Leftovers

• Nicola Losito ☛ Leaving WordPress.com

  I’ve decided to follow my publications in English over my own domain (and self-hosted website) https://nicolalosito.it

• Scott Willsey ☛ Small Web, Indie Web

  I love the indie web. I love the modern take on personal websites. They are about linking and sharing and going down rabbit holes in a way that the way USED to be about, but now with modern design and personal touches of whimsy. In a way, as terrible as the mainstream web has become, infected with an almost certainly incurable cancer of advertising-driven enshiteification (sic), the indie web, the small web, the personal web is better than ever. And it makes the internet better than ever too, if you just focus your attention.

• James G ☛ Wandering pen

  I have been thinking a lot about what I can write over the last few days. I have been feeling a bit down and looking for inspiration to help spark new ideas. In amongst all of this, I have been reflecting on the role of wonder in my life. I noted a few days ago that I have renamed my blogroll page to a "wander" page. I want you, the reader, to wander across my website and others; to explore the web. I noted earlier today how looking at space through my computer screen when I was a kid made me wonder.

• Los Angeles Times ☛ Robert MacNeil, the TV journalist who brought news to PBS, dies at 93

  MacNeil was the founding anchor of “PBS NewsHour,” which was first launched in 1975 as “The Robert MacNeil Report” and later renamed “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.” In the years before cable news and the internet, the program was the lone national TV alternative to the newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC.

• Science

  • European Space Agency ☛ ESA - Space debris - evolution in pictures

    Owing to relative orbital velocities of up 56 000 km/hr, centimetre-sized debris can seriously damage or disable an operational spacecraft. Collisions with objects larger than 10 cm will lead to catastrophic break-ups, releasing hazardous debris clouds of which some fragments can cause further catastrophic collisions that may lead to an unstable debris environment in some orbit regions – the ‘Kessler syndrome’.

  • Jeff Geerling ☛ Photographing the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse (results)

    For this year's eclipse, I have mostly new gear, compared to 2017. Back then I was shooting Nikon full-frame, so I had my D750 and a rented 200-500mm lens. This year my primary camera was my APS-C Sony a6600 with the sony 70-350mm lens, and I posted a short video explaining my process last month.

• Education

  • SICP ☛ Related methods and tools

    The book Software: A Technical History has plenty of exercises and projects at the end of each chapter, to get readers thinking about software and its history and to motivate additional research. For example, here’s exercise 1 (of 27 exercises and 8 projects) from chapter 1 (Introduction to Software History): [...]

• Hardware

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Digesting the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference’s outcomes and implications for US-China 5G competition

    In February 2024, the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub convened a group of policy and industry experts for a private workshop to examine the outcomes of the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) held in Dubai from November 20 to December 15, 2023, as well as to discuss China’s ambitions for leadership in 5G technology and its economic and security implications for the United States, its allies, and partners.

  • CNX Software ☛ ADLINK unveils defective chip maker Intel Atom x7000RE & x7000C Amston Lake COM Express and SMARC 2.1 modules

    ADLINK has released two defective chip maker Intel Atom X7000RE & x7000C Amston Lake-powered modules with the cExpress-ASL COM Express Type 6 Compact module and the LEC-ASL SMARC 2.1 system-on-module both offered with up to 16GB LPDDR5 soldered-down memory and 2.5GbE networking. The modules are designed for high-performance, low-power, and ruggedized edge solutions running 24/7, and with support for defective chip maker Intel TCC and Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), the modules are also suitable for hard-real-time computing workloads required by use cases such as industrial automation, Hey Hi (AI) robots, smart retail, transportation, network communication, and more. defective chip maker Intel Atom x7000RE and x7000C Amston Lake processors The announcement came as a surprise because I had never heard about defective chip maker Intel Amston Lake processors so far.

  • The Register UK ☛ China orders telcos to rip out American chips by 2027

    Years after Uncle Sam ordered US telecommunications providers to rip and replace Huawei kit from their networks, Beijing is telling telcos in China to strip out American-made chips.

    On Friday, Chinese officials reportedly ordered its top telecoms players to eliminate foreign semiconductors — primarily those from Intel and AMD — within the next three years.

  • India Times ☛ US lawmakers angry after Huawei unveils laptop with new Intel AI chip

    A source familiar with the matter said the chips were shipped under an existing license. They are not covered by recent broad-cased restrictions on AI chip shipments to China, the source and another person said.

  • VOA News ☛ US: China strengthens Russian war machine with surging equipment sales

    The officials said that Russia has received military optics for use in tanks and armored vehicles manufactured by Chinese firms iRay Technology and North China Research Institute of Electro-Optics, and that China has been providing Russia with UAV engines and turbojet engines for cruise missiles.

