Links 26/08/2024: Islamic Attack in Germany, Telegram Arrest Stirs Up Debate
Contents
- Leftovers
- Science
- Education
- Hardware
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Transparency/Investigative Reporting
- Environment
- Finance
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Mental
- Digital Restrictions (DRM) Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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Simone Silvestroni ☛ Smaller
Brief reflection on how my interest in a codified indie web is waning at the speed of light. Two main reasons, neither of which are very original.
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Daniel Miller ☛ Capitalists Stop Using the Word Journey
I understand that your work is one of the, if not the primary, sources of meaning in your life. I understand that you would like to, therefore, inculcate that work with meaningful words. But avoid this as you would a sneezing stranger on the subway or the allure of social media stardom. No good will come of it.
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The New Leaf Journal ☛ Governor Alfred E. Smith Boat in Brooklyn
Coming back to the boat – I conducted some cursory research and learned that the Governor Alfred E. Smith is a fireboat that was built in 1961, 17 years after the death of its namesake, by the John H. Mathis Company’s shipyard (see a good source). The boat served with distinction in the FDNY’s fleet, not being placed in reserve until 2005. This article notes that the Alfred E. Smith saw firefighting service on 9/11 and “[t]he Smith’s crew was honored in 1967 for outstanding performance at the scene of the June 16, 1966 collision in Kill van Kull between the tankers Alva Cape and the Texaco Massachussetts.” Fortunately, the brave little fireboat was purchased by Crew in 2016 and restored to the pristine condition I saw it in at Brooklyn Bridge Park (I am not sure about it apparently being slated for restaurant duty, however). Still, I think the name of the boat ought to be colored in a way that stands out a bit more. Former Governor Smith, like the boat which bears his name, had more than enough of a career to be more legible. (Note: the boat also has a Wikipedia entry.)
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Lee Peterson ☛ How to grow your blog in 2024
This may seem obvious or a simple post but I’ve found that the readership to my blog has doubled over the last year, it’s something that I’m really happy with but why has it happened?
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Lou Plummer ☛ The Perfect Blogger
The perfect blogger can take a mundane event and make it interesting. I'd read about their trip to the supermarket in a minute because they make things relatable. They find our common humanity in the everyday events we all experience. Andy Warhol became a zillionaire by painting Campbell Soup cans. Ain't nobody gonna do that blogging, calm down, but they can still reach people just by describing things we can kick ourselves for not noticing first. My friend, Jedda recently wrote a piece on it being OK to not finish a book that we've started reading. It was full of common sense and common feelings. It was good stuff. Just about all of us have reached the point as we've been plowing through an uninteresting tome, where we start debating whether to pull the plug. Reading Jedda's feeling on the topic made me feel so much less guilty for being the occasional quitter.
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Science
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India Times ☛ [NASA] astronaut captures stunning image of moon setting over Pacific from ISS
"Went to the cupola to shoot Tropical Storm Hone near Hawaii but right after we passed by the storm the moon started to set," Dominick, who has been on the ISS since March, explained in his post.
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Education
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R Y X R ☛ Why does getting a job in tech suck right now? (Is it AI?!?)
A lot of new CS grads have been noting that is really hard to get a job. I’ve personally been contacted by a couple people, including outside of Twitter, about the difficulty of finding a job. I’m sure if you’re reading this that you’ve heard some stories, too.
Here I will attempt to provide some insights as to what is going on. Basically, a massive confluence of factors has contributed to it being harder to get a job in tech, both on the demand and supply side of the market. I will cover all of these factors below.
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Hardware
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Tim Bray ☛ Mozart Requiem
The sound at the Requiem was beyond awesome. If you look at the picture above you can see there’s a soundboard and a guy sitting at it, but I’m pretty sure the only boost was on the piano, which had to compete with 200 singers and the organ. So, this was the usual classical-music scenario: If you want dynamic range, or to hear soloists, or to blend parts, you do that with musical skill and human throats and fingers and a whole lot of practice. There’s no knob to twirl.
