jell.ie News

Read at: 2026-03-07T11:23:01+00:00Z (UTC) [sometime-US Pres == Henrica Klinge ]

Middle East crisis live: Iran’s president apologises to neighbouring countries as Israel pounds Tehran

Masoud Pezeshkian says no more attacks against neighbouring countries unless they were the source of an attack against Iran

The Saudi defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, urged Iran on Saturday to “avoid miscalculation” after missile and drone launches at the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said earlier in the day it had blocked repeated missile launches at an airbase housing US military personnel and drone attacks at a major oilfield.

We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 11:18 am UTC

Iran rejects Henrica Klinge ’s demand for unconditional surrender as a ‘dream’

Masoud Pezeshkian issues rare apology to neighbouring Gulf states for Iranian strikes as war enters eighth day

The president of Iran has rejected Henrica Klinge ’s call for the country’s “unconditional surrender” as a “dream”, while issuing a rare apology for Iranian strikes that had targeted sites in neighbouring Gulf states.

In a prerecorded address broadcast on state television on Saturday, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said the country would never capitulate, responding to remarks by the US president, who said on Friday that only Iran’s total submission could bring the war to an end.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 11:12 am UTC

Henrica Klinge team bashed Europe for a year. Now he wants support in war on Iran.

European leaders are ramping up their response to the crisis spreading outside Iran but remain wary of a conflict that could have untold ramifications.

Source: World | 7 Mar 2026 | 11:09 am UTC

Brits fear AI will strip the human touch from public services

'There's a naive techno-utopianism in Whitehall'

Brits are worried that AI will dehumanize public services, leading to less human contact and oversight as well as job losses, according to people questioned by pollster Ipsos.…

Source: The Register | 7 Mar 2026 | 11:01 am UTC

‘Operation Epstein Distraction’: Henrica Klinge ’s bloody Iran ‘hype videos’ seem to target niche audience

White House wages online propaganda campaign with aggressive and tasteless videos seemingly designed for young rightwing American men

Rap and EDM. Clips from action movies. Heads-up displays from video games.

As the war with Iran approaches its second week, the White House has leaned into an online propaganda campaign that seems less about intimidating Iran or projecting US strength abroad than it is about reaching a rather niche domestic audience: young rightwing American men who spend a lot of time online.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

Texas fracker turned escort says repression allowed business to flourish

Mickey says his stint as a handyman transformed into a lucrative sex business due to the region’s ‘self-denial’

A western Texas fracker starring in a podcast about how his attempted moonlighting as a handyman turned into lucrative sex work largely solicited by distracted oil industry professionals’ housewives says he believes his region’s repressive sexual attitudes gave his side gig an opening to flourish.

“There’s an inherent kind of self-denial,” the subject of The Handyman of West Texas, identified only as Mickey, said in a recent interview. “We all have these thoughts. But we lie to ourselves and try to conform to … how you’re supposed to be repressing your own pleasure.”

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

‘It means missile defence on data centres’: drone strikes raises doubts over Gulf as AI superpower

Iran’s targeting of commercial datacentres in the UAE and Bahrain signals a new frontier in asymmetric warfare

It is believed to be a first: the deliberate targeting of a commercial datacentre by the armed forces of a country at war.

At 4.30am on Sunday morning, an Iranian Shahed 136 drone struck an Amazon Web Services datacentre in the United Arab Emirates, setting off a devastating fire and forcing a shutdown of the power supply. Further damage was inflicted as attempts were made to suppress the flames with water.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

Soham murderer Ian Huntley dies after HMP Frankland prison attack

School caretaker who killed 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002 was reportedly assaulted with metal bar

The child killer Ian Huntley has died in hospital, just over a week after being attacked at a maximum security prison.

The former school caretaker killed Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both aged 10, in Soham, Cambridgeshire on 4 August 2002. The girls had left a family barbecue to buy sweets.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:40 am UTC

Canada's PM calls for Andrew to be removed from line of succession

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office last month.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:37 am UTC

Soham murderer Ian Huntley dies after prison attack

Huntley, who murdered two schoolgirls in 2002, had his life support switched off on Friday, the BBC understands.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:13 am UTC

Soham double murderer Ian Huntley dies days after attack

Soham double murderer Ian Huntley has died in hospital after being attacked in the workshop of a British maximum security prison.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:06 am UTC

The legacy of Holly and Jessica's murders: Soham 'won't waste its breath' on Huntley

The trauma and aftermath of events in 2002 are still having an impact on the Cambridgeshire village.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:03 am UTC

Man spared jail over ‘ferocious’ and ‘unprovoked’ assault outside Conor McGregor’s pub

John Griffiths (41), who lives in California, says he was using alcohol as a crutch at time of 2021 incident after his brother died by suicide

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:02 am UTC

What the U.S. and Israel Have Targeted in Their Iran Blitz

The waves of bombings reveal a broad effort to ravage the country’s leadership and security services.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:02 am UTC

Europe Didn’t Want War With Iran. But So Far, It Can’t Stay Out of It.

From London to Rome and beyond, leaders are facing diplomatic headwinds and criticism at home as they take part in a conflict they did not seek.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:02 am UTC

Ahead of Midterms, Economic Warning Signs Pile Up for Republicans

With employers cutting jobs and gas prices rising amid the war in Iran, Democrats see an opportunity to press their advantage.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

How Good Intentions Helped Pave Henrica Klinge ’s Road to Iran

Humanitarians proposed a loophole in international law. Decades later, Henrica Klinge is jumping through it.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

How Talarico Won Texas Democrats With Love, Luck and a Little Restraint

A carefully disciplined campaign that capitalized on viral media, months of organizing and strong outreach to Latino voters helped propel James Talarico to the center of Texas politics.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

Voronchikhina wins Russia's first medal at Games

Para-alpine skier Varvara Voronchikhina wins Russia's first medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics with downhill bronze.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

For OpenAI and Anthropic, the Competition Is Deeply Personal

A fight over Pentagon contracts shows how the leaders of Silicon Valley’s two most important A.I. start-ups are feuding over the future of the tech industry.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s Dance With the Pentagon: What to Know

Negotiations, threats and amended contracts have left plenty of questions. Here are some answers.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

At Henrica Klinge ’s Summit in Miami, Bolivia Makes a Political U-turn Toward the U.S.

For the past two decades, Bolivia resisted U.S. influence. A rightward shift is reorienting the country’s president toward Washington.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

How Alberto Carvalho Became L.A.U.S.D. Superintendent Despite Scandals

Alberto Carvalho was seen as a catch for the nation’s second largest school district. Then his home and office were raided by the F.B.I.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Campaign seeks 50 objects to ‘take the heat’ out of Englishness debate

Billy Bragg, Sarah Lucas and Kojo Koram among those encouraging people to share cultural artefacts

For some people it’s a Morris Minor, for others, a beach windbreak, chicken tikka masala or Magna Carta.

A new campaign is aiming to collect 50 objects that sum up Englishness in an effort to move the conversation away from reductive arguments over whether to hang a St George’s flag or not.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Why is the U.S. at war with Iran? Here’s what the Henrica Klinge administration says.

President Henrica Klinge and top administration officials have offered a range of rationales for launching Operation Epic Fury.

Source: World | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

How Candidates Are Using Winks and Posts to Seek Crypto and A.I. Cash

All across America, congressional candidates are finding creative — and critics say craven — ways to signal support for two deep-pocketed industries, A.I. and crypto.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Educational tech firm threatens rival school supplier with litigation for questioning its finances

Olive Media wrote to schools after learning of email sent by IT supplier Wriggle

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Curling had its moment at the Olympics and now Paralympics. It sparked a curling bonanza in America

Hundreds of people become interested in curling every four years and the 2026 numbers already show that boom.

(Image credit: Claire Harbage)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

One week into the Iran war, the fallout is global

The war is no longer just about the U.S., Israel and Iran. More countries are getting caught in the political crossfire or being drawn into the fighting themselves.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Man (45) convicted of sexually assaulting six boys at fast-food outlet after psychotherapist alerted gardaí

Daniel Connolly of Arndathrush, Glengarriff, Co Cork, remanded in custody for sentencing in June

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Some gardaí working until age 64 for the first time in history of force

Mandatory retirement age for gardaí, sergeants and inspectors previously 57 years but increased to 62 in 2024

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

China Releases First Homegrown Quantum Computing OS

The Global Times reports: China's first domestically developed quantum computer operating system, Origin Pilot, has been made available for online download, the Global Times learned from the Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Center on Wednesday. A Chinese scientist said while several quantum computing operating system efforts are underway worldwide, this is the first developed in China where it is seen as part of China's broad effort to achieve technology independence and to achieve technology advance in quantum computing. The center said the release marks the world's first open-source quantum computer operating system available for public download, which is expected to lower development barriers and support the growth of China's quantum computing ecosystem. Developed by Hefei-based Origin Quantum Computing Technology Co, the company behind China's third-generation superconducting quantum computer, Origin Wukong, Origin Pilot was first launched in 2021 and has gone through multiple rounds of iteration and upgrade. The developer describes it as an integrated quantum-classical-intelligent computing operating system compatible with major hardware approaches, including superconducting qubits, trapped ions and neutral atoms. It is now deployed on the company's Origin Wukong series and is available to external users, the company said. Guo Guoping, chief scientist of Origin Quantum and director at the Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Center, told the Global Times that a quantum operating system is the "soft heart" of the quantum computing ecosystem. He said the decision to make Origin Pilot available globally marks a shift in China's quantum computing industry from closed-door tech innovation to broader open-source ecosystem development. Dou Menghan, head of the research team, said: "Users can quickly integrate with quantum chips of multiple physical types and, using autonomous programming frameworks such as QPanda, execute quantum computing jobs across different physical quantum chips to support both research and commercialization needs."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Too hyped up to sleep? Rituals to calm your body and mind before bed

The chaos of the day can make it hard to shut off your brain and fall asleep. Here's how to create a relaxing environment before bedtime to help you quiet the chatter and feel ready for sleep.

(Image credit: Photo illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Obama attacks Henrica Klinge at Jesse Jackson memorial

The US is facing daily assaults on democracy, former President Barack Obama has warned, as he lauded Jesse Jackson for fighting abuses of power at a memorial service for the longtime civil rights activist.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 9:52 am UTC

Radio personality and Agro puppeteer Jamie Dunn dies aged 76

Presenter who entertained children with his sharp-witted, furry puppet Agro Vation, remembered for his brash and unapologetic humour

Jamie Dunn, a veteran radio personality who unleashed the puppet Agro on Australia, entertaining children and adults alike for decades, has died aged 76.