    Russia’s semiconductor imports from China jumped from $200 million in 2021 to over $500 million in 2022, according to Russian customs data analyzed by the Free Russia Foundation, a group that advocates for civil society development.

  • NL Times ☛ Beijing ordered Chinese companies to stop using foreign microchips, says WSJ

    Beijing is specifically thwarting American chip makers with this move. In recent years, companies like Intel and AMD have been very active in delivering chips to Chinese telecom companies.

    It is not the first time China has tried to keep foreign chips out of its business sector. Last month, it was discovered that electric car manufacturers were asked to use as many Chinese chips as possible.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • RFA ☛ Wildfire destroys prized mushrooms, income source for Tibetans

    The primary places where the mushrooms grow in China are within the Tibetan plateau, including in Nyagchu county, which accounted for more than 12% of China’s annual output, according to the Yajiang County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Science and Technology Bureau.

  • Green Party UK ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Reaction to Wes Streeting comments on NHS reform and private sector involvement

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] How food preferences are linked to cognition and brain health – and why a balanced diet is superior

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] The five-step wellness model that really works – and the psychology behind it

  • Increased Age-Adjusted Cancer Mortality After the Third mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccine Dose During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, excess deaths including cancer have become a concern in Japan, which has a rapidly aging population. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate how age-adjusted mortality rates (AMRs) for different types of cancer in Japan changed during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022). Official statistics from Japan were used to compare observed annual and monthly AMRs with predicted rates based on pre-pandemic (2010-2019) figures using logistic regression analysis. No significant excess mortality was observed during the first year of the pandemic (2020). However, some excess cancer mortalities were observed in 2021 after mass vaccination with the first and second vaccine doses, and significant excess mortalities were observed for all cancers and some specific types of cancer (including ovarian cancer, leukemia, prostate cancer, lip/oral/pharyngeal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and breast cancer) after mass vaccination with the third dose in 2022. AMRs for the four cancers with the most deaths (lung, colorectal, stomach, and liver) showed a decreasing trend until the first year of the pandemic in 2020, but the rate of decrease slowed in 2021 and 2022. This study discusses possible explanations for these increases in age-adjusted cancer mortality rates.

  • Long COVID: Sufferers can take heart

    There is concern that COVID-19 vaccination per se might contribute to long COVID, giving rise to the colloquial term ‘Long Vax(x)’.22 The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 exhibits pathogenic characteristics and is a possible cause of post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccination.

  • The Telegraph UK ☛ Pfizer accused of ‘bringing discredit’ on pharmaceutical industry after Covid social media posts

    Pfizer has been accused by the UK’s pharmaceutical watchdog of “bringing discredit” on the industry after senior executives used social media to promote an “unlicensed” Covid vaccine...

  • Conservative Woman ☛ mRNA Vaccines Must Be Banned Once and For All

    THOSE of us who knew from the beginning that the sequence of CoV-SARS-2 contained inserts which could not have possibly occurred naturally, and were similar to ones that had already been published from the Wuhan laboratory, have had to endure unbelievable scorn, scientific ostracism and the ignominy of being ‘cancelled’ by the MSM as well as by professional colleagues for nearly three years now.

    [...]

    To advise booster vaccines, as is the current case, is no more and no less than medical incompetence; to continue to do so with the above information is medical negligence which can carry a custodial sentence.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Over 40% of Hong Kong civil service dismissals for misconduct in past 5 years linked to breach of Covid vaccine rules

    More than 40 per cent of Hong Kong civil servants dismissed over the past five years were sacked over not complying with the city’s vaccination requirements when Covid-19 rules were in place.

  • Stanford University ☛ Faculty Senate debates undoing Scott Atlas censure

    The Faculty Senate tabled undoing the public censure of Hoover fellow Scott Atlas, who made anti-vaccine and inflammatory comments during the COVID-19 pandemic, to a later date. The Senate failed to pass a resolution on public Canvas.

  • Federal News Network ☛ COVID-fraud crackdown has netted over $3B since 2021

    A new report indicates that the Fraud Enforcement Task Force filed criminal charges against more than 3,500 people.

  • Latvia ☛ Old Rīga revitalization plan promised

    As tourists continue to gradually return to Rīga after the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rīga city council is planning a special revitalization program for Old Riga this year, which has been allocated one million euros, city Executive Director Jānis Lange told Latvian Radio in an interview.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Hollywood Reporter ☛ New Roku Hack: Half a Million Accounts Compromised in New Data Breach

    “After concluding our investigation of this first incident, we notified affected customers in early March and continued to monitor account activity closely to protect our customers and their personal information,” the company said in a statement. “Through this monitoring we identified a second incident, which impacted approximately 576,000 additional accounts.”

