benefit.
The Post spoke to four Kenyans who fought in Ukraine and relatives of nine other recruits, as a secret pipeline funnels young Africans to Russia’s military.
Myanmar’s military regime has tightened import restrictions, exacerbating the country’s economic crisis and sparking widespread hardship among the people.
Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware could become home to five new data centers that would bring a combined energy demand that nearly equals what the entire state uses today. New legislation in the Delaware statehouse aims to prevent the costs of a demand spike from being passed onto other energy consumers, though critics say they may also scare off the growing industry.
A bill that would require data centers companies to pay more for their electricity will likely come up for a vote in the full Delaware House of Representatives after it moved out of committee on Wednesday.
Sponsored by Rep. Frank Burns (D-Pike Creek), House Bill 233 comes in response to fears that a surge of energy-hungry data center projects could strain the power grid and raise residents’ bills.
The same day that the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee released Burns’ bill, the Senate’s energy committee debated another bill that would require data centers to obtain new permissions from electricity regulators — called certificates to operate.
The two bills follow a stalled attempt by New Castle County to regulate the burgeoning data center industry, which has grown rapidly in recent years as investors chase the expected riches of artificial intelligence.
Both bills also attempt to make data centers bear the cost of high energy demands, rather than residents.
If current development proposals move forward, Delaware could be home to five new data centers in the coming years that have a combined energy demand that could double the state’s entire electricity usage.
Critics fear that scenario would lead to increased energy bills across the state — both because of a limited supply of electrons, and because of the costs of the infrastructure needed to serve the demand.
“Gone are the days of the single project that could be expected to only impact a small discrete area,” State Sen. Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown) said during the Wednesday hearing of the Senate Environment, Energy and Transportation Committee.
Hansen is the sponsor of the Senate Bill 205, which would require big commercial energy consumers to obtain certificates to operate from state regulators. The certificates could include mandates that the companies pay for grid modernization or commit to providing additional energy generation.
Hansen said she does not yet have enough votes from the energy committee for the bill to be released to the full Senate.
In response, critics of the bills — including some lawmakers, business lobbyists and union representatives — have expressed fears that the legislation could prevent the growing data center industry from even coming to the state.
“We’re putting up another sign that says Delaware is not open for business. And when we continue to do this, then we hurt everybody,” Rep. Jeff Hilovsky (R-Long Neck/Oak Orchard) said about the House bill.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Senate Bill 205 received more criticism than positive feedback from committee members.
Senate Minority Whip Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) said he does not think the bill would prevent rising energy costs, since Delaware is part of the PJM grid and is impacted by a regional rise in energy demand.
He also said the bill could cause data center companies to instead invest in neighboring states with fewer regulations.
State Sen. Eric Buckson (R – Dover South) agreed, and asserted that multi-billion dollar companies will not want to invest in a state with rules that he believes could shut down data center project entirely.
“In my opinion, this becomes a de facto moratorium,” Buckson said.
Hansen said her bill is not meant to prevent data centers from coming to the state. Her bill does not appear to give the Public Service Commission the power to reject data center projects entirely, unless the companies do not follow the conditions laid out in the certificate.
Speaking in support of her bill on Wednesday was Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation President Kimberly Schlichting, who serves more than a half dozen cities and towns in Delaware, and representatives from the Delaware chapter of the Sierra Club. They said the legislation would provide protections against energy price increases for residents.
But representatives from local unions spoke against the bill, saying it would prevent new construction jobs from coming to the state.
During its committee hearing, House Bill 233 received similar criticism but bill sponsor Burns argued that Delaware has other incentives for data center companies, such as low taxes and access to a major transmission line.
At one point during the House committee, the question arose about whether Delmarva Power could simply prevent energy-hungry projects from connecting to the grid if they raised consumers’ electric bills. Rep. Rich Collins (R-Millsboro) said he would turn to an AI chatbot — powered by a data center — for the answer.
When he began to read its response to the committee, Rep. Krista Griffith (D-Fairfax) interrupted with a point of order. She stated that she is not comfortable with him using AI to answer the question when there were experts in the room.
Lisa Oberdorf with Delmarva Power then addressed the questions, stating the company does have an obligation to serve any users that want to connect to the grid.
Her answer contradicted the AI chatbot’s response.
The post Data center regulation bill advances in Delaware legislature appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Phoronix reports: Chris Mason, the longtime Linux kernel developer most known for being the creator of Btrfs, has been working on a Git repository with AI review prompts he has been working on for LLM-assisted code review of Linux kernel patches. This initiative has been happening for some weeks now while the latest work was posted today for comments... The Meta engineer has been investing a lot of effort into making this AI/LLM-assisted code review accurate and useful to upstream Linux kernel stakeholders. It's already shown positive results and with the current pace it looks like it could play a helpful part in Linux kernel code review moving forward. "I'm hoping to get some feedback on changes I pushed today that break the review up into individual tasks..." Mason wrote on the Linux kernel mailing list. "Using tasks allows us to break up large diffs into smaller chunks, and review each chunk individually. This ends up using fewer tokens a lot of the time, because we're not sending context back and forth for the entire diff with every turn. It also catches more bugs all around."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar won major Grammy awards on a night charged with political defiance, as musicians pushed back against Donald Trump’s deadly ICE crackdown. Billie Eilish, who took song of the year for Wildflower, used her speech to declare: 'No one is illegal on stolen land.' The best new artist award went to Olivia Dean, presented by last year’s winner Chappell Roan. 'I am up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant,' Dean said, drawing loud applause
Continue reading...‘I need to focus on getting better, on being with family and friends and making sure that I’m giving my health my best shot’, Afternoons host says
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Broadcaster and saxophonist James Valentine is retiring from the ABC after almost 40 years, due to cancer, ending 25 years of hosting Sydney’s Afternoons program on ABC Radio.
Valentine, 64, has been a fixture on the public broadcaster since he joined as host of the Afternoon Show for kids on ABC TV in 1987 after a decade of playing in bands including The Models.
Continue reading...Ahead of a major exhibition in London documenting the South American wetland as it faces unprecedented threat, Lalo de Almeida recounts the stories behind his award-winning images
Lalo de Almeida is a documentary photographer based in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2021 his photo essay Pantanal Ablaze was awarded first place in the environment stories category at the World Press Photo contest. In 2022, he won the Eugene Smith grant in humanistic photography and World Press Photo’s long-term project award for his work Amazonian Dystopia, which documents the exploitation of the world’s largest tropical forest.
I have been photographing socio-environmental issues for more than 30 years, especially in the Amazon. 2020 was no different. News of the uncontrolled fires devastating the Pantanal began to catch my attention. So, together with a fellow journalist, I decided to go and see what was happening for myself.
Continue reading...OpenClaw is billed as ‘the AI that actually does things’ and needs almost no input to potentially wreak havoc
A new viral AI personal assistant will handle your email inbox, trade away your entire stock portfolio and text your wife “good morning” and “goodnight” on your behalf.
OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot, and before that known as Clawdbot (until the AI firm Anthropic requested it rebrand due to similarities with its own product Claude), bills itself as “the AI that actually does things”: a personal assistant that takes instructions via messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Public outrage has reached fever pitch following the killing of US citizens. But, amid the focus on violence, another story of mutual aid and neighbourhood organising is unfolding
Good morning. The world’s attention has been fixed on Minneapolis for weeks now. The small midwestern US city has been under siege since Donald Trump’s administration launched its latest immigration crackdown in December.
Public outrage has reached fever pitch across the US after the killing of two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Though the White House has softened its rhetoric in relation to the killings, there is little indication of any meaningful shift in tactics on the ground.
Epstein files | Peter Mandelson says he has resigned his membership of the Labour party to avoid causing it “further embarrassment” after more revelations about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Iran | Donald Trump has said Iran is talking to the US, hinting at a deal that would avoid the use of military strikes.
Ukraine | A Russian drone attack on a bus carrying mine workers in Ukraine’s central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region has killed at least 12 people, officials said.
Cuba | The United States has said it will ensure there will be no more fuel shipments to the beleaguered island, “Cuba will be failing pretty soon,” Donald Trump said earlier in the week.
Grammy awards | Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar took home major Grammy awards during a night that saw musicians hit back at Donald Trump’s ICE occupation.
Continue reading...Seen two years later, a suppressed U.S cable warning of a “wasteland” in northern Gaza, as reported by Reuters, is a small footnote of history.
The president and his supporters joining forces to decide what audiences read and see seems straight from a fascism playbook
Two events, juxtaposed, tell us a great deal about what is rapidly taking shape in the US. In one, Melania Trump releases a glossy documentary, Melania, an account of her return to the White House. Amazon outbid others to secure the rights to the documentary, spending $75m (£54m) in total, and ticket sales so far suggest that this was, shall we say, not a purely commercial venture.
In the other, the Washington Post is set to cut up to 200 jobs early this month, including the majority of its foreign staff and a sizeable chunk of its newsroom. Both Melania and the Washington Post are backed by Jeff Bezos. His two decisions, to invest in state propaganda and divest from the fourth estate that supposedly holds power to account, reveal much about how capital and authoritarianism join forces to decide what audiences read and see.
Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...A bit like Reddit for artificial intelligence, Moltbook allows AI agents – bots built by humans – to post and interact with each other. People are allowed as observers only
On social media, people often accuse each other of being bots, but what happens when an entire social network is designed for AI agents to use?
Moltbook is a site where the AI agents – bots built by humans – can post and interact with each other. It is designed to look like Reddit, with subreddits on different topics and upvoting. On 2 February the platform stated it had more than 1.5m AI agents signed up to the service. Humans are allowed, but only as observers.
Continue reading..."Technology companies spent part of the 2010s trying to convince us that we would want an 8K display one day..." writes Ars Technica. "However, 8K never proved its necessity or practicality." LG Display is no longer making 8K LCD or OLED panels, FlatpanelsHD reported today... LG Electronics was the first and only company to sell 8K OLED TVs, starting with the 88-inch Z9 in 2019. In 2022, it lowered the price-of-entry for an 8K OLED TV by $7,000 by charging $13,000 for a 76.7-inch TV. FlatpanelsHD cited anonymous sources who said that LG Electronics would no longer restock the 2024 QNED99T, which is the last LCD 8K TV that it released. LG's 8K abandonment follows other brands distancing themselves from 8K. TCL, which released its last 8K TV in 2021, said in 2023 that it wasn't making more 8K TVs due to low demand. Sony discontinued its last 8K TVs in April and is unlikely to return to the market, as it plans to sell the majority ownership of its Bravia TVs to TCL. The tech industry tried to convince people that the 8K living room was coming soon. But since the 2010s, people have mostly adopted 4K. In September 2024, research firm Omdia reported that there were "nearly 1 billion 4K TVs currently in use." In comparison, 1.6 million 8K TVs had been sold since 2015, Paul Gray, Omdia's TV and video technology analyst, said, noting that 8K TV sales peaked in 2022. That helps explain why membership at the 8K Association, launched by stakeholders Samsung, TCL, Hisense, and panel maker AU Optronics in 2019, is dwindling. As of this writing, the group's membership page lists 16 companies, including just two TV manufacturers (Samsung and Panasonic). Membership no longer includes any major TV panel suppliers. At the end of 2022, the 8K Association had 33 members, per an archived version of the nonprofit's online membership page via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. "It wasn't hard to predict that 8K TVs wouldn't take off," the article concludes. "In addition to being too expensive for many households, there's been virtually zero native 8K content available to make investing in an 8K display worthwhile..."
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Woman, 22, thought to have suffered a cardiac arrest after being dragged along the snow and suspended mid-air
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An Australian woman has died after a ski lift accident in a Japanese resort after her backpack got caught and she was left hanging mid-air.
The 22-year-old snowboarder sustained critical injuries at the Tsugaike ski resort in Otari near Nagano on Friday.
Continue reading...Report covering 23 conflicts over last 18 months concludes more than 100,000 civilians have been killed as war crimes rage out of control
An authoritative survey of 23 armed conflicts over the last 18 months has concluded that international law seeking to limit the effects of war is at breaking point, with more than 100,000 civilians killed, while torture and rape are committed with near impunity.
The extensive study by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights describes the deaths of 18,592 children in Gaza, growing civilian casualties in Ukraine and an “epidemic” of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Continue reading...How to limit Hamas’s influence and ensure Israel’s compliance.
The latest military purge signals China’s leader is entering a new era.
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 2, No. 497.
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 2
Bad Bunny used his Grammy acceptance speech on Sunday to denounce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and call for the end of the ongoing immigration crackdown.
 | Just finished my first real ride on a 134V VESC build and I honestly wasn’t ready for how different it feels compared to stock boards. Torque, stability at speed, and the way it recovers from mistakes is on another level. Still learning the limits but it already feels like a whole new category of board. Full ride video here if anyone’s curious: [link] [comments] |
Trump announces two-year closure of Kennedy Center, citing construction needs – key US politics stories from 1 February 2026
Donald Trump, who remains embroiled in tensions surrounding ICE’s presence in Minnesota, as well as scrutiny over the justice department’s latest release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, has made another announcement on Sunday evening: the temporary closure of the John F Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Trump, who overhauled the center’s leadership at the start of his second term and renamed it to include his own name, described the center as “tired, broken, and dilapidated,” adding that it has been in “bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years”.
Continue reading...The EU "has switched on parts of its homegrown secure satellite communications network for the first time," reports Bloomberg, calling it part of a €10.6 billion push to "wean itself off US support amid growing tensions." SpaceNews notes the new government program GOVSATCOM pools capacity from eight already on-oribit satellites from France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Luxembourg — both national and commercial. And they cite this prediction by EU Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius. The program could expand by 2027. "All member states can now have access to sovereign satellite communications — military and government, secure and resilient, built in Europe, operated in Europe, and under European control," [Kubilius said during his opening remarks at the European Space Conference]... Beginning in 2029, GOVSATCOM is expected to integrate with the 290 satellites in the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite constellation, known as IRIS2, and be fully operational... "The goal is connectivity and security for all of Europe — guaranteed access for all member states and full European control."
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The Senate passed a deal on a package of spending bills late Friday, sending it to the House, though funding for dozens of government agencies lapsed until the House takes it up.
Bannon’s claim revealed in text messages in tranche of documents released by US authorities in connection with Jeffrey Epstein
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Australian billionaire Clive Palmer’s spokesman has denied claims by far-right political strategist Steve Bannon that he was behind Palmer’s controversial $60m advertising strategy at the 2019 federal election.
The text conversation purporting to be between Bannon and an unidentified person – who appears to be convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – was among a tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice in connection with Epstein.
Continue reading..."Most Go developers are now using AI-powered development tools when seeking information (e.g., learning how to use a module) or toiling (e.g., writing repetitive blocks of similar code)." That's one of the conclusions Google's Go team drew from September's big survey of 5,379 Go developers. But the survey also found that among Go developers using AI-powered tools, "their satisfaction with these tools is middling due, in part, to quality concerns." Our survey suggests bifurcated adoption — while a majority of respondents (53%) said they use such tools daily, there is also a large group (29%) who do not use these at all, or only used them a few times during the past month. We expected this to negatively correlate with age or development experience, but were unable to find strong evidence supporting this theory except for very new developers: respondents with less than one year of professional development experience (not specific to Go) did report more AI use than every other cohort, but this group only represented 2% of survey respondents. At this time, agentic use of AI-powered tools appears nascent among Go developers, with only 17% of respondents saying this is their primary way of using such tools, though a larger group (40%) are occasionally trying agentic modes of operation... We also asked about overall satisfaction with AI-powered development tools. A majority (55%) reported being satisfied, but this was heavily weighted towards the "Somewhat satisfied" category (42%) vs. the "Very satisfied" group (13%)... [D]eveloper sentiment towards them remains much softer than towards more established tooling (among Go developers, at least). What is driving this lower rate of satisfaction? In a word: quality. We asked respondents to tell us something good they've accomplished with these tools, as well as something that didn't work out well. A majority said that creating non-functional code was their primary problem with AI developer tools (53%), with 30% lamenting that even working code was of poor quality. The most frequently cited benefits, conversely, were generating unit tests, writing boilerplate code, enhanced autocompletion, refactoring, and documentation generation. These appear to be cases where code quality is perceived as less critical, tipping the balance in favor of letting AI take the first pass at a task. That said, respondents also told us the AI-generated code in these successful cases still required careful review (and often, corrections), as it can be buggy, insecure, or lack context... [One developer said reviewing AI-generated code was so mentally taxing that it "kills the productivity potential".] Of all the tasks we asked about, "Writing code" was the most bifurcated, with 66% of respondents already or hoping to soon use AI for this, while 1/4 of respondents didn't want AI involved at all. Open-ended responses suggest developers primarily use this for toilsome, repetitive code, and continue to have concerns about the quality of AI-generated code. Most respondents also said they "are not currently building AI-powered features into the Go software they work on (78%)," the surveyors report, "with 2/3 reporting that their software does not use AI functionality at all (66%)." This appears to be a decrease in production-related AI usage year-over-year; in 2024, 59% of respondents were not involved in AI feature work, while 39% indicated some level of involvement. That marks a shift of 14 points away from building AI-powered systems among survey respondents, and may reflect some natural pullback from the early hype around AI-powered applications: it's plausible that lots of folks tried to see what they could do with this technology during its initial rollout, with some proportion deciding against further exploration (at least at this time). Among respondents who are building AI- or LLM-powered functionality, the most common use case was to create summaries of existing content (45%). Overall, however, there was little difference between most uses, with between 28% — 33% of respondents adding AI functionality to support classification, generation, solution identification, chatbots, and software development.
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The measles cases at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center were detected Friday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CBS News.
DC arts venue, which has seen wave of canceled events after Trump’s takeover, will start renovations in July
The John F Kennedy Center, a world-class venue for the performing arts in Washington DC, will halt entertainment events for two years starting on 4 July during renovations, Donald Trump posted on Sunday on Truth Social.
The Kennedy Center, which has seen a wave of performers cancel events in recent months as well as the lowest ticket sales in years, has been in turmoil since the president orchestrated a leadership overhaul in the beginning of his term.
Continue reading...With big numbers for Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and more, check out the nominated artists this year
Bad Bunny – DtMF
Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
Doechii – Anxiety
Billie Eilish – Wildflower
Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
Kendrick Lamar with SZA – Luther
Chappell Roan – The Subway
Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.
NASA is working to take astronauts farther from Earth than any humans have ever gone, but the ambitious and costly moonshot has been plagued by delays.
Lawmakers are calling for an independent investigation into immigration enforcement tactics in Minnesota as members of the Trump administration face scrutiny over claims they've made.
More than 50 years after NASA's last human mission to the moon, four astronauts, three Americans and a Canadian, are set for the 10-day Artemis II mission to the far side of the moon.
Some of the biggest American comics have gotten their starts at Boom Chicago, an Amsterdam improv theater. Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Amber Ruffin and Jason Sudeikis have all cracked jokes there.
As NASA prepares for astronauts' first lunar fly-around in more than half a century, take a look back at 60 Minutes' Artemis coverage.
Artemis II echoes the Apollo-era missions that paved the way for the first moon landing — and sets the stage for what comes next.
Boom Chicago, a small improv theater in Amsterdam, launched as "the best stoner idea ever," and has been churning out big names in comedy for decades.
Seth Meyers said the Dutch improv theater Boom Chicago gave him and his comedy partner Jill Benjamin a "road map" to create a show that eventually got the attention of "Saturday Night Live."
USAFacts evaluates IRS tax data and offers independent, expert-informed recommendations to make tax statistics timelier, easier to access, and AI-ready.
Talks "are at a standstill" for Anthropic's potential $200 million contract with America's Defense Department, reports Reuters (citing several people familiar with the discussions.") The two issues? - Using AI to surveil Americans - Safeguards against deploying AI autonomously The company's position on how its AI tools can be used has intensified disagreements between it and the Trump administration, the details of which have not been previously reported... Anthropic said its AI is "extensively used for national security missions by the U.S. government and we are in productive discussions with the Department of War about ways to continue that work..." In an essay on his personal blog, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned this week that AI should support national defense "in all ways except those which would make us more like our autocratic adversaries. A person "familiar with the matter" told the Wall Street Journal this could lead to the cancellation of Anthropic's contract: Tensions with the administration began almost immediately after it was awarded, in part because Anthropic's terms and conditions dictate that Claude can't be used for any actions related to domestic surveillance. That limits how many law-enforcement agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation could deploy it, people familiar with the matter said. Anthropic's focus on safe applications of AI — and its objection to having its technology used in autonomous lethal operations — have continued to cause problems, they said. Amodei's essay calls for "courage, for enough people to buck the prevailing trends and stand on principle, even in the face of threats to their economic interests and personal safety..."