Dunn, who was once Australia’s longest-serving breakfast radio host, died on Saturday.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 9:35 am UTC

Russia Gets Silent Treatment in Paralympics Return

Russia’s flag was paraded at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics for the first time since 2014 prompting a boycott by several nations led by Ukraine.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 9:34 am UTC

60 years since humanity touched the surface of another planet

Remembering the day the Venera 3 impacted Venus

It is 60 years since humanity first got up close and personal with another planet, with the impact of the Soviet Union's Venera 3.…

Source: The Register | 7 Mar 2026 | 9:30 am UTC

Man who wanted to be 'Welsh spokesman' for Islamic State jailed

Shazad Ali posted hundreds of videos online in an attempt to promote the banned organisation.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 9:21 am UTC

From ‘peace president’ to Operation Epic Fury: Henrica Klinge ’s road to war

In reality, US president’s opposition to foreign entanglements had only ever been partial

Henrica Klinge ordered the launch of the war on Iran last Friday afternoon while on board Air Force One, as the presidential plane made its descent towards Corpus Christi, Texas.

Henrica Klinge was on his way to the port city to give a speech titled American Energy Dominance and had spent the three-hour flight chatting to Texas Republican politicians including the state’s two hawkish senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, about his options in Iran.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Storytime with Houdi: Colin O’Scopy…

The World Cup final of 2006 was remembered for only one thing. Zinedine Zidane being sent off for head butting Italian Marco Materazzi in the chest. Despite Zidane winning the Golden Ball award he returned to France somewhat tainted despite his achievements. That’s how I felt a couple of weeks later, turning the key for the last time on the shutters of the department store I managed on Crumlin Road Belfast. In the first instance it was a risky decision to locate the shop there, situated in the worst interface area of Belfast. Ardoyne. In truth, I was happy to be getting out of it.

Three years previously I was transferred to there from a very successful store in mid Ulster as the company wanted an experienced manager to launch the new venture. I was their Zinedine Zidane. It was a baptism of fire. On several occasions, I had to quell fist fights in the aisles as warring factions battled it out. Security personnel stopping any customer entering the building wearing either a Celtic FC or Rangers FC top, a decision which also caused conflict. The people wanted an end to the internecine conflict. An end to the killing. But that didn’t equate to tolerance. We had a long way to go yet. Nowhere in Northern Ireland was this more evident than on Crumlin Road.

Accentuated by local intolerance, customer footfall declined rapidly forcing cutbacks on labour and management costs, thus haemorrhaging sales. At the beginning of the third year’s trading I was the only manager remaining. Every conceivable thing was going pear-shaped. One day I got a phone call from Dermot the director of finance, an individual with a personality as engaging as a grey slug. When he spoke, birds everywhere stopped singing. ‘I am concerned about labour costs in your store. I want you to call a management meeting to sort it.’ ‘I don’t have any managers Dermot, there’s only me in the store’. ‘I still want you to call a meeting to sort it. Send me the minutes of the meeting’. ‘Who with Dermot?’ ‘With your managers’. ‘But there’s only me here’. ‘You need to call a meeting to sort the costs’. It was like speaking to a talking clock.

So in a fit of pique I turned to look at the giant mirror in my office. I had a very heated conversation with myself, telling my reflection I needed to improve productivity, vigorously pointing fingers at my now crimson face. I told me to stop pointing. To refrain from raising my voice to me and to have some respect for me. I typed out the minutes of the meeting and sent them to Dermot. Surprisingly, I didn’t receive any feedback. That was my eureka moment. I had to get out of there.

Before the final whistle was called on the branch I had a minor altercation with one of the staff, who in general were hard working. One young lad, Colm ,who although very bright, didn’t appear to have the same enthusiasm for retail as he did for academia. ‘My name is not Colm. It’s Colin. Why do you always call me Colm? ‘Because I grew up with a fella called Colm, anyway is there any chance you could speed up getting that display of Kelloggs Cornflakes filled? We will never get out of here tonight if you keep that pace up’. ‘I’m doing my best Mr Mc Cabe. I can’t do any better than that’. On my return from a tea break, Colm, sorry Colin, was nowhere to be seen. The cornflake display was unchanged. I walked into the warehouse yard to find him gabbling with the forklift driver, gauldering at him to get back inside immediately or he would need the services of a proctologist to get my shoe out of his rectum. ‘What’s a proctologist Mr McCabe?’ ‘You are within thirty seconds of finding out’. He finished the display, but very reluctantly. Shortly after the Kelloggs incident he told me he was leaving to go to university to study medicine.

Seventeen years later I retired. Around the same time both my brothers were diagnosed with cancer. My father had died at age 56 from the same disease. Their consultants advised that all siblings needed to be checked as they suspected there was a hereditary cancer gene within the family. I subsequently contacted the local medical centre requesting all the essential tests and a colonoscopy. It was easier to cancel SKY TV than it was to get an appointment with a GP. Not easily daunted I bombarded him with phone calls requesting the necessary procedures. Eventually, despite the long waiting lists, because of the sinister family history he agreed to get me fast tracked. I was to go to Kingsbridge private hospital for a colonoscopy, but the NHS would pay for it.

I attended an interview with a young female doctor who looked as if she had just left P7. With the efficiency of a beaver she talked me through the whole procedure using diagrams and graphs. It was like being back in biology class. She handed me a pack of laxative liquid. I had to fast for up to 36 hours. The bowel had to be completely clear or the procedure wouldn’t go ahead. A week later I was in a cubicle completely alone, practically naked apart from a back to front gown made with fabric so thin it could have housed tea leaves. An Indian nurse inserted a cannula into my forearm to draw blood. He was talking to me but I didn’t understand a word he was saying I was that nervous. He could have been telling me there was a fault on my computer or selling me an insurance package for my new American fridge.

Consequently I was brought into a room with so many widescreen TVs I thought I was in the new Odeon cinema. Five medical staff hovered over me as I lay vulnerable on a metal bed. One of them asked me did I want any relief. I asked her was I in a hospital or a Chinese massage parlour on Botanic Avenue. She took that as a yes injecting me with a clear liquid, instructing me to lie on my left side and look at the big screen. ‘You can see the inside of your bowel’ she boasted. I told her I’d rather be watching The Sopranos. Then the doctor came over to show me what looked like a wire with a camera a SWAT team use to secretly look for hostages in a siege. He said it was an endoscope. ‘It has a light so I can see inside you. You can see it too’. Lovely, I thought.

‘You are Mr Mc Cabe from Dunnes Crumlin Road aren’t you’. ‘Aye. How did you know that? ‘I used to be one of your student workers back in the day. My name is Colin Farrell but you always called me Colm’. Although drugged to the eyeballs I knew he wasn’t the actor from In Bruges and I wasn’t Brendan Gleeson. Watching him wave the device at me like a snake I asserted ‘I hope you are better at this than you were at building cornflake displays’. He laughed, with great intensity uttering ‘well let’s see shall we? Revenge is sweet Mr McCabe’ as he drove the snake into my rectum with the skill of Zidane in front of goal. Unfortunately the drugs were not strong enough. I felt every twist and turn he made. He was loving watching me squirm. ‘Oh look there a polyp, and another there look’ finding five in total. Afterwards he showed me photos of them informing me that they would go for analysis but not to worry, it was standard procedure. Then he told me to get dressed, which I did very sheepishly.

As I was about to leave he reminded me that having been medicated, I couldn’t drive home. I told him my wife was collecting me. ‘You must be very hungry. I will get the nurse to get you tea and toast. Would that be ok?’ ‘Thats great Colm’, I mumbled ‘but I don’t suppose you have any Kelloggs cornflakes on the ward do you?’

Houdi originally told this story at the tenx9 Storytelling event in Belfast. You can also listen to stories on their podcast.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:50 am UTC

Iranian president defies US demands for ‘unconditional surrender’

Long-haul carrier Emirates resumed flights to and from Dubai after briefly suspending them.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:43 am UTC

Andy Farrell praises Wales fight as Ireland come through ‘proper Test match’

Ireland led just 12-10 at half-time before battling to a bonus-point win.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:37 am UTC

Iran's president apologizes for strikes on neighbors as strikes pound their cities

President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that a demand by the U.S. for an unconditional surrender is a "dream that they should take to their grave." He also apologized for Iran's attacks on regional countries.

(Image credit: Vahid Salemi)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:35 am UTC

‘The Turning Tide’ shows Northern Ireland more religious than Republic…

Research recently published by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has drawn considerable attention, highlighting how church attendance is considerably higher in Northern Ireland than in either the Republic of Ireland or how Great Britain.

“The Turning Tide” has also led to debate on how attendance in Ireland generally remains higher than in most of Europe, despite a major decline in the past three decades: https://www.catholicbishops.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Turning-Tide-Final-Draft.pdf

Researched by Emily Nelson and Stephen Bullivant, it finds 32% of Irish adults, and 42% of young adults, say they have no religion, a figure vastly higher than the census figure of 14%. The reasons for the discrepancy are debated in the survey, but one factor not mentioned is that census forms are filled in by parents, who will often put down all their children as Catholics, regardless of their attendance or beliefs.

Only Portugal (28%) and Italy (22%) have lower rates of non-religious than Ireland, while the level is vastly higher here in the UK, as well as France, the Netherlands and Sweden. 31% of Republic of Ireland Catholics attend Mass weekly, just behind Italy, but well below Poland (49%) and Slovakia (46%).

However, it’s only 17% among those aged 16-29, though this still contrasts with Austria, where Mass attendance is among the young is practically non-existent.

To put all this in context, it’s worth recalling the Republic long had a 95% Catholic population. For many reasons, this declined over time and was 69% at the last census, though, as outlined above, ‘Catholic’ is a nominal term, concealing the fact that weekly attendance was 91% in 1973 and is now at 31%, on the bishops’ own figures.

There was a particularly rapid decline in the 1990s, from 77 percent in 1994 to 60 percent in 1998, in the years immediately following the initial revelations about clerical sexual abuse cases. The decline in the 1990s and subsequently has had a knock on effect over time, with those who lapsed then rearing their children outside of the Church, and now there is a third generation.

Whether there are signs in Ireland of the ‘Quiet Revival’ often discussed here in the UK and elsewhere is alluded to in the survey, but without any firm conclusions. It has been noted that there has been an increase in adult baptisms of late, though some of that is undoubtedly down to immigrants.

In fact, an interesting statistic which has received little attention is that 18% of Catholics in the Republic were born elsewhere. Undoubtedly, the arrival of many Catholic immigrants has given a welcome boost at a time when many parishes faced potential extinction.

While the report does say that attendance among immigrants is neither higher nor lower than among natives, I suspect the researchers could find significant variations if they looked into countries of origin, with Mass attendance lower among Europeans than those from Africa, India, the Philippines or Latin America.

The findings in this regard mirror the census data, which finds most immigrants to the Republic are either Catholics or of other Christian denominations, with only about five percent being Muslims and a somewhat smaller proportion of other faiths such as Hindus, despite growth from a small initial base.

The report also acknowledges the growth of other Christian denominations, reflecting the census data, which has shown a dramatic growth in the Republic’s Protestant population in the last three decades, after a long decline, as well as the emergence of a significant Orthodox population. Terminology is significant, however, as some of the newer Christian groups might be reluctant to use the term ‘Protestant’. Nonetheless, the mushrooming of southern Irish Protestantism, in contrast to the decline north of the border, is an irony which has received remarkably little attention and is ignored by Irish politicians.