  • India Times ☛ Roku says more than 500,000 accounts impacted in cyberattack

    Streaming service provider Roku said on Friday it identified a second cyberattack that impacted about 576,000 additional accounts while investigating a breach that affected 15,000 user accounts earlier this year.

  • Bit Flip LLC ☛ Dark Visitors - A List of Known AI Agents on the Internet

    Insight into the hidden ecosystem of autonomous chatbots and data scrapers crawling across the web. Protect your website from unwanted AI agent access.

  • The Verge ☛ Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu

    Microsoft says it’s starting to test ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11. The software maker will use the Recommended section of the Start menu, which usually shows file recommendations, to suggest apps from the Microsoft Store.

  • Brandon ☛ Taking the Final Step to De-Google

    I went through and backed up a handful of videos I had uploaded for my wife on YouTube and then gutted it. Afterwards, I took the axe to what little bit I had on Google Drive where my only true loss was the syncing I got from the FBReader. Then I hit the handful of pictures I had left on Google Photos, mostly leftover from old blogs. And now I have basically nothing associated with my twenty year old Google account. I'm going to give it another day just to make sure I'm not forgetting anything, but then disassociating myself from Google for good.

Security

• Privacy/Surveillance

  • AntiWar ☛ The CIA Wants More Power To Spy on Americans

    Americans need to be aware of the unbridled propensity of federal intelligence agencies to spy on all of us without search warrants as required by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

  • Security Week ☛ House Will Try Again on Reauthorization of US Spy Program After Republican Upheaval

    Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to bring forward a Plan B that would reform and extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for a shortened period of two years.

  • RTL ☛ Targeting foreigners: US House okays renewal of controversial surveillance program

    While it is meant to be used solely to spy on foreign citizens -- by monitoring email traffic and other communications -- Americans' messages can get pulled in if they are in conversation with the foreigners being surveilled.

    Concerns over possible abuses had drawn strong opposition from some privacy-minded Republicans and progressive Democrats.

    Renewal still requires approval by the Senate, where its prospects are not clear. If it fails there, it could lapse next Friday.

  • Wired ☛ House Votes to Extend—and Expand—a Major US Spy Program

    The House bill also dramatically expands the statutory definition for communication service providers, something FISA experts, including Marc Zwillinger—one of the few people to advise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)—have publicly warned against.

    “Anti-reformers not only are refusing common-sense reforms to FISA, they’re pushing for a major expansion of warrantless spying on Americans,” US senator Ron Wyden tells WIRED. “Their amendment would force your cable guy to be a government spy and assist in monitoring Americans’ communications without a warrant.”

  • Scheerpost ☛ House Votes To Extend Warrantless Spying Powers

    US lawmakers have passed a bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a law which allows the government to surveil American citizens without a warrant. A small group of Republicans previously blocked the vote but allowed it to proceed following a minor amendment to the law.

    The two-year extension passed the House on Friday in a bipartisan vote of 273-147, with 126 Republicans and 147 Democrats supporting the bill, which will now proceed to the Senate. Though lawmakers also debated an amendment that would have forced federal agencies to obtain warrants before spying on Americans, it failed in a tie vote.

Defence/Aggression

• New York Times ☛ Protesters in Niger Call for U.S. Military Exit

  About 1,000 American military personnel are stationed at a remote drone base in Niger’s desert, from which they fly drones tracking movements of extremist groups in Niger and throughout the region.

• Modern Diplomacy ☛ Impending War with Iran: Israel’s Lawful Opportunity to Prevent Iranian Nuclear Weapons

  Abstract: Israel’s “no choice” Gaza War has been fought primarily against sub-state terrorist adversary Hamas. In the coming weeks, however, a threatened “retaliation” from Iran for Israel’s recent self-defense killing of a senior Iranian commander in Damascus could spark an active war between the two states. Ordinarily, it would be in each adversary’s interest to avoid such a war altogether, but in the particular case at hand, direct military engagement could prove gainful for Israel. Because Israel must do whatever possible to prevent its openly-genocidal enemy in Tehran from becoming nuclear, a war of vengeance initiated by Iran could offer Israel a law-based and time-urgent opportunity for “anticipatory self-defense.” Though such an argument could first appear provocative or “war mongering,” it would more likely turn out to be life-saving. With this clarifying background in mind, the following article by Louis René Beres, Emeritus Professor of International Law at Purdue University, examines the lawfulness and rationality[i] of a now-impending war with Iran. To be sure, the tangible human and material costs to Israel would still be very high, but fighting against a pre-nuclear and terror-sponsoring state that had commenced the aggression could represent Israel’s best remaining chance to avoid an eventual nuclear war. Tehran’s mid-April promise that its declared strike against Israel would be intentionally limited “to avoid escalations” was disingenuous on its face. Prima facie, during any crisis search for “escalation dominance” by an already-nuclear Israel and a not-yet-nuclear Iran, competitive risk-taking would favor the former.