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Witnesses say protest outside ICE facility was peaceful until agents deployed teargas and rubber bullets around children
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, demanded US Immigration and Customs Enforcement leave his city after federal agents launched teargas at a crowd of demonstrators – including young children – outside an ICE facility during a weekend protest that he and others characterized as peaceful.
Witnesses said agents deployed teargas, pepper balls and rubber bullets as thousands of marchers arrived at the South Waterfront facility on Saturday. Erin Hoover Barnett, a former OregonLive reporter who joined the protest, said she was about 100 yards (91 metres) from the building when “what looked like two guys with rocket launchers” started dousing the crowd with gas.
Continue reading...Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez are both officers with Customs and Border Protection, ProPublica reports
Government documents have identified the two federal officers who fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis as Jesus Ochoa, a border patrol agent, and Raymundo Gutierrez, an officer with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), according to ProPublica.
According to those records, Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, were the agents who fired their weapons during the confrontation last weekend that resulted in Pretti’s death. The shooting sparked widespread demonstrations and renewed demands for criminal inquiries into federal immigration enforcement actions. Immediately following Pretti’s killing, the Trump administration repeatedly pushed false claims about the shooting.
Continue reading...The memo details a series of recommendations for Congressional committees to probe allegations of excessive force and violations by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
The Wall Street Journal says that Meta "might be reaping some of the richest benefits from the AI boom so far." Meta's revenue grew 22% year over year in 2025 to $201 billion, and the company expects even bigger gains in the current quarter, potentially as high as 34%. That is huge growth for a company that brought in nearly $60 billion in the latest three-month period. And Zuckerberg signaled that Meta was just scratching the surface of AI's potential. "Our world-class recommendation systems are already driving meaningful growth across our apps and ads business. But we think that the current systems are primitive compared to what will be possible soon," he said on a call with investors and analysts... [Meta's Chief Financial Officer Susan] Li said the company doubled the number of graphics-processing units that it used to train its ad-ranking model in the fourth quarter and adopted a new learning architecture. Those actions led users to click on ads on Facebook 3.5% more often and to a gain of more than 1% in conversions, meaning purchases, subscriptions or leads, on Instagram, she said. Other AI-related improvements led to a 3% increase in conversions across its family of apps. On the ad-buying side, Meta has also been working toward using AI to automate ad creation for businesses that want to advertise their products or services on Facebook and Instagram. On the call, Li said the combined revenue run rate of video-generation tools hit $10 billion in the fourth quarter. In short, CNBC reported, Meta's stock price surged over 10% this week "after showing signs that AI investments are boosting the bottom line." Benjamin Black, an internet analyst at Deutsche Bank, explained the connection to the Wall Street Journal. "The more compute the ad platform gets, the far better it performs, and that's a real structural advantage that Meta has. If you can see that yesterday's spend is driving this month's growth, then as a good business person, you're going to continue to feed the beast." CNBC says now Meta "plans to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion on its AI build-out this year. That's nearly double what it spent in 2025."
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About 150m faced cold weather advisories along eastern US, and two in North Carolina died in storm-related conditions
A bomb cyclone produced freezing temperatures across a large portion of the US from the Gulf coast to New England, bringing heavy snow to North Carolina where two were killed in storm-related conditions, and setting records in Florida, where officials warned of ice and falling iguanas.
About 150 million people were under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings in the eastern portion of the US, with wind chills near zero to single digits in the south and the coldest air mass seen in south Florida since December 1989, said Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the weather prediction center in College Park, Maryland.
Continue reading...  | I have an older OneWheel+XR, Hardware 4209, Firmware Gemini - 4165. I am the original owner. I left it charging for too long and believe the BMS fried. It doesn’t respond unplugged. When plugged in, the app shows 0% battery, although the battery icon looks full. When I plug it in the error 16 pops up. See attached pics. Will someone please inform me of where, if possible, I can get a replacement BMS for my hardware? Or, at this point, is it better to do a new battery refresh? Don’t necessarily want to spend a lot of money if can simply get a new, used, or refurbished bms for an affordable price and resolve the issue. I am years out of OneWheel knowledge and no longer informed of current technology and availability, so please explain to me like a 5 year old. Any and all help and recommendations are very much appreciated. Thank you in advance, Old OneWheeler trying to get my XR wheeling again. [link] [comments] |
Departure from party follows release of documents in US appearing to show Jeffrey Epstein sent former US ambassador $75,000
Peter Mandelson has said he has resigned his membership of the Labour party to avoid causing it “further embarrassment” after more revelations about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The peer, who was sacked as US ambassador last year because of his links to Epstein, featured in documents released by the US Department of Justice on Friday related to the convicted sex offender.
Continue reading...Children were among a crowd of "ICE out" protesters in Portland on Saturday, witnesses said.
A Russian attack on coal mining facilities in Ukraine Sunday killed at least 12 miners, according to DTEK, the country’s largest private energy company.
October saw Bitcoin reach $123,742. But less than four months later, "The world's largest cryptocurrency slipped below $76,000..." Bloomberg reports, "dropping about 40% from its 2025 peak..." "What began as a sharp crash in October has morphed into something more corrosive: a selloff shaped not by panic, but by absence of buyers, momentum and belief." Unlike the October drawdown, there's been no obvious spark, cascading liquidations or systemic shock — just fading demand, thinning liquidity, and a token that's untethered to broader markets. Bitcoin has failed to respond to geopolitical stress, dollar weakness, or risk rallies. Even during gold and silver's violent swings in recent weeks, crypto saw no rotation. Bitcoin fell nearly 11% in January, marking its fourth straight monthly decline — the longest losing streak since 2018, during the crash that followed the 2017 boom in initial coin offerings... Even more striking than the drop itself is the relative lack of optimism around it on social media. In a space known for relentless bravado and "number go up" memes, Bitcoin's slide has been met with little cheerleading or dip-buying fanfare... [Despite legislative wins and some institutional investments] Many investors say that optimism was front-run. Prices rallied early — and then stalled. Meanwhile, spot ETFs continue to bleed, a sign of weakening conviction among mainstream buyers — many of whom are now underwater after buying at higher prices. On Thursday, Bitcoin closed at 88,228. By Sunday it had plunged another 13%, to 76,790...
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Incident came after dispute over handshake line
Coach is considering legal action over incident
Tuskegee men’s basketball coach Benjy Taylor is considering legal action after being handcuffed and led off court at the end of his team’s loss to Morehouse College on Saturday.
Tuskegee athletic director Reginald Ruffin said Taylor had attempted to make sure protocols were followed when opposing Morehouse football players joining the basketball players in the postgame handshake line.
Continue reading...US president announces efforts being made to strike a deal having earlier threatened to stop island importing oil
Washington is negotiating with Havana’s leadership to strike a deal, Donald Trump has said, days after threatening Cuba’s reeling economy with a virtual oil blockade.
“Cuba is a failing nation. It has been for a long time but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up. So we’re talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday.
Continue reading...The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.
The records viewed by ProPublica list Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, as the shooters during the deadly encounter last weekend that left Pretti dead and ignited massive protests and calls for criminal investigations.
Both men were assigned to Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement dragnet launched in December that sent scores of armed and masked agents across the city.
CBP, which employs both men, has so far refused to release their names and has disclosed few other facts about the deadly incident, which came days after a different immigration agent shot and killed another Minneapolis protester, a 37-year-old mother of three named Renee Good.
Pretti’s killing, and the subsequent secrecy surrounding the agents involved, comes as the country confronts the consequences of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. The sweeps in cities across the country have been marked by scenes of violence, against immigrants and U.S. citizens, by agents allowed to hide their identities with masks — an almost unheard of practice in law enforcement. As a result, the public has been kept from one of the chief ways it has to hold officers involved in such altercations accountable: their identity.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called for a transparent investigation into the killing of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse working at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.
“We must have a transparent, independent investigation into the Minnesota shooting, and those responsible—no matter their title—must be held accountable,” Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah wrote on X on Monday.
The agency sent a notice to some members of Congress on Tuesday acknowledging that two agents fired Glock pistols during the altercation that left Pretti dead. That notice does not include the agents’ names. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, said the agents had been placed on leave after the Jan. 24 shooting. And after a week of protests and calls from lawmakers for a review, the Justice Department said Friday that its Civil Rights Division is investigating the shooting. A DOJ spokesperson did not answer questions, including whether DHS has shared materials, such as body-camera footage, with its investigators.
Ochoa is a Border Patrol agent who joined CBP in 2018. Gutierrez joined in 2014 and works for CBP’s Office of Field Operations. He is assigned to a special response team, which conducts high-risk operations like those of police SWAT units. Records show both men are from South Texas.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Gregory Bovino, who has orchestrated high-intensity immigration sweeps and arrests in a string of Democratic-led cities since early 2025, was removed from his role as Border Patrol commander at large and reassigned to his former post in El Centro, California.
A spokesperson for DHS declined to answer questions about the two agents and referred ProPublica to the FBI. The FBI declined to comment. ProPublica made several attempts to call Ochoa and Gutierrez but neither answered.
Ochoa, who goes by Jesse, graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American with a degree in criminal justice, according to his ex-wife, Angelica Ochoa. A longtime resident of the Rio Grande Valley, Ochoa had for years dreamed of working for the Border Patrol and finally landed a job there, she said. By the time the couple split in 2021, he had become a gun enthusiast with about 25 rifles, pistols and shotguns, Angelica Ochoa said.
DHS’ disclosure to Congress was drawn from an internal review of the agents’ body-camera footage, which has not been released to the public. State investigators, meanwhile, have accused their federal counterparts of blocking them from investigating the shooting.
“We don’t have any information on the shooters,” a Minneapolis city spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that his office also had “not been given the names, and we don’t have any new information on the investigation.”
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi Monday, accused the Justice Department of covering up evidence in both Pretti’s and Good’s killings.
“DOJ has also blocked prosecutors and agents from cooperating with state law enforcement officials and prevented state officials from accessing evidence,” the letter said.
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN on Sunday that immigration agents should not be masked.
“They should not be anonymous. They should be identifiable. And they have to have rules of engagement that don’t allow them to terrorize and intimidate, harass and assault U.S. citizens and other people,” he said.
The notice to Congress said that the shooting happened when Pretti resisted arrest after officers were unable to get him and a female protester out of the street.
The CBP officer “attempted to move the woman and Pretti out of the roadway. The woman and Pretti did not move,” the report reads. “CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody. Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued.”
According to the report, one agent then yelled “He’s got a gun!” multiple times, and two others “discharged” their Glock pistols.
In videos widely shared online, Pretti can be seen holding up a phone, documenting the movements of federal agents and officers as they roamed the streets of a popular food and arts district. According to news reports, Pretti was concerned about the increasingly volatile siege of the city by federal agents.
In the videos, a masked agent appears to knock a woman to the ground. Pretti comes to her aid, getting between them, at which point the officer deploys pepper spray at his face. Two agents then grab Pretti and pull him to the ground, while more federal personnel pile on. During the struggle, the agents unleash a series of shots — approximately 10 — as onlookers scream.
Pretti was armed at the time of the encounter with a legally owned handgun, according to state and federal officials. Some analyses of bystander video appear to show a federal agent taking Pretti’s gun from his hip before the first shots were fired. The agents’ masks and the chaos of the altercation make it difficult to differentiate one from another.
Those videos appear to contradict the claims by Bovino and other officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, that Pretti had come to attack agents.
“The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted,” Bovino said in a Jan. 25 news conference. “Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, a Border Patrol agent fired defensive shots.”
In the initial aftermath, Stephen Miller, a top Trump aide and a leading force behind the immigration enforcement operations, called Pretti “a would-be assassin.” But Miller changed tack later in the week when he said in a statement that CBP officers “may not have been following” protocol related to confronting bystanders.
Additional video has surfaced showing Pretti in another altercation with federal agents 11 days before he was killed. The video shows Pretti yelling at the agents, who get in an SUV and start to drive away. Pretti then kicks out the taillight of the vehicle and the agents, who wore protective masks, jump out and tackle him to the ground.
It is unclear if any of the same agents were involved in both incidents.
Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, said that many local and state police departments are “much more transparent” than CBP when officers shoot people. “More and more police departments are choosing to release bodycam footage or dashcam footage within a couple of days.”
Gil Kerlikowske, a former CBP commissioner, told ProPublica that it’s difficult to draw conclusions from the chaos in bystander videos. Still, he said, the shooting might have been prevented. Pretti’s attempt to help the woman knocked to the ground could have been seen as interfering with federal law enforcement, he said. But the decision by the officers to immediately use pepper spray created a chaotic scene that likely contributed to Pretti’s death.
“The other agent could have said ‘don’t interfere’ or ‘stand back,’” Kerlikowske said. “Rather than move immediately to pepper spray, you can arrest the person.” It’s part of a pattern, he said, of federal officers jumping straight to use of force in situations that could have been de-escalated but instead create danger for both agents and their targets.
Pretti’s death, and the federal government’s characterization of the event, sparked immediate protests, spurring thousands of people to go out into frigid conditions in Minneapolis and other American cities. The shooting has also drawn intense criticism from political leaders, including Walz, who has promised his state’s law enforcement will conduct its own criminal investigation.
The post Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting appeared first on ProPublica.
Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were released from ICE custody on Sunday, a day after a federal court ordered their release.
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 2 #967
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 2, No. 701.
PM says Europe must ‘step up’ and signals he wants to work more closely with other states to build military capability
The UK should consider re-entering talks for a defence pact with the EU, Keir Starmer has said, arguing that Europe needs to “step up and do more” to defend itself in uncertain times.
The prime minister signalled that he wanted to work more collaboratively with other European countries to increase defence spending and build up military capability, and doing so through the EU’s scheme is one option available.
Continue reading...LaFleur was in charge of Rams’ red-hot offense
Cardinals last reached playoffs in 2021 season
The Arizona Cardinals hired Mike LaFleur as head coach on Sunday, turning to a division rival’s offensive coordinator to try to pull the franchise from the bottom of the NFC West. The Cardinals’ announcement brought an end to a nearly four-week hiring process.
The 38-year-old Los Angeles Rams assistant replaces Jonathan Gannon, who was fired in January after compiling a 15-36 record over three seasons, including 3-14 last year. LaFleur – who is the younger brother of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur – has been the Rams’ offensive coordinator for the past three seasons.
Continue reading...Walmart, the world's largest retailer, will be adding spaces for electric vehicle charging to parking lots in 19 different states, reports MLive: The move follows up on a plan announced in 2023 to build a network of charging stations at Walmart and Sam's Club stores throughout the U.S... "With a store or club located within 10 miles of approximately 90% of Americans, we are uniquely positioned to deliver a convenient charging option that will help make EV ownership possible whether people live in rural, suburban or urban areas," wrote Walmart Senior Vice President of Energy Transformation, Vishal Kapadia in 2023. Walmart plans to have the nationwide network operating by 2030. Walmart plans to have the nationwide network operating by 2030. Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Geoffrey.landis for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
If the countdown and fueling test go well, four astronauts will set their sights on a Super Bowl Sunday launch to the moon.
The following is the full transcript of the interview with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, a portion of which aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Feb. 1, 2026.
On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and Rep. Michael McCaul join Margaret Brennan.
Commentary: This off-kilter cooking show is a fun binge if you like things seasoned with a heaping helping of chaos, comedy and charm.
Genie 3 lets you generate a video game-like world in seconds with only a text prompt.
Funds, paid to former security guard Matthew Ammel, were from former US senator’s campaign committee in October
A man identified in court filings as having an affair with former senator Kyrsten Sinema received almost $9,000 from Sinema’s former campaign committee in October, according to newly filed documents. The filings come just weeks after the man’s estranged wife accused Sinema of wrecking their marriage.
According to a report from Notus, which cites a newly filed Federal Election Commission (FEC) document, the recipient was Matthew J Ammel, who worked as a security guard for Sinema. He was paid $1,815.91 on 15 October and $7,136.14 on 31 October in payments listed as “payroll”, according to a filing submitted on Saturday by Sinema for Arizona.
Continue reading...Hello all- Question. Is a 150lb. rider able to enjoy the full range of a GT safely if ridden in moderation? Just trying to avoid nosedives. What range can be expected on asphalt?
Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland writes: Just months after his 20th birthday, Bill Gates had already angered the programmer community," remembers this 50th-anniversary commemoration of Gates' Open Letter to Hobbyists. "As the first home computers began appearing in the 1970s, the world faced a question: Would its software be free?" Gates railed in 1976 that "Most of you steal your software." Gates had coded the BASIC interpreter for Altair's first home computer with Paul Allen and Monte Davidoff — only to see it pirated by Steve Wozniak's friends at the Homebrew Computing Club. Expecting royalties, a none-too-happy Gates issued his letter in the club's newsletter (as well as Altair's own publication), complaining "I would appreciate letters from any one who wants to pay up." But freedom-loving coders had other ideas. When Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs released their Apple 1 home computer that summer, they stressed that "our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free or at minimal cost..." And early open-source hackers began writing their own free Tiny Basic interpreters to create a free alternative to the Gates/Micro-Soft code. This led to the first occurrence of the phrase "Copyleft" in October of 1976. Open Source definition author Bruce Perens shares his thoughts today. "When I left Pixar in 2000, I stopped in Steve Job's office — which for some reason was right across the hall from mine... " Perens remembered. "I asked Steve: 'You still don't believe in this Linux stuff, do you...?'" And Perens remembers how that movement finally won over Steve Jobs and carried the day. "Three years later, Steve stood onstage in front of a slide that said 'Open Source: We Think It's Great!' as he introduced the Safari browser, which at that time was based on the browser engine developed by the KDE Open Source project!"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Melania, however, cost quite more than a typical documentary, at $40m to make and $35m to promote.
Amazon’s Melania Trump documentary has reportedly beaten box office expectations and recorded the strongest start of any documentary in over a decade, taking $7m at the US box office during its lavishly-promoted opening weekend. But it also cost quite more than a typical documentary, at $40m to make and $35m to promote.
And Amazon – which recently cut 16,000 corporate jobs – has been hit with criticism that making the documentary about the first lady, and paying so highly for it, was little more than a ploy to curry favor with her husband, Donald Trump, during his second presidency.
Continue reading...Boy and his father back in Minneapolis after being detained by ICE and held in immigration facility for more than a week
A five-year-old boy and his father were back in Minneapolis on Sunday after being released from a Texas immigration detention center where they were held for more than a week, according to US House representative Joaquin Castro.
“Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack. Thank you to everyone who demanded freedom for Liam,” Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, said in a post on X. “We won’t stop until all children and families are home.”
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For the latest, you can read our Epstein coverage here.
We can bring you more from the interview with housing secretary Steve Reed on Sky News’ Trevor Phillips programme this morning (see this post for what Reed said about Peter Mandelson in the same interview).
When asked if the British government would comply with an extradition request from the US if there was a charge brought against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Reed said he could not answer that question as it was an “entirely hypothetical” one.
Continue reading...Patients missing out on effective new radiotherapies widely used in other countries, health secretary told
Cancer patients are being denied access to cutting-edge treatments on the NHS because of a “deadly postcode lottery” in access, doctors have warned.
Patients in England are missing out on two innovative forms of radiotherapy that are known to be effective against several forms of the disease and are widely available in other countries, due to “red tape” and lack of funding.
Continue reading...Deputy US attorney general says victims ‘want to be made whole’ but that doesn’t mean ‘we can just create evidence’
The deputy US attorney general, Todd Blanche, the point person on the Trump administration’s Epstein files release, told ABC News on Sunday that prosecutors’ review of the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking case “is over”.
Separately, in comments to CNN about Epstein, Blanche said that “victims want to be made whole” after surviving the scheme attributed to the late convicted sex offender and which led to a 20-year prison sentence for Maxwell beginning in 2022.
Continue reading...Gary Cohn, IBM vice chairman, said President Trump's nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is "very highly qualified" and will "take the Fed back to its traditional" norms.
Getting the right amounts of vitamins and nutrients is essential throughout all stages of life, but it can get more difficult as you age. Here are the best multivitamins to support your health in 2026.
Mette-Marit apologises for ‘poor judgment’ as documents reportedly include scores of email exchanges with child sex offender
Norway’s crown princess has become embroiled in another scandal after newly unsealed files appeared to show her years of extensive contact with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The latest tranche of Epstein files, released on Friday by the US justice department, appear to include nearly 1,000 mentions of the crown princess, Mette-Marit.