I mean, I love well-executed electric sound, but large-scale classical, done well, is on a whole other level.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Ruben Schade ☛ Making coffee at home as an economic signal
Australia is dealing with a cost of living crisis, as is much of the world. Jonathan Barrett wrote an article about the last full-year reporting season:
[S]pending patterns remain uneven, and at times counterintuitive, leading to a mixed corporate earnings season marked by subdued but not collapsing demand.
He mentions coffee machines as an example of how certain Australian retailers and manufacturers have bucked the trend: [...]
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Robert Birming ☛ Living Authentically
If we're constantly trying to adapt to other people's likes and dislikes, then we're living an incomplete life. We're living a double lie where we're lying to both others and ourselves. We're living inauthentically.
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Deseret Media ☛ Boredom scrolling? You may be making it worse
Folks who scroll through online videos when they're bored may be making their problem worse. A study based on a series of experiments led by researchers at the University of Toronto found that watching snippets of videos or fast-forwarding through them — called "digital switching" — intensifies boredom.
Actually watching videos that interest you all the way through is a different story, according to the study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. In a series of seven experiments involving a total of 1,223 people, the researchers found that boredom leads to digital switching, which in turns leads to more boredom.
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NPR ☛ Coronavirus FAQ: I'm a NOVID and don't want to catch COVID. Can you guide me?
Dr. Schaffner says he currently puts on a mask whenever he’s around other people because he has a vulnerable family member and wants to reduce the risk of bringing COVID home.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Cryptography Engineering ☛ Is Telegram really an encrypted messaging app? – A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering
What I do want to talk about is one specific detail of the reporting. Specifically: the fact that nearly every news report about the arrest refers to Telegram as an “encrypted messaging app.” Here are just a few examples:
[...]
This phrasing drives me nuts because in a very limited technical sense it’s not wrong. Yet in every sense that matters, it fundamentally misrepresents what Telegram is and how it works in practice. And this misrepresentation is bad for both journalists and particularly for Telegram’s users, many of whom could be badly hurt as a result.
Now to the details.
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Nick Heer ☛ Telegram, the ‘Encrypted Messaging App’
Despite the company’s press page saying “[e]verything sent on Telegram is securely encrypted” and building much of its marketing around how “safe” and “secure” it is, there is a big difference between what Telegram does and the end-to-end encryption used by services like Signal and WhatsApp. There is, in fact, no way to enable what Telegram calls “secret chats” by default.
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teleSUR ☛ The Arrest of Telegram Creator Is an Assault on Human Rights: Snowden
“The arrest of Durov is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association,” the former CIA agent wrote on the social network X.
“I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications,” he added.
Durov’s arrests “lowers no only France, but the world,” stated Snowden, who rarely makes public statements.
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The Washington Post ☛ Telegram founder Durov reportedly detained in France
Russian-born tech mogul Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the popular platform Telegram, has been detained in France, French authorities confirmed Sunday. According to French media, his detention is related to alleged offenses regarding the social media app.
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India Times ☛ Telegram founder Durov arrested in France
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire founder and owner of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday and placed in custody, three sources told Reuters.
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The Register UK ☛ Telegram founder and CEO arrested in France
Telegram also used X to share its view of the matter, opening with "Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving."
The Xeet also states "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform."
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IT Wire ☛ iTWire - Zoom survey: Hybrid work models dominate, but employee engagement remains biggest challenge for APAC leaders
The study found that the majority of organisations in APAC are embracing flexible working arrangements, with 84% of organisations adopting either a hybrid (58%) or remote (26%) working model.
As organisations align their workplace models to meet the needs of their business and the demands of their employees, productivity has emerged as a top priority. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of leaders in APAC considered increasing productivity to be the biggest consideration when determining the best working style for their company, the highest figure compared to 86% in North America (NA) and 81% in Western Europe.
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Futurism ☛ Democratic Startup Proposes Flooding the Web With AI-Generated Political Ads
The company claims it's helping smaller, underfunded, left-wing campaigns gain a competitive advantage against higher-dollar rivals, all with the goal of countering MAGA's political influence.