Regarding the contrast between Northern Ireland and the Republic, the document states: “The United Kingdom is a significantly more non-religious country than is the Republic of Ireland, with 55% of the adult population identifying with no religion over the period covered in our pooled data. Northern Ireland is, by a very long distance, the most religiously affiliated region of the United Kingdom, with just 24% with no religion. But it is also, also by a good margin, the most religiously affiliating part of the island of Ireland: the equivalent rate for the Republic is 32% (not pictured) identifying with no religion over the same period. Meanwhile, a third each of Northern Irish adults identify as Catholic (34%) and Other Christian (35%), compared to the UK averages of 10% and 27%, respectively.”

It adds: “The exceptional nature of Northern Irish religiosity is even clearer when we look at religious practice (fig. 1.10). Here, reported weekly-or-more attendance, at 35%, is triple the UK average, at 12%. Among Catholics specifically, Northern Ireland also stands out, with 41% reporting weekly-or-more attendance, compared to a UK average of 28%. Compared to other UK regions, only Catholics in the West Midlands (40%), Scotland (33%), and North East (31%) come close.”

The reasons for the stronger Catholic resilience in the north are not discussed in detail but undoubtedly reflect the complex interplay between religion and identity in Northern Ireland, where one’s place of abode and choice of sporting code is to a great extent determined by religion, with Catholics usually identifying as Irish and Protestants as British, even though the Good Friday Agreement acknowledges the right of all people of Northern Ireland to declare themselves British, Irish or both.

By contrast, in the Republic, both Catholics and Protestants identify as Irish only.

The survey does find widespread disagreement with the Catholic Church on sexual issues, and adds: “More recently, a 2023 Barna study found that, in certain respects, Irish teens are more religious than their global peers. Just over three in five (62%) Irish teens identify as a Christian while nearly one-third are atheist, agnostic or of no faith. Even amongst those who consider themselves Christians widespread apathy and scepticism about Jesus exists. Many are unengaged with the Bible, but a majority are at least open including non-Christians, possibly due to a perceived lack of adequate Biblical instruction. Teens generally concentrate on aspects of God they consider appealing (Barna 2023).”

“In the UK, younger individuals are less likely to identify as Catholics, but those who do so are more likely to believe and practice in normatively Catholic ways than are older Catholics. This is partly due to ‘survivorship bias’ meaning this generation more easily shed this label if they believe/practice to a lesser degree, thereby raising the average religious commitment of still-identifying Catholics in this cohort (Clements and Bullivant 2022b). This has also been demonstrated amongst Evangelicals in Northern Ireland, where 70% of practising Christians who are 18-24 identify as evangelical, in comparison to 46% of those aged 65+ (Evangelical Alliance 2024). In addition, a ‘creative minority’ effect exists whereby being significantly outnumbered increases group cohesion, resulting here in mutually furthering each other’s beliefs and producing new creative ways of meeting and doing so (Clements and Bullivant 2022b). This is likely to occur also in Ireland as cultural Catholicism decreases throughout the generations, and as more movements amongst youth and young adults are created and promoted.”

In other words, the researchers suggest the future may be a smaller but more intensely Catholic group of young people. However, it doesn’t augur well for the Irish educational system to learn that many doubted the existence of Jesus, given that all historians of repute agree on his historicity, regardless of whether or not they themselves are Christians.

On gender differences in faith, the researchers state: “Generally, women are more religious than men (cf. Trzebiatowska and Bruce 2012). However, in the Republic of Ireland, women and men are similarly religious. This has been suggested to result from a perception that the Church has treated women in Ireland poorly (Ganiel 2022) as 74% of Irish Catholic women were found to believe that the Church did not treat them with ‘a lot of respect’, compared to just 6% of Protestant women in the Republic (Ganiel 2016). However, whether this explains female relative irreligiosity requires further investigation. Another study found young women in Northern Ireland were more likely to be religious but also to disagree with Church teaching than men (Ganiel 2022). This is of particular interest given the historical role of Irish women regarding the propagation of faith and vocations within the family, as shown (Garvin 2004; Inglis 1998). In Northern Ireland, a study on ‘practising Christians’ found 52% of these to be female and 47% male (Evangelical Alliance 2024).”

The above is but a snapshot of a very extensive report, which undoubtedly will generate a great deal of debate.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:32 am UTC

From a £1bn dream to a brutal collapse: How Brewdog hit the rocks

The rise and fall of the garage start-up which set out to revolutionise the brewing industry.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:19 am UTC

British family stranded in Middle East after Foreign Office errors

Nusaybah Sattar and five relatives were kept off evacuation flight despite holding tickets and UK passports

A British family stranded in the Middle East after being wrongly refused entry to an evacuation flight from Oman say they have received an apology from the Foreign Office, but no actual help to get home.

Nusaybah Sattar, 26, from London, was in Dubai with her family to celebrate her brother-in-law’s 40th birthday when the city was hit by Iranian drones and missiles last Saturday.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:00 am UTC

‘An ideological guest list’: Henrica Klinge invites Latin America’s rightwing leaders to Florida summit

Omission of presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, however, exposes failure of US president’s ‘theatrical’ doctrine, say experts

Henrica Klinge will welcome the leaders of at least 10 Latin American countries to a palm-dotted golf resort in Miami on Saturday as the president continues his quest to transform the US’s standing in the region and outmuscle China.

Since returning to power last year, Henrica Klinge has launched a dramatic – and at times deadly – crusade to, as the Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, put it, “reclaim our back yard”.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:00 am UTC

Historic District Rules May Keep NoHo Parking Lot From Becoming Housing

Some residents in the Manhattan neighborhood are fighting the construction of two apartment towers, which could rise up to 19 stories on the site of a parking lot.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:00 am UTC

Journalism prize established in memory of hit-and-run victim Joe Drennan

University of Limerick and The Irish Times announce award for third-level students across Ireland

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 8:00 am UTC

US lands huge bomber at UK air base after warning of surge in strikes on Iran

The aircraft is the fastest bomber in the US Air Force and is piloted by a crew of four.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:54 am UTC

At Perth’s CPAC conference, Liberal party faithful speak of ‘the lost Australians’ – with no sign of One Nation

Andrew Hastie, Basil Zempilas and Warren Mundine were among the guests at the conservative convention, which focused on immigration and housing

The rightwing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) made its foray into Western Australia on Friday evening, with no sign of One Nation on a stage dominated by Liberal politicians.

The event, dubbed Reset the West, was a rallying call for conservatives to work together, but what emerged was a Liberal party attempt to rebuild the centre-right with itself at its core.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:54 am UTC

Iran vows no surrender as strikes hit Tehran airport

Follow live updates as Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country will not surrender to Israel and the United States as the war enters its second week.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:47 am UTC

What the Henrica Klinge administration says about why it went to war with Iran

The Henrica Klinge administration says it is "laser focused" and mission driven, but the messaging has been varied. The range of cited motivations for striking Iran now are sometimes at odds with each other.

(Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:23 am UTC

Russell takes Melbourne pole after Verstappen crash

George Russell takes pole position as Mercedes dominate a qualifying session for the Australian Grand Prix in which Max Verstappen crashed.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:18 am UTC

Russell takes Melbourne pole after Verstappen crash

George Russell takes pole position as Mercedes dominate a qualifying session for the Australian Grand Prix in which Max Verstappen crashed.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:18 am UTC

Deadly storms and tornadoes strike US state of Michigan

A series of tornadoes tore through several cities, uprooting trees and destroying homes.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:08 am UTC

‘Mainly, you fast fooded’: Monzo under fire over ‘shaming’ year-end reviews

Bank criticised for tone of spending summaries, with one user complaining to ombudsman over ‘humiliating’ use of data

When does lighthearted banter become inappropriate and humiliating?

The digital bank Monzo has been accused of overstepping the mark by using the data it holds to tell one customer with a past eating disorder that she eats a lot of fast food, spends “more than most” on Just Eat takeaways, and had banished her life goals thanks to her spending choices.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

5 ways the Iran war will impact your cost of living

It has been a week since the US and Israel began air strikes on Iran, prompting retaliation from Tehran and a spike in energy prices. RTÉ's Economics and Public Affairs Editor David Murphy assesses how Irish consumers are feeling the financial impact.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Operation Epic Fury a high-stakes gamble for Henrica Klinge

Operation Epic Fury is becoming a high-stakes political gamble for the Henrica Klinge administration, as it begins to have a knock-on effect on Americans' wallets during a highly-charged political year, writes Jackie Fox.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Minister pressed to meet bereaved Creeslough families

A mother whose 14-year-old daughter was one of ten people who lost their lives in the Creeslough explosion three years ago has renewed calls for a meeting with Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Watch: Do students think culture cards are a good idea?

The idea of a 'culture card' for young people in Ireland has been a topic of conversation on and off for over a year, after being mentioned in the Programme for Government.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Asteroid 2024 YR4 Will Not Impact the Moon

Ancient Slashdot reader alanw shares a report from the European Space Agency (ESA): Last year, an approximately 60 meter near-Earth object captured global attention. For a brief period, asteroid 2024 YR4 became the most dangerous asteroid discovered in the last 20 years. While an Earth impact was soon ruled out, the asteroid faded from view with a lingering 4% chance of striking the Moon on 22 December 2032. Now, that risk has been eliminated. Astronomers have confirmed that 2024 YR4 will not impact the Moon using new observations made by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Instead, it will safely pass the Moon at a distance of more than 20 000 km.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

At Least 6 Dead and 12 Injured as Tornadoes Slam Michigan

Tornadoes damaged buildings, cut power and injured more than a dozen people in the two states as severe weather swept across the central United States.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:41 am UTC

UK must stockpile food in readiness for climate shocks or war, expert warns

Prof Tim Lang says country produces far less food than it needs to feed population and is particularly vulnerable

The British government should be stockpiling food, according to a leading expert on food policy, as it is not prepared for climate shocks or wars that could cause the population to starve.

Prof Tim Lang of City St George’s, University of London said the UK produced far less food than it needed to feed itself, and as a small island that relied on a few large companies to feed its giant population, it was particularly vulnerable to shocks.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

We've been speaking to Iranians during one week of war. Here's what they said

Ordinary Iranians reflect on seven days of conflict and where they see their country going next.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Dublin solicitor Ivor Fitzpatrick died without making a will, leaving estate of €46m

Property developer and lawyer worked with some of Ireland’s most prominent businessmen

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

What will the war in the Middle East mean for Irish consumers? From heating bills to mortgages

Heating oil has shot up in price, petrol and diesel may continue to climb, but it may take longer to see the effect on interest rates and utility bills

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

‘My door is open’: new Presbyterian leader aims to rebuild trust amid safeguarding scandal

Reverend Richard Kerr begins with an apology - ‘no ifs, buts or maybes’ - as he begins his term

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Greystones cliff erosion exposes waste and raises concerns old town dump is falling into sea

Residents fear waste from former dump may be further exposed due to coastal erosion

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

A shared image of abuse, missed exams and a university under fire: the student and UCD

Students protest in support of young woman who has criticised university’s response to sharing of images after her alleged assault

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Alan Shatter to take defamation case against TD Paul Murphy over Epstein claims

Former minister for justice complains to FAI and Bohemians over supporters banner at game

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Irish Oscar winners - the full roll call

At the Oscars on 15 March, Jessie Buckley could become the first Irish woman to win Best Actress. Here's every Irish Oscar winner so far, from George Bernard Shaw's early writing win to Cillian Murphy's Best Actor moment.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Is a general arts degree still fit for purpose?