Continue reading...Promoted by President Trump as "a must watch," the Melania Trump documentary "Melania" debuted with $7 million in ticket sales, according to estimates Sunday.
Families allege Bright Horizons brushed concerns aside allowing Vincent Chan to commit dozens of offences
Families of victims of a paedophile are taking legal action against a north London nursery where their children were abused, as they allege a “consistent culture of brushing concerns aside”.
Vincent Chan, 45, is facing prison for molesting girls aged between two and four while working at the now-closed Bright Horizons nursery in Finchley Road, West Hampstead.
Continue reading...The following is the transcript of the interview with Gary Cohn, IBM vice chairman and former director of the U.S. National Economic Council, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Feb. 1, 2026.
Wilson found fame in the seminal 1970s sitcom and then went on to become a minister in the 1980s
Demond Wilson, who found fame in the 1970s playing Lamont on Sanford and Son and went on to become a minister, has died. He was 79.
Mark Goldman, a publicist for Wilson, confirmed to the Associated Press that he died following complications from cancer on Friday.
Continue reading...Speaker Mike Johnson is ‘convinced’ the impasse over homeland security funding will be resolved by Tuesday
The ongoing partial US government shutdown is expected to continue into early next week, with no reopening likely before Tuesday, if what federal officials on both sides of the country’s political aisle are saying is any indication.
House Democrats have so far said they are refusing to guarantee the votes needed to speed passage of a funding measure that would restore government operations.
Continue reading...Even after a 12-day war with Israel, Iran retains the arsenal to hit U.S. allies and bases. U.S. strikes would lead to “regional war,” Iran’s supreme leader said.
The right fitness app should fit your schedule, workout preference and lifestyle. Here are the top options to consider.
Vineyard Wind (powering Massachusetts) is one of five offshore wind projects "that the Trump administration tried to hold up in December," reports The Hill. This week it became the fourth of those wind projects allowed by a judge to resume construction, the article notes, while even the fifth project "is still awaiting court proceedings." Federal Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration's stop work order against Vineyard Wind... According to its website, when complete, Vineyard Wind would be able generate enough power for 400,000 homes and businesses. The project already has 44 operational wind turbines and was working on an additional 18. The Trump pause applied to the construction work that was not yet complete.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bovino allegedly denied promoting two border patrol officials because of their race, according to several reports
Recently demoted border patrol official Gregory Bovino, who served as the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in several US cities, was compared to a Confederate general in an email sent to him by a colleague in 2018, according to multiple reports.
A border patrol agent who was later promoted to a senior role in New Orleans sent the email in question as well as a number of Confederacy-related images after Bovino canceled a job listing and installed that same agent – a white officer – in the listed role by bypassing the agency’s standard career-advancement process.
Continue reading...Three bishops accuse British government of contributing to ‘culture of impunity’ in the occupied territory
Three prominent Church of England bishops have accused the UK government of contributing to a “culture of impunity” in which Israel has accelerated its de facto annexation of the West Bank.
Guli Francis-Dehqani, the bishop of Chelmsford, Rachel Treweek, the bishop of Gloucester, and Graham Usher, the bishop of Norwich, visited Palestinian Christian communities in the occupied West Bank last week.
Continue reading...The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Feb. 1, 2026.
After stories revealed high levels of contamination in neighborhood around factory processing US toxic waste, government announces sweeping array of tactics
The Mexican government has announced it will pursue a sweeping array of tactics to combat industrial pollution, from $4.8m in fines against a plant processing US hazardous waste to the rollout of a new industrial air-monitoring system, following investigations by the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab, a Mexican investigative unit.
Those stories revealed high levels of heavy-metal contamination in the neighborhood around the factory, Zinc Nacional, in the Monterrey metropolitan area, and showed the broader extent of industrial pollution in the region, linked to Monterrey’s role in manufacturing and recycling goods for the US market.
Continue reading...Employees of Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, were travelling about 40 miles from frontline, says police
A Russian drone attack on a bus carrying mine workers in Ukraine’s central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region has killed at least 12 people, officials said.
The bus was driving about 40 miles (65km) from the frontline, according to police. Images published by Ukraine’s state emergency service showed what appeared to be an empty bus, its side windows shattered and windscreen hanging from the front.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dr Susan Gilby, who won £1.4m bullying payout, says whistleblower protections must be strengthened
Patients are being put at risk by NHS bosses launching “sham investigations” into whistleblowers to shut down concerns, a former hospital chief executive who won a £1.4m bullying claim has said.
Dr Susan Gilby took over as chief executive at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2018 after it was rocked by the Lucy Letby case. She was awarded the payout – one of the biggest in NHS history – last month after a tribunal ruled she had been unfairly dismissed after raising concerns about alleged bullying and harassment by the chair of the hospital board.
Continue reading...Some users are stepping away from the app after it made a deal to create a US entity and updated terms and conditions
Many TikTok users across the US say they’re rethinking their relationship with the platform since its ownership and terms and conditions have recently changed, with some citing censorship and lack of trust as reasons why they’re removing themselves from the app.
Keara Sullivan, a 26-year-old comedian, says TikTok jumpstarted her career and provided a pathway to getting a manager and a literary agent.
Continue reading...Prioritize your mental health this year with these convenient apps offering therapy, meditation and wellness support.
Here are some highly rated films to watch, plus a list of new additions to the streamer in February.
I've reviewed hundreds of projectors. Here are the best portable projectors I've tested from Anker, TCL and more.
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.
Delaware’s legislative session will kick into full gear next week when lawmakers begin holding hearings to negotiate the following year’s budget. The hearings of the Joint Finance Committee will occur about a week after Gov. Matt Meyer introduced his $6.9 billion proposed operating budget.
In his budget address, Meyer said he will overcome an estimated half-billion-dollar deficit through a series of cuts, which will also free up an additional $42 million that he will put toward teacher and state employee raises, affordable housing incentives, and Medicaid, among other items.
The Joint Finance Committee hearings 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 a statewide financial overview, before testimony begins from the Office of Management and Budget, the Departments of Human Resources, and the Department of Finance.
Wednesday will include testimony from the departments of Technology and Information, Labor, and State.
Thursday will feature testimony from the state’s higher education institutions – Delaware Technical Community College, Delaware State University, and the University of Delaware.
Testimony from the remaining state offices and agencies will occur in later weeks.
📍 The Joint Finance Committee will meet 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.
Gov. Matt Meyer’s economic development office on Monday will hear proposals for taxpayer grants to two businesses, including a $1.4 million award to the Delmar Business Center, LLC, a business entity created last year.
Shortly after it formed, the company submitted concept plans to the town of Delmar to build a business park described in planning documents as containing warehouse space alongside potentially storefronts, among other uses.
The proposed grant for the development comes a month after Meyer told attendees at Spotlight Delaware’s Legislative Summit that, through state economic development, he “wants to help promising startups become truly investment-ready.”
“We want good ideas to create jobs and to scale faster than anywhere else in the country,” Meyer said.
His comments came after his administration last year signed off on one of the largest taxpayer-backed incentives in state history:a $30 million grant to biopharmaceutical giant Merck to build a $1 billion campus near Wilmington.
📍 The Delaware Council on Development Finance will meet at 10 a.m. Monday at the Delaware Public Archives offices, located 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Dover. Click here for additional details, including information about attending virtually.
The question of when – and whether – the Port of Wilmington will expand through the construction of a new container terminal in Edgemoor continues to linger on the minds of many state officials.
To do so, the Diamond State Port Corporation – the state entity that oversees the Port of Wilmington – needs to reacquire dredging permits that a federal judge invalidated in 2024, following a legal challenge from the owners of the Port of Philadelphia.
Over the past six months, port officials have repeatedly stated publicly that they are making progress in their new application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the permits. Still no announcements have been made about them being successfully secured.
Those officials will meet publicly again on Monday. On the agenda for the meeting is an update about the Port of Wilmington’s plans to expand in Edgemoor. Also on the agenda is a presentation from the port’s private operator, Enstructure, which on Wednesday announced Eryn Dinyovszky as the new president for its Mid-Atlantic operations including the Port of Wilmington.
Her predecessor, Bayard Hogans, quietly left Enstructure last summer. At the time, the company declined to disclose the reason for his departure.
📍The board of the Diamond State Port Corporation will meet at noon on Monday at the state’s Buena Vista property, located at 661 S. DuPont Highway near New Castle. Click here for additional details, including information about attending virtually.
Before housing or commercial developments are brought before local governments, they are presented to a committee of state officials who provide feedback about potential impacts on transportation and on the environment.
A handful of plans will be presented to the committee on Wednesday, including a proposal to build 245 homes in the small western Sussex County town of Laurel, and another to expand residential development at Fort DuPont, a former military facility that operated from the Civil War to World War II.
📍Members of the Preliminary Land Use Service committee will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Haslet Armory in Dover, located at 122 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Click here for additional details, including information about attending virtually.
In November, a fiery debate on the New Castle County Council over data center regulations ended with Councilman Timothy Sheldon flipping off Councilman Kevin Caneco.
Two months later, the Council sat for a regular, public “ethics training” meeting. During the meeting, Caneco asked about the ethics of a developer who has a land-use plan before the Council contributing to a political campaign of one of the members.
Johanna Bishop, who serves on the county’s ethics commission and put on the training session, said she did not believe that to be ethical.
Following the comments, several council members pushed back, with arguments centering around their assertions that an individual’s $600 check to a candidate is unlikely to sway a policy decision.
Caneco responded, first by asserting that there are council members “that will take every developer check they can to run a campaign.” He said that constituted “a public trust integrity issue” that other municipalities around the country have regulated.
His remarks then turned personal when he referenced earlier comments from one councilmember and said “you can’t even file your campaign finances correctly.”
Several councilmembers then interjected, with some calling Caneco’s comments out of order.
Last week, Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick introduced a resolution that apologizes “to the public for conduct unbecoming a council.”
The New Castle County Council’s finance committee will discuss the resolution on Tuesday evening. Later in the evening, the full council will discuss it again.
Also listed on Tuesday’s full council meeting is the ordinance to impose data center regulations, which have been the subject of months of debate. But the sponsor of the ordinance, Councilman Dave Carter, said he will keep the proposal “tabled” on Tuesday and bring it back at a later date.
📍 The New Castle County Council’s finance committee will meet at 5 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. The full Council will meet again at 6:30 Tuesday at the same location. For more information, click here.
Eastern Sussex County’s booming building trend continues this week when the County Council considers an ordinance to change the zoning for a 183-acre piece of land from agricultural to residential.
The change would make way for the development of 352 homes along the Delaware-Maryland state line near Selbyville, just northwest of the farthest reaches of the inland bay that sits next to Ocean City.
If approved, the subdivision would be among dozens of others planned for Southern Delaware, which has been the fastest growing part of the state for more than a decade.
📍 The Sussex County Council will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday for its weekly meeting to discuss a range of topics, including Selbyville zoning change. The meeting will take place at the Sussex County Administrative Office Building, located at 2 The Circle in Georgetown. Information about virtual attendance can be found at the bottom of the meeting agenda document here.
The post Get Involved: Budget hearings, port updates, and a county apology? appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
These across-the-board raises to all employees versus individual performance-based raises are simply lazy
Looking forward to a raise in 2026? You may be getting “peanut butter”.
A new report from compensation software and data provider Payscale predicts that in 2026, many employers will be giving “peanut butter raises” to their employees – increases given “across the board” as opposed to being calculated individually based on performance or merit. They’re spread evenly, like peanut butter on a slice of bread.
Continue reading...
It’s darkly fitting that “Melania,” the new $75 million snoozefest from Amazon about America’s first lady, was released in theaters the same day her husband’s Justice Department dropped 3 million pages of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. As we now know, Epstein and Donald Trump were bosom buddies for years, and the grim specter of that relationship hangs over “Melania.”
The movie’s director is Brett Ratner, who six women accused of sexual assault or harassment in 2017, including one alleged victim who was 19 at the time. Ratner has been biding his time in Israel, where he has reportedly become friendly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In what one would hope is enough to undo Amazon’s $35 million “Melania” marketing budget, Ratner is also in the new batch of Epstein files: There are photos of him and Epstein embracing two women whose identities are redacted. An earlier Epstein document dump included a photo where Ratner hugs the shirtless torso of Jean-Luc Brunel, the French modeling agent and Epstein associate who died in prison facing multiple charges of rape and sexual assault, including of a minor under the age of 15.
It’s hard not to watch “Melania” with all that context top of mind. It’s a big, nasty club, and we’re not in it, thankfully.
This film opens by putting too fine a point on all of it. The camera pans expansively over the ocean and the beach before arriving at Mar-a-Lago and Melania Trump’s red-bottomed heels. She boards a motorcade to travel to New York City, and the chorus of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” plays: “Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away.” (That song was famously used to great effect in Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” and “Goodfellas,” films in which criminal psychopaths meet their demise after stealing and assaulting everyone in sight in service of personal enrichment and their depraved sense of morality.)
What follows is an hour and 44-minute-long lifestyle infomercial about a public figure with all the charisma and intrigue of eggshell-white paint drying. (We are reminded multiple times throughout the movie, as a tie-in with its marketing campaign, that the first lady loves the colors black and white, which are also the colors of Regal Cinemas’ novelty popcorn bucket for its release.)
Melania is seen trying on a multitude of outfits ahead of her husband’s second inauguration, with festivities that include no fewer than three different balls, along with a ghoul-studded candlelight dinner. At that fete, the president’s table is a who’s who of his donors and scions of industry: There are three separate shots of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez. Bezos sits next to Miriam Adelson, the arch-conservative megadonor, and Trump cheerleader Elon Musk is there, too, caught on video as a brunette swoops in to sit on his lap. (For his part, Musk is also in the latest tranche of Epstein emails, asking the sex trafficker in November 2012, “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?”) Mark Zuckerberg, whose company, Meta, donated $1 million to the president’s inauguration fund, doesn’t appear until the inauguration luncheon, but he still shows up.
Melania glides over it all, her unlined face impassive and unaffected, which creates a genuinely disquieting effect. Rather than an intimate portrait of a misunderstood woman — tellingly, the tagline for the movie is simply “A new film,” which is about as much as you can truthfully say about it — we’re treated to platitude after platitude in voiceover narration by the first lady.
Melania admits she’s a fan of AI; The audiobook of her memoir, also called “Melania,” is read by an AI replica of her voice. Most of her lukewarm observations feel like they could be AI-generated as well. Among them are statements so generic they achieve utter meaninglessness: “I felt the weight of history,” “Freedom is not free,” and “I honor the importance of the White House.” Describing the coat she wore for the inauguration, she states: “I want to feel like it’s a coat.” “Melania” is a stunning document, if only for its ability to say so little despite what we’re informed is unprecedented access.
“Melania” is a stunning document, if only for its ability to say so little despite what we’re informed is unprecedented access.
“Everyone wants to know” what it’s like becoming first lady again, Melania says early on in the movie. But if early ticket sales are any indication against its massively bloated budget, she has a generous definition of “everyone.” I saw the movie on opening night at Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, admittedly far from MAGA America, with a mere nine strangers. Other than a few “ooohs” from my seatmate when Melania tried on a new dress, only the appearance of her husband got any reaction from the assembled faithful, who laughed easily whenever Trump said anything. The biggest laugh came from shots of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris waiting out of public view before the inauguration, where Harris’s face is furrowed in disbelief, and of the mad dash to move out anything the Bidens might have touched before the Trumps arrive back at the White House.
The first time Melania and Trump are onscreen together, he greets her as she disembarks from a private jet emblazoned with TRUMP in all-capital letters. It appears that they’re going to shake hands before ultimately pivoting to an embrace. Their warmth is captured elsewhere, like when Trump calls his wife to tell her the final Electoral College totals that usher him into the White House once again. “That’s a good one,” Melania says without mirth. “Bye, congrats.”
All other efforts to humanize Melania fall similarly flat. You can practically see the boxes being checked off as they’re fulfilled on screen. She is a mother who bizarrely praises Barron Trump’s “composure” and calls him “very confident” as the song “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” plays. (On the campaign trail in 2016, Donald Trump memorably referred to Barron as “her son.”)
“Being hand in hand with my husband in this moment is very emotional,” she tells us in voiceover. “Nobody has endured what he has over the past few years. People tried to murder him, incarcerate him, slander him, and here he is. I’m so very proud.”
The lack of self-awareness is positively nauseating, and this feeling is only moderated slightly by the sheer tediousness of approving table designs, invitations, and other window-dressing.
Melania also cares deeply about “the children.” (It is perhaps worth noting that she began her modeling career at 16.) On a video call with French first lady Brigitte Macron where she talks about her “Be Best” anti-bullying initiative, she makes the note “no phones till 11,” a Macron recommendation, on a “Be Best”-branded notepad (Bezos for some reason is also seen on screen as part of the call, which goes unremarked upon.) While watching news coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires, a vaguely misty-eyed Melania says in voiceover, “I think about the families, the children who have lost everything.” Crucially, this sympathy does not seem to extend to children killed by her husband’s bombs in Gaza.
Melania at one point meets with an Israeli woman, Aviva Siegel, who was captured on October 7 and held hostage by Hamas. She was initially freed but forced to leave her husband, Keith, behind. (He was released on February 1, 2025, as part of the ceasefire deal.) “I would pray that he doesn’t suffer,” Melania tells her, with all the sympathy of a woman eyeing a damaged piece of produce. “I will always use my influence and power to fight for those in need,” she sums up the experience in voiceover.
But Ratner goes to great lengths to convince us that Melania is also fun, even a little goofy. This does not work in the slightest. At a victory event with Trump supporters at the D.C. Capital One Arena, Melania is seen dancing ever-so-slightly to the Trump campaign mainstay “YMCA,” but only as she leaves the stage; Trump does not join in. From behind sunglasses in a black SUV, Melania tells us, somewhat concerningly, that Michael Jackson is her favorite musician, and that she and Donald met him in New York. “Billie Jean” plays on the car’s sound system, and Melania lightly sings along, including to the line, “Be careful of who you love,” but any deeper meaning is lost on all parties involved.
Moments like these have led some to fall for the gag, and even to suggest that Ratner is making a slyly anti-Trump movie, which couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s a sycophant to his core, after Melania and Trump finally return to the White House after a great many parties, Ratner coos from off-camera: “Sweet dreams, Mr. President.”
(As a reward for his obsequiousness, Ratner is slated to direct “Rush Hour 4,” the buddy-cop series that’s reportedly being revived after Trump personally leaned on Larry Ellison, a Trump supporter and media mogul who now owns Paramount, which is set to distribute the film.)
As the movie mercifully draws to a close, Melania once again returns to the children, who are our future. “With the celebrations behind us, the first day of my husband’s second term has arrived. There is much to accomplish in the next four years,” she says like a threat. “Children will always remain my priority. … I will move forward with purpose and, of course, with style.”
Moving forward, of course, means a regime of mass deportation and the trampling of our civil rights, all right in front of our faces. Her husband has ushered in an era where the unencumbered American id rules, one in which avarice, flagrant corruption, and clear bribery are the animating forces of a nation and a people. In that sense, the vacuousness of “Melania” perfectly captures the meaner, more selfish world we live in now. After all, it’s always been about Trump — not us, and certainly not Melania — despite any $75 million effort to convince us otherwise.
The post “Melania” Is as Vacuous as Its Subject appeared first on The Intercept.
Democrats call the upset a warning sign for the GOP, saying Rehmet's victory shows voters are rejecting Republican policies even in longtime strongholds.
Recreating cosmic dust may help answer questions about how meteorites hitting Earth came to contain organic matter
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How does one acquire star dust? One option, as the Perry Como song suggests, is to catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, so to speak.
Thousands of tonnes of cosmic dust bombard the Earth each year, mostly vaporising in the atmosphere. The asteroid and comet fragments that do not burn up – known as meteorites and micrometeorites if they hit Earth – provide scientists with valuable clues about the cosmos.
Continue reading...Officials say Gaza residents travelling on foot only will be allowed through border point, which was shut in May 2024
Gaza’s main border crossing in Rafah will reopen for Palestinians on Monday, Israel has said, with preparations under way at the war-ravaged territory’s gateway, which has been mostly closed for almost two years.
Before the war, the Rafah crossing with Egypt was the only direct exit point for most Palestinians in Gaza to reach the outside world as well as a key entry point for aid. It has been largely shut since May 2024.
Continue reading...About 20 countries including G7 states in talks on rare earths including calls for US to guarantee minimum price
Ministers from the US, EU, UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will meet in Washington this week to discuss a strategic alliance over critical minerals.
The summit is being seen as a step to repair transatlantic ties fractured by a year of conflict with Donald Trump and pave the way for other alliances to help countries de-risk from China, including one centred on steel.