But in an ever-enshittified internet that's already flooded with a ridiculous amount of stuff — including, increasingly, oceans of low-quality AI-generated content — we gotta say: this sucks.
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Wired ☛ ‘Hundreds of Ads in Minutes’: This Startup Thinks AI Can Drown Out the MAGA Movement
Despite concerns, some US political campaigns are embracing generative AI tools. There’s a growing category of AI-generated political content flying under the radar this election cycle, developed by startups including Denver-based BattlegroundAI, which uses generative AI to come up with digital advertising copy at a rapid clip. “Hundreds of ads in minutes,” its website proclaims.
BattlegroundAI positions itself as a tool specifically for progressive campaigns—no MAGA types allowed. And it is moving fast: It launched a private beta only six weeks ago and a public beta just last week. Cofounder and CEO Maya Hutchinson is currently at the Democratic National Convention trying to attract more clients. So far, the company has around 60, she says. (The service has a freemium model, with an upgraded option for $19 a month.)
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Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ How a botched app update blew up in Sonos's face
It turns out the new app was flawed, though. There’s not enough space in this column to list all of its shortcomings, but here’s a few: sound drops in and out; volume blasts high and can’t be adjusted; devices “disappear” in the app, seemingly at random. The most basic features, like setting a sleep timer or alarm, are missing, according to tech site Engadget. “My push for speed backfired,” Spence said.
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US News And World Report ☛ Factbox-Who Is Pavel Durov, CEO of Messaging App Telegram?
TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.
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New York Times ☛ Telegram’s Top Executive Pavel Durov Reportedly Detained in France
The Russian Embassy in France said in a statement on Sunday that it had asked the French authorities for clarification on news of the arrest.
Representatives of the French police and Interior Ministry declined to comment and redirected questions to the Paris prosecutor’s office. The Paris prosecutor’s office, citing an open investigation, also declined to comment.
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Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ Telegram CEO arrested in Paris
Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.
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Hindustan Times ☛ Telegram's Pavel Durov arrested outside Paris, social media calls for his release: ‘Time we fight back’
According to Reuters, the main focus of the investigation was Telegram's lack of moderators, and police believed this circumstance allowed illicit activity to continue on the app.
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BBC ☛ Pavel Durov: Telegram CEO arrested at French airport
According to officials the 39-year-old billionaire was arrested under a warrant for offences related to the popular messaging app.
The investigation is reportedly about a lack of moderators, with Mr Durov accused of failing to take steps to curb criminal uses of Telegram.
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CBS ☛ Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested at airport near Paris, French media reports
The French-Russian billionaire, 39, was detained at Le Bourget airport north of the French capital on Saturday evening, one of the officials told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
French television news outlets TF1 TV and BFM TV also reported the arrest, citing unnamed sources, according to Reuters.
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France24 ☛ Telegram messaging app CEO Pavel Durov arrested at French airport
"Enough of Telegram's impunity," said one of the investigators, adding they were surprised Durov came to Paris knowing he was a wanted man.
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NDTV ☛ Who Is Pavel Durov, Telegram CEO Arrested In France
Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, French local media said, citing unnamed sources. They said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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CBC ☛ Biometrics in the workplace may be the way of the future. But at what cost?
Thomson is a 21-year-old server and bartender at charbar in Calgary. She's one of many employees who now use biometric technology such as fingerprint scanning to clock in and out, and that number is rising.
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Defence/Aggression
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Time ☛ Exclusive: Workers at Google DeepMind Push Company to Drop Military Contracts
Nearly 200 workers inside Google DeepMind, the company’s AI division, signed a letter calling on the tech giant to drop its contracts with military organizations earlier this year, according to a copy of the document reviewed by TIME and five people with knowledge of the matter. The letter circulated amid growing concerns inside the AI lab that its technology is being sold to militaries engaged in warfare, in what the workers say is a violation of Google’s own AI rules.