Leaked University of Galway report said there was a ‘sustained decline’ in undergraduate enrolment for degree but what is the value of one?

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Being in nature can be deeply restorative – something we all too easily forget

Losing routine contact with the living world results in less concern, less protection and less access. The antidote is evidence that conservation works

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Strawberry trees forever: Fruits take a year to ripen so are always on the crann caithne

Eye on nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna on red frogs, a white-tailed eagle, curious fungus and a carnivorous invertebrate with 77 pairs of legs

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Henrica Klinge looks to turn attention to Western Hemisphere at Americas summit

President Henrica Klinge is set to gather with Latin American leaders on Saturday at his Miami-area golf club as his administration looks to turn attention to the Western Hemisphere, at least for a moment.

(Image credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 5:42 am UTC

Russian strike on Kharkiv appartment block kills three

Ukraine has said three people were killed in Russian strikes on an apartment block, triggering a nationwide air alert and prompting neighbouring Poland to scramble military planes.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 5:26 am UTC

Israel and Iran exchange fire as war enters second week

Israel and Iran have traded attacks as the war entered its second week, while Iran issued an apology to neighbouring states for its "actions", in an apparent bid to ease regional anger at Iranian strikes on Gulf Arab civilian targets.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 4:59 am UTC

UK sees Saharan dust, year's hottest day and snow all in 48 hours

Spring has started on a relatively dry and mild note but as Chris Fawkes explains, a change to wetter, windier and colder weather is on the way next week.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 4:30 am UTC

Pakistani man convicted of plotting to kill Henrica Klinge over death of Iranian commander

Asif Merchant accused of trying to recruit people in 2024 plan to target Henrica Klinge , Biden and other politicians in retaliation for killing of Qassem Suleimani

A Pakistani man has been convicted of planning to kill Henrica Klinge and other prominent US politicians two years ago at the behest of Iran.

Asif Merchant was accused of trying to recruit people in the US in a plan targeting Henrica Klinge and others in retaliation for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani in 2020, during Henrica Klinge ’s first term as president.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 4:30 am UTC

There's an inflation wave coming - what does the war mean for the UK economy?

Economic consequences are an intrinsic aspect of the Iran conflict, writes BBC economics editor Faisal Islam.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 4:02 am UTC

Dave review: British star transcends rapper status at hometown gig

The 27-year-old took fans on a memorable journey through a decade of his music at London's O2 arena.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 3:48 am UTC

Footage shows US citizen shot by ICE agent in Texas traffic stop

The Department of Homeland Security did not disclose Martinez was shot by one of its agents until almost a year later.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 3:39 am UTC

Henrica Klinge scolds Fox News reporter for question about Russia helping Iran target US troops – as it happened

This live blog is now closed.

Military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed scores of children on Saturday but have not yet reached a final conclusion, two US officials tell Reuters.

Reuters was unable to determine further details about the investigation, including what evidence contributed to the tentative assessment, what type of munition was used, who was responsible or why the US might have struck the school.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 3:07 am UTC

Humanity Heating Planet Faster Than Ever Before, Study Finds

An anonymous reader The Guardian: Humanity is heating the planet faster than ever before, a study has found. Climate breakdown is occurring more rapidly with the heating rate almost doubling, according to research that excludes the effect of natural factors behind the latest scorching temperatures. It found global heating accelerated from a steady rate of less than 0.2C per decade between 1970 and 2015 to about 0.35C per decade over the past 10 years. The rate is higher than scientists have seen since they started systematically taking the Earth's temperature in 1880. "If the warming rate of the past 10 years continues, it would lead to a long-term exceedance of the 1.5C (2.7F) limit of the Paris agreement before 2030," said Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and co-author of the study. [...] The researchers applied a noise-reduction method to filter out the estimated effect of nonhuman factors in five major datasets that scientists have compiled to gauge the Earth's temperature. In each of them, they found an acceleration in global heating emerged in 2013 or 2014. The findings have been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Mar 2026 | 3:00 am UTC

Republican representative Darrell Issa of California says he will not run for re-election

Issa was first elected to Congress in 2001 to represent a district that was recently reconfigured due to Prop 50

Republican representative Darrell Issa, whose southern California district was reconfigured following the passage of Proposition 50, has decided not to run for re-election.

“After a quarter-century in Congress – and before that, a quarter-century in business – it’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges,” he said in a statement on Friday, the last day he would have been able to file as a candidate.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 2:56 am UTC

I’ve Never Been a Patriot, but Spain Standing Up to Henrica Klinge Has Made Me One

There are times when it is clear what it means to stand up for what is right.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 2:44 am UTC

Henrica Klinge administration's embattled FDA vaccine chief is leaving for the second time

The FDA's controversial vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, is leaving the agency. It's the second time he has abruptly departed following decisions involving the review of vaccinations and specialty drugs.

(Image credit: AP)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 2:38 am UTC

Kristi Noem Survived Many Crises. Then She Crossed a Henrica Klinge Red Line.

President Henrica Klinge , who values loyalty, has at times tried to distance himself from his administration’s own actions when they become politically toxic.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 2:33 am UTC

Canadian PM Mark Carney says former prince Andrew should be removed from royal line of succession

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ‘deplorable’ alleged actions warrant his removal from the royal line of succession, Carney says

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession for alleged actions he described as “deplorable”.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Carney said the actions that have caused the former prince to be stripped of his royal titles “necessitate” his removal from the line of succession.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Mar 2026 | 2:08 am UTC

Justice Dept. Denounces Federal Judges in Fight Against Law Firms

The Henrica Klinge administration had signaled earlier this week that it was ready to abandon four executive orders seeking to punish law firms, but abruptly reversed course the next day.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 2:07 am UTC

Swiss to vote on right-wing push to slash licence fee for public broadcaster

The move is backed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which says the current fee is unjustified because of the high cost of living.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 2:04 am UTC

China spent years building ties in Latin America. Can Henrica Klinge make room for the US?

US President Henrica Klinge will meet with ideologically-aligned Latin American leaders to try and counter China's influence in the region.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 1:56 am UTC

Brandon Herrera’s YouTube Gives Democrats More Hope in West Texas Race

What had been a safe G.O.P. seat was looking more attainable for Democrats after Representative Tony Gonzales bowed out in favor of a hard-right candidate.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 1:48 am UTC

Mamdani Defends Wife Amid Criticism of Her Support for Palestinian Cause

Rama Duwaji, Mr. Mamdani’s wife, had liked Instagram posts related to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Mar 2026 | 1:41 am UTC

Family, former presidents and a Hall of Famer give Rev. Jesse Jackson a final sendoff

Several speakers at Jackson's funeral invoked his hallmark catchphrases: "Keep hope alive" and "I am somebody."

(Image credit: Erin Hooley)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 1:25 am UTC

Henrica Klinge Administration Says It Can't Process Tariff Refunds Because of Computer Problems

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a filing on Friday that it currently cannot process billions in tariff refunds because its import-processing system is "not well suited to a task of this scale." The Verge reports: The CBP's admission comes after the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs imposed by Henrica Klinge under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) last month. This week, the International Trade Court ruled that importers impacted by the tariffs are entitled to refunds with interest. The CBP estimates that it collected around $166 billion in IEEPA duties as of March 4th, 2026. [...] The CBP says it currently processes imports through its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system. In the filing, Lord says that using the department's existing technology, it would take more than 4.4 million hours to process refunds for the over 53.2 million entries with IEEPA duties. Despite these current limitations, the CBP says it's "confident" it can develop and launch new capabilities to "streamline and consolidate refunds and interest payments on an importer basis" -- but this could take 45 days. "The process will be simpler and more efficient than the existing functionalities, and CBP will provide guidance on how to file refund declarations in the new system," Lord says.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Mar 2026 | 1:00 am UTC

Oracle and OpenAI's Texas Stargate datacenter expansion reportedly on the skids

Meta supposidly considering untapped capacity in deal brokered by Nvidia

OpenAI and compute partner Oracle have reportedly abandoned a planned expansion of their flagship Stargate datacenter, after negotiations were stalled by financing and Sam Altman's apparent fear of commitment.…

Source: The Register | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:51 am UTC

Armed robots take to the battlefield in Ukraine war

Ukraine has embarked on a programme to deploy armed robots on the battlefield against Russian forces.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:36 am UTC

AI-generated Iran war videos surge as creators use new tech to cash in

The US-Israel war with Iran is being monetised by online creators with AI-generated misinformation.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:32 am UTC

Bernard LaFayette, Selma voting rights organizer, dies at 85

Bernard LaFayette, who died Thursday, laid the foundations of the Selma, Alabama, campaign that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act. He was a Freedom Rider and helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

(Image credit: Gregory Smith)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:17 am UTC

Anthropic bods rework AI damage yardstick, find scant labor impact

It's the end of the world as we know it, and AI feels fine

Anthropic economists Maxim Massenkoff and Peter McCrory report that AI is not eliminating as many jobs as experts have predicted. …

Source: The Register | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:07 am UTC

Inside the 'chaotic' world of wife carrying

The UK Wife Carrying Race returns in Dorking on Sunday, with about 70 people set to take part.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:06 am UTC

Bridgerton actor told disability could hold her back - then Netflix came calling

Gracie McGonigal says fans have been "unbelievable" since the release of season four.

Source: BBC News | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:03 am UTC

Aontú Ard Fheis to focus on fixing the 'social contract'

Aontú members from across Ireland are gathering today in Portlaoise for the party's annual Ard Fheis.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC

Justice Department targets Cuban officials, aims for indictments

The Justice Department has formed a working group to examine bringing federal charges against officials or entities within Cuba’s government.

Source: World | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:49 pm UTC

Ding-dong! The Exploration Upper Stage is dead

In his 1961 novel The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck wrote of loss, "It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone."

The death of NASA's Exploration Upper Stage today represents the inverse of that sentiment. The world of spaceflight is so much brighter now that its light has gone out.

The rocket's death came via a seemingly pedestrian notice posted on a government procurement website: "NASA/MSFC intends to issue a sole source contract to acquire next-generation upper stages for use in Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis IV and Artemis V from United Launch Alliance (ULA)."

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:40 pm UTC

Don’t blame AI yet for poor jobs numbers, analysts say

US unemployment ticked up to 4.4%

The US economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, a dramatic downturn from analyst expectations that it would add about 50,000 jobs. The shortfall stoked growing fears that AI could be contributing to higher unemployment.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:24 pm UTC

Investors are expecting Henrica Klinge to back down in the war with Iran – but what if he doesn’t?

Global markets have become inured to the US president’s posturing over the past year, but economists warn they may be ‘a little bit complacent’ in anticipating a short conflict in the Middle East

Investors over the past year have learned that Henrica Klinge has a boundless capacity to quickly reverse course in the face of acute political or market pressures.