Continue reading...It’s time once again for HPC Career Notes, our monthly feature that’s designed to keep you up-to-date on the latest career developments for individuals in the HPC community, including promotion, new company hires, and accolade. Check in each month for an updated list and you may even come across someone you know, or better yet, yourself!
Eric Demers
Intel turned some heads recently with the hiring of Eric Demers as a senior vice president. Demers, who was the father of the Radeon and Adreno GPUs at ATI (acquired by AMD in 2009), brings an immediate upgrade to Intel’s GPU fortunes.
Intel has been late to the data center accelerator game, which is currently dominated by GPUs from Nvidia, with GPUs from AMD occupying a distant second place. The rollout of the company’s line of Gaudi AI accelerators has been erratic, with the Falcon Shores chip canceled in favor of Jaguar Shores, which will use 18A process node and HBM4E memory and is currently slated to launch in late 2026 or early 2027.
Demers comes to Intel by way of Qualcomm, which he joined in 2012 and left as senior vice president of engineering. As Intel’s new senior VP for GPUs, Demers will be tasked with charting the legendary chipmaker’s AI accelerator strategy.
“Over the last few months, I’ve talked and met with [Intel CEO] Lip-Bu Tan several times,” Demers wrote in a LinkedIn post. “I find myself like I was 14 years ago, excited for a new adventure!”
IonQ, a provider of trapped ion quantum computing solutions, has promoted Katie Arrington to the position of chief information officer. Arrington, who previously worked in the Department of Defense and was served two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives, is tasked with protecting and modernizing IonQ’s global enterprise systems, securing its digital assets and supply chains, and strengthening its operational and cyber resilience.
Katie Arrington
Prior to joining IonQ, Arrington performed the duties of the Department of War’s Chief Information Officer, advising the DoW’s Secretary on enterprise information management; satellite, communications, and spectrum capabilities; cyber assurance; and space and emerging technology policy. Earlier, as Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity, Arrington led defense-wide oversight of cyber strategy, governance, and compliance.
“Katie has spent her entire career as a passionate advocate to ensure the United States maintains its technological edge—from strengthening the industrial base to protecting critical systems and capabilities across the Department of War,” stated IonQ Chairman and CEO, Niccolo de Masi. ‘Her passion for defending the nation and advancing the kind of breakthrough innovation that quantum computing represents will help accelerate IonQ’s growth and impact.”
Photonic quantum computer maker Q.ANT has hired Utz Bacher to be its vice president of software. The quantum computing veteran is charged with strengthening Q.ANT’s software stack and make photonic co-processing practical for real-world AI and high-performance computing.
Utz Bacher
Bacher joins Q.ANT from IBM Germany, where he has held senior technical roles across enterprise infrastructure, client services and advanced computing technologies. Bacher played a key role in IBM’s first European quantum data center in Ehningen, and is looking forward to enabling hybrid classical and quantum solutions for research and enterprises.
“Photonic computing only matters if developers and operators can use it as real systems, with familiar workflows,” stated Michael Förtsch, founder and CEO of Q.ANT. “Utz brings deep experience building and operating complex compute infrastructure, including enterprise, hybrid cloud, high-performance computing and quantum computing environments. As we scale, his leadership will help us sharpen our software execution and make adoption easier for partners and customers.”
“I’ve been working at the intersection of technology, platforms, and adoption for years,” Bacher stated. “Q.ANT has a strong technical foundation and a clear product direction. I’m looking forward to helping the team scale the software platform with the rigor and clarity needed for the next stage.”
Crusoe has hired Michael Gordon to be its new chief operating officer and chief financial officer. The former MongoDB executive brings more than 25 years of experience to Crusoe, which is a vertically integrated provider of AI data center solutions.
Michael Gordon
Gordon helped lead MongoDB’s IPO during his 10-year tenure at the company, which saw the database company’s revenue grow by 50x. Prior to joining MongoDB, Michael was COO and CFO at Yodle. The Harvard Business School MBA holder is now helping Crusoe, which is developing the “Stargate” AI data center campus in Abilene, Texas.
“I believe Crusoe is uniquely positioned to solve the most critical challenges facing the AI industry today,” Gordon stated. “The company’s vertically integrated approach – combining energy, data centers, and cloud software – is unique in the market. I look forward to working with Chase, Cully, and the team to build the operational and financial engines needed to capture this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Neocloud Lambda has hired Leonard Speiser to be its new chief operating officer. Speiser brings more than a decade of experience to Lambda, which provides GPUs as a service through its “superintelligence” cloud.
Leonard Speiser
Before joining Lamba, which recently announced a $1.5 billion Series E round, Speiser was a founder at Clover, which grew into one of the largest point-of-sale platforms, and also led development of commercial cooking AI technology at Level. Speiser also previously held roles at Intuit, eBay, and Yahoo! and worked in technology corporate finance and M&A at Credit Suisse First Boston.
“Lambda’s differentiated position as an AI pure-player, combined with their deep expertise and modular datacenter architecture, positions them to deliver the global-scale compute that has the potential to power humanity’s AI future,” Speiser stated. “I’m excited to help grow these critical operations.”
Lenovo has appointed Tareq Alangari to the role of senior vice president and president of its Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa (META) business. Alangari brings 25 years of leadership experience across technology, telecom, cloud, and digital industries to Lenovo.
Tareq Alangari
Alangari previously served as CEO of e& enterprise Saudi Arabia, which provided digital infrastructure, cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and FinTech services. Lenovo said his appointment reflects the company’s broader strategy to deepen its presence in META through investments, including the establishment of its regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as the establishment of a new manufacturing facility in the country with its partner, Alat.
“I’m honored to join Lenovo at such an exciting time,” Alangari stated. “The META region is full of opportunities for digital transformation and national development, and Lenovo is uniquely positioned to support these ambitions with its comprehensive portfolio of devices, infrastructure, and services. Our goal is to help countries and businesses realize their technology visions, from AI adoption to cloud modernization, while fostering local talent and business momentum. Together, we will partner to deliver solutions that drive economic growth and empower communities across the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa.”
Biopharmaceutical veteran Matt Studney has joined TetraScience, which develops an AI and data platform for scientific research, as its new chief customer officer. Studeny joins TetraScience from the pharmaceutical giant Merck, where he spent 24 years, ultimately achieving the role of senior vice president in charge of research and development for IT.
Matt Studney
TetraScience CEO and Co-founder Patrick Grady said the hiring of Studney reflects an change in approach for pharmaceutical research. “Matt has lived firsthand the limits of artisanal approaches to scientific data and AI,” Grady stated. “His move to TetraScience signals that the center of gravity is shifting–from bespoke internal efforts toward shared platforms purpose-built to make scientific intelligence durable, cumulative, and scalable.”
Studney will be tasked with helping TetraScience scale its platform to meet new challenges facing scientific data and AI-powered research. “The AI era makes clear that true transformation now requires a fundamentally new architectural foundation,” he states. “Scientific intelligence cannot scale on fragmented data or bespoke workflows. TetraScience has built the platform needed to industrialize scientific data and make learning cumulative across the enterprise. Patrick’s long-standing vision for Scientific AI, combined with the company’s deep technical and scientific capabilities, makes clear that TetraScience is the natural steward of this next phase of the industry.”
For the previous edition of HPC Career Notes, click here.
The post January 2026 HPC Career Notes appeared first on HPCwire.
Bar owners say they struggle to dissuade people from forming a line as behavioural experts point to post-pandemic ‘new norms’
“I’m not sure what else we can do to be honest,” Paul Loebenberg said, of the people lined up at his bar. “Maybe there’s something I’ve missed, but we’ve tried everything.”
To anybody who frequents pubs and dislikes feeling as if they are waiting at a bank, Loebenberg’s exasperation is all too familiar.
Continue reading...Less than 40 minutes after federal immigration agents shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis, Clayton Kelly was thrown face-first onto the sidewalk, tasting snow and street grime as a federal agent’s knee drove into his back.
The incident, a video of which The Intercept reviewed and corroborated with an independent eyewitness, occurred not long after Kelly and his wife arrived in the area where Pretti was killed. With protesters amassing and agents from Customs and Border Protection as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement flooding the area, the couple told The Intercept, they just wanted to observe the scene.
“All of a sudden,” Kelly said, a federal agent “started running toward me, pointing and yelling, ‘That’s him. Get him.’”
Ten days earlier, Kelly had watched as an immigration agent shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg during a federal enforcement action in north Minneapolis. As Kelly told the local outlet Sahan Journal, an SUV with police lights chased another vehicle, and then, “They went into a house. … I heard two shots before the area was just being swarmed by ICE immediately.” Sosa-Celis was injured — and Kelly’s account contradicted the official narrative released by the Department of Homeland Security.
At the scene of Pretti’s killing, Kelly told agents they would find themselves “on the wrong side of history,” he recalled. After the exchange, he and his wife, Alana Ericson, began walking toward another section of Nicollet Avenue where people were congregating, and as soon as Kelly turned his back, that was when agents began shouting and running toward him.
“I had my hands up. I kept saying, ‘I’m leaving. I’m leaving,’” Kelly said.
Kelly is far from the only civilian to be brutalized by federal agents in Minneapolis this month. But his detailed account of his beating and detention offers a clear example of how the agents, ostensibly deployed to carry out immigration enforcement, have instead shifted their purpose to encompass a crackdown on dissent. In Kelly’s case, it raises the question of whether he was facing retaliation for acting as a witness.
In December 2025, a group of Minnesota residents and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a federal class-action lawsuit, Tincher v. Noem, alleging that federal agents participating in Operation Metro Surge used excessive force, intimidation, and arrests to deter civilians from observing, recording, or protesting immigration enforcement.
The complaint alleges retaliation against people engaging in constitutionally protected conduct, including arrests of observers who were not interfering with federal operations. In January, a federal judge issued a limited injunction barring agents from retaliating against peaceful protesters and observers.
While federal agents pinned Kelly down, given Pretti’s recent shooting, Ericson feared they could kill her husband.
“I kept telling them he’s a U.S. citizen. They said, ‘We don’t give a f—,’” she said.
Kelly had previously undergone fusion surgery in his thoracic spine, a procedure that permanently joins vertebrae to stabilize the back. “Several agents piled on top of me,” Kelly said, and one put his knee on the site of his surgical wounds. “They were sitting directly on my spine.”
“I was screaming that I couldn’t breathe, but I had almost no air left,” Kelly said. “An agent pushed the pepper spray nozzle right into my left eye and sprayed. I turned my head so I wouldn’t get it in both eyes, but my left eye was completely burned.”
Pinned beneath multiple agents, Kelly said panic quickly gave way to fear that he might not survive. He said he was unable to catch his breath and felt his limbs go limp beneath the weight on his body.
“An agent pushed the pepper spray nozzle right into my left eye and sprayed.”
Kelly was then forced to his feet and handcuffed, leaving deep indentations on both wrists that were still visible in photographs taken three days later and shared with The Intercept. At some point, his phone fell out of his pocket. He was dragged to a vehicle and placed in the back seat, where he said agents told him he was being taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis for detention.
After being pepper-sprayed, Ericson said she was unable to drive. A bystander offered her a ride home, where she and her mother-in-law spent the day calling attorneys and trying to determine where Kelly had been taken and whether he was alive.
An independent eyewitness who said they did not know Kelly or his wife said they were standing nearby when agents rushed Kelly, tackled him to the ground, and deployed pepper spray, corroborating Kelly’s account of the arrest. After Kelly and Ericson were gone, the witness remained near Nicollet Avenue as federal agents continued clearing the area.
Moments later, the witness said they were grabbed from behind, thrown to the pavement, and sprayed in the face. Medical records from Hennepin County Medical Center reviewed by The Intercept show the witness sustained a fractured shoulder. According to the documentation, the injury will require surgery and months of physical therapy.
The Intercept reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, CBP, and ICE with detailed questions about the use of force by federal agents in Minneapolis, the detention and processing of civilians, the seizure of phones and other personal property, and policies governing crowd control. DHS, CBP, and ICE did not provide responses by publication time.
Kelly was transported to the federal building in downtown Minneapolis, a facility commonly used by immigration authorities for detention and processing.
Several of the people detained alongside him, Kelly said, had directly witnessed or recorded the fatal shooting of Pretti earlier that morning.
Kelly said detainees were never told why they were being held and were not informed of any charges. He said federal officials discussed possible criminal violations but ultimately filed none.
Shauna Kieffer, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild who is now representing Kelly, said her client was never read his Miranda rights. They’re required only when law enforcement seeks to obtain a statement, she said, so a person may be detained without being advised of those rights if officers are not questioning them and no statement is taken. At one point, Kelly said, ICE agents asked whether detainees would be willing to give interviews. All declined and invoked their right to remain silent.
According to Kelly, no medical care was provided upon arrival, even though multiple detainees had visible injuries and repeatedly asked for assistance. One older man, Kelly said, was bleeding from his elbow when brought into custody. Kelly said detainees used their drinking water to clean blood from the man’s arm while the staff ignored their requests for assistance, and that the man didn’t receive treatment until after a shift change.
Kelly and his family have been unable to recover his phone. At the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Kelly said agents later showed him the phone, asked whether it belonged to him, and told him he would not be getting it back. According to Kelly, no one listed the device on his property inventory, and agents told him they would seek a warrant to access its contents.
A copy of the property inventory receipt reviewed by The Intercept does not list a cellphone among Kelly’s belongings. Additional photographs show his belongings placed in an ICE-labeled property bag bearing his name and a U.S. citizen designation.
In an affidavit he signed with his attorney, Kelly said the confiscated phone contained photos he took of the January 14 shooting of Sosa-Celis that he witnessed, a detail he says underscores its evidentiary value and why he wanted it returned.
Attorneys representing several detainees said federal officials told them they were considering charges of assaulting, interfering with, or resisting federal officers, according to Kieffer and another detainee’s attorney. Kieffer said the statute is often interpreted broadly, but verbal objections, mere presence at a scene, or passive conduct alone do not meet its standard.
In Kelly’s case, “any movements of his body are simply because a bunch of grown men are pummeling him,” Kieffer said, referring to the video of his arrest.
Kelly estimated he was detained for roughly eight hours before being abruptly released. After a brief stop at home, he sought medical treatment at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. Discharge paperwork from that visit, reviewed by The Intercept, documents his injuries as assault-related.
Kelly said he continues to fear retaliation following his detention.
The following morning, he said, several federal vehicles drove slowly down the residential street where he and his wife live, an occurrence he described as highly unusual for their area.
Kieffer said her client’s fears are not unfounded.
She described instances in Minneapolis in which attorneys and civilian observers reported being followed by federal vehicles after monitoring immigration enforcement activity, and in some cases later saw federal agents parked outside their homes. One attorney shared video of ICE agents following him and parking outside his house with The Intercept.
In Kieffer’s view, the sheer number of people taken into custody while observing or documenting federal activity has made Minneapolis stand out.
The emotional toll of the arrest, Kelly and his wife said, has not ended with his release.
“I’ve been having nightmares. This doesn’t feel like real life. It feels like a really bad dream that I can’t wake up from,” Ericson said. “After he spoke publicly about that shooting, I felt like he was already on their radar.”
The post He Witnessed an Earlier Shooting. Feds Arrested Him at the Scene of Alex Pretti’s Killing. appeared first on The Intercept.
Over the past month, the Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis area. On Saturday, Jan. 24, federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Pretti was the third person shot by federal agents in the area in January.
The Department of Homeland Security initially said an agent fired “defensive shots” after Pretti approached officers with a weapon, but video of the incident appears to contradict that claim. DHS said this week that two officers involved were placed on leave. In a press conference on Thursday, border czar Tom Homan said the administration is working on making the operation “safer, more efficient, by the book.” He said that agents will focus on “targeted, strategic enforcement operations” with a “prioritization on public safety threats.”
Our photojournalists Cengiz Yar and Peter DiCampo were on the ground in Minneapolis, covering what they saw in the days before and after Pretti’s death. Read their accounts below.
I arrived in Minneapolis last week to report on the crackdown and how local residents were reacting.
I had packed my medical kit, full face respirator, helmet and a couple tourniquets, essentials for my reporting bag when I make trips to dangerous and potentially violent areas. I also brought layers upon layers of warm clothing, as temperatures were expected to drop to 20 below in the coming days. I knew the ICE raids and the community’s response had been intense across the region, but I wasn’t fully prepared for what I’d end up seeing playing out in the streets.
In my few days in Minnesota, I’ve been witness to countless scenes that remind me of moments I’ve seen during previous trips covering conflicts around the world. I watched heavily armored federal units roll through quiet neighborhoods. In a grocery store parking lot, angry residents screamed at agents, demanding they leave the city. Masked and armed government agents pointed weapons toward me and some protesters during an encounter in the middle of the afternoon. Curious guests in a hotel elevator wondered why I was carrying around a medical pack and gas mask. Local residents thanked me for being there to witness the situation. A drunk man at a hotel bar cursed at me, saying the media was at fault. The wars we’ve carried out as a nation abroad have come home.
On my first day out reporting, I came upon an incident that had been unfolding for over an hour. Late in the afternoon on Thursday, Jan. 22, three construction workers clung to a roof, bracing themselves against the slanted plywood of an unfinished two-story house on the far south side of Minneapolis. Federal agents had massed in the house and in cars on the street, conducting a raid on the construction site. The agents called for the workers to come down. They refused. They stayed on the roof, exposed to the elements in negative 4 degree weather.
I stood outside the house looking up at the men on the roof, wondering how they were surviving in only high-visibility vests and work clothing. Onlookers begged the agents to let them bring the men blankets. They were told to stay out of the building.
Other construction workers milled about the snow-covered site as their co-workers hung on above. Some cursed at the officers. One worker told the men to come down before they freeze to death. “You can at least go to a warm cell,” he shouted. One young, white worker stuck his middle finger in the face of agents idling in their car. “Fuck you,” he screamed as he stomped around the site. A half dozen onlookers had assembled as well, shouting encouragement to the men above and asking the agents for compassion.
The three men remained on the roof as the young, white construction worker argued angrily with the agents for almost an hour.
Finally, as the time approached 5 p.m., the agents left.
Onlookers rushed into the building and brought the men down to wrap them in blankets. “You’re OK now,” they reassured the men. “You did great.”
On Friday, I arrived in South Minneapolis as protesters gathered, shouting, filming and blowing whistles at armored agents in a pickup. After a few minutes, the agents threw tear gas into the small crowd of onlookers and sped away. Gas drifted through the snowy streets, passing cute two-story houses and short, leafless trees. My throat burning, I crouched to the ground, coughing up the irritants behind a snowbank.
I couldn’t have known that less than a day later, in a similar situation, Customs and Border Protection agents would kill a man by shooting him multiple times in the back as they pinned him to the ground. Pretti died while filming agents and trying to help a woman as he was pepper sprayed. In the unfolding chaos in the hours after the shooting, I watched as agents unloaded tear gas on a couple hundred furious protesters who had assembled at the site of the shooting. Heavily armored law enforcement faced off against a crowd of unarmed protesters carrying signs and screaming for justice and retribution.
It was 9:07 a.m. on Saturday morning when I learned that someone had been shot outside Glam Doll Donuts on Nicollet Avenue. It would be hours before I heard the name Alex Pretti and watched the grisly videos of CBP agents shooting him to death. But knowing that Minneapolis was on edge following the death of Renee Good, also killed by federal agents, I grabbed my camera and the warmest clothing I could find. I rushed out of my house. By 9:29 a.m., I was in my car texting a group of fellow photographers “omw.”
Yellow police tape and federal agents lined the scene of the shooting, keeping everyone about a block away in every direction. A small crowd gathered. The first person I recognized wasn’t another journalist, it was my neighbor. “Peter!” she cried, and told me she wasn’t sure what was happening, just that she had also heard about the shooting and wanted to get down there. She sobbed into my arms for a minute, then we parted ways.
More agents gathered. Many wore gas masks. More residents and others ready to protest another killing arrived. A young man stood at the edge of the yellow tape and yelled; an older woman hugged him to try to calm him down. The anger of the crowd was palpable. “ICE agents: Get out of Minneapolis,” they screamed.
I do not have the words to articulate how it feels to watch this unfold in Minneapolis, a city that I have grown to know and love after moving here a few years ago. The journalists who flocked here over the past few weeks are people I have run into while on assignment in hot spots all over the world. Now they were in my home city.
As crowds grew, agents fired tear gas to keep them back. Crowds would then briefly disperse, but some agents would grab and detain people regardless. The crowds reformed quickly, and the cycle of tear gas, detentions and regrouping continued.