The letter is a sign of a growing dispute within Google between at least some workers in its AI division—which has pledged to never work on military technology—and its Cloud business, which has contracts to sell Google services, including AI developed inside DeepMind, to several governments and militaries including those of Israel and the United States. The signatures represent some 5% of DeepMind’s overall headcount—a small portion to be sure, but a significant level of worker unease for an industry where top machine learning talent is in high demand.
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CBC ☛ How Jewish Canadians are coping with rising antisemitism after being target of bomb threats
They said while there has always been underlying antisemitism in society, they feel it's become more open and aggressive in the nearly one year since the militant group Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the start of Israel's war in Gaza.
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R Scott Jones ☛ Flabbergasted at Anchor Bar
It is just remarkable. The anger had vanished in an instant.
But I couldn’t help but forcibly and loudly interject: “YOU TWO ARE COUSINS?! ALL THAT AND YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE FUCKING COUSINS??? WHAT THE FUCK YOU GUYS!”
They start laughing, and while I continue my exasperated diatribe, they’re apparently just now realizing how crazy the whole thing was. They’re deeply laughing now, doubled over with an arm wrapped over each other’s shoulder. The woman is snorting and struggling to breathe.
Still dumbfounded, I wasn’t sure what to do. So I just…left. I went and sat quietly in my rental car in the parking lot for quite some time. I posted a short snapchat about what had happened. I wondered if I should go back in there and record a proper video, interview style with both of them, to mark this crazy occasion.
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JURIST ☛ France police arrest suspect in attempted arson attack on synagogue
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Interior Minister Darmanin condemned the attack as an act of antisemitism. Attal described the incident as an “absolute tragedy” narrowly avoided, emphasizing that had the synagogue been full of worshippers, the outcome could have been catastrophic. Increased security measures at Jewish places of worship across the country have been ordered, an acknowledgement of the surge in antisemitic acts in France since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict last year.
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Michigan Advance ☛ War in Gaza and U of M regent race dominate Michigan Democrats’ state convention
“I was not targeted here today because I am a regent,” said Acker at the time. “I am a target of this because I am Jewish. This neighborhood is Jewish, and because some people, under the pretext of helping Palestinians, feel the obligation to single out Jews, especially liberal ones for an attack.”
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ Racist Riots and Social Media's Role: Fueling the Flames of Hate
In the digital era, social media platforms have become a double-edged sword, providing unparalleled connectedness while also acting as a breeding ground for the quick spread of disinformation and hate speech. The recent riots in the United Kingdom, fuelled by disinformation and incendiary content, highlight the devastating effect that unregulated digital spaces may have on public order and communal cohesion. This article investigates the example of Bobby Shirbon, a young man whose actions during the riots were motivated by the widespread and unfiltered propaganda he received online. Considers the larger implications of social media’s role in worsening such violence.
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The Hill ☛ Germany knife attack: Islamic State group claims responsibility
Police have detained two people over a knife attack in Solingen, Germany, which left three people dead and eight others wounded and for which the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility.
The attack took place during a festival celebrating the city’s 650th anniversary.
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RTL ☛ Attack at Solingen festival: German police arrest knife rampage suspect as IS claims attack
In a statement on Telegram, IS's Amaq propaganda arm said "the perpetrator of the attack on a gathering of Christians in the city of Solingen in Germany yesterday was a soldier of the Islamic State".
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CBC ☛ Suspect in German knife attack surrenders to police
"This person's involvement in the crime is currently being intensively investigated," the statement said.
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Digital Music News ☛ Solingen Festival Knife-Attack Suspect Turns Himself in to Police
The knife attack took place on Friday night in a central square of Solingen during a festival to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the city. At the time, police said they had deployed a ‘large contingent’ of officers to find the perpetrator.
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The Washington Post ☛ German feds take over Solingen stabbing probe, citing suspected terrorism
Federal prosecutors on Sunday identified the suspect as Issa Al H., not releasing his full last name because of Germany’s privacy laws, and said he is “strongly suspected of membership in a terrorist organization abroad” — referring to the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the assault Saturday.