• El País ☛ Distrust in elections spreads in democracies around the world

  Distrust in the cleanliness of electoral processes, dissatisfaction with government management and a negative view of judicial systems: these are just some of the perceptions that citizens have about how democracy functions. The findings come from the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), which conducted a survey of voters in 19 countries on five continents between July of 2023 and January of this year.

• The Hill ☛ Shut down the extremists controlling the Israel-Gaza narrative

  It is far too easy to speak with righteous indignation, lacking humility or even a basic understanding that we live on the other side of the world. TikTok is not reality, and ignorance is often mistaken for insight and indoctrination for education. Many of us consistently encounter people who demonstrate a profound lack of knowledge about the complex history of this region and the Jewish people.

• VOA News ☛ Suspected Islamist rebels kill at least 10 in Democratic Republic of Congo

  The ADF originates from neighboring Uganda. Now based in eastern Congo, it has pledged allegiance to Islamic State and mounts frequent attacks, further destabilizing a region where many militant groups are active.

• Le Monde ☛ TikTok Lite, a new app quietly released in France that rewards screen time

  To earn these rewards, TikTok Lite encourages its users to perform certain actions, thanks to a dedicated dashboard specifically highlighted on its home page. Log in daily, like videos, follow third-party accounts, invite friends and, above all, watch a massive quantity of videos. Each user is presented with a daily target of 3,600 coins (€0.36), equivalent to an hour spent consuming new content, with reward levels and an omnipresent on-screen gauge that fills up as viewing time progresses.

• Deutsche Welle ☛ Germany has detained 700 people smugglers — minister

  Germany is having more success in tackling illegal migration, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told a regional newspaper group on Saturday.

  "Our border checks have detained 708 smugglers since October and prevented 17,600 unauthorized entries," Faeser said in an interview with the Funke media group.

• Defence Web ☛ Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean attacks expose Africa’s maritime vulnerability

  Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthi militia in Yemen have exposed the vulnerability of African maritime security. Since November 2023, there have been 133 reported incidents, including 14 vessels struck by missiles or drones and 18 vessels hijacked by Somali pirates. >

• RFERL ☛ Russia Sends Military Instructors To Niger

  Russian military instructors arrived in Niger in a plane loaded with military equipment, Niger state television RTN said on April 11, citing an agreement between the junta and Russian President Vladimir Putin to boost cooperation.

• France24 ☛ US sends reinforcements to Middle East, Hezbollah targets Israeli positions

  The United States on Friday said it was sending reinforcements to the Middle East amid growing fears that Iran could attack Israel in retaliation for what it claims was an Israeli strike last week on its consulate in Syria. A high-ranking officer of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was killed in the attack. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, meanwhile, said it had targeted Israeli artillery positions Friday in response to what it said was Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.

• France24 ☛ Exodus from key town on Myanmar-Thai border as it falls to anti-junta resistance

  A stream of people, some fearing air strikes, queued at a border crossing to flee Myanmar early on Friday, a day after the strategically vital town of Myawaddy near Thailand fell to anti-junta resistance that is gaining strength.

• Security Week ☛ US-China Competition to Field Military Drone Swarms Could Fuel Global Arms Race

  Military planners envision a scenario in which hundreds, even thousands of AI-powered machines engage in coordinated battle.

• RFERL ☛ Israel Vows Defense If Iran Responds To Attack On Consulate

  Israel’s military says it is prepared to defend the country and strike back if Iran retaliates for a deadly air strike on the Iranian Consulate in Syria.

• RFERL ☛ Lufthansa Extends Suspension Of Flights To Tehran Amid Rising Tensions

  Germany's Lufthansa extended a suspension of its flights to Tehran on April 11 with the Middle East on alert for Iranian retaliation for a suspected Israeli air strike on Iran's embassy in Syria.

• The Straits Times ☛ Indonesia denies using air strikes in Papua region, where kidnapped NZ pilot is

  The rebel group said it will only release the pilot through a negotiation facilitated by the United Nations.

• New York Times ☛ U.S. Targets May Not Be on List in Possible Iran Attack, Officials Say

  In anticipation of the Iranian strikes, several countries, including the United States, issued new guidelines to their citizens about travel in Israel and the surrounding region.

• New York Times ☛ Iran Likely Will Strike Israel, Not U.S. Forces, U.S. and Iranian Officials Say

  Retaliation by Iran is expected on Israeli soil in the next few days, but officials say Iran does not want to draw the United States deeper into the conflict.

• New York Times ☛ U.S. Issues New Travel Restrictions Over Possible Iranian Strike

  The State Department has barred its employees from traveling to large parts of Israel. Iran has repeatedly vowed to strike back over the deadly bombing this month of an Iranian Embassy complex in Syria.