After one bout of tear gas, I stumbled away, doubled over and coughing. “Come inside!” I heard someone yell. I looked up and saw a woman opening the door to an apartment building. She wasn’t yelling to me but to two photographers I know. I stumbled toward them, and the three of them saw me, and all extended the invitation: “Come inside!”
I was grateful to be out of the tear gas, and I was grateful to be warm. That day’s high temperature was well below zero; at one point, I looked down and realized frozen condensation had iced my camera dials and buttons in place.
The other two photographers and I made our way to the rooftop and spent the next hour-plus photographing from above. We overlooked the scene of the shooting and could see the FBI examining it and the line of protesters and agents going back and forth in three different directions.
We watched as the federal presence finished at the shooting scene and packed up. They slowly backed out, firing tear gas at protesters who ran at them as they drove away.
We went back down to the street. Protesters gathered at the next block, and a similar scene played out there, this time with city and state police. “Why aren’t you protecting us?” one person yelled at them. Another protestor tried to calm the crowd down, but people were fed up: “Fuck your pacifism,” I heard someone yell.
Tear gas was fired, people dispersed and the police slowly backed out. Eventually, without federal agents and police around, the mood shifted from chaos to something more somber.
As I took a moment to breathe, I realized that the final standoff had taken place right in front of Cheapo Records, where I went record shopping on my birthday a couple years back. And the events of the entire day — the shooting, the protests, the tear gassing — all unfolded on a stretch of Nicollet Avenue called Eat Street, known for having many of the best restaurants in town, with cuisines from all over the world that showcase the city’s diversity. I knew then that walking these streets would never feel the same.
People made their way to the site of Alex Pretti’s death. There was still yellow tape around it, now tied haphazardly around trash cans. A small bloodstain was visible on the pavement.
Quietly, they began to build a memorial.
The post What We Saw in Minneapolis appeared first on ProPublica.
My use of mobile phones has been compulsive – has it been for better or for worse?
• From a priest to a pensioner, a teenager to a tech CEO: can you guess our screen time?
In 2003, the Stanford social scientist BJ Fogg published an extraordinarily prescient book. Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do predicted a future in which a student “sits in a college library and removes an electronic device from her purse”. It serves as her “mobile phone, information portal, entertainment platform, and personal organiser. She takes this device almost everywhere and feels lost without it.”
Such devices, Fogg argued, would be “persuasive technology systems … the device can suggest, encourage, and reward”. Those rewards could have a powerful effect on our relationship with these devices, akin to gamblers pumping quarters into slot machines.
Continue reading...
Why Should Delaware Care?
New Castle County officials will soon be able to begin reviewing the reassessment results of some of the most contentious commercial properties in the county after state lawmakers on Thursday passed legislation enabling them to do so. The bill was scrutinized by some Republicans as being another rushed through quick fix, but Democrats say they needed to act quickly.
The Delaware legislature passed one half of a two-bill package Thursday that would give New Castle County new authority to review the results of its much maligned property reassessment.
That first bill, Senate Bill 228, gives New Castle County the ability to temporarily expand the authority of its Office of Finance to conduct “quality control” reviews of its commercial property assessments.
Rep. Cyndie Romer (D-Newark), the House sponsor of SB 228, said she saw an unwillingness from New Castle County to investigate “clear outliers” after Delaware’s first-in-a-generation property reassessment. Her legislation is meant to explicitly give county officials the authority to look into commercial properties that were seemingly undervalued.
But House Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn Harris (D-Dover) said concerns about ensuring “due process” for business owners stopped lawmakers from holding a vote on the second bill, Senate Bill 230, which would give New Castle County officials the power to subpoena certain businesses for records showing the income earned from their properties.
With the General Assembly beginning its six-week break to scrutinize and amend Gov. Matt Meyer’s proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year, the New Castle County subpoena bill will not be voted on until at least mid-March.
Despite this delay, Harris said New Castle County officials told her they can begin their property review, even without the codified ability to subpoena business records.
“Consulting with New Castle County, they determined that as long as [Senate Bill] 228 was run, they could get started,” Harris said.
A spokesperson for New Castle County confirmed as much on Friday afternoon, telling Spotlight Delaware that once Meyer signs SB 228 into law, county officials can begin the process of searching for an outside vendor to complete the quality control review.
A spokesperson for Meyer’s office did not immediately respond Friday evening to Spotlight Delaware’s request for comment.
The two-bill assessment review package had been the subject of Republican scrutiny when it was first introduced in the Senate, largely over warnings it was being needlessly rushed.
Rep. Mike Smith (R-Pike Creek Valley) echoed those sentiments during the House floor vote Thursday evening.
After conducting a series of joint committee hearings to investigate exactly what went wrong during Delaware’s first-in-a-generation property reassessment, Smith said he had hoped lawmakers would take more time to craft legislation.
“This frustration is not with anyone in this chamber,” Smith said. “It’s more frustration toward folks across the way in the other chamber. But one thing we talked about in the committee, and ended on, is that we were going to be more methodical of our approach and not rush things.”
But Romer rebuffed these claims. She said that finding ways to review property assessments has been a “central topic” throughout the series of investigative committee hearings.
“If you’ve been following along, this has come up time and again in the committee meetings,” she said. “And the decision is, ‘We must act now.’”
While SB 228 and SB 230 mark the first pieces of reassessment legislation to follow the joint committee, Romer also told Spotlight Delaware that a separate package of bills is being developed by committee members.
Karl Baker contributed to this report.
The post Legislature passes reassessment ‘quality control’ bill appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Reporter Julia Merola joins “Beyond the Headlines” to discuss her article ‘Afraid to Die’: Parents of Disabled Adults Struggle to Find Housing. The article profiles three families who are concerned they will not be able to provide supportive housing for their adult children with disabilities before the parents pass away.
Merola shares how a previous article built trust and connections in the disability community that led directly to this article, how she worked to draw readers into an issue they may not have personal experience with, and why she thinks a profile like this has strong news worthiness even though it’s not breaking news.
The podcast is hosted by Director of Community Engagement David Stradley.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
I’d like to start with our “Hey, mom” question. Imagine you’re talking to your mom and literally start with, “Hey mom, I wrote this article about…” and then tell her briefly what’s interesting about this story.
So I would say, “Hey mom, I wrote this article about families with adult children who have intellectual and developmental disabilities in Delaware, and those families are really struggling with finding housing options for their children. And you know, it’s interesting to hear about something that I never knew about before talking to these families.”
So you never knew about this issue. How did it become a Spotlight Delaware story?
Back in October we had written a story about the Neyers family and this mom whose son has autism, and he wasn’t getting the resources he needed in school. The family was trying to find a way to get therapy outside of school.
And after the story was published, one of our CEO’s friends reached out and said that there’s also this struggle with finding housing for adults with intellectual developmental disabilities. It was something that I hadn’t really thought about before and I hadn’t really seen being reported on too much before. So it was something that I wanted to dive into.
So in some ways this was a case of one careful, respectfully reported article leading to trust in a community and opening up an avenue for another article.
Yes.
How were you then connected to the families that do appear in this article?
Back to how I was saying our CEO’s friend reached out. After she reached out, I followed up on that tip and I was able to get connected to a few families who are involved in an organization called the A-Team Delaware and that organization advocates for accessible housing for adults with intellectual developmental disabilities.
So I was just able to speak to a few families in that community and hear their stories.
We don’t typically do this on the podcast, but I thought the way you began this article was a really effective way to bring the reader into it. I’d like to actually ask you to read out loud the first several paragraphs of the story so our listeners can hear it in your voice. Would you mind doing that?
For sure.
‘A good day for Ramara Shackelford is one when her 21-year-old son makes it through his daily routine without prompting.
On those days, her adult son Marcellus “Dre” Shackelford will wake up and get dressed by his second alarm. Then, he will make his breakfast, take his medication, brush his teeth, and wash his face before going to his day program. Many of those steps will be done independently, with minimal prompting from his mother.
Shackelford says that happens about twice a month.
Most days, every step of Dre’s routine is rushed. He lies in bed past his alarms. Then, with help from his mom, he races out to catch his morning bus to a program hosted by the Red Clay Consolidated School District that serves students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in kindergarten through age 22.
On those days, Dre still makes it to his classes at the Meadowood Program, where he works on his social skills, such as conversation starters, and learns to do tasks, such as washing dishes. Shackelford’s goal is for her son to ultimately have more independence as an adult.
“I want him to be able to go to a retail shop and buy his deodorant,” she said, “just things that regular people do.”
Soon, Dre will be too old for the Meadowood Program, so Shackelford has begun to look for housing where her son can live independently. In doing so, she has encountered a system of adult living situations that can be overwhelming in their complexity. She can’t imagine what it would be like for some who have to do it on his own.’
Thank you, Julia. I know when I read that, I was immediately brought into the situation, particularly that third sentence of “this happens about twice a month” – the good morning routine. Why and how did you decide to start the article in this way?
Whenever I’m doing a story that’s focused more on families or students or teachers, I like to start it in a way that shows the reader the everyday life of whoever I’m talking about.
So for this particular article, I wanted to start the draft by just showing this is what the routine looks like. This is the reality of that routine. And now that routine could be totally changed in the future. If Dre goes through this housing process and he no longer lives with his parents, this routine that they’ve established could easily be changed in the next few years. But this is what it looks like right now.
As I’ve been learning about the journalism world, I’ve learned that this kind of open is called a narrative lead versus a hard news lead. Can you talk about the differences between those two approaches and, again, why you thought a narrative lead was the best way to start this article?
The hard news lead is usually something that’s more straight to the point, I’ll say. Like, if there’s a particular statistic about, you know, this is how many Delawareans have intellectual and developmental disabilities and they’re also struggling with finding housing.
I think that sometimes that works. I just thought for this story, it was more impactful to show the reader the daily life of this woman who actually has a son who has an intellectual and developmental disability, and she’s actually going through the housing process for her son and contemplating what comes next.
I just think that it was a more impactful lead than a statistic would’ve been.
Can you take us through a little bit more of your reporting process on this article? I have to imagine it was a delicate one as you tried to understand and capture the complexities of the lives of these families.
As someone who is not part of this space, it’s a lot of listening and making sure that you’re trying to understand someone’s experience as much as possible so that you’re accurately portraying it – doing these stories as articulately and as clearly as you can
At the same time, you know, one of these families – she’s a mother to three daughters with intellectual developmental disabilities. So you want to respect her space. In general, having three kids and trying to schedule an interview with a parent is tough. But you want to respect their space and build that trust over time so that you’re able to get that story out there.
Was your first step phone call interviews or did you just show up at people’s homes and get to know them that way?
No. I personally wouldn’t have that be my first step, just because I think that sometimes that can put a lot of pressure on a family to change their whole day-to-day routine. Especially if a routine is really important to a family like the Shacklefords.
I did a mix of Zoom and phone call interviews. Then with the Shacklefords, after that Zoom interview, I asked to see if she was comfortable with me coming in one day and taking a few photos of her and her family. And she said yes.
I came in and I made sure that her son Dre was comfortable with me being there. I didn’t rush him or anything like that because he was still going through his daily routine when I got there.
I waited to see when he was ready for me to take those photos. In the meantime, I took photos of his schedules and his breakfast that was laid out for him.
For you personally, just being there with the Shacklefords in their home, did you gain additional insights being there in person versus the phone call or the zoom that you had with them?
I don’t know if I would say I got any additional insights. I think what I would say is I kind of got a basic understanding of who Dre is and what his routine looks like based on the Zoom call with his mom. He did make a very short, special guest appearance on that Zoom call, but was not interested in speaking with me. So that was very short.
But I think that when I went to their home, it was really just making sure that he was comfortable and I wasn’t rushing him or pressuring him or anything like that.
I remember he came downstairs from his room and I think he was getting his breakfast together. Then he just sat on the couch with his breakfast. His TV was on and I took pictures right before he started eating. I told him it would be quick and I tried to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible.
One of our editors says that the aim of news reporting is to make the unknown known. He’ll frequently ask, “What’s the news here?” In other words, what is the unknown? Do you see this article fitting into that model for assessing the newsworthiness of the topic? And if not, why is this a Spotlight Delaware news article?
I will just say I think that anyone who has ever taken a journalism course in high school or college, when you hear “newsworthiness” it’s kind of this buzzword to mean something that just happened this past week or within the month.
Obviously this is not something that happened last week. This is an issue that parents have been experiencing for multiple years. But at the same time, going back to “making the unknown known”, I think that’s what this article does.
One of our missions at Spotlight Delaware is to empower Delawareans. And I just felt this was a story that I hadn’t really heard too much about before and it was something that I felt should be talked about. If there’s programs out there that parents are feeling there’s issues with accessing those programs, I think that needs to be talked about.
In reading your article, there seemed to be a disconnect between the state – in this case Jody Roberts who is the director of Delaware Health and Social Services Division of Developmental Disability Services – and the families. You quote Roberts articulating these very clear processes that the state has for assessing housing needs of adults with disabilities and assisting families with finding housing.
But each of the families identified gaps in service they experienced and in different ways express that the process was not clear for them. Did your reporting identify where that disconnect happens, and is there any solution for trying to clear up that disconnect?
During the reporting process, I spoke to families and then I spoke to the state. I think that I realized after speaking with the state, that sometimes there’s a difference in the language that’s being used. Families talk to me about this idea of there being a waiting list, versus the state who said there isn’t a waiting list but they understand where that confusion comes from.
And so I think that there’s information out there. Maybe it’s not always the most accessible or it’s not the most understandable for a family who either has multiple children and one of those children has intellectual and developmental disabilities or, you know, they have multiple children who all have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Then at the same time, there was the conversation about Delaware is also being impacted by a national shortage of direct support professionals. And those are the people who work with adults with disabilities. That shortage is something that is on parents’ minds.
It’s a complex issue that’s not just affecting Delaware. So I thought that that was a really interesting concern of parents as well.
You got a lot of feedback once this article was published. We have an internal messaging system at Spotlight Delaware, and we have a whole channel in there that’s called the Impact Channel. In less than an hour after the newsletter was sent out that this article was in, you had already filled that channel with three or four or five different people who had reached out to you and shared feedback on this story.
Was there any of the feedback that you received that was particularly meaningful to you?
I won’t single out any particular message, but I think there was this cumulative message that so many people have family members who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. Even though those family members don’t always live in Delaware, their experiences with finding residential options and looking at what housing is available, those experiences are all really similar.
We had a lot of people telling me that they were glad that Spotlight Delaware was putting these stories, these experiences out there, because it’s not something that people typically think about unless you’re part of that space where you’re advocating for people who have disabilities and you’re advocating on the housing side as well.
It was nice to see that. Although this story resonated with a lot of people – which isn’t something that you would maybe want to hear, you would probably want to hear more success stories – they still felt like there was hope in the sense that we were putting that story out there and getting eyes on an issue.
That’s great. Well, thank you, Julia, for educating yourself on this issue that was unknown to you and making it known to a lot more of us.
Yes, of course.
The post Beyond the Headlines: Housing needs of disabled adults appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Part 1 of the Delaware Civics 101 Series:
Understanding How Delaware Organizes, Spends, and Balances Its Money
To many Delawareans, the state’s budget process has always been a bit of a mystery. We read headlines about “bond bills” and “capital budgets,” and wonder why we should care. We hear legislators battle over spending priorities, but it’s not always clear where the money goes – or where it’s coming from. Are we living within our means – or beyond them? And what are the consequences in either direction?.
This series aims to resolve that murky picture – and show the many ways that Delaware’s budget has the power to affect our lives, our families and our future.
When lawmakers pass the state budget each year, they’re doing more than playing politics –they’re shaping how the state educates children, builds roads, attracts business, keeps communities safe, and provides care for families and seniors.
To follow how those policy choices come to life, it helps to understand the basic structure of Delaware’s finances. The state budget is built around four main parts – think of them as “buckets” of money – each with a specific role and funding source:
Across all four of those buckets, Delaware’s total budget can add up to $15 billion (depending on the year), but when most people talk about the “state budget,” they’re talking about the general fund. In this current fiscal year (July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026), the general fund fell just shy of $6.6 billion.
The process follows a predictable rhythm each year:
As a starting point, the state turns to the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC), an independent body of experts that since 1977 has issued quarterly forecasts of how much revenue the state is expected to take in. By state law, the governor and General Assembly must base the budget on DEFAC’s official, politics-free projections.
This is an area where Delaware’s lawmakers are restrained by the state constitution – the legislature is required to spend no more than 98% of the estimated available revenue. The remaining 2% must be used as a cushion to prevent deficits and safeguard against overspending.
With revenue numbers in hand, the state then begins to decide how the money will be divided among agencies. Each agency submits their budgetary “wish lists” every summer, and in November, the governor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) holds public hearings and produces a report.
Even though the legislature ultimately has the “power of the purse” in Delaware, state code gives the governor the first crack at the budget: “[The governor] may make such changes … as the Governor may deem necessary or desirable in accordance with the Governor’s own best judgment … and shall submit the budget report … to each House of the General Assembly, on or before February 1 of each year.”
That proposed budget then goes to the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), made up of House and Senate lawmakers. (The JFC is one of the most powerful and sought-after committee appointments in the legislature, and is often made up of the chamber’s most experienced lawmakers, from both parties.) The JFC holds public hearings on the governor’s proposal, reviews agency requests line-by-line, and ultimately writes the final budget bill that will be voted on by the entire assembly.
Once the legislature approves the bill, it goes on to the governor, who gets one more chance to make their voice heard: Through a “line-item veto,” the governor has the power to strike out specific spending items in the budget bill without vetoing the entire budget. This executive power isn’t available for all legislation, and it can make final budget negotiations particularly intense.
But it’s rarely used: The last governor to use this leverage was Jack Markell, in 2011.
By law, all this maneuvering has to be settled by June 30 each year, making the start of Delaware’s summer a notoriously hectic time for lawmakers.
In addition to the “Four Buckets” detailed below, there are a few budget-related mechanisms to keep in mind. These serve as tools to help keep the process running smoothly, and safeguard against the unexpected:
Delaware’s main spending account, also referred to as the “operating budget.” It pays for salaries, services, and ongoing programs that keep the state running.
• Personal and corporate income taxes
• Franchise and business license fees
• Gross receipts tax (on business sales and services), and lottery revenue
• Education (~35-40%) – Teacher pay, classroom operations, special education, and higher-ed funding.
• Health & Social Services (20–25%) – Medicaid, public health, child welfare, and mental-health services.
• Public Safety (10–15%) – State Police, prisons, courts, and emergency response.
• General Government (10%) – Administration, finance, technology, and facilities.
• Debt Service (5–10%) – Payments on prior borrowing and contingency funds.
• Your child’s teacher in Milford? Paid from the General Fund.
• A state trooper patrolling Route 1? General Fund.
• The public health nurse giving free flu shots? General Fund.
So-called “Appropriated Special Funds” are earmarked revenues – money that can be spent only on its assigned purpose. These funds – approximately $1.2 billion in FY 2026 – come from fees, fines, or dedicated taxes rather than general income.
• Transportation Trust Fund (TTF): Motor-fuel taxes, tolls, and registration fees pay for roads, bridges, and DART transit.
• Lottery & Gaming Proceeds: Support education and addiction-prevention programs.
• Environmental Fees: Support clean water and state park improvements.
• Health Funds: Tobacco-settlement dollars for cancer prevention and public-health campaigns.
• The pothole repairs on Route 13? Transportation Trust Fund.
• The playground upgrades in a state park? Environmental Special Funds.
• Problem-gambling hotlines and education grants? Lottery Special Funds.
The Bond and Capital Improvements Act, or Bond Bill, funds construction and long-term investments, often by authorizing the state to borrow money through the bond market. Think of it as Delaware’s infrastructure plan for schools, roads, and state facilities that will be needed in the near future.
By law, the state cannot simply borrow what it wants — it must follow a fixed formula designed to prevent the state from borrowing too much money. Mandated by statute, the Debt Affordability Limit is based on a formula related to personal income and revenue.
The Bond Bill is ultimately drafted by the separate Joint Committee on Capital Improvement (often called the Bond Committee), which is similar to the Joint Finance Committee’s role in the Operating Budget.
• General obligation bonds (state borrowing)
• General Fund transfers
• Special Funds such as the Transportation Trust Fund
• Federal matching grants
• Education: New schools, renovations, HVAC, and safety systems.
• Transportation: Road and bridge projects, transit hubs, bike trails.
• Public Safety: Police barracks, courts, correctional facilities.