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New York Times ☛ German Prosecutor Says Islamic State Terrorist Link Is Suspected in Festival Stabbings
On Sunday afternoon, the federal prosecutor’s office said it believed the suspect, identified only as Issa Al H. in keeping with strict German privacy rules, had joined the Islamic State. Officials are also investigating him on possible charges of murder and attempted murder, though so far no official charges have been filed.
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VOA News ☛ Pro-Iran militants kill 2 Nigerian police officers
An attack Sunday by an outlawed pro-Iran Nigerian Shiite group killed at least two law enforcement officers, police said, with three more found unconscious in the capital Abuja.
The capital's police force confirmed "an unprovoked attack by the proscribed Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN)... on some personnel of the Nigeria Police Force," said a statement by police spokesperson Josephine Adeh.
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teleSUR ☛ Nigeria: Islamic Group Kill 2 Police Oficers in Abuja - teleSUR English
The Nigerian police reported on Sunday that two of its agents were killed and three others unconscious in an attack in the country’s capital, Abuja, by the Islamic Militia of Nigeria (IMN), an Islamic terrorist organization.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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New York Times ☛ War Fuels Poetry Boom in Ukraine
With verses that capture the raw emotions of the war and resonate deeply with the population, Ukrainian poets have emerged as some of the country’s most influential voices.
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New York Times ☛ Reuters Safety Adviser Killed, 2 Journalists Injured in Strike on Ukraine Hotel
Reuters said that a safety adviser working with the journalists was killed, and that two other members of its team were wounded after a hotel in eastern Ukraine was hit in a strike on Saturday.
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RFERL ☛ Ukraine, Russia Report Multiple Deaths In Strikes On Both Sides Of Border
Six people were killed in Ukrainian attacks in the Russian border region of Belgorod, local officials said on August 25, as Ukrainian authorities reported that several people -- including Western journalists -- were killed and wounded in Russian strikes across the country.
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RFERL ☛ Pope Condemns Ukraine Move To Ban Activities Linked To Russian Orthodox Church
Pope Francis on August 25 condemned the latest action by Kyiv to ban religious organizations with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church from operating in Ukraine.
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LRT ☛ Shades of grey in Ukraine's east
Witness accounts from eastern Ukraine depict the living conditions of civilians whose hometowns have now become the front line.
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JURIST ☛ Russia and Ukraine exchange 230 prisoners of war with UAE as intermediary
Russia and Ukraine exchanged a total of 230 prisoners of war on Saturday, following an intermediation by the United Arab Emirates. The exchange happened on the 33rd commemoration of Ukraine’s Independence Day of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.
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France24 ☛ Pope Francis condemns Ukraine’s ban on Russian Orthodox Church
A day after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law banning the Russian-linked Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Pope Francis on Sunday warned that the move could infringe on the freedom of worship. Ukraine's parliament approved the ban last week following tensions with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has backed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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France24 ☛ Reuters journalist missing after Russian strike on hotel in eastern Ukraine
A member of a Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine was missing and two colleagues were hospitalised after a Russian strike on a hotel where the news agency's group was staying in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the agency said on Sunday.
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Meduza ☛ ‘A gift to Vladimir Putin’: Public figures in Russia and beyond react to Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest — Meduza
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Transparency/Investigative Reporting
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Arena Group ☛ "Bring Back Trump"– CNN "Undecided Voter" Panelist Has Pro-Trump Social Media History
MeidasTouch has uncovered that, despite telling CNN that he was an undecided voter who just decided to vote for Trump, Rosado has a substantial MAGA social media history, including a video of himself shooting an AK-47, which he purchased.