• Reason ☛ Will American Troops Be Sucked Into an Israeli-Iranian War?

  President Biden said that we will “do all we can to protect Israel’s security” after Israel killed an Iranian general.

• The Conversation ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] Nukes in space: a bad idea in the 1960s – an even worse one now

• Insight Hungary ☛ Xi Jinping to visit Budapest in May

  Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to go on a diplomatic tour across multiple European countries in May, Radio Free Europe reported. The tour includes a stopover in Belgrade before he arrives in Budapest.

  It is not Xi Jinping's first visit to Hungary, he paid a four-day official visit to Budapest in October 2009. During this earlier visit, he held the title of Vice President of the People's Republic of China. He was warmly welcomed by President László Sólyom and Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, leading to the signing of 15 bilateral agreements between the two nations.

• US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-10 [Older] US Senator Says TikTok Divestiture Deadline Could Be Extended to One Year

• US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Analysis-If You Can’t Beat 'Em? European Politicians Embrace TikTok Despite Security Fears [Ed: CPC will exercise control over their online platform]

• US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Germany's Scholz Joins TikTok in Bid to Reach Young Voters [Ed: Scholz is giving CPC even MORE control over what EU politicians can say and what gets shadowbanned]

• US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Some States Are Seeking to Restrict TikTok. That Doesn't Mean Their Governors Aren't Using It

• Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

  • France24 ☛ Germany to send new Patriot air defence system to Ukraine at 'critical time', says Zelensky

    Germany will supply a U.S.-made Patriot air defence system and air defence missiles to Ukraine at a "critical time" as Kyiv struggles to defend its energy system from Russian bombardment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.

  • RFERL ☛ Germany To Send Additional Patriot System To Ukraine As Scholz, Zelenskiy Talk

    Germany will send an additional Patriot air-defense system to Ukraine to bolster its hard-pressed military and help it fend off increased Russian air strikes, Berlin said on April 13.

  • RFERL ☛ Last Reactor At Ukrainian Nuclear Plant Put Into Cold State

    The last reactor at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been shut down as fighting continues in the area for the third year.

  • RFERL ☛ Situation In East Has 'Deteriorated,' Ukrainian Commander Says, As Dry Conditions Aid Russia

    Russian attacks have intensified in eastern Ukraine and conditions for Kyiv's forces have "deteriorated significantly" as dry, warmer weather is allowing the easier movement of Russian tanks and troops, according to Ukraine's top military commander.

  • RFERL ☛ At Least 50,000 Russian Military Deaths, Likely Thousands More, Recorded In Ukraine War

    An independent Russian media outlet has documented more than 50,000 deaths among Russian military personnel since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, and says tens of thousands more are believed to have died.

  • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Draft Dodgers Run, and Swim, to Avoid the War

    With Russia seizing the initiative on the battlefield in recent months, Ukraine’s ability to defend itself hinges on replenishing its arsenal of weaponry and mobilizing troops.

  • France24 ☛ Russia summons French ambassador over foreign minister's 'unacceptable' comments

    Russia on Friday summoned the French ambassador to Moscow following “unacceptable” comments by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, the Russian foreign ministry said.

  • JURIST ☛ Belgium prime minister announces investigation into alleged Russia interference in EU elections

    Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander de Croo announced in a press conference on Friday that Belgium has opened an investigation into alleged Russian interference in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections. The Prime Minister specified that the Belgian intelligence received information from Czech authorities that revealed pro-Russian activity in the EU involving several types of espionage networks.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S., Britain Take Action Targeting Russian Aluminum, Copper, Nickel

    Washington and London has prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminum, copper, and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals to the United States and Britain.

  • RFERL ☛ Water Levels Rise Again To Record Levels In Southern Russia, Kazakhstan

    Authorities in the Russian city of Orenburg called on thousands of residents to evacuate immediately on April 12 due to rapidly rising floodwaters after major rivers burst their banks due to a historic deluge of melting snow.

  • New York Times ☛ Protesters in Niger Call for U.S. Military Exit

    Trainers and equipment from Russia landed in the West African nation this week, putting the continued presence of 1,000 U.S. military personnel there in doubt.

  • RFERL ☛ Belarusian Rock Band Known For 2020 Protest Song Branded 'Extremists'

    The Belarusian dissident rock band Nizkiz and its three members have been declared extremists and sentenced to 2 1/2 years of restrictions on their freedom of movement after being convicted on criminal charges of violating public order.