• Environment: Clean-water systems, flood control, park facilities.
• Technology: Modernized data centers and cybersecurity systems.
• A new elementary school wing in Sussex County? Bond Bill.
• A bridge replacement on Route 9? Bond Bill.
• Beach nourishment in Lewes or state-park renovations? Bond Bill.
Federal Transfer Funds are grants and reimbursements from the U.S. government that support specific programs. They make up roughly $2–3 billion of Delaware’s total budget.
• Health & Social Services: Medicaid, SNAP (food), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and public-health initiatives.
• Education: Title I (low-income schools) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (special education).
• Transportation: Federal highway and transit grants.
• Environment & Housing: Clean-water revolving funds, FEMA disaster relief, HUD housing programs.
• A Medicaid patient’s hospital visit? Half paid by the federal government.
• Title I reading tutors in Wilmington? Funded federally.
• Highway upgrades on I-95? Largely federal grants.
Together, these four funds make up Delaware’s financial ecosystem:
• General Fund = everyday operations
• Special Funds = dedicated programs
• Bond Bill = infrastructure investments
• Federal Funds = federally supported programs.
As an example of how the four parts of the system work together, consider a schoolteacher who earns a salary (General Fund), drives to school on Delaware roads (Special Funds), arrives at her new school building (Bond Bill), and teaches with support of a reading grant for struggling students (Federal Funds).
Part 2 – Where the Money Comes From: Delaware’s Revenue, Taxes, and Fees.
We’ll break down how the state raises its funds — from income and corporate taxes to tolls, fees, and federal matches — and how those sources shape our ability to invest in Delaware’s future.
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: Dive into the four buckets of Delaware’s State Budget appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
This year’s Delaware state budget carries far greater urgency than your typical budget cycle. State leaders are confronting an immediate and unprecedented $400 million revenue loss, driven largely by recent federal tax changes and declining revenue. That means tougher choices – tradeoffs that require critical decisions, with real consequences for people in Delaware.
Because the stakes are so high, Delaware LIVE and SpotLight Delaware are launching a new explanatory series, Civics 101, to help readers better understand how the state budget works – and why it is the most powerful policy tool the state has.
As leaders across government confront this moment, there is broad agreement on a central point: The budget is more than a financial ledger, it’s the primary mechanism for setting policy and asserting priorities.
Here are what some of the state’s most powerful voices have said about the budget in recent times, and why it matters so much …
Matt Meyer has consistently framed the state budget as an expression of Delaware’s priorities and long-term policy goals.
“The budget reflects our core Delaware values – investing in education, affordable housing, accessible healthcare, and safer neighborhoods,” Meyer said when announcing his FY26 budget reset.
Meyer has also emphasized tax fairness and the need to protect the economy from the impact of recent federal tax changes. (Delaware was looking at a $400 million revenue shortfall thanks to those changes, but lawmakers quickly passed a bill that decoupled Delaware from federal tax law, averting the revenue hit for now.)
Delaware’s Lieutenant Gov. Kyle Evans Gay has described the budget process itself as a critical opportunity to drive change.
She believes that budget season should be a time for leaders to reassess priorities, redirect existing resources, and address stubborn challenges by aligning funding with community needs. When she identified $30 million within the existing budget to reinvest in childcare – without raising taxes – she was credited with demonstrating how policy goals can be achieved through better budget oversight
Gay sees the budget as a living policy tool, capable of delivering results. But she emphasizes that meaningful reform depends on meaningful collaboration between the administration and the General Assembly.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) set the tone for the FY2027 budget process when it laid down new guidelines for the state agencies preparing their annual budget.
Agencies were instructed not to expect automatic budget growth, to justify every request with detailed documentation, and to prepare for both modest increases and potential reductions. The guidance emphasized transparency, accurate reporting, and accountability – requiring agencies to document vacant positions, structural changes, and long-term obligations.
Taken together, OMB’s message to agencies – and indirectly to the public – was clear: Delaware must do more to live within its means, protect essential services, and plan for economic uncertainty.
Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez does not write the budget, but her office plays a key role in administering publicly funded programs and maintaining public trust.
Her Department of State oversees business filings, professional licensing, archives, arts and cultural grants, along with veterans services – areas where open records, public access, and accountability are essential. At the core of her agency is a belief that transparency is a foundational principle of state government, upheld through public hearings, legislative review, and detailed agency reporting.
Budget decisions are frequently tough, but the chair of the Joint Finance Committee says the current fiscal environment makes them even tougher.
“Every budget is about making choices,” Rep. Kim Williams said, “and that was especially tough this year with so much uncertainty at the federal level, and forecasts pointing to slower revenue growth for the state.”
Another lawmaker, Senate Majority Whip Tizzy Lockman, points to housing investments as a clear example of how the budget can serve as validation of certain policy directions, and how they are (or aren’t) shifting.
“It’s very exciting … to see housing so centered in our state budget, which is unusual, and this is an unprecedented investment,” Lockman said.
For the budget to stay healthy, leaders must be vigilant protecting the sources of its strength. That’s the view of lawmakers like Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, who works to protect Delaware’s lucrative, outsized role as the nation’s corporate home.
Annual amendments to Delaware General Corporation Law are intended to preserve the balance and transparency of the law, and with it the stream of corporate fees and franchise revenues that stand as a major pillar of state funding. By maintaining stability and confidence in Delaware’s corporate law ecosystem, Townsend says the state can better safeguard funding for schools, healthcare, and public services.
The impact of Corporate Services revenue is undeniable — it currently generates about a third of the revenue in the General Operating budget.
Over time, the budget process evolves, and new tools appear that are aimed at getting everything to run a little more smoothly. The approach gaining renewed attention recently is a more formalized approach to budget smoothing, aimed at reducing volatility between strong revenue years and economic downturns.
In 2019, Republican Rep. Mike Smith was the co-sponsor of House Bill 155, which aimed to create a pathway toward a constitutional amendment that embraced budget smoothing. Like the state’s existing “rainy day funds,” this would save surplus revenues in strong years, then tap them during downturns, allowing the state to avoid abrupt spending cuts or tax increases.
While these mechanisms have been part of the state budgetary process since FY 2019, they deserve to be formalized rather than applied inconsistently, Smith said.
Are budget woes caused by not enough revenue – or too much spending?
House Minority Leader Mike Ramone believes it’s the latter. “Delawareans need an executive who will be a responsible steward of their tax dollars,” Ramone said, calling for greater accountability and targeted investment.
Rep. Bryan Shupe of Milford has echoed that view, warning that without spending restraint, future budgets could force tax increases or service cuts.
Last year, Rep. Eric Morrison co-sponsored HB 13 to create a new tax bracket to require higher-income residents to pay a larger percentage of their income to the state, and create a more progressive tax system in Delaware.
The state also took a different approach to raising more money last year – to address motor fuel tax revenue, the state (DelDOT) raised DMV fees, tolls and the motor fuel tax.
From education and childcare to healthcare and housing, the state budget is the last word on what Delaware can – and cannot – do.
This year’s unusually urgent budget cycle, shaped by a major revenue shock, cautious OMB guidance, calls for transparency, and competing fiscal philosophies, underscores why understanding the budget matters more than ever. As the Civics 101 series continues, Delaware LIVE and Spotlight Delaware will break down the key concepts behind the decisions now confronting state leaders – and how those choices affect every resident of the state.
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 What leaders say about the Budget (and why it’s more important than ever) appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Understanding Delaware’s state budget can be challenging — not because the issues aren’t important, but because the language used to describe them is often unfamiliar, technical, or assumed knowledge in political discussions.
As part of Delaware LIVE and Spotlight Delaware’s Civics 101 series, this glossary is designed to serve as a clear, plain-language reference for readers who want to better understand how the state raises, manages, and spends public dollars.
Each article in the Civics 101 series introduces new concepts, institutions, and budget tools that shape Delaware’s financial decisions. With every installment, new terms will be added to this glossary, allowing readers to return to a single, permanent resource as their understanding grows.
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: Glossary of Terms appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Special Series: Civics 101
This series on the Delaware State Budget, produced jointly by Delaware LIVE and the Spotlight Delaware content marketing team, aims to give every Delawarean the tools they need to understand state spending and participate in the process that defines Delaware’s future. Stay tuned for more articles in the days ahead, and visit the Civics 101 Homepage for more.
Every year, Delaware’s lawmakers make thousands of choices about spending billions of dollars, shaping nearly every aspect of our lives: the quality of our schools, the safety of our neighborhoods, the strength of our healthcare system, and even the condition of the roads we drive.
Yet few of us ever see how those choices are made – or realize how powerfully the state budget transforms policy into lived reality for us all.
This series aims to help you understand how government spending works, and what tradeoffs our leaders face. Our goal is simple: to give every voter, taxpayer, and community advocate the tools to follow the money and participate in the process that defines Delaware’s future.
The state budget isn’t just very long numbers on a very big spreadsheet – it’s a reflection of society’s shared values and priorities. It shows what we, as a community, choose to invest in: from classroom teachers to highway maintenance, from elder care to environmental protection.
Too often, that process can seem hazy and obscure, hidden behind acronyms and agencies. When citizens don’t understand it, they lose the ability to hold decision-makers accountable – or to advocate effectively for what matters most.
This multi-part series is designed to change that.
Over the coming weeks, this series will unpack six key topics:
Understanding how Delaware’s budget works isn’t just for accountants or politicians – it’s for everyone who wants a voice in the state’s direction. By learning how the process functions, you can:
Throughout this series, we will publish explainers, graphics, interviews, and a glossary of terms and definitions to make the state budget clear and relevant. We’ll show how fiscal policy connects directly to everyday issues – schools, healthcare, housing, small-business growth, environmental resilience, and the cost of living.
So, whether you’re a student, parent, business owner, or retiree, or (in some cases) a legislator, consider this your invitation: Take the time to learn how the Delaware State Budget works. It’s one of the most powerful ways to participate in democracy – and to help shape the quality of life in the place we all call home.
Coming Soon: Part 1 – The Four Buckets of Delaware’s Budget: How the State Organizes and Spends Its Money
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’ special series: Your guide to Delaware’s high-stakes budget process appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.
Through boom times and, more recently, slumping sales, Nike Inc. has stuck by a key claim about its overseas suppliers: They pay the average factory worker about twice the local minimum wage.
It’s a claim company co-founder Phil Knight first made in the 1990s, when the company faced accusations of sweatshop conditions in the overseas factories hired to make Nike’s apparel. And it’s one the sneaker giant has reasserted since 2021.
But the experiences of workers in Indonesia, Nike’s second-largest production hub, illustrate how misleading the claim can be for vast portions of its supply chain.
When a reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive visited the country and interviewed roughly 100 workers from more than 10 factories that supply Nike, none said they made anywhere near twice the minimum wage.
“Bullshit,” a union official said, in English, while sitting on a makeshift couch on the porch of his office near Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. (Like most workers currently employed by Nike suppliers, the official did not wish to be named because of fears of retaliation, including fines and termination.)
One worker from a factory in West Java asked a reporter where on the company’s website Nike makes the wage claim.
“No, no, no,” he said, through a translator. “It’s not true.”
“Nike is not paying double the minimum wage,” said a union official in Central Java, a lower-wage area where Nike’s contract factories have been expanding. “The fact is the opposite. Nike is seeking cheaper workers.”
Last year, a ProPublica reporter visited Cambodia and found that only 1% of the 3,720 workers at a former Nike supplier earned at least 1.9 times the minimum wage, based on a factory payroll ledger. Interviews and paystubs for other workers corroborated that earnings are typically closer to the minimum wage than double that amount.
A reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive subsequently spent seven days in Indonesia, where Nike’s contractors, including its materials suppliers, employ about 280,000 people.
All the workers interviewed said they made around minimum wage, which is as little as $150 a month in some parts of the country.
Sandra Cho, who oversees human rights for Nike, didn’t dispute that some factory workers — including in Indonesia and Cambodia — make less than 1.9 times the minimum wage, describing the figure as a “global average.”
“Some countries will be less than 1.9, some countries will be higher,” she said.
In Vietnam, Nike’s biggest production center, two workers told The Oregonian/OregonLive they made minimum wage — about $204 a month — but two said they made twice as much. That’s in keeping with reports from Nike’s competitor, Puma, which says its biggest factories in Vietnam pay around double the minimum wage.
Nike pushed back when asked whether it’s misleading for its disclosures to highlight the figure of 1.9 times the minimum wage.
“A company trying to mislead would not voluntarily publish wage data, openly acknowledge its journey toward improvement, or subject itself to third-party scrutiny,” Nike said in a written statement.
But the transparency that Nike provides is limited.
The company’s global pay figure is based on data for 700,000 of its roughly 1.2 million workers in its nearly 700 contract factories. In other words, nearly half a million workers are omitted from the math. Nike doesn’t disclose which factories, or which workers, are left out. It’s said that the data covers its biggest partners, which account for an outsize share of production.
(A Nike spokesperson said the wages of the roughly 500,000 workers not included in the calculation are audited to ensure they make at least the minimum wage.)
Nike competitors Adidas and Puma similarly produce wage estimates for only a subset of their suppliers, but they have published data down to the country level in recent years. Adidas reports wage variations within countries. Advocates say the data helps workers determine whether they’re paid fairly and push for pay increases if they are not.
Nike said focusing solely on pay relative to the minimum wage is a mistake.
The company’s main focus with wages is whether they’re high enough to cover basic expenses and a little more, Cho said, a concept known as a living wage. Some countries have minimum wages that meet that threshold, some don’t. Nike has said 66% of workers at its suppliers, at least those for whom it has data, earn a living wage. That’s up from 53% in 2021.
But living-wage calculations can vary widely, and they don’t always match the perceptions of people on the ground. Workers interviewed near Jakarta, where the local minimum pay rate is ostensibly more than a living wage, said it’s not enough to live on.
One said she wakes up seven days a week, before the sun rises, to set up a small shop in front of her home.
She sells groceries, gas canisters for cooking, water, cigarettes and snacks, mostly to housewives buying daily necessities.
She opens the store around 6 a.m.
A half hour later, on weekdays, she leaves for her job at the factory. Over the next eight hours, while her husband minds the shop, she works standing up, often in sweltering conditions, cutting fabric for 1,600 pairs of Nike sneakers — one every 18 seconds.
She returns to her small apartment around 6:30 p.m., eats a quick dinner of instant noodles, then goes back to the shop until 10 p.m.
She earns around $300 a month from making sneakers, just about minimum wage. The store brings in another $60.
“I always come home late, sometimes in the heat and rain,” she said through a translator, “but I still endure it to meet me and my child’s needs.”
Nike’s beginnings were rooted in the low labor costs that overseas manufacturing could offer.
In 1962, while working toward a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford University, Knight wrote an academic paper that became the company’s basic business plan. A core pillar: the disruptive power of cheap labor.
“Low Japanese labor costs make it possible for an exciting new firm to offer these shoes at the low low price of $6.95,” Knight wrote in 1964 in his first ad, according to his 2016 memoir, “Shoe Dog.”
In his book, he also wrote about the crushing poverty he saw on an around-the-world trip as a 24-year-old. Knight, who did not respond to detailed questions for this article, wrote in the book that hiring low-wage workers in developing countries would spur economic development.
The first decades of Nike’s history backed up his belief. As the economy bloomed in Japan and wages rose, Nike shifted production from Japan to Korea and Taiwan and, later, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“Thirty years ago, Nike shared that responsible participation in global manufacturing could accelerate economic development in emerging economies,” Nike said in its statement. “History has largely validated that.”
When Nike arrived in Indonesia in 1988, the country offered an enticing economic carrot to companies hunting for overseas factories: a minimum wage around $1 a day in Jakarta, compared with $8 in South Korea, $14 in Taiwan and $33 in Tokyo, according to a 1988 U.S. State Department report.
But Indonesia also presented new problems. The country was a target of activists because of its history of human rights abuses.
As companies ramped up production there, anti-sweatshop protests and negative press accounts multiplied, with some noting the country’s minimum wage was so low that many factory workers were malnourished.
Numerous stories took aim at Nike, whose soaring success, coupled with its popular athletic endorsers and corporate aloofness, made it a rich target.
The early coverage included a memorable 1992 story in Harper’s Magazine that showed the paycheck of an Indonesian factory worker who made $1.03 a day at the time and concluded she’d need to work more than 44,000 years to match Nike endorser Michael Jordan’s annual Nike income.
Knight and Nike pushed back on the criticism. Where Knight once sang the praises of low wages, he and the company now boasted the company’s suppliers paid generously.
In 1996, Nike distributed a fact sheet that said the median wage in its Indonesian factories was $108.65 a month, or more than double the minimum wage. In June of that year, Knight wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Times saying Nike “has paid, on average, double the minimum wage” to factory workers. A month later, he told CNN Nike paid “over two times” the minimum wage in Indonesia. He told shareholders in 1996 that pay was “double the minimum wage throughout Indonesia.”
The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine and the editorial board of The Oregonian, the biggest newspaper in Nike’s home state, all repeated the claim.
But The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica could find no contemporaneous data that supported Nike’s assertion. Neither could Nike.
“Those statements were made nearly 30 years ago, based on the data and understanding available at the time, and reflected a broader belief that responsible participation in global trade could raise incomes and expand opportunity in emerging economies,” Nike said in its 2026 statement. “Like most companies, we do not retain granular factory-level payroll data from partners in the mid-1990s.”
The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica found plenty to challenge the claim, including statements by the company itself. In fact, between 1994 and 2001, four reports issued directly by Nike, done at the company’s request or compiled by the U.S. government never put the average wage in Indonesia higher than 37% above the minimum.
When asked to address the contradictory numbers from the 1990s, Nike said via email: “What’s relevant today is how Nike operates now, including the rigor of our current disclosures, the progress we’ve made, and the work still ahead to advance wages and opportunity across our supply chain.”
The accuracy of Nike’s past wage claims didn’t go unchallenged.
In 1998, California labor activist Marc Kasky sued Nike, alleging several claims about its overseas factories were “deceitful” and false advertising.
He submitted a pile of Nike statements as evidence, including Knight’s letter to the editor of The New York Times.
Nike said in a court filing, without admitting any of its statements were inaccurate, that those statements were not subject to a court’s opinion about their veracity. The company’s words were protected by the First Amendment, Nike wrote, because they were intended not to sell Nike products but to answer Nike’s critics concerning “issues of public interest.”
Nike settled the lawsuit in 2003, for $1.5 million, without admitting fault. The money was earmarked for factory monitoring and programs for workers, including economic ones.
Since the Kasky settlement, Nike has published nearly 2,000 pages of reports on its work to become a better corporate citizen. The closest it came to shedding new light on wages was in 2021, when the company reported on new efforts to understand what factory workers earn.
The 184-page report said that workers had “average gross pay of 1.9 times the minimum wage” — almost identical to the assertion the company made back in the ’90s.
The company said it based the claim on information from 103 “strategic suppliers” in 13 countries that employed over 700,000 workers. The report did not identify the suppliers or disclose the wages paid to workers.
Nike reiterates the claim in a disclosure currently posted on its website, which has been updated with 2022 data. It’s now based on data from 111 factories.
Workers in Indonesia reported wide deviations from the company’s stated average pay for the supply chain as a whole.
The workers’ accounts of earning minimum wage or a little bit more are consistent with 63 paystubs from three Indonesian factories, which The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica obtained from a labor group. At two factories, workers averaged 1.1 times the minimum wage. At the other factory, workers averaged 1.4 times the minimum.
Those numbers align with disclosures of Adidas and Puma, which have released more information about factory wages than Nike.
In its 2024 annual report, Adidas said nearly 100,000 of its factory workers in Indonesia made between 1.1 and 1.4 times the minimum wage. Data from Puma’s 2024 sustainability report indicated that workers at four Indonesian suppliers averaged $208 in monthly wages, 17% above the average minimum wage where the factories were located.
Presented with detailed questions about pay practices, Nike said looking at pay relative to the minimum in isolation “misses the broader picture of real wage growth and economic development” in countries where Nike sources its goods.
In Vietnam, Nike’s contract factories account for 2.5% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to a 2019 diplomatic cable obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
“We’re proud of the role Nike and our industry have played in building employment, skills, and opportunity in many countries, including Vietnam today, where the industry contributes meaningfully to national GDP,” the company said, adding that it remained “committed to pushing for continued improvement.”
Nike’s Cho said the company’s work to lift wages includes a program that’s helped female workers advance into higher-paid positions. Roughly 80% of factory employees are women, Cho said, but men are 2.5 times more likely to get promoted off the manufacturing line. She said 21% of participants in the program got a promotion within three months.