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The Hindu ☛ When justice is served to the anonymous
In the lanes around the Ajmer dargah in Rajasthan, women were kidnapped, raped, photographed, and then blackmailed in the early 1990s. Over three decades later, six men have been convicted and given life sentence. Ishita Mishra reports on the women who were shamed, the law that took its time, and the journalists who unearthed the case
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Environment
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Energy/Transportation
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Open letter regarding Rio Tinto and the “mining colony that Serbia is turning into”
Not all information about Rio Tinto is public. However, we can already draw some conclusions about certain aspects of its project in Serbia. In this open letter, I wish to question the euphoria surrounding the economic benefits of lithium mining. This is important because the government constantly emphasizes some economic benefits of Rio Tinto while neglecting the dangers, sometimes even more than the company itself does, which means that the public discussion on this matter is not objective. Among other things, this is important because investments in mining in Serbia have already increased significantly, without having a notable impact on the standard of living of citizens. That is why we should look at the other side of the coin and see the damage that awaits us if we decide to become a mining colony of Europe.
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El País ☛ The lightbulb of the 21st century: The battery revolution illuminates a new era
Batteries — the icing on the renewable cake — will be the grave of oil, coal and natural gas, the fossil fuel troika responsible for the climate crisis. This is firstly because they’ll allow for the definitive electrification of road transportation. Traveling by road, especially when it involves low-tonnage, will be electric, or it won’t happen at all. Goodbye, then, to diesel and gasoline; first in cars and, shortly afterwards, also in trucks and long-distance buses.
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El País ☛ Batteries start to rival gas on California’s electricity grid
California achieved an important milestone in the fight against climate change at the end of April. At that time, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the region had surpassed 10,000 megawatts of photovoltaic storage for the first time ever, enough to meet 20% of demand. “In just five years, California has increased its battery storage capacity more than tenfold,” Newsom said. When he came to power in 2019, the state had a storage capacity of 770 megawatts. To reach the goals set for 2045, California needs to build a storage network of 52,000 megawatts.
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RTL ☛ Abusing electric grid: Thai officials raid illegal bitcoin mine after power outages
Mining virtual currencies such as bitcoin requires powerful computers that consume huge amounts of electricity.
Bitcoin miners are considered manufacturers in Thailand and must pay associated taxes, but illegal mining has been on the rise for years.
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Wildlife/Nature
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The Hindu ☛ Dasara elephants commence daily drill
The elephants will be accompanied by their mahouts and assistants apart from senior Forest Department officials who will monitor their every move daily. The regular march not only makes the elephants familiar with the procession route but they also get accustomed to human presence in large numbers apart from the din and noise of a city.
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Overpopulation
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Tracy Durnell ☛ Roundup: why we don’t have enough housing
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Finance
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[Old] Jason Liu ☛ Chasing Chase: Why I'll Never Trust Chase Bank Again, A Yuppie Nightmare
I never thought I'd be writing a cautionary tale about banking, but here we are. As an AI consultant and small business owner, I assumed my long-standing personal account with Chase Bank would provide a solid foundation for my new venture. I was wrong. Painfully, expensively wrong.
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Site36 ☛ The first civil rescue ship in the Mediterranean was financed by millionaires, the second by families from Brandenburg
Exactly ten years ago, the “Phoenix” set out to rescue refugees on their way to Europe by sea, followed a year later by the “Sea-Watch”. The approaches behind them could not be more different.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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APNIC ☛ MANRS readiness now available in DASH
Now, APNIC is launching a new feature to further assist its Members in securing their networks. Through a collaboration with Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS), APNIC Members can now access their networks’ MANRS readiness directly within DASH.
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Futurism ☛ Judge Who Overturned Huge Boeing Verdict Admits He Was Trading Boeing Stock at the Time
A judge who tossed out a huge settlement against Boeing admitted he had traded and sold Boeing stock while in charge of the case, according to Business Insider.
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Business Insider ☛ Judge Hearing Boeing Lawsuit Traded Boeing Stock, Calls It Accidental - Business Insider
James Robart, a federal judge, just threw out a $72 million verdict against Boeing. He disclosed trades of up to $15,000 in Boeing stock in his wife's IRA last year, while the case was ongoing.
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Jake Bauer ☛ Moving Across the Ocean
Growing up, I developed a certain perception of Canada through the media I consumed and the things I encountered during my education that gave me an idea of what life should have been like when I got older. A vision of going to university, finding a good job, buying a home within a few years, being able to afford to go on regular vacations, living in a good community with a sense of neighborliness, and so on. A vision of a well-functioning country in which one could easily live a good and fulfilling life; the way the older generations in my family could.