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Russia Allows LNG Producer Novatek to Set up Own Security Guard

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Russian Court Lengthens Sentence for Jailed Former Navalny Staffer

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Russia Says Ukraine Struck Nuclear Plant Again, Kyiv Denies the Attack

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Ukraine Races to Fix and Shield Its Power Plants After Russian Onslaught

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Ukraine Struck Russian Aviation Factory in Voronezh Region, Ukrainian Spy Source Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] UN Atomic Watchdog Says the Status of Russian-Occupied Ukraine Nuclear Plant Is 'Extremely Serious'

  • CBC ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Canada's new defence policy focuses on threats to Arctic, boosting military 'striking power'

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Russia evacuates thousands amid floods in Ural region

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Visits Beijing to Emphasize Ties With Strongest Political Ally

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Russia Says Ukraine Tried to Strike Nuclear Power Plant Again With Drone

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Ukraine and Russia Trade Fresh Accusations of Targeting a Major Nuclear Power Plant

  • The Age AU ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Released from prison to fight Ukraine, they return to Russia to kill again

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Attacks on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Significantly Increase Accident Risk, IAEA Head Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Record Flood Waters Rise in Russia's Urals, Forcing Thousands to Evacuate

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Russia Declares Flood-Hit Orenburg Region a Federal Emergency With Other Regions Under Threat

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Russia's Lavrov to Visit China to Discuss Ukraine War

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Three Civilians Killed in Russian Strike on Zaporizhzhia Region, Kyiv Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Russian Nuclear Company Says Three Hurt in Ukrainian Attack on Zaporizhzhia Plant

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Woman Killed by Ukrainian Drone Shrapnel in Russia's Belgorod Region -Governor

  • CBC ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Zelenskyy warns air-defence missile supply could run out, as Kharkiv hit by new Russian strikes

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Kharkiv targeted in deadly Russian strike on Ukraine

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Russia: Orenburg officials urge evacuations amid flooding

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Russian Descent Vehicle Lands in Kazakhstan With Three Astronauts

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Ukraine's Zelenskiy Warns of Dwindling Air Defence Missiles

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Two Dead in New Russian Strike on Kharkiv, Injures Seven - Regional Governor

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Russia Calls for Investigation Into 'Dangerous' Transdniestria Drone Attack

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Russia Evacuates Around 2,000 People From Homes in Flood-Hit Orsk

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Russian Missile Strikes in Ukraine Kill 8 and Wound 12

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Tajikistan Rejects Russian Claim That Ukraine Is Recruiting Its Citizens

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Thousands Are Evacuated After Floods Break a Dam in the Russian City of Orsk

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Ukraine's Zelenskiy Warns of Dwindling Air Defence Missiles

  • HRW ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] Russia: In Wake of Concert Attack, Central Asians at Risk

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] Mayor of Russia's Orenburg Orders Evacuations Amid 'Critical' Flooding

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Russian team stops paying Dutch footballer Quincy Promes due to incarceration

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] German AfD politician rejects Russian payment claims

  • HRW ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Birthday Behind Bars in Russia

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Fragments of Presumed Russian Drone Found in Moldova

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Man Stabs Governor of Russia's Murmansk Region With Knife

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] MP's demand names of Dutch politicans possibly bribed by Russia; Tricky, Minister says

  • Spiegel ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Interview with Former Russian Central Bank Economist: "It's Time To Slowly Bleed Russia's Economy Dry"

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Germany's AfD Asks Its Lawmaker to 'Clarify' Russian Cash Report

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] France Denies Showing Readiness for Ukraine Dialogue in Russia Talks

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Russia Widens Grain Export Curbs, Halts Some Aston Ships, Sources Say

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Russian Drone Attack Kills Five in Ukraine's Kharkiv, Officials Say

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-10 [Older] Ukraine updates: Switzerland to host 'peace summit' in June

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-10 [Older] Trump Thinks It's Not Appropriate to Visit Ukraine as Presidential Candidate

  • CPJ ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] At least 4 Ukrainian journalists injured in consecutive attacks on Ukraine

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Ukraine updates: US sends seized Iranian weapons to Ukraine

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Top Military Leaders Face Congress Over Pentagon Budget and Questions on Israel and Ukraine Support

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] UK's David Cameron in Washington for Ukraine Talks After Meeting Donald Trump in Florida

  • Vox ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] What’s behind the latest right-wing revolt against Mike Johnson

  • Scheerpost ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Meet Centuria, Ukraine’s Western-Trained Neo-Nazi Army

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Ukraine updates: More strikes reported near Zaporizhzhia

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Explainer-The Nuclear Power Plant in the Eye of the Ukraine War

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Kremlin Says Ukrainian Attacks on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Are Very Dangerous

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] GL-PvdA: A quarter of a percent of the Dutch economy should go to Ukraine every year

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Ukraine: Drone attack damages Zaporizhzhia power plant

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Slovakia: Ukraine-skeptic Pellegrini wins presidential race