The company said what matters more than what people are paid relative to the minimum wage is whether they make enough to cover basic expenses. Some regions of Indonesia, including Jakarta, have minimum wages higher than local living wage estimates by the WageIndicator Foundation, an independent Dutch nonprofit.
The living wage “is where we focus our energy and work,” said Nike’s Cho.
But an income that meets the living wage benchmark on paper doesn’t always match what workers say they need, at least in Indonesia.
Standing in an overgrown lot outside Jakarta, 30 workers broke into laughter when asked if they got paid enough to cover their basic expenses.
One said factory wages weren’t enough to pay for new uniforms, books and shoes for school-aged children.
Another worker estimated as much as 70% of her coworkers had second jobs, a comment that drew approving nods. That work includes operating motorbike taxis, fish farming, collecting scrap metal and cleaning fruit, workers said. Some workers sell goods inside the factory, including coffee, snacks and cosmetics, which they said comes with the risk of disciplinary action, including termination.
Knight once told documentary filmmaker Michael Moore that factory jobs were such a road to upward mobility that someone working in an Indonesian factory making Nike goods might someday be Moore’s landlord.
Two workers who invited a reporter into their homes in a neighborhood near Jakarta last summer were not landlords.
They lived in 150-square-foot barracks-style apartments with almost no furniture except for thin mattresses, which had been propped against the wall to create living space. Small electric fans cooled the apartments, which cost around $30 a month to rent.
Workers largely agreed Nike contract factories are preferable to local alternatives. Nike factories are clean and pay on time, they said. Many have exhaust fans that can provide some relief from the tropical heat. Forced overtime is no longer a problem. Government regulations tend to be followed.
But the workers said wages remain chronically low, describing the typical pay as only enough to support one person.
“It’s as if the company wants us to stay single forever,” a worker near Jakarta said.
Another worker said she started stitching Nike sneakers 25 years ago, about the time Knight spoke to Moore about workers becoming landlords.
She said after all those years, she makes $300 a month — roughly the local minimum wage.
The post Nike Says Its Factory Workers Make Nearly Double the Minimum Wage. In Indonesia, Workers Say, “It’s Not True.” appeared first on ProPublica.
Once a month, American labor activist Jim Keady logs into Remitly, an app for transferring money abroad, at his New Jersey home and sends $100 to a former Nike factory worker in Indonesia.
Cicih Sukaesih helped bring the world’s attention to the lives of the young women in poor countries who made sneakers in the 1990s, first by organizing a strike and later by marching onto Nike’s bucolic corporate campus in Oregon to demand a meeting with co-founder Phil Knight.
Her story — at a time of police and military harassment of labor organizers abroad — caught the attention of The New York Times and other news organizations. It also helped inform a generation of workers about their rights.
“She helped to birth, I would argue, the Indonesian trade union movement within Nike’s supplier factories,” Keady said.
But media attention and accolades don’t pay the bills. Cicih had trouble finding work following her 1990s activism. (Cicih prefers to go by one name. It’s pronounced “Chee Chee.”)
Decades after her crusade faded from the headlines, Keady and other labor organizers began sending Cicih money to keep her afloat.
“She took a stand and she was a revolutionary,” Keady said. “And she has nothing to show for it.”
Now 62, Cicih welcomed a reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive into her home last year, part of a reporting trip that included interviews with about 100 workers who make Nike sneakers, mostly in Indonesia, which was ground zero for the decade of sweatshop criticism that stained Nike’s reputation in the 1990s.
Cicih said she’s proud of the example she set by standing up to Nike. She said workers “became aware of their rights and aware of the law.”
“Many things changed,” she said.
The advocacy led to improvements, she said, including cracking down on child labor, installing better safety equipment and providing menstrual leave.
“Many of my friends,” Cicih said, “became brave enough to speak up.”
But she described her work as incomplete because problems linger, including chronically low wages.
Nike did not address specific questions about Cicih’s experience or about the Nike supplier that employed her in the 1990s, nor did Knight provide comment. Instead, Nike issued a broad statement saying, in part, “We’re appreciative of the efforts that individuals and organizations, including Cicih, have made in helping push the industry forward.”
Nike said the company has been “deeply committed to advancing a responsible and resilient supply chain for more than 30 years” and that while progress hasn’t been perfect, it has sought “systemic improvements across the industry.” Nike’s goal, the statement said, is that “all people involved in the manufacturing of Nike’s products are respected, valued, and treated fairly.”
Cicih keeps tokens of her activism in her home, including a framed poster that depicts a factory worker and reads, “Who made your shoes?”
Jeff Ballinger, a labor organizer who was prominent in the 1990s’ anti-sweatshop movement, gave it to her. In an interview, Ballinger said he still considers Cicih a “hero” — albeit unsung, even in Tangerang, the industrial hub where the Indonesian factory movement took off.
“Like in wartime, some people just step up,” Ballinger said. “In a perfect world, there’d be a statue of her in Tangerang.”
Cicih sat for an interview in a backyard filled by a chicken coop and a small garden that included pumpkins, bananas and edible bamboo. The small house she and one of her sisters inherited from their parents in Menes, her childhood village about a 90-mile drive west of Jakarta, is now home.
After putting out snacks that included a traditional Indonesian dessert made from rice and grated coconut in banana leaves, Cicih often flashed a wide grin as she reflected on a life intertwined with Nike’s emergence in her country.
Nike, then known as Blue Ribbon Sports, bought its first sneakers from Japanese factories in the 1960s. But as Japan’s wages rose, it shifted manufacturing to lower-cost Asian countries, including Taiwan and South Korea.
In 1988, it started making sneakers in Indonesia.
The country had a terrible human rights record, but it was eager to attract foreign investors. Factories in Jakarta paid wages as low as $1 a day, compared with $8 in South Korea, $14 in Taiwan and $33 in Tokyo, according to a 1988 State Department report.
In 1989, five years after she graduated from high school, Cicih joined one of her sisters making Nike sneakers at the Sung Hwa Dunia factory 40 miles west of Jakarta, Indonesia’s biggest city.
She started work each day at 7 a.m.
At first, she said, she cleaned glue and chemicals off sneakers with her bare hands. Then she moved to a glue line, attaching soles to shoes. The factory was poorly ventilated. Co-workers coughed from the fumes. Cicih recalled seeing one person faint and then return to the assembly line because factory managers didn’t give her permission to go home.
(The factory is still open, but it has changed owners and now has a different name. The current owner did not respond to emails. The previous owner could not be reached.)
Worker safety was “very, very bad,” Cicih said through an independent journalist The Oregonian/OregonLive hired to translate the conversation.
“There were many, many labor laws that the company did not follow,” she added.
Like today, the vast majority of factory workers were young women. Most of the managers were older men, which Cicih said led to a natural power imbalance and problems with sexual harassment.
“I have watched and seen a lot of women being sexually abused, or touched inappropriately,” she said.
There was constant pressure to meet daily production quotas.
Cicih made $1.26 a day, around minimum wage. A 1989 study found the minimum wage was so low that many factory workers were malnourished.
“It was not enough for me to get by on a daily basis,” she said. “However, I had to make it on the amount I received.”
Cicih often worked overtime until 9 p.m. Sometimes she worked on Saturday and Sunday, which she considered forced labor. The amount of overtime, she said, motivated her to “rebel.”
The turning point for Cicih came when one of the company’s buses, which workers rode to the factory and were always overcrowded, flipped and killed a co-worker.
“How can we protest this issue to the company?” she asked another co-worker.
Unbeknownst to Cicih, this co-worker had joined an organization that taught workers about labor rights. Cicih faked a doctor’s letter, got a sick day and took a class.
Through the organization, she met Ballinger, who had moved to Indonesia to organize factory workers. In 1992, Ballinger wrote a story for Harper’s Magazine that compared the wages of Sadisah, one of Cicih’s co-workers, to the earnings of Nike endorser Michael Jordan. Sadisah earned 14 cents an hour. It would have taken her more than 44,000 years to make what Jordan earned from Nike in a single year.
Cicih started skipping lunch and prayer breaks to organize her co-workers.
On Sept. 28, 1992, Cicih and workers from her factory went on strike. The New York Times reported 600 walked out, but Cicih and other activists have put the number of strikers in the thousands. They demanded better treatment of women, better union representation, better food, better transportation and, most importantly, better pay.
“A wage increase was the top priority,” she said, holding up the original document that listed protesters’ demands.
Her activism came with great risks. Around that time, Marsinah, a factory worker who was recognized last year as the country’s first National Hero from the labor movement, was kidnapped, tortured and murdered.
“Military and police were everywhere,” Cicih said, but she said her desire to help her co-workers “eclipsed all the fear.”
The strike lasted two days.
It ended after the factory agreed to increase wages for many employees, Cicih said, but she added that her seniority made her eligible for just a small raise. The company accepted other demands, including allowing menstrual leave. Cicih said she was the first worker to take it.
That same year that Cicih led the strike, Nike released a code of conduct, becoming one of the first brands to do so. Codes of conduct have since become the default method companies like Nike use to police overseas factories. The basic system: The company writes rules and contract factories agree to follow them. Auditors monitor compliance.
A few months after the strike, Cicih and roughly two dozen of her co-workers got laid off. Leslie Milano, a prominent American labor organizer in the early 2000s, said unemployment at the time was high in Indonesia.
“That’s why a lot of people didn’t want to do what Cicih did,” Milano said. “They didn’t want to lose their jobs.”
Cicih said that not long after being laid off, she was hauled into a police station and spent two days being pressured to confess to destruction of property and causing a disturbance. She was not allowed to go to the bathroom, she said.
Cicih said the police made her watch them beat a suspect. Then they made her sit in his blood, she said, before releasing her.
The Indonesian embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to questions about military repression of worker rights in the 1990s. (The country undertook democratic reform after the dictator Suharto stepped down in 1998, although problems remain.)
After her release, encouraged by Ballinger and others, she joined co-workers in filing a lawsuit against the factory alleging wrongful termination. The lawsuit went all the way to Indonesia’s Supreme Court. In 1996, Cicih and her co-workers prevailed. She got about $200 in back wages. She still has the check in a binder with other documents from her organizing days.
For two years of lost wages, Ballinger figures Cicih should have gotten more than $2,000. That would have been enough to set up a small business.
“It would have been a hell of a lot of money back then,” he said. The movement’s failure to deliver greater restitution to Cicih and others “is something that I’ll never get over.”
Around the time the lawsuit concluded, in July 1996, Cicih walked onto Nike’s suburban campus near Beaverton, Oregon, and demanded a meeting with the company’s co-founder.
“I’m here to meet with Phil Knight,” she said, according to The Oregonian’s coverage of her visit. “I want to ask him to consider the plight of Indonesian workers.”
Cicih had stayed in touch with Ballinger. He helped bring her to the United States to put pressure on Nike, one of four such visits she made to the country.
Knight refused to see her.
A week before Cicih arrived in Beaverton, Knight wrote a letter to her trip’s organizers, saying he was “sympathetic” to her case but preferred to meet with people “interested in constructive, proactive solutions, not those who announce their intentions through news conferences and mean-spirited media campaigns.”
He defended Nike’s response to problems at Cicih’s factory, saying Nike had worked to correct them.
“The factory where Ms. Sukaesih worked has been under new Indonesian management for two years, the grievances have been addressed and the minimum wage is in force,” Knight wrote. “In our view, this is an example of the benefit Nike brings in upgrading labor practices in emerging market societies.”
After she made her request to meet with Knight, a “trio of beefy Nike security guards” escorted Cicih off Nike’s campus and local sheriff’s deputies asked her to leave the premises, according to The Oregonian’s coverage.
Roughly a week later, Knight sat across the table from President Bill Clinton at the White House to talk about labor reforms, according to records obtained from the Clinton Presidential Library. Knight then stood in the Rose Garden behind Clinton as the president announced a sweeping effort to address sweatshop conditions in overseas factories.
“While I think that we have been good citizens within our industry, I think there’s clearly a lot more that we can do, that we can indeed be better,” Knight said in his brief remarks.
The meeting with Clinton led to the creation of the Fair Labor Association, one of several groups that monitor factory working conditions.
Knight publicly committed to specific sweatshop reforms in a 1998 speech at the National Press Club. Knight announced six changes, including heightened indoor air quality standards, increased factory monitoring and raising the minimum age in footwear factories to 18.
He didn’t say anything about raising wages.
These days, Nike factory workers in Indonesia told The Oregonian/OregonLive, the kind of forced overtime that sparked Cicih’s desire to “rebel” is nonexistent. They also said Nike lived up to Knight’s commitment to get underage workers out of Indonesian factories.
But they said problems remain.
In interviews, they criticized the auditing process, the linchpin of the factory monitoring system that Nike helped pioneer. Workers said factories know in advance when auditors will arrive. At one factory, workers said safety equipment had been distributed on the eve of an audit.
“The best time to work at a Nike factory is when it’s being audited,” a worker said.
Workers said more rigorous and consistent auditing would catch problems with safety and sexual harassment, which they said remain persistent.
Asked about the workers’ description of factories prepping for planned audits, Nike said that it conducts unannounced audits in addition to those that are scheduled in advance, and that these are supplemented by “worker engagement and well-being surveys,” among other efforts.
“When issues are brought to our attention, through any mechanism, we work with suppliers to validate, identify root causes and implement comprehensive remediation processes,” Nike said.
Nike’s most recent disclosures say 87% of the 623 suppliers it audited in fiscal year 2024 at least met the company’s basic code of conduct requirements. The company also disclosed a factory injury rate significantly below its peers. Less than 1% of code of conduct violations related to harassment and abuse, according to the disclosure.
Workers and union leaders also say their No. 1 concern — low wages — has not been addressed. Many said they work second jobs to make ends meet.
“One job isn’t enough,” Keady said. “They’re not getting a second job because they want to send their kid to a really good private school or they want to buy a home in a great neighborhood. They’re getting a second job because they can’t afford three meals a day for their family.”
Cicih also has struggled.
After her lawsuit against the factory that once employed her, she had the option to return, but she declined. She thought the environment would be uncomfortable because of her history as an organizer.
She did some volunteer work as a labor organizer. Some other organizers encouraged her to set up a small business.
Those efforts never panned out. She moved back to her hometown of Menes in 2018.
A sister on whom Cicih depended financially died during the pandemic. Cicih opened a roadside food stall and sold vegetable salad and gado gado, a type of Indonesian dish, but it didn’t go well.
She gets by on donations from American do-gooders, including Keady. She grows some of her own food. She doesn’t have a pension or savings.
“Nothing,” she said.
But she’s resolute.
“You have to do this,” she said, reflecting on her years as an activist. “You have to fight.”
The post She Was a Key Voice of the 1990s Labor Movement in Nike’s Indonesia Factories. Today She Relies on Donations From Abroad. appeared first on ProPublica.
Talk of a Turkish military alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan reflects Ankara’s opportunistic ‘hedging’ strategy Expert comment jon.wallace
An alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would not make NATO member Turkey better defended. But it would provide other advantages.
On 9 January, Bloomberg reported that Turkey was ‘likely’ to join the defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and that talks to do so were in an ‘advanced’ stage. Later that month Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Production told Reuters that a draft defence deal between the three countries had been prepared.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan agreed a defensive pact in September 2025, following American inaction on two occasions: initially in 2019, when Iranian drone attacks on Saudi Arabia failed to elicit more than mild condemnation from Washington; and in 2025, when Israel’s attacks on Qatar were met only with lukewarm rebuke.
The potential inclusion of Turkey into the alliance has received mixed reactions from Turkish commentators. Some interpret the anonymous briefing as more of a messaging strategy than concrete statement of intent. It remains to be seen whether the alliance will come to pass.
Certainly, a level of ‘synergy’ could exist in a Pakistan–Saudi–Turkey alliance. Turkey and Pakistan both have developed, modern defence economies which specialize in different sectors, and have become increasingly linked in recent years. The countries have a long history of cooperation on shipbuilding and fighter pilot training.
Turkey could provide access to NATO standards of training – by the standards of the Middle East, Turkey’s military is highly effective and capable – as well as large-scale shipbuilding facilities. Saudi finance would be welcome in reinforcing Turkey’s inflation-battered economy, just as it has been in Pakistan.
The idea that this might be an ‘Islamic NATO’ is misleading – most Muslim states sit outside the alliance, and religion lacks any real salience in regional foreign policy. But the alliance would likely be well-received by Turkish President Recep Erdoğan’s base, as well as playing into his own desire to be seen as a leader of the Muslim world.
Furthermore, historic tensions between Ankara and Riyadh have been more effectively managed since 2022, and no major international issue (currently) divides the three countries.
Turkey was content to side with Pakistan against India during their brief confrontation last year, going so far as to block the transit of Indian equipment through Turkish airspace. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has demonstrated satisfaction with the new regime in Syria, and the integration of the SDF into centralized Syrian institutions, aligning with Turkey’s position. The trio have also converged on their stance on Israel and the war in Gaza over course of the past year.
Like Saudi Arabia, Turkey’s potential alliance with Pakistan would represent a ‘hedging’ strategy, as it seeks to create redundancy around existing structures and partnerships. However, Turkey has less to gain from such an arrangement.
Whereas Riyadh has long sought a formalized defence agreement with Washington, Turkey has enjoyed a formal security agreement with the US for decades, via NATO. Nor does an alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan offer Ankara anything better than the status quo, or anything it couldn’t obtain via less binding means.
For a start, any offer by Pakistan to extend nuclear deterrence to Turkey is unrealistic. Pakistani missiles do not comprehensively reach Turkey’s potential adversaries. Their range covers Iran, and stretches as far as Rostov-on-Don inside Russia, but no further.
Pakistan is unlikely to station such weapons abroad, and even less likely to be drawn into a direct confrontation with a NATO state such as Greece. Turkey could pursue a technology transfer from Pakistan without a binding alliance. But that would mean leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and risking international isolation.
Most compellingly, within NATO, Turkey is already protected by American and British nuclear weapons: of considerably higher quality and reliability then Pakistan’s. Up to fifty American nuclear bombs are already stationed at Incirlik air base.
Ankara may view the alliance as a way to shore up its regional power, build its export base, acquire foreign currency, or develop its ballistic technology. But it could achieve such goals without committing to a binding mutual defence agreement. Its own armed forces are comparatively strong. And the ongoing peace process with the PKK in Turkey, and integration of the SDF in Syria, leaves it yet more secure. A Saudi–Pakistan alliance offers Ankara nothing that NATO or other agreements cannot do better. So why bother?
Some commentators have suggested the move indicates a lack of faith in NATO, following recent ‘America First’ belligerence. But such an explanation is insufficient. Even in the event of an American departure from NATO, European members would likely work hard to keep Turkey in the alliance, aligned against Russia, with whom it remains locked in competition.
If Turkey enters into a formal alliance with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, it would represent a broader regional trend of ‘hedging’: should NATO become unreliable in the future, Turkey is made more secure by a new, separate defence agreement.
But a new alliance would also represent a continuation of a uniquely Turkish policy of opportunism. Just as Turkey has reached out (or loudly announced it is reaching out) to BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), ‘hedging’ affords not only alternatives to alliances like NATO, but crucially leverage within them.
President Donald Trump has said on multiple occasions in recent months that he takes a “large” dose of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease. His comments could perpetuate a common misperception, so we wanted to clarify the current science and what the recommendations are.
Low-dose aspirin is recommended for people who have already experienced a cardiovascular event, but it generally isn’t recommended for those looking to avoid a first heart attack or stroke — and neither is high-dose aspirin.
Trump brought up his aspirin use in a Jan. 22 press gaggle when he was asked by a reporter about some bruising on his hand. “I would say take aspirin if you like your heart. But don’t take aspirin if you don’t want to have a little bruising,” he said. “I take the big aspirin. And when you take the big aspirin, they tell you, you bruise.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Trump’s physician said the president takes 325 milligrams of aspirin a day for “cardiac prevention.” That’s considered a high dose, compared with a typical low, or “baby,” aspirin dose of 81 milligrams.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump told the outlet in the same story, which drew on an October interview with the president. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart.”
Trump, who is 79 years old, similarly told the New York Times on Jan. 7 that he takes a “large dose” of aspirin because he wants “nice, thin blood going through my heart,” adding that he has taken aspirin for 30 years and has never had a heart attack or been diagnosed with heart disease of any kind.
Trump has expressed some awareness that his aspirin use deviates from the norm, suggesting on various occasions that his doctors have said that he is taking too much aspirin. It’s not clear if he knows that even low-dose aspirin is not typically recommended for people who don’t have cardiovascular disease. In his remarks, he is primarily speaking about his own case and does not appear to be giving advice to others.