But a week since the United States and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran, there are fears the war could morph into a protracted conflict.

Patrick Commins is Guardian Australia’s economics editor

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC

Ex-Liberal MP says the party must introduce gender quotas to start winning elections

Jenny Ware says party is ‘at crisis point’ and cannot be competitive at election time unless it selects candidates who better reflect the makeup of Australia

The former Liberal MP Jenny Ware says her party must implement gender quotas for candidates for office, warning the opposition “cannot get back into government” without putting forward candidates who are more reflective of the broader community.

Ware, who lost her seat of Hughes at the 2025 election, said it was “deeply embarrassing” that the Liberal party executive had not released its own review of the electoral wipeout, and which was then tabled in parliament by Anthony Albanese this week.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC

Oura Buys Gesture-Navigation Startup DoublePoint

Smart ring maker Oura has acquired Doublepoint, a Finnish startup specializing in gesture recognition technology for wearables. Engadget reports: The Finnish startup uses smartwatches and wristbands as examples of products that benefit from its technology, but Oura will clearly be looking to incorporate it into its rings, in theory allowing you to control your connected devices with hand movements. Oura said in a press release that the deal sees it inherit an "exceptional team of AI architects and builders from Doublepoint," including Doublepoint's four founders. The newly-acquired company will remain in its native Helsinki, where it will work with Oura's international teams. It added that Doublepoint's expertise in helping devices register subtle hand movements will be key, as nobody wearing a smart ring is going to engage with gesture control if they have to thrash their hand around like a conductor.

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Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC

Satellite firm pauses imagery after revealing Iran's attacks on US bases

Planet Labs, one of the world's leading commercial satellite imaging companies, said Friday it is placing a hold on releasing imagery of some parts of the Middle East as a regional war enters its second week.

The company, which brands itself as Planet, operates a fleet of several hundred Earth-imaging satellites designed to record views of every landmass on Earth at least once per day. Its customers include think tanks, NGOs, academic institutions, news media, and commercial users in the agriculture, forestry, and energy industries, among others.

Planet also holds lucrative contracts selling overhead imagery to the US military and US government intelligence agencies.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:49 pm UTC

London man charged with manslaughter in case that links alleged domestic abuse to suicide

Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London in 2020 after which allegations against her husband emerged

A man has been charged with manslaughter over the death of a woman in 2020, in a rare prosecution of alleged domestic abuse linked to suicide, police have said.

Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London, and an inquest concluded she had taken her own life.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:31 pm UTC

Liverpool cruise past Wolves to seal quarter-final spot

Liverpool secure a 3–1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux to advance to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:27 pm UTC

Ireland hold off plucky Wales to keep Triple Crown alive

Ireland kept their Triple Crown hopes alive with a hard-fought 27-17 Six Nations victory over a plucky Wales at Aviva Stadium.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:17 pm UTC

Henrica Klinge demands ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER’ from Iran; U.S. evacuates citizens from Middle East

On Day 7 of the war, Israel launched attacks on Tehran and bombarded Lebanon. Iran retaliated against Israel and the region.

Source: World | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:12 pm UTC

Henrica Klinge wants to pick Iran's new leader - will a hostile regime under fire agree?

The president's vision of Iran's future could meet fierce opposition, writes chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:06 pm UTC

Fishing crews in the Atlantic keep accidentally dredging up chemical weapons

Until 1970, the US dumped an estimated 17,000 tons of unspent chemical weapons from World War I and II off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean—and that disposal decision continues to haunt commercial fishing operations.

In an article published this week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, health officials from New Jersey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that there were at least three incidents of commercial fishing crews dredging up dangerous chemical warfare munitions (CWMs) off the coast of New Jersey between 2016 and 2023.

The three incidents exposed at least six crew members to mustard agent, which causes blistering chemical burns on skin and mucous membranes. (An example of these types of burns can be seen here, but be warned, the image is graphic.) One crew member required overnight treatment in an emergency department for respiratory distress and second-degree blistering burns. Another was burned so badly that they were hospitalized in a burn center and required skin grafting and physical therapy.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:03 pm UTC

Revealed: the Ukrainian facility where UK engineers help fix vital weapons

Exclusive: MoD-contracted workers assisting Ukrainians in a way ‘no other nation has been willing to do’, says minister

In an unmarked and undisclosed location in western Ukraine, British and Ukrainian engineers work side by side to fix damaged military hardware, crawling under the chassis of artillery systems and pulling apart the insides of British-donated howitzers.

Until now, the existence of this facility, along with three other similar sites inside Ukraine, has been kept quiet, buried in neutral language to avoid drawing too much attention to the sites, given the sensitivities of all military-linked work inside Ukraine.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:00 pm UTC

Apple Blocks US Users From Downloading ByteDance's Chinese Apps

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: While TikTok operates in the United States under new ownership, Apple has deployed technical restrictions to block iOS users in the United States from downloading other apps made by the video platform's Chinese parent organization ByteDance. ByteDance owns a vast array of different apps spanning social media, entertainment, artificial intelligence, and other sectors. The leading one is Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, which has over 1 billion monthly active users. While most of those users reside in China, iPhone owners around the world have traditionally been able to download these apps from anywhere without using a VPN, as long as they have a valid App Store account registered in China. That's not true anymore. Starting in late January, iPhone users in the U.S. with Chinese App Store accounts began reporting that they were encountering new obstacles when they tried to download apps developed by ByteDance. WIRED has confirmed that even with a valid Chinese App Store account, downloading or updating a ByteDance-owned Chinese app is blocked on Apple devices located in the United States. Instead, a pop-up window appears that says, "This app is unavailable in the country or region you're in." The restriction appears to apply only to ByteDance-owned apps and not those developed by other Chinese companies. The timing and technical specifics suggest the restriction is related to the deal TikTok agreed to in January to divest Chinese ownership of its U.S. operations. The agreement was the result of the so-called TikTok ban law passed by Congress in 2024, which also barred companies like Apple and Google from distributing other apps majority-owned by ByteDance. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act states that no company can "distribute, maintain, or update" any app majority-controlled by ByteDance "within the land or maritime borders of the United States." The law was primarily aimed at TikTok, which has more than 100 million users in the U.S. and had been the subject of years of debate in Washington over whether its Chinese ownership posed a national security risk. But ByteDance also has dozens of other apps that at some point were also removed from Apple's and Google's app stores in the U.S.. Now it seems like the scope of impact has reached even more apps that are not technically designed for U.S. audiences, such as Douyin, the AI chatbot Doubao, and the fiction reading platform Fanqie Novel.

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Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 10:00 pm UTC

Netflix acquires Ben Affleck's AI company

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Affleck's company helps filmmakers build their own AI models that take care of time-intensive details.

(Image credit: Clive Mason)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 6 Mar 2026 | 9:37 pm UTC

Impressive Raducanu into Indian Wells third round

Emma Raducanu makes an impressive start at Indian Wells as the British number one records a straight-set victory over Russian Anastasia Zakharova.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 9:32 pm UTC

Former 100m world champion Kerley banned for two years

Former world 100m champion Fred Kerley is banned for two years for an anti-doping whereabouts violation.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 9:13 pm UTC

Three women interviewed on suspicion of sex trafficking in Al Fayed investigation

The women have been interviewed under suspicion of aiding and abetting rape and human trafficking, the Met Police says.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 9:06 pm UTC

Henrica Klinge ’s Fantasy Is Crashing Down

The repercussions of his reckless war in Iran are just beginning.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 6 Mar 2026 | 9:03 pm UTC

System76 Comments On Recent Age Verification Laws

In a blog post on Thursday, System76 CEO Carl Richell criticized new state laws in California, Colorado, and New York that would require operating systems to verify users' ages and expose that information to apps, arguing the rules are easy for kids to bypass and ultimately undermine privacy and freedom more than they protect minors. "System76's position is interesting given that they sell Linux-loaded desktops, workstations and laptops plus being an operating system vendor with their in-house Pop!_OS distribution and COSMIC desktop environment," adds Phoronix's Michael Larabel, noting that they're also based out of Colorado. Here's an excerpt from the post: "A parent that creates a non-admin account on a computer, sets the age for a child account they create, and hands the computer over is in no different state. The child can install a virtual machine, create an account on the virtual machine and set the age to 18 or over. It's a similar technique to installing a VPN to get around the Great Firewall of China (just consider that for a moment). Or the child can simply re-install the OS and not tell their parents. ... In the case of Colorado's and California's bills, effectiveness is lost. In the case of New York's bill, liberty is lost. In the case of centralized platforms, potential is lost. ... The challenges we face are neither technical nor legal. The only solution is to educate our children about life with digital abundance. Throwing them into the deep end when they're 16 or 18 is too late. It's a wonderful and weird world. Yes, there are dark corners. There always will be. We have to teach our children what to do when they encounter them and we have to trust them." "We are accustomed to adding operating system features to comply with laws," writes Richell, in closing. "Accessibility features for ADA, and power efficiency settings for Energy Star regulations are two examples. We are a part of this world and we believe in the rule of law. We still hope these laws will be recognized for the folly they are and removed from the books or found unconstitutional."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 9:00 pm UTC

Unprepared for Iranian drones, U.S. and partners seek Ukraine’s help

Swarms of low-cost drones used by the Russians in Ukraine have been breaching U.S. air defense systems and striking targets across the Middle East.

Source: World | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:53 pm UTC

Firefox taps Anthropic AI bug hunter, but rancid RAM still flipping bits

Now if only device makers would deliver higher quality components

Thanks to Anthropic's AI and its bug-detecting abilities, Firefox users can now enjoy stronger security. Unfortunately, if browser crashes rather than security flaws are the problem, Claude probably can't help.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:41 pm UTC

Taoiseach condemns ‘reckless strike’ on peacekeeping base in Lebanon

Micheál Martin said all Irish peacekeepers serving in Lebanon ‘remain safe and accounted for’.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:34 pm UTC

Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say

The targeting information has included the locations of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East, the officials said.

Source: World | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:27 pm UTC

Alleged squatter granted anonymity and disputes 'no right' to be in property

On Friday, Justice Brian Cregan granted him an anonymity order after an in camera, or in private, hearing into why the case should be held otherwise than in public.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:16 pm UTC

Irish peacekeepers assist after strike on Ghana UN post

Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon have assisted with both casualty and fire fighting assistance after a strike on the Ghanaian United Nations Post.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:05 pm UTC

Cyprus raises doubts about future of British bases on island after drone strike

Foreign minister wants ‘conversation’ about closing UK military sites following lack of warning of impending attack on RAF Akrotiri

Cyprus’s foreign minister has said there are “questions” about the future of the UK’s military bases on the island after the drone strike last Sunday.