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Support for Ukraine Key to Restoring Peace in Europe, Germany's Scholz Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] Ukrainian Forces Still Control Eastern Town of Chasiv Yar, Top General Says

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] Ukraine needs peace more than anything else

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] Is Telegram a threat to Ukraine's national security?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Ukraine updates: Deadly drones strike Kharkiv residents

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Ukraine: NATO membership a question of 'when, not if'

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy says fewer troops needed to fight

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Ministers to Mark 75 Years of NATO, Discuss More Support for Ukraine

Transparency/Investigative Reporting

• The Register UK ☛ AI spam is winning the battle against search engine quality

  "What's clear right now is that there's no one spamming Google [that's] not doing it with AI," Gillham told The Register. "Not all AI content is spam, but I think right now all spam is AI content."

  Gillham's team has been producing monthly reports to track the degree to which AI-generated content is showing up in Google web search results. As of last month, about 10 percent of Google results point to AI content, it's claimed, and that's after Google vowed to take down a whole host of websites that were pushing such trash.

Environment

• Scheerpost ☛ Why Are Politicians Still Courting the Nefarious Fossil Fuel Lobby?

  But the egregious social, environmental, and human rights record of Big Oil did not deter high-level officials from the federal government and some state governments, from both major political parties, from attending and speaking at this event, giving it a stamp of official approval and legitimacy it didn’t deserve.

• Energy/Transportation

  • DeSmog ☛ Reform’s National Organiser Claimed Tommy Robinson Had Been ‘Persecuted’

    One of Reform UK’s senior officials publicly defended far-right figure Tommy Robinson, DeSmog can reveal. 

    The party is standing by Noel Matthews, who is running as Reform’s parliamentary candidate for North West Leicestershire, despite other candidates having been dropped for similar offences. 

• Wildlife/Nature

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Flowers may be more ancient than dinosaurs – but scientists can’t agree on when they evolved

  • Vox ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Are rainforests doomed? Not necessarily.

Finance

• Some Tesla employees worry that layoffs are coming

  Some Tesla employees are concerned that layoffs are imminent, possibly as soon as this weekend.

  Rumors are circling at Tesla's offices that cuts are on the horizon, seven engineers — including from the Austin gigafactory and the Fremont factory — told Business Insider. While there has not been any official communication to teams, some workers said they'd heard cuts could begin as soon as Sunday.

  Two other workers said they hadn't heard the chatter about layoffs, while others said they weren't taking them too seriously.

• OpenAI Layoffs 2024: Sam Altman-Run Company Conducts Internal Investigation and Fires Two Researchers for Allegedly Leaking Information, Say Reports Sam Altman's OpenAI reportedly conducted an internal investigation and fired two researchers Leopold Aschenbrenner and Pavel Izmailov for leaking information

  The report mentioned that the other researcher, Pavel Izmailov, had been working on reasoning and spent time in the safety team. According to another report by Times Now News, both the employees who suffered job loss in the recent OpenAI layoffs were part of the company's safety team. The report also highlighted that Leopold Aschenbrenner from OpenAI's safety team was a "rising star" in security. Pavel Izmailov, on the other hand, was later transitioning to the reasoning research team.

• Green Party UK ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Green Party local election launch: time to unlock policies that will create hundreds of thousands of affordable homes

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

• Wired ☛ Space Force Is Planning a Military Exercise in Orbit

  This threat scenario could involve a satellite performing maneuvers that approach a US spacecraft or a satellite doing something else unusual or unexpected. In such a scenario, the Space Force wants to have the capability to respond, either to deter an adversary from taking action or to defend a US satellite from an attack.

• India Times ☛ Salesforce is in advanced talks to buy Informatica: report

  According to the Wall Street Journal, the price of the deal being discussed is below Informatica's current stock price of $38.48, which is a potential complication factor.

• Kansas Reflector ☛ Anti-pornography bill inspiring bipartisan support among Kansas lawmakers to become law

  Kelly, a Democratic governor working with a Legislature brandishing Republican supermajorities, said she would allow Senate Bill 394 to become law without her signature despite reservations the restrictions could trample constitutional rights and inspire legal challenges.

• Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

  • VOA News ☛ China ignores Hague’s South China Sea ruling, blames Philippines for tensions

    Current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. noted that he was not made aware of such an agreement — it was never written down — and he was “horrified by the idea …”

    He also issued a statement: “Let us not fall into the trap set by Chinese propaganda of refocusing the debate on a so-called promise, while deflecting attention away from China’s government, thereby freeing and allowing them to continue with their illegal activities.”

  • Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ Meta's plan to fight South African election misinformation

    Meta, along with other social media platforms, have come under fire in recent years for allowing misinformation to thrive on their platforms so long as it drove traffic volumes.