None of that exists anymore though. At least not for my generation. Perhaps my perceptions were being clouded by some of that nationalistic pride that governments love to impart on their citizens, but when I look around today all I can see is the crumbling of nearly every national, provincial, and municipal institution as a result of corporate and political greed; roads being left to decay for years before being haphazardly patched over; people struggling to pay for basic things like food and shelter; rates of homelessness and mental health crises through the roof; entire generations locked out of the prospects of being able to move out on their own, let alone buy a home; and communities becoming more and more poisoned by toxic politics. A stagnation, even a regression, in the development of the country. One that shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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Seth Godin ☛ The sad compromise of “sponsored results”
Not only are the ads a worse experience for the user, they are also creating a tax on all the advertisers, and thus, on us. If the only way to get Amazon traffic is to buy the ads, then the only way to pay for the ads is to charge more…
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Censorship/Free Speech
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Haaretz ☛ After Iran Steals Sensitive Israeli Data, Israel Tries to Censor the Internet
Anti-Israel hackers stole troves of sensitive Israeli data and are now publishing gigabytes of secret and classified information. Unable to stop the hacks, Israel is waging a futile war to against the leaks
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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The Washington Post ☛ Reuters safety adviser killed, journalists injured in Ukraine strike
A member of the Reuters news agency was killed and two of its journalists were injured when a missile struck a hotel in eastern Ukraine where they were staying, Reuters said in a statement Sunday.
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US News And World Report ☛ Reuters Safety Adviser Killed, Two Journalists Injured in Ukraine's Kramatorsk
The hotel was "destroyed" at 10:35 p.m. local time (1935 GMT) on Saturday "probably with an Iskander-M missile", it said. The prosecutor's office has opened a pre-trial investigation into the strike, it said.
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RFERL ☛ Persecution, Jail, Torture, Death: The Price You Pay For Being An Independent Journalist In Turkmenistan
When Soltan Achilova decided to change her profession and become an independent journalist in Turkmenistan nearly two decades ago, she knew her new job would be “different” and require adjustments.
But the Ashgabat-based economist turned reporter did not imagine that her new profession was going to turn her “life upside down” and subject her to persecution, physical assaults, and death threats.
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JURIST ☛ Türkiye airstrikes claim lives of two female journalists in Northern Iraq
However, the situation remains unclear regarding whether the journalists were in the same vehicle as the PKK members or if multiple vehicles were involved. In addition to the fatalities, the attack also injured six other journalists to varying degrees.
Qubad Talabani, the Deputy Prime Minister of the KRG, condemned the airstrike and stressed that the journalists were civilians who should not have been targeted. His statement highlighted the severe risks that media professionals face in conflict zones.
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[Old] The Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame ☛ Marvin “Sonny” Eliot | Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame
“Sonny has been a strong, steady and inspirational fixture at WWJ Newsradio 950 since 1947,” writes Rich Homberg, VP and general manager of the station. “Sonny Eliot is a tireless and innovative force in Michigan Journalism.”
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[Old] CBS ☛ Beloved Detroit Weatherman Sonny Eliot Dies - CBS Detroit
Unlike any other in the country, Eliot's weathercasts were a mixture of fast-paced humor, bits of far-out philosophy, one liners, improbable analogies and similes, and, not to be overlooked, easy-to-understand weather forecasts.
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[Old] Michigan News ☛ Endearing Detroit weatherman Sonny Eliot dies 'peacefully' at 91 (with video)
One of the city's most well-known media personalities, Eliot was a throwback to a time when local television established its identity through non-news programming that made up with enthusiasm and creativity.
His longest-lasting gig was as a weathercaster, first on WWJ radio in 1950 — a job he held well into the 21st century — as well as on local television stations.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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Los Angeles Times ☛ Fatal shooting of teen girl by police angers Anchorage residents
Easter was among seven people shot by Anchorage police since May, the most recent a homicide suspect critically injured after officers said he opened fire on them Friday afternoon. That is more than twice as many as the department typically shoots in a year. Four of those shot were killed.