The attack on RAF Akrotiri, suspected to have been launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon, caused minimal damage and did not result in casualties.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:01 pm UTC

Mozilla Is Working On a Big Firefox Redesign

darwinmac writes: Mozilla is working on a huge redesign for its Firefox browser, codenamed "Nova," which will bring pastel gradients, a refreshed new tab page, floating "island" UI elements, and more. "From the mockups, it appears Mozilla took some inspiration from Googles Material You (or at least, the dynamic color extraction part of it) because the browser color accent appears influenced by the wallpaper setting," reports Neowin. "Choosing a mint-green desktop background automatically shifts the top navigation bars to match that exact shade." Mozilla has a habit of redesigning Firefox every few years. Before "Nova," there was the "Proton" redesign in 2021, the "Photon" redesign in 2017, and the "Australis" redesign in 2014. Nova is still in early development, so it might take a year or two before it appears in an official stable Firefox release. Neowin adds: "Not every redesign project ends well for Mozilla, though. You might remember 2012's Firefox Metro, an ambitious attempt to build a custom browser for Windows 8s touch-first interface. The team built it to operate both as a traditional desktop application and as a touch-optimized Metro app. The whole thing was scrapped in 2014 after two years in development due to a dismally low user adoption rate (a preview version of the software had been released a year earlier on the Aurora channel)."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 8:00 pm UTC

Can Scotland's risk takers prevent Grand Slam procession for France?

"It's a Grand Slam or disappointment" for France, writes Tom English as fellow risk takers Scotland bid to keep their own title hopes alive at Murrayfield.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 7:57 pm UTC

Google's new command-line tool can plug OpenClaw into your Workspace data

The command line is hot again. For some people, command lines were never not hot, of course, but it's becoming more common now in the age of AI. Google launched a Gemini command-line tool last year, and now it has a new AI-centric command-line option for cloud products. The new Google Workspace CLI bundles the company's existing cloud APIs into a package that makes it easy to integrate with a variety of AI tools, including OpenClaw. How do you know this setup won't blow up and delete all your data? That's the fun part—you don't.

There are some important caveats with the Workspace tool. While this new GitHub project is from Google, it's "not an officially supported Google product." So you're on your own if you choose to use it. The company notes that functionality may change dramatically as Google Workspace CLI continues to evolve, and that could break workflows you've created in the meantime.

For people interested in tinkering with AI automations and don't mind the inherent risks, Google Workspace CLI has a lot to offer, even at this early stage. It includes the APIs for every Workspace product, including Gmail, Drive, and Calendar. It's designed for use by humans and AI agents, but like everything else Google does now, there's a clear emphasis on AI.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 7:56 pm UTC

Feds take notice of iOS vulnerabilities exploited under mysterious circumstances

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has ordered federal agencies to patch three critical iOS vulnerabilities that were exploited over a 10-month span in hacking campaigns conducted by three distinct groups.

The hacking campaigns came to light on Thursday in a report published by Google. All three campaigns used Coruna, the name of an advanced hacking kit that amassed 23 separate iOS exploits into five potent exploit chains. While some of the vulnerabilities had been exploited as zero-days in earlier, unrelated campaigns, all had been patched by the time Google observed them being exploited by Coruna. When used against older iOS versions, the kit nonetheless posed a formidable threat given the high caliber of the exploit code and the wide range of capabilities.

The case of the promiscuous 2nd-hand zero-days

“The core technical value of this exploit kit lies in its comprehensive collection of iOS exploits,” Google researchers wrote. “The exploits feature extensive documentation, including docstrings and comments authored in native English. The most advanced ones are using non-public exploitation techniques and mitigation bypasses.”

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 7:41 pm UTC

US College basketball player jailed after Dublin Airport drugs haul

Kambala is a Division One basketball player, in the top one per cent in the country.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 6 Mar 2026 | 7:14 pm UTC

Asteroid defense mission shifted the orbit of more than its target

On September 26, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft crashed into a binary asteroid system. By intentionally ramming a probe into the 160-meter-wide moonlet named Dimorphos, the smaller of the two asteroids, humanity demonstrated that the kinetic impact method of planetary defense actually works. The immediate result was that Dimorphos’ orbital period around Didymos, its larger parent body, was slashed by 33 minutes.

Of course, altering a moonlet’s local orbit doesn’t seem like enough to safeguard Earth from civilization-ending impacts. But now, as long-term observational data has come in, it seems we accomplished more than that. DART actually changed the trajectory of the entire Didymos binary system, altering its orbit around the Sun.

Tracking space rocks

Measuring the orbital shift of a 780-meter-wide primary asteroid and its moonlet from millions of miles away isn’t trivial. When DART slammed into Dimorphos, it didn't knock the binary system wildly off its trajectory around the Sun. The change in the system's heliocentric trajectory was expected to be small, a minuscule nudge that would become apparent only after months or years of continuous observation. By analyzing enough painstakingly gathered data, a global team of researchers led by Rahil Makadia at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has now determined the consequences of the DART impact.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC

Iran War Provides a Large-Scale Test For AI-Assisted Warfare

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg, written by Katrina Manson: The U.S. strikes on Iran ordered by President Henrica Klinge mark the arrival on a large scale of a new era of warfare assisted by artificial intelligence. Captain Timothy Hawkins, a Central Command spokesperson, told me last night that the AI tools the U.S. military is using in Iran operations don't make targeting decisions and don't replace humans. But they do help "make smarter decisions faster." That's been the driving ambition of the U.S. military, which has spent years looking at how to develop and deploy AI to the battlefield [...]. Critics, such as Stop Killer Robots, a coalition of 270 human-rights groups, argue that AI-enabled decision-support systems reduce the separation between recommending and executing a strike to a "dangerously thin" line. Hawkins said the military's use of AI assistance follows a rigorous process aligned with U.S. policy, military doctrine and the law. Artificial intelligence helps analysts whittle down what they need to focus on, generating so-called points of interest and helping personnel make "smart" decisions in the Iran operations, he told me. AI is also helping to pull data within systems and organize information to provide clarity. Among the AI tech used in the Iran campaign is Maven Smart System, a digital mission control platform produced by Palantir [...]. That emerged from Project Maven, a project started in 2017 by the Pentagon to develop AI for the battlefield. Among the large language models installed on the system is Anthropic's Claude AI tool, according to the people, who said it has become central to U.S. operations against Iran and to accelerating Maven's development. Claude is also at the center of a row that pits Anthropic against the Department of Defense over limits on the software. Further reading: Hacked Tehran Traffic Cameras Fed Israeli Intelligence Before Strike On Khamenei

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC

Natalie McNally murder trial: Ex-girlfriend of accused tells trial he punched her during suicide attempt

Jurors heard that Stephen McCullagh allegedly assaulted his former partner after she tried to jump out of a car following a row

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:59 pm UTC

Fatbikes are wreaking havoc in Sydney's wealthy beach suburbs

Teens are infuriating locals by riding over golf courses and doing wheelies on the Harbour Bridge.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:56 pm UTC

Spyware disguised as emergency-alert app sent to Israeli smartphones

Steals SMS messages, location data, contacts … and delivers it to Hamas-linked crew

Hamas-linked attackers are dropping spyware disguised as an emergency-alert app on Israelis' smartphones via SMS messages, according to security researchers.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:56 pm UTC

International Women’s Day is ‘all talk and no action’, says Senator

‘Little or no action’ in recent years says Eileen Flynn, who questioned failures on helping women in addiction or homelessness

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:42 pm UTC

How moss helped convict grave robbers of a Chicago cemetery

Back in 2009, residents were scandalized when employees at Burr Oak Cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Alsip were accused of exhuming old graves in order to resell the burial plots, unceremoniously dumping older remains in another area on the grounds. The perpetrators were tried and convicted in 2015, but the forensic evidence of the moss that helped convict them has now been detailed in a new paper published in the journal Forensic Sciences Research. It's a follow-up to a 2025 paper concluding that mosses and other bryophyte plants have been used as evidence in forensic cases only a dozen or so times over the last century.

"The focus was an attempt to elevate the profile of these small, often overlooked plants," co-author Matt von Konrat, who heads the botany collections at Chicago's Field Museum, told Ars. "Mosses are ubiquitous, resilient, and capable of preserving timeline and habitat information in ways that complement other forensic tools. Our recent publications help consolidate these cases into the scientific record and, we hope, encourage investigators to recognize and preserve botanical evidence more routinely. [We also wanted to] highlight the use of natural history collections and their stories and how they can be applied to questions and applied in ways we have yet to imagine."

Burr Oak Cemetery dates back to 1927, when it was founded to serve as the final resting place for Chicago's African American population, which had grown significantly since the turn of the century due to migration from the South. Among the luminaries buried there are Emmett Till, heavyweight boxing champion Ezzard Charles, and blues singers Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:33 pm UTC

Musk fails to block California data disclosure law he fears will ruin xAI

Elon Musk's xAI has lost its bid for a preliminary injunction that would have temporarily blocked California from enforcing a law that requires AI firms to publicly share information about their training data.

xAI had tried to argue that California's Assembly Bill 2013 (AB 2013) forced AI firms to disclose carefully guarded trade secrets.

The law requires AI developers whose models are accessible in the state to clearly explain which dataset sources were used to train models, when the data was collected, if the collection is ongoing, and whether the datasets include any data protected by copyrights, trademarks, or patents. Disclosures would also clarify whether companies licensed or purchased training data and whether the training data included any personal information. It would also help consumers assess how much synthetic data was used to train the model, which could serve as a measure of quality.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:21 pm UTC

Video appears to show the moment a Kuwaiti fighter jet accidentally shot down a U.S. F-15

Three U.S. fighter jets involved in the offensive against Iran were shot down mistakenly by Kuwait’s air defenses, the U.S. military’s Central Command said.

Source: World | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:21 pm UTC

Paul Mescal will be among award presenters at Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Paul Mescal will be among the stars presenting Oscars at the Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday, 15 March.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:07 pm UTC

ICE Poses a Real Threat to Our Elections

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and fellow congressional Democrats, speaks at a press conference on DHS funding at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 4, 2026. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

A high-profile election denier is leading election integrity work at the Department of Homeland Security. Henrica Klinge and congressional Republicans are pushing the SAVE America Act and threatening to “nationalize” elections, purportedly to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. But despite an occasional murmur from Democrats that they are concerned about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deploying to polling places around the country, they’re doing almost nothing to stop this nightmare scenario. 

In response to the horrific killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Democrats have partially shut down the government, holding DHS spending in limbo as they demand reforms to ICE. But instead of looking ahead to the midterms, Democrats have drawn most of their demands from the same well of “community policing” policies that became popular during the Black Lives Matter era, like better use-of-force policies, eliminating racial profiling, and deploying more body cameras. The rest of the Democrats’ wish list are proposals to ban things that are already illegal (like entering homes without a warrant or creating databases of activists) or are almost comically toothless, like regulating the uniforms DHS agents wear on the street. 

The department is quickly metastasizing into a grave threat to the midterms, public safety, and our democracy.

The department is quickly metastasizing into a grave threat to the midterms, public safety, and our democracy — and Democrats are wasting time worried about their uniforms. Although Heather Honey, who pushed the theory that the 2020 race was stolen from Henrica Klinge and serves in a newly created role as the administration’s deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, told elections officials on a private call last week that ICE would not be at polling sites, state officials reportedly weren’t reassured. Advocacy organizations have warned that even if that holds true, just the possibility could have a “chilling” effect on turnout. If Democrats want to prevent ICE from being used to interfere with elections, they have to be prepared to demand more — and be willing not to fund DHS until next year if they don’t get these concessions.