Censorship/Free Speech

• Reason ☛ Brickbat: Too Sweet? Too Harsh.

  In Nigeria, Chioma Okoli faces up to three years in prison and a fine of 7 million naira (around $5,600 U.S.) after posting on Facebook (Farcebook) that she found a tomato puree made by local company Erisco Foods Limited to be too sweet. Police have charged her under the nation's cybercrimes law with "the intention of…

• Digital Music News ☛ Twitch CEO Says Licensing Deals With the Majors Are ‘Pretty Close’ to Finalized: ‘In the End, We Are Going to Have to Share Money With the Labels’

  Following more than a few takedown-related headaches – complete with many muted videos and justifiably irked streamers – Twitch is poised to ink licensing deals with the major labels, according to the Amazon subsidiary’s CEO. Twitch head Dan Clancy shed light on the possible agreements during a recent sit down with streamer TweakMusicTips.

• RTL ☛ August 2022 attack: Rushdie's first thought on attempted assassin: 'So it's you'

  The Mumbai-born novelist -- acclaimed for his novel "Midnight's Children," a magical realist take on the Indian subcontinent's partition -- faced a storm of criticism in the Muslim world in 1988 when he released "The Satanic Verses," which touches on early Islam including through dream sequences that reference the Prophet Mohammed.

  Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie, who went into hiding in Britain. He has since become a naturalized American.

• RFERL ☛ Silenced: The Russian Targets Of The Kremlin's Extreme New Wartime Laws

  Hundreds of Russians have been handed yearslong prison terms under new censorship laws that assign severe penalties for discussing the invasion of Ukraine. Here are eight of the ordinary people who have had their lives upended by the new legislation.

Civil Rights/Policing

• Crooked Timber ☛ Limitarianism update — Crooked Timber

  One thing I find difficult to handle is the constant stream of emails from readers. Some are notes of thanks – people having had the intuition that we should cap personal wealth for a long time, and are pleased to see the arguments worked out (if you sent such an email and I did not respond: thank you for writing, and apologies for not being able to respond, despite trying to respond to as many of them as possible). Others are notes of insults – people saying I am an idiot, dangerous, that I will ruin the economy, or that my university should fire me (I’ve not had any evidence that any of those haters read the book, by the way). The third category is those who have serious questions or objections, either from their own personal lives, or from how this would affect society. It would be ideal if I could answer this last group of emails, but they require the most time. And the average daily time I spend responding to email is already ridiculously long. Still, I wish I could respond to those questions and criticism, since I feel I owe this to the readers, and one would hope it would take the discussion forward.

• RFERL ☛ Tehran Police To Launch New Phase Of Hijab Enforcement

  Tehran police said they will launch a new phase of enforcement of the mandatory hijab law from April 13 even though the new "hijab and chastity" bill has yet to be approved by the country's Guardians Council.

  Police Chief Abbasali Mohammadian announced the new phase of tightened enforcement ahead of a similar declaration made by the police chief of the southern city of Bushehr. Both said a more "vigorous enforcement" of the law will begin in all public spaces starting April 13.

• Associated Press ☛ Uber and Lyft delay their plans to leave Minneapolis after officials push back driver pay plan

  Under the ordinance, ride-hailing companies must pay drivers at least $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute — or $5 per ride, whichever is greater — excluding tips, for the time spent transporting passengers in Minneapolis.

  The change aims to ensure companies pay drivers the equivalent of the city’s minimum wage of $15.57 per hour after accounting for gas and other expenses. However, a recent study commissioned by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry found that a lower rate of $0.89 per mile and $0.49 per minute would meet the $15.57 goal.

• MPR News ☛ Uber, Lyft in Minneapolis: City Council proposes extension to rideshare ordinance implementation | MPR News

  Action is needed to reverse the trend where rideshare companies — which were originally reliant on venture capital funds — are pushing for profitability by squeezing drivers and raising fares, Payne said. The process is “actually accomplishing our goal of using local government to catalyze statewide action,” he said.

  The council will vote on the extension Thursday.

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

• [Old] Bitmovin Inc ☛ Apple AV1 Support: M3 desktop processors and iPhone 15 Pro

  After the presentation, co-author of the HLS specification Roger Pantos shared more details via the hls-interest mailing list. He confirmed that indeed, that both the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max would be the first Apple devices with hardware decoding support for AV1 video content. The dedicated hardware meant that in addition to Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content, it would also support High Dynamic Range (HDR10) as well as content that was protected by FairPlay Streaming DRM, things that software decoders typically cannot handle well or securely. Playback would be supported in Apple’s native AVPlayer or AVSampleBufferDisplayLayer, including using Media Source Extensions (MSE), or Managed Media Source (MMS) as Apple calls their new version, under an experimental setting on iOS Safari.