Still, because his remarks could reinforce common misunderstandings about aspirin, we wanted to address the topic.
When we inquired, the White House did not clarify what Trump’s doctors have recommended, but provided a statement attributed to Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, that said the president takes 325 milligrams of daily aspirin “to maintain his exceptional cardiovascular health.” Barbabella added that Trump’s “medical evaluations and laboratory results continue to show excellent metabolic health, and have revealed his cardiovascular health puts him 14 years younger than his age. Overall, the President remains in exceptional health and perfectly suited to execute his duties as Commander in Chief.”
Aspirin is thought to lower cardiovascular risk by reducing blood clotting. By making platelets — the cell fragments that are involved in clotting — less sticky, clots are less likely to form. But for the same reason, aspirin also increases the risk of potentially dangerous bleeding.
While aspirin used to be more widely recommended, as early as 2014 the Food and Drug Administration concluded that “the data do not support the use of aspirin as a preventive medication by people who have not had a heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular problems, a use that is called ‘primary prevention.'”
“In such people,” the agency explained on its website, “the benefit has not been established but risks—such as dangerous bleeding into the brain or stomach—are still present.” The agency also emphasized that people should consult a doctor before starting any daily aspirin regimen.
In subsequent years, additional studies have shown that for many people without cardiovascular disease, the benefits don’t outweigh the risks.
Since 2019, the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association have said that aspirin “should be used infrequently in the routine primary prevention of [atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease] because of lack of net benefit.”
“Most people without known cardiovascular disease like a prior heart attack, stroke, or blockages in major arteries, do not need aspirin,” Dr. Ann Marie Navar, a preventive cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, told us. “This will increase their risk of bleeding problems – not just bruising but bleeding in the stomach or gut.”
Instead, she advised, people should avoid smoking, eat a heart-healthy diet, get regular exercise, and focus on lowering their cholesterol and keeping their blood pressure controlled.
She added that bruising is “common” among aspirin users and that mild bruising “is not concerning.”
The details are a little more nuanced in Trump’s case, as his cardiovascular risk is somewhat elevated, but the president is also taking more aspirin than is recommended. Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, chief of preventive medicine at Boston University, told us that given past reports that Trump has plaque build-up in his coronary arteries, it “may be reasonable” to take low-dose aspirin for cardiac prevention purposes. But, he said, the high dose “is certainly not needed or indicated.”
In 2018, Trump’s physician revealed that the president completed a coronary artery calcium test — a scan evaluating the amount of plaque in his arteries — with a moderately high score of 133. Although common for a man of his age, a score over 100 is suggestive of heart disease. Lloyd-Jones said the score “indicates that he has atherosclerotic coronary heart disease and subclinical cardiovascular disease at a moderately advanced state.”
If Trump is unaware of the changing practices around aspirin, he wouldn’t be alone. Last year, a survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, our parent organization, found that nearly half of U.S. adults mistakenly believe that the benefits of low-dose aspirin for cardiac prevention outweigh the risks.
For people without cardiovascular disease, daily aspirin is not explicitly recommended for any population for cardiovascular disease prevention.
According to the 2019 guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, which are the most recent, low-dose aspirin “might be considered” for people 40 to 70 years old who are at higher cardiovascular risk and do not have an increased risk for bleeding. For anyone above the age of 70 or a person of any age who has a higher risk of bleeding, the groups advise against routine aspirin use.
Similarly, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federally funded panel of independent national experts in disease prevention, advised in a 2022 update against starting low-dose aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in people 60 years or older. For adults 40 to 59 years old at elevated risk only, the group said the decision to use aspirin “should be an individual one,” as the net benefit is “small.”
Both guidelines were influenced by three large placebo-controlled trials that were published in 2018, which collectively involved more than 47,000 patients and helped clarify the current harms and benefits of low-dose aspirin in various groups.
The ARRIVE trial, which included men age 55 and older and women 60 and older at average cardiovascular risk, identified no cardiovascular benefit to low-dose aspirin and a small increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.
The ASPREE trial, which enrolled people who did not have cardiovascular disease and were mostly 70 years and older, found low-dose aspirin “resulted in a significantly higher risk of major hemorrhage and did not result in a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than placebo.”
The ASCEND study, which evaluated low-dose aspirin use in people 40 years and older with diabetes but no known cardiovascular disease, did identify a reduction in vascular events, but those were “largely counterbalanced,” according to the authors, by an increase in major bleeding events.
Earlier studies had found aspirin was more effective, Lloyd-Jones told us. As he also detailed in a 2022 editorial in JAMA Cardiology, this is likely because in the past, physicians were not very good at controlling blood pressure, cholesterol or other major cardiovascular risk factors. Now, in an era with statins and blood pressure medications, and less smoking, for example, there is less “room” for aspirin to be needed or to help, he said. And because aspirin has retained the same bleeding risk, it has shifted the risk-benefit calculus.
“For patients without ischemic heart disease, there is very clear evidence from randomized controlled trials that aspirin is not associated with a clear benefit (and may be associated with harm from bleeding),” Dr. William Schuyler Jones, an interventional cardiologist at Duke University, told us in an email, referring to the type of heart disease that occurs when arteries are narrowed, usually due to plaque build-up.
Still, Navar said that there is a bit of a gray area — and that many preventive cardiologists do recommend aspirin for people “with evidence of a lot of cholesterol buildup in their heart arteries,” such as those with “very high” coronary artery calcium scores.
Experts emphasized to us that for all the confusion and discussion about the recommendations for those without cardiovascular disease, for those with disease — such as after a stroke, heart attack or after a stent — there remains a strong recommendation to take low-dose aspirin to prevent another event, or what’s called secondary prevention. Some patients, however, may not take aspirin if they are on other blood thinners or anti-platelet medications, Navar said.
A 2021 trial, which Jones led, compared high- and low-dose aspirin in patients with established cardiovascular disease. It did not find that the higher dose was more effective. And while it also didn’t find that the higher dose led to more bleeding, patients often preferred to switch to the low-dose regimen.
Jones said patients with cardiovascular disease should take the low dose.
Other trials and observational studies, Navar said, “have shown higher doses of aspirin do increase bleeding risk.”
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The post Trump’s Aspirin Use and Doctors’ Recommendations appeared first on FactCheck.org.
The owner of a marijuana testing lab called a top regulator in Colorado on his cellphone in April 2024 with an urgent situation.
“We’ve got something that’s kind of a big deal,” he remembers saying.
During a routine test of a manufacturer’s products, Bona Fides Laboratory in Denver had found a toxic chemical in a popular brand of marijuana vapes sold at dispensaries in Colorado. The chemical, methylene chloride, is prohibited by Colorado’s marijuana regulators and for most uses by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because it can cause liver and lung cancer and damage the nervous, immune and reproductive systems. The owner felt he had a duty to call immediately rather than just submit a report through the state’s online system.
As state regulators investigated, they discovered a second problem: The product wasn’t derived from marijuana at all. It came from hemp, a close cousin of marijuana that is much cheaper to produce and that Colorado had banned companies from using to make intoxicating products for sale in the state.
Congress had legalized hemp in 2018 for other uses, such as clothing and rope, and because people believe its high levels of the nonintoxicating compound CBD can help them with seizures, pain and sleep. Hemp has extremely low levels of THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana that gets people high. And federal lawmakers thought allowing it would support farmers and rural jobs without the risks posed by marijuana.
But hemp manufacturers quickly figured out how to convert CBD into THC through a process that involves toxic solvents, creating products that sometimes contain harmful chemicals and that can be more potent than products made from marijuana.
Colorado was one of the first states to ban intoxicating hemp products made by chemical processing, initially with regulatory advisories and then with legislation in 2023. In doing so, lawmakers and Gov. Jared Polis boasted that Colorado — which had created the first regulated recreational marijuana market in the nation — was once again a model for how to smartly regulate cannabis, generating billions of dollars in tax revenue while keeping consumers safe.
But despite the ban, the legislature and regulators failed to adopt many critical regulations that other states have employed to keep hemp products off the shelves.
Unlike some other states, Colorado’s lab testing system operates largely on an honor code, with marijuana manufacturers free to choose the samples they send for analysis. Colorado won’t require labs to test those products for the toxic chemicals used to convert hemp to THC until this summer. The state is also now scrambling to set up its own testing program to randomly purchase products from dispensaries to verify safety.
The 2023 law also had an exception that allowed registered hemp companies to continue manufacturing intoxicating hemp products, but only for sale outside the state. Thuy Vu, a compliance consultant who once spearheaded the city of Denver’s marijuana manufacturing inspection regimen, warned lawmakers at the time that the carve-out “was an open invitation for bad actors” that would result in “misbranded products” proliferating in Colorado.
The cumulative effect of these gaps means hemp-derived vapes, gummies and other edibles, which may be more dangerous than traditional marijuana products, are making their way to consumers in Colorado, according to regulatory filings, independent testing and lab results filed in litigation against companies and the state.
Officials with the state Marijuana Enforcement Division declined requests for an interview. Agency spokesperson Heather Draper said in a statement that the agency updates its testing program on “a nearly annual basis” and “intends to pursue additional regulatory updates to the testing program this year.”
She said the division continues to investigate allegations of companies using hemp-derived THC in marijuana products but noted that the inquiries take time because “they can be highly complex and require significant resources to complete.”
After the passage of the 2018 federal farm bill, many states were caught off guard as people could buy hemp-derived vapes and gummies similar to marijuana products online or at gas stations across the nation, sometimes without age restrictions.
That sparked safety concerns as calls to poison control centers and emergency room visits related to known hemp products surged.
“When you have a market that is unregulated, difficult to assess and evolves very quickly, that is a calling card for nefarious agents to step in and make money,” said Michelle Peace, a toxicologist at Virginia Commonwealth University. “So, if they can make something that might have a little bit better of a kick, why not?”
With concerns mounting and states creating a hodgepodge of rules governing intoxicating hemp, Congress passed a law in November banning nearly all hemp-derived products starting in the fall of 2026. But how the government will implement that is an open question. In December, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to increase medical marijuana and CBD research, tasking his aides to develop regulations with Congress that would allow some hemp products while barring those that pose serious health risks.
For now, it remains up to the states to regulate hemp. And Colorado’s experience underscores how difficult that task is. The hemp derivatives have jeopardized a key promise made to the state’s voters: that marijuana legalization would drive out the black market and create a safer environment through regulation.
With hemp, the opposite has happened, marijuana industry representatives say.
Following the lab owner’s warning in April 2024, it took state regulators about two months to issue a public health advisory about the toxic vapes. The once-prolific vape manufacturer surrendered its marijuana license in January 2025. Last year, state regulators suspended two more marijuana operators after finding they used hemp-derived THC in products.
The Denver Gazette and ProPublica conducted their own testing on products purchased at legal cannabis dispensaries in August and September. Three of the 14 vape products tested contained compounds and chemical residues that several experts said were indicative of hemp. A fourth vape had a solvent often used to process hemp into THC.
The cases of manufacturers swapping marijuana for hemp have threatened Colorado’s marijuna industry so much that many companies are calling for tougher regulation. One even sued the state, asking a judge to force the Marijuana Enforcement Division to overhaul its testing regimen. In court filings, the agency argued that changing testing protocols was unnecessary and impracticable.
“The honor system is not working in Colorado,” Justin Trouard, owner of Mammoth Farms, the largest marijuana cultivator in the state, said in the lawsuit. “The strong economic incentives for hemp inversion have made it common practice in Colorado.”
Colorado seemed well-prepared to take on hemp after the world’s first stores licensed to sell marijuana opened there in 2014.
The state developed a “seed-to-sale” system to track marijuana from the initial planting to the purchase of pot, vapes and other products in dispensaries, which was meant to calm fears that marijuana grown in Colorado would be diverted to states where it remained illegal. Colorado also set up licensed private labs to test marijuana products for contaminants and potency. The tracking and testing became foundational elements that other states looked to when they set up their own legalization programs.
The first wake-up call for Colorado marijuana regulators about intoxicating hemp came in 2021.
A Broomfield man, whose business used marijuana to make the honey-colored syrup known as distillate that goes into vapes and gummies, reported that another company, Mile High Distributing, was making distillate from hemp and selling it as a marijuana product.
Mile High’s owner, Jeffry Knight, who ran a string of Florida nightclubs and restaurants, had teamed up with retired pharmaceutical industry chemist Harold Meckler to come up with a way to convert hemp CBD into highly potent and profitable THC distillate for a fraction of what it cost to use marijuana, according to patents, a state investigation and interviews with Knight and Meckler.
After investigating the complaint, Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division sought to bar Mile High from participating in the state’s marijuana industry, arguing the company had used solvents and a chemical conversion process that weren’t allowed to make a new hemp-derived concentrate for products sold in marijuana dispensaries.
At the suspension hearing, Meckler testified that Mile High’s hemp distillate was “probably safer” than what you get from “Mother Nature,” stressing that distillation should remove any chemicals used in the process.
But Heather Krug, then Colorado’s state cannabis sciences program manager, worried that did not occur and testified at the hearing about the dangers posed if chemical residue remained in the final product. “When you inhale something,” she said, “it tends to go directly into your lungs and into your bloodstream and goes right to your brain.”
Denver Fire Department officials expressed concern that if the chemicals inside Mile High caught fire or exploded, a plume of toxic gas would have reached 1 to 2 miles over Denver neighborhoods, according to a simulation run by the department’s hazmat team.
“A new breed of marijuana concentrate has entered Colorado’s cannabis market,” state hearing officer Milla Lishchuk said in her suspension order, warning that the state had failed to keep up with the changing industry. “Essentially, the marijuana ‘goods’ have changed in the cannabis market, but the laws — at least in Colorado — have not.”
She suspended Mile High’s marijuana manufacturing license for three years, and the company went out of business.
In an interview, Knight said that after his suspension, he had tests conducted on about a dozen products from Colorado dispensaries and found that two-thirds of them were hemp derivatives. He said his competitors simply stole his company’s patented techniques and were doing what he was suspended for.
“There’s a bunch of guys in Colorado that are making it illegally,” Knight said in the interview. (Knight is facing criminal charges in Florida after a fatal boat crash last year. He has pleaded not guilty.)
Knight and Meckler contend that they didn’t endanger anyone with Mile High products but that the chemical conversion process could be dangerous in the wrong hands. “There’s a lot of people that don’t know what they’re doing,” Meckler said.
Mile High’s case prompted Colorado regulators to issue warning bulletins about hemp-derived THC in 2021, but it took state lawmakers nearly two years before they passed legislation that confirmed regulators could ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products in Colorado.
By then, the hemp industry was already entrenched in Colorado. It had invested over $300 million in the state and generated $800 million in annual revenues, according to one industry estimate given to lawmakers. It’s unclear how much of that is intoxicating products. But an industry expert told a legislative task force that Colorado had become “the biggest provider of hemp-finished products in North America.”
Intoxicating hemp products were also spreading widely across the country. Several states took action. Oklahoma, for example, launched a secret-shopper program to ensure accurate labeling for its sanctioned medical marijuana products, including tests to detect banned solvents.
Other states that had followed Colorado’s lead in full marijuana legalization have since adopted more robust measures that Colorado did not. Of the 43 regulated recreational and medical marijuana markets in states and the District of Columbia, 24 require testing for methylene chloride.
Federal health officials also began to sound the alarm. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a public warning about the risks of hemp-derived THC in 2021 after a spike in hospitalizations, including children who had consumed hemp gummies.
The following year, the Food and Drug Administration warned that hemp that had been chemically converted into THC “may have potentially harmful by-products (contaminants) due to the chemicals used in the process.”
And studies found THC products derived from hemp caused more harm than marijuana. A review of FDA data from 2018 to 2021 found triple the number of adverse events tied to delta-8 THC, a compound common in products chemically derived from hemp, as that in delta-9 THC, the version found in marijuana.
Like other states, Colorado requires marijuana manufacturers to have labs test their products to ensure safety. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia require lab personnel to collect samples for testing to ensure that manufacturers don’t cherry-pick products for testing and hold back contaminated products.
But Colorado lets manufacturers select samples for testing. The state found two dozen cases in which companies had manipulated testing in 2024 alone, according to a review of Marijuana Enforcement Division reports. The violations ranged from substituting samples that were different from what companies sold in stores to the use of unauthorized chemical treatments on submitted samples.
In an April court filing in the lawsuit brought by Mammoth Farms, the division said it saw no reason to require testing for methylene chloride since it’s already banned and that doing so would be “unreasonably impracticable.” The agency’s attorneys said state employees couldn’t collect samples for testing because they are barred from possessing controlled substances, but the filing didn’t say why private labs couldn’t gather them.
Marijuana industry officials say this resistance by regulators has made it easier for manufacturers to cheat by using hemp-derived distillates. They also say the lack of regulation makes it hard to detect whether the distillate they buy is derived from hemp.
“It has never been cheaper to get the results that I want and more expensive to get an accurate understanding of what is in my inventory,” Justin Singer, CEO of Denver-based cannabis company Ripple, said at a recent policy forum. “If you actually want an accurate number, you cannot get one today if you care about accuracy. If you just care about passing the test, you can get that for 120 bucks.”
The gaps in Colorado’s marijuana laws have allowed hemp to keep showing up throughout the market. Time and again, Colorado has issued late warnings to the public or delayed enforcement action, even when officials were aware of the violations.
The biggest discovery of illegal hemp products occurred with the tainted vapes that Bona Fides Laboratory called about in April 2024. But it wasn’t the first time Colorado regulators had heard concerns about the company, Ware Hause. In October 2023, a whistleblower warned the Marijuana Enforcement Division that Ware Hause was chemically converting hemp to make intoxicating vapes and selling them as marijuana.
The state opened an investigation after the 2023 report, but regulators didn’t warn the public until June 2024, a couple of months after the lab reported the positive tests for methylene chloride. The Marijuana Enforcement Division told consumers to destroy or return Ware Hause vapes bought as many as five months earlier. The agency determined that samples Ware Hause had submitted for testing were not representative of what it put out to market.
Ware Hause’s owner, Thanh Hau, declined requests for an interview and did not respond to detailed questions.
The problem was more widespread than Ware Hause, according to Mammoth Farms, which grows marijuana and has a lot to lose if hemp infiltrates the market. The company sued Ware Hause and three other manufacturers last year, claiming that independent testing showed their vapes contained distillate derived from hemp.
Mammoth Farms argued that the low-cost hemp put consumers at risk and also put it and other companies at a competitive disadvantage. The companies have denied the allegations, and Ware Hause countersued, contending that Mammoth Farms was the one using hemp derivatives to make distillate, an allegation Mammoth Farms denied.
For now, Colorado doesn’t have a testing regimen to detect hemp to help sort out such conflicts.
In March, Mammoth Farms filed another lawsuit against the Marijuana Enforcement Division, arguing that the testing system and seed-to-sale tracking program were failing to catch impostor products derived from hemp.
During a court hearing in that case last spring, an official for Purplebee’s, once the largest marijuana distillate manufacturer in Colorado, said hemp distillate was making it hard to turn a profit. James Parco, former president of manufacturing, said the price of distillate had cratered to $2 a gram. That was down 85% from what testimony in another case estimated it had been four years earlier, and he said the decline forced his company out of the distillate business.
The judge dismissed the lawsuit against the enforcement division in May on procedural grounds, stating that Mammoth Farms should have petitioned regulators for rule changes before filing the suit.
Regulators have since found other hemp cases. The Commission Cartel, a marijuana manufacturer, surrendered its license in July after the Marijuana Enforcement Division found vials of hemp-derived compounds in a refrigerator at the factory it was using.
One of the company’s owners, Joshua Littlejohn, denied in an interview that the company used hemp in its edibles and said it had instead used hemp to manufacture body creams for another company, which state regulators said still wasn’t allowed because the hemp had intoxicating levels. He said he surrendered his license because fighting regulators would cost too much.
Colorado regulators have started taking steps to adopt regulations that other states have, with a trial of an off-the-shelf testing program to buy products from dispensaries and double-check the work of labs.
They also agreed to require testing for methylene chloride before any products can go to dispensaries. Still, the state delayed implementation until July to give labs time to adjust their practices.
“It’s not enough,” said Singer, the owner of Ripple. “It is a start. But like, again, they’re four years late at least.”
The post Smoke and Mirrors: How Intoxicating Hemp Seeped Into the First Recreational Marijuana Market in the Country appeared first on ProPublica.
Pinterest is cutting costs to create more cash flow for AI-focused roles and AI‑powered products, the company said in a filing Tuesday.
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