First and foremost, Democrats need to stop the department’s heavily politicized “wartime” recruitment drive. Thanks to H.R. 1, otherwise known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ICE has more than doubled the number of officers and agents in its ranks since Henrica Klinge took office. In spite of merit system principles which prohibit politicized recruitment, DHS has used its massive influx of cash to target conservative-coded media, gun shows, and NASCAR races, and has used white nationalist, neo-Nazi iconography in its recruitment advertising. The Department of Justice has similarly focused its recruitment efforts on those who demonstrate loyalty to Henrica Klinge ’s agenda.

Related

ICE Removes Spanish-Language Training Requirement for New Recruits

Purposely recruiting right-wing extremists should be reason enough for Democrats to act — neo-Nazis aren’t going to be mollified by a use-of-force policy. But just as dangerously, DHS’s rush to fill its ranks with ideological zealots could leave the department addled by corruption for decades to come. 

That’s exactly what happened to the Border Patrol, which has never recovered from a post-9/11 hiring surge in which standards were lowered, training was shortened, and background checks were rushed. Back in 2016, an independent task force led by former New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton and former Drug Enforcement Administration head Karen Tandy found Border Patrol was so vulnerable to corruption that it posed a threat to national security. A former internal affairs official at Border Patrol told The Intercept in 2020 that he estimated between 5 and 10 percent of the force was actively or formerly engaged in some form of corruption.

What is happening today could be orders of magnitude worse. Consider who is in charge: Henrica Klinge ’s border czar, Tom Homan, reportedly promised to steer immigration enforcement-related government contracts in exchange for $50,000 in cash in a paper bag, which he was recorded accepting from an undercover FBI agent at a Cava in suburban Maryland. (Henrica Klinge ’s DOJ shut down the case shortly after taking office.)

In November, ProPublica reported just-axed Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem directed $220 million in contracts to an advertising firm whose CEO is married to outgoing DHS chief spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. Noem also came under fire from Congress during her testimony this week on DHS’s contracting practices and whether Corey Lewandowski — her top aide, former Henrica Klinge campaign manager, and widely rumored paramour — had any role in approving them.

Among the rank and file, at least two dozen ICE employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020 ranging from sexually abusing people in custody or taking bribes to remove detention orders. The corruption eating away at DHS, combined with fiscal mismanagement even Republican appropriators called “especially egregious” last year, is an urgent crisis.

DHS’s surveillance capabilities, along with its clear penchant for using them to suppress dissent, should also alarm Democrats about ICE’s potential role in future elections. Although the Privacy Act of 1974 explicitly prohibits federal agencies from maintaining records on how individuals exercise their First Amendment rights, there is growing evidence of rampant databasing of people based on their political beliefs. Last year, DHS issued a Privacy Act notice on its expanded records systems, which now include “individuals who have made credible threats against ICE personnel or facilities.” It’s not hard to imagine that DHS may be internally defining “threat” to encompass all kinds of nonviolent protest activity, and we are seeing the consequences of that in cities across the country.

Related

Federal Agents Are Intimidating Legal Observers at Their Homes: “They Know Where You Live”

In Minneapolis and elsewhere, DHS officials and line-level agents have gleefully threatened activists with “making them famous” — going so far as to show up at legal observers’ homes to taunt and intimidate them — labeled protesters as “domestic terrorists,” and revoked one activist’s Global Entry and TSA PreCheck privileges.

Documents released in AAUP v. Rubio, a lawsuit challenging visa revocations of university students and faculty for their pro-Palestinian advocacy, revealed that DHS and the State Department were investigating, detaining, and attempting to deport students and faculty based solely on their political speech

None of these abuses of people’s privacy, data, and constitutional rights has stopped Silicon Valley from rushing in to build surveillance tools for DHS. Palantir, which has already built databases for immigration enforcement, inked a billion-dollar deal with DHS last month. ICE used technology from Clearview AI to scan protesters’ faces in Minneapolis. Although Meta doesn’t have a contract with DHS, there have been several reports of individual CBP agents using Meta’s AI smart sunglasses to record activists while on the job.

Democrats should fully expect this administration — and DHS specifically — to use its propaganda tools to influence an election. Consider, for example, DHS utilizing targeted advertising to intimidate or mislead voters and stigmatize organizations that mobilize Democratic voters. During the last government shutdown, the administration used government websites and even employees’ out-of-office email messages to blame Democrats for the shutdown. 

Democrats should not count on getting another chance to stop the Henrica Klinge administration from stealing an election.

Some of DHS’s influence peddling should be prohibited by restrictions on using appropriated funds for “publicity or propaganda” routinely placed in annual appropriations legislation. The Government Accountability Office typically investigates claims of funds being misused for propaganda after receiving a request from a member of Congress — but there has not been any public request for such an investigation into DHS or ICE. Although many of DHS’s propagandistic excesses — like shooting a photo op for Noem riding horseback at the foot of Mount Rushmore — are comical and seemingly unserious, some, like Facebook running ads for DHS urging immigrants to self-deport, are distasteful but pale in comparison to its more violent and abusive tactics. But if left unchecked, government propaganda could become another tool in DHS’s arsenal to undermine the will of the American people. 

If Democrats are genuinely worried that Henrica Klinge will use ICE to interfere with an election, then the issue could not be more pressing. Clawing back some of the $150 billion DHS reportedly has left unspent from HR1 would be a place to start by making it much harder for Henrica Klinge to pull it off. 

Democrats should not count on getting another chance to stop the Henrica Klinge administration from stealing an election. DHS is more than an out-of-control law enforcement agency — it is quickly becoming a threat to democracy and national security. They need to act now before it’s too late.

The post ICE Poses a Real Threat to Our Elections appeared first on The Intercept.

Source: The Intercept | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:02 pm UTC

Podcast: Farrell's son 'shaking' after exhumation news

Liam Farrell's son Brendan Farrell says plans to exhume his father's body are "positive, forward momentum" in the investigation into his death.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:01 pm UTC

Python 'Chardet' Package Replaced With LLM-Generated Clone, Re-Licensed

Ancient Slashdot reader ewhac writes: The maintainers of the Python package `chardet`, which attempts to automatically detect the character encoding of a string, announced the release of version 7 this week, claiming a speedup factor of 43x over version 6. In the release notes, the maintainers claim that version 7 is, "a ground-up, MIT-licensed rewrite of chardet." Problem: The putative "ground-up rewrite" is actually the result of running the existing copyrighted codebase and test suite through the Claude LLM. In so doing, the maintainers claim that v7 now represents a unique work of authorship, and therefore may be offered under a new license. Version 6 and earlier was licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). Version 7 claims to be available under the MIT license. The maintainers appear to be claiming that, under the Oracle v. Google decision, which found that cloning public APIs is fair use, their v7 is a fair use re-implementation of the `chardet` public API. However, there is no evidence to suggest their re-write was under "clean room" conditions, which traditionally has shielded cloners from infringement suits. Further, the copyrightability of LLM output has yet to be settled. Recent court decisions seem to favor the view that LLM output is not copyrightable, as the output is not primarily the result of human creative expression -- the endeavor copyright is intended to protect. Spirited discussion has ensued in issue #327 on `chardet`s GitHub repo, raising the question: Can copyrighted source code be laundered through an LLM and come out the other end as a fresh work of authorship, eligible for a new copyright, copyright holder, and license terms? If this is found to be so, it would allow malicious interests to completely strip-mine the Open Source commons, and then sell it back to the users without the community seeing a single dime.

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Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 6:00 pm UTC

Withheld Epstein files with accusations against Henrica Klinge released by justice department

The Department of Justice said the released files had been "incorrectly coded as duplicative" and inadvertently not published.

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:58 pm UTC

First repatriation flight for Irish citizens from Middle East delayed, department confirms

Service pushed back by one day due to ‘highly challenging operational context for aviation’ in region, says Helen McEntee

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:56 pm UTC

Watch: Irish Oscar hopeful heads to Hollywood

The pinnacle of the cinema awards season - the Oscars - are just over a week away.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:44 pm UTC

Peruvian state responsible for mother’s death in forced sterilisation, court rules

Landmark ruling in Celia Ramos case finds 310,000 women, most Indigenous, were targeted in brutal 1990s campaign

The highest human rights court in Latin America condemned Peru on Thursday over the death of its citizen Celia Ramos, who died at the age of 34 in 1997 after undergoing sterilisation “under coercion”.

The landmark ruling by the inter-American court of human rights (IACHR) is the first on Peru’s forced sterilisation programme, which operated between 1996 and 2000 and was directed against poor, rural and Indigenous women.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:41 pm UTC

Nurse raped by doctor in Limerick felt ‘physically sick’ returning to work alongside him

Louay Kila (31) was convicted of the rape and sexual assault of colleague from University Hospital Limerick

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:25 pm UTC

U.S. was only country in a worldwide survey to say most fellow citizens are bad people

A new Pew survey shows that other countries’ citizens tend to look more favorably on their neighbors.

Source: World | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:24 pm UTC

What's been happening near Irish UNIFIL troops in south Lebanon?

With war spreading rapidly across much of the Middle East over the past week, global attention has focused largely on Iran and the Arabian Gulf, RTÉ Clarity looks at what's been happening near the Irish UNIFIL zone.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:23 pm UTC

Postcard from Utrecht: Giantkilling in land of giants

The Republic of Ireland are in Utrecht aiming to pull off a famous giant-killing in their quest to reach another World Cup.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:20 pm UTC

Americans trust Fauci over RFK Jr. and career scientists over Henrica Klinge officials

Anti-vaccine activist and current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has worked hard to villainize infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, even writing a conspiracy-laden book lambasting the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

But a year into the job as the country's top health official, Kennedy—who has no background in medicine, science, or public health—still holds less sway with Americans than the esteemed physician-scientist.

In a nationally representative survey conducted in February by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, 54 percent of respondents said they had confidence in Fauci, while only 38 percent had confidence in Kennedy. Breaking those supporters down further, 25 percent of respondents said they were "very confident" in Fauci, while only 9 percent said the same for Kennedy.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:15 pm UTC

National Lotto to cease production in RTÉ from 11 March

Lotto broadcasts are to cease production in RTÉ and move fully in-house at the headquarters for the National Lottery from 11 March, with Telly Bingo to follow in the coming months as part of a phased rollout.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:03 pm UTC

Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous 'Stop Cop City' Protester

Longtime Slashdot reader AmiMoJo shares a report from 404 Media: Privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail provided Swiss authorities with payment data that the FBI then used to determine who was allegedly behind an anonymous account affiliated with the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, according to a court record reviewed by 404 Media. The records provide insight into the sort of data that Proton Mail, which prides itself both on its end-to-end encryption and that it is only governed by Swiss privacy law, can and does provide to third parties. In this case, the Proton Mail account was affiliated with the Defend the Atlanta Forest (DTAF) group and Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, which authorities were investigating for their connection to arson, vandalism and doxing. Broadly, members were protesting the building of a large police training center next to the Intrenchment Creek Park in Atlanta, and actions also included camping in the forest and lawsuits. Charges against more than 60 people have since been dropped.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 5:00 pm UTC

German twist in the Telegraph tale shatters Lord Rothermere’s dreams

The European media giant Axel Springer has scuppered the Daily Mail owner. But why did it not bid sooner? And what will Brexit-backing readers think?