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RFERL ☛ Taliban Morality Laws Provide 'Distressing Vision' For Afghanistan, Warns UN Envoy
The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women's voices and bare faces in public provide a "distressing vision" for Afghanistan's future, a top UN official warned on August 25. [...]
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VOA News ☛ UN denounces Taliban morality law as 'distressing vision' for Afghanistan
“It is a distressing vision for Afghanistan’s future, where moral inspectors have discretionary powers to threaten and detain anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of infractions,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
The Islamist Taliban announced the ratification of their Law on Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice Wednesday, forbidding women from singing, reciting poetry, or speaking aloud in public and requiring them to keep their faces and bodies covered at all times.
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Hindustan Times ☛ UN envoy alarmed by Taliban's harsh new morality code for Afghan women. What does it say?
This ministry, established shortly after the Taliban's return to power in 2021, has now formalised its vice and virtue laws in a 114-page document. These laws regulate various aspects of daily life, including public transportation, music, social interactions, and even the appearance and behaviour of individuals in public spaces.
A significant focus of the law is the regulation of women's conduct.
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NPR ☛ The ex-Florida deputy who killed Roger Fortson has been charged with manslaughter
The Florida sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed senior U.S. airman Roger Fortson in his home in May has been charged with manslaughter, according to authorities.
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JURIST ☛ UN official warns Taliban 'virtue' law severely restricts rights in Afghanistan
Article 13 of the law in question imposes strict limitations on women’s rights, requiring them to wear full-body coverings and categorizing their voices as “awrah” (intimate parts) when amplified through loudspeakers or in chants. It mandates that women fully conceal their bodies and faces in public, justified by the “fear of temptation.” The law further prohibits any exchange of looks between unrelated men and women. Otunbayeva remarked that this adds to the already unbearable restrictions placed on Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of their voices outside the home now seemingly considered a moral transgression.
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Mental
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Why I Left the Network
Those who need therapy often have to pay out of pocket or go without care, even if they have health insurance. Hundreds of mental health providers told us they fled networks because insurers made their jobs impossible and their lives miserable.
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Digital Restrictions (DRM)
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Macworld ☛ Every Mac will soon be running the same chip–here's when the M4 models are coming
If the rumors are correct, every Mac in Apple’s lineup will get an update within the next 12 months. Here’s a guide for when each model will get the M4 chip, and what else to expect from each upgrade.
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The Verge ☛ European iPhones are more fun now
But outside of emulators and its begrudging adoption of RCS, Apple only seems interested in doing the bare minimum to keep regulators off its back. It’s starting to look like the company sells two different iPhones: one for people in Europe, and one that everyone else can buy. That’s weird, especially since keeping things simple and consistent is sort of Apple’s thing. But the company is so committed to keeping the two separate that it won’t even let you update apps from third-party app stores if you leave the EU for more than a month.
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Axios ☛ U.S. accuses RealPage of helping landlords collude to raise rents
State of play: RealPage has an 80% market share in commercial revenue management software for multi-family units, the DOJ said in a statement.
• "In a free market, these landlords would otherwise be competing independently to attract renters based on pricing, discounts, concessions, lease terms and other dimensions of apartment leasing," the statement said.
• There are mechanisms within the software to encourage landlords to accept the prices recommended by its algorithm, which "tends to maximize price increases, minimize price decreases, and maximize landlords' pricing power," per the suit.
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Copyrights
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Torrent Freak ☛ 'Bonus' Episode of 'House of the Dragon' Comes With a Nasty Surprise for Pirates
"House of the Dragon" is one of the most watched TV series, particularly among pirates. The second season ended earlier this month after the eighth episode, though many fans had hoped for more. Pirates who downloaded the unexpected 'House of the Dragon S02E09' release got a surprise bonus, but not the one they were hoping for.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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