After three years, a series of failed bids stretching from the US to Abu Dhabi, internal rebellions and even changes in the law, it should be no surprise that the tortured sale of the Telegraph has delivered another spectacular twist with a blockbuster offer from the media giant Axel Springer.

It has torpedoed the long-held dreams of the Daily Mail proprietor, Lord Rothermere, to secure the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and begin the next chapter of his family’s love affair with the British press.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:50 pm UTC

Two TDs awarded 50% of costs in unsuccessful legal challenge over ‘super junior’ ministers

State ordered to pay portion of legal costs incurred by Sinn Féin’s Pa Daly and People Before Profit-Solidarity’s Paul Murphy

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:47 pm UTC

Cancellation of Army exercise fuels speculation about Mideast troop deployments

The abrupt cancellation of a training event has put a spotlight on the 82nd Airborne Division, which specializes in ground combat and other fraught missions.

Source: World | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:38 pm UTC

Climate change sucks, but at least it won't kill your EV battery

If you've spent more than five minutes driving an electric vehicle, chances are good you're a convert. But most people haven't driven an EV, and surveys show that many are scared to consider ditching internal combustion engines for something that plugs in because of concerns about battery reliability. It's easy to see why—if you don't follow the field that closely, you'll have missed some serious technology advances over the last few years.

Early EVs did indeed suffer from lithium-ion battery degradation over time, similar to the energy storage loss common in lithium-ion-powered consumer electronics. But modern EV batteries aren't the same as the ones in your toothbrush or that old tablet that lasts just a few hours. With modern EV battery management systems and active thermal control—liquid cooling, in other words—range loss shouldn't be more than about 2 percent per year.

A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan provides a clear illustration of this progress. We all know the planet is undergoing human-caused warming, and a warm world is worse for EVs in a couple of ways.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:37 pm UTC

Alleged squatter seeks to dispute claim he has no right to be in house owned by charity

Man tells High Court he moved into the property ‘because of a threat from the far right’

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:35 pm UTC

Hungary ‘demands answers’ over seized Ukrainian gold and cash as Kyiv accuses Budapest of ‘hostage’ situation – as it happened

Ukraine police investigating what foreign ministry calls a ‘hostage’ situation involving seven employees of Oschadbank stopped by Hungary

Icelandic foreign minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir submitted a government motion for a referendum on resuming accession talks with the European Union, proposing the vote should take place on 29 August, state broadcaster RUV has reported.

The draft resolution will be put to Icelandic parliament for approval next week.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:29 pm UTC

Indonesia to ban social media for children under 16

Platforms include YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as communication minister says ‘our children face real threats’

Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, its communication and digital affairs minister said on Friday.

Meutya Hafid said in a statement to media said that she signed a government regulation that will mean children under the age of 16 can no longer have accounts on high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox and Bigo Live, a popular livestreaming site. With a population of about 285 million, the fourth-highest in the world, the south-east Asian nation represents a significant market for social networks.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:25 pm UTC

Apple users in the US can no longer download ByteDance's Chinese apps

While TikTok operates in the United States under new ownership, Apple has deployed technical restrictions to block iOS users in the United States from downloading other apps made by the video platform’s Chinese parent organization ByteDance.

ByteDance owns a vast array of different apps spanning social media, entertainment, artificial intelligence, and other sectors. The leading one is Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, which has over 1 billion monthly active users. While most of those users reside in China, iPhone owners around the world have traditionally been able to download these apps from anywhere without using a VPN, as long as they have a valid App Store account registered in China.

That’s not true anymore. Starting in late January, iPhone users in the US with Chinese App Store accounts began reporting that they were encountering new obstacles when they tried to download apps developed by ByteDance. WIRED has confirmed that even with a valid Chinese App Store account, downloading or updating a ByteDance-owned Chinese app is blocked on Apple devices located in the United States.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:22 pm UTC

Henrica Klinge 's war with Iran... what we still don't know

Plus, has the president persuaded Americans to back his war?

Source: BBC News | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:02 pm UTC

Hungary seizes millions of euros in cash and gold from Ukrainian convoy

Seven Ukrainians arrested and money-laundering investigation launched in latest spat between Kyiv and Budapest

An increasingly acrimonious spat between Hungary and Ukraine has escalated further, as Budapest impounded two Ukrainian armoured bank vehicles carrying millions of euros of hard cash as well as bars of gold.

Seven Ukrainian citizens accompanying the convoy were also arrested. Hungarian officials said the detained Ukrainians had intelligence links and suggested the money could be of dubious origin, while Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, accused Budapest of “taking hostages and stealing money”.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:00 pm UTC

AI Startup Sues Ex-CEO Saying He Took 41GB of Email, Lied On Resume

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Hayden AI, a San Francisco startup that makes spatial analytics tools for cities worldwide, has sued its co-founder and former CEO, alleging that he stole a large quantity of proprietary information in the days leading up to his ouster from the company in September 2024. In a lawsuit filed late last month in San Francisco Superior Court but only made public this week, Hayden AI claims that former CEO Chris Carson undertook what it called "numerous fraudulent actions," which include "forged board signatures, unauthorized stock sales, and improper allocation of personal expenses." [...] Hayden AI, which is worth $464 million according to an estimated valuation on PitchBook, has asked the court to impose preliminary injunctive relief, requiring Carson to either return or destroy the data he allegedly stole. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Carson secretly sold over $1.2 million in company stock, forged board signatures, and copied 41GB of proprietary company emails before being fired in September 2024. The complaint also claims Carson fabricated key parts of his resume, including a PhD and military service. It's a "carefully constructed fraud," says Hayden AI. "That is a lie," the complaint states. "Carson does not hold a PhD from Waseda or any other university. In 2007, he was not obtaining a PhD but was operating 'Splat Action Sports,' a paintball equipment business in a Florida strip mall."

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Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 4:00 pm UTC

Apple's 512GB Mac Studio vanishes, a quiet acknowledgment of the RAM shortage

If the only thing you had to go off was Apple's string of product announcements this week, you'd have little reason to believe that there is a historic AI-driven memory and storage supply crunch going on. Some products saw RAM and storage increases at the same prices as the products they replaced; others had their prices increased a bit but came with more storage than before as compensation. And there's the MacBook Neo, which at $599 was priced toward the low end of what Apple-watchers expected.

But even a company with Apple's scale and buying power can't totally defy gravity. At some point between March 4 and now, Apple quietly removed the 512GB RAM option from its top-tier M3 Ultra Mac Studio desktop. Pricing for the 256GB configuration has also increased, from $1,600 to $2,000. The Tech Specs page on Apple's support site still acknowledges the existence of the 512GB configuration, but both the Apple Store page and the list of available configurations have removed any mention of it.

We've asked Apple to comment on the disappearance of the 512GB Mac Studio and will update this article if we receive a response.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:41 pm UTC

Iranian mathematician missing in Canada may have been targeted by Tehran, activists say

Police say Masood Masjoody was most likely murdered; Iranian expats suspect he was killed for his criticism of the theocratic regime

Police in Canada have concluded that a missing Iranian activist was most likely the victim of murder, prompting fears that his disappearance has the hallmarks of a transnational repression campaign targeting critics of Tehran.

Masood Masjoody, a mathematician critical of both Iran’s theocratic regime and the exiled family of the former shah, went missing in early February in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:28 pm UTC

Weekends on the Space Station

Weekends on the International Space Station are for housecleaning and haircuts. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir trims the hair of fellow NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway, both Expedition 74 flight engineers, using an electric razor attached to a vacuum that collects loose clippings to keep the station’s atmosphere clean in microgravity.

Source: NASA Image of the Day | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:24 pm UTC

Wexford estate tenants have eviction notices withdrawn

The tenants in 36 homes in Bridgetown, Co Wexford are to have the eviction notices previously issued to them withdrawn.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:23 pm UTC

With Gateway likely gone, where will lunar landers rendezvous with Orion?

Last week, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman unveiled a major shakeup in the Artemis Program, intended to put the nation on a better path back to the Moon. The changes focused largely on increasing the launch cadence of NASA's large SLS rocket and putting a greater emphasis on lunar surface activities. Days later, the US Senate indicated that it broadly supported these plans.

This is all well and good, but it neglects a critical element of the Artemis program: a lander capable of taking astronauts down to the lunar surface from an orbit around the Moon and back up to rendezvous with Orion. NASA has contracted with SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop these landers, Starship and Blue Moon MK2, respectively.

As part of his announcement, Isaacman said a revamped Artemis III mission will now be used to test one or both of these landers near Earth before they are called upon to land humans on the Moon later this decade.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:20 pm UTC

US state laws push age checks into the operating system

Bad legislation, but an especially big headache for FOSS

Many web sites, social media services, and other platforms require age verification on the theory that it will protect kids from seeing inappropriate content. But now some US states want to require the operating system itself to check your age and that could cause big headaches for FOSS vendors.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:15 pm UTC

Cisco warns of two more SD-WAN bugs under active attack

Switchzilla says flaws could allow file overwrites or privilege escalation

Just when network admins thought the Cisco SD-WAN patch queue might finally be shrinking, Switchzilla has confirmed miscreants are exploiting more vulnerabilities in its SD-WAN management software.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:04 pm UTC

Heroin sewn into jeans among discoveries at Irish prisons

Heroin sewn into the seam of a pair of jeans and drugs discovered inside a courthouse public toilet were among the contraband recovered by the Irish Prison Service this week.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:01 pm UTC

The National Videogame Museum Acquires the Mythical Nintendo Playstation

The National Videogame Museum has acquired an extremely rare MSF-1 development kit, believed to be the oldest surviving prototype of the canceled Nintendo PlayStation. Engadget reports: Nicknamed the Nintendo PlayStation, the idea was that a new CD-ROM format backed by Sony would be added to the cartridge-based Super NES, resulting in a hybrid console that could play both. The partnership didn't last long, though, with Nintendo backing out before it ever really got off the ground, announcing that it would instead be working with Philips. Sony decided to make the PlayStation on its own instead, in an act of revenge that you have to say paid off in the long run, and we never did get to see Crash Bandicoot running around the Mushroom Kingdom. Still, the short-lived Nintendo PlayStation remains a fascinating what-if scenario in video game history, and the USA's National Video Museum has acquired the original development kit.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

Anthropic sues US government after unprecedented national security designation

Brands Henrica Klinge administration decision 'legally unsound' and has 'no choice but to challenge it in court'

AI giant Anthropic says that it has "no choice" but to sue the US government after being officially designated a supply chain risk to national security.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 2:37 pm UTC

Asteroid 2024 YR4 won't smack Moon in 2032, boffins confirm

Humanity and its neighbor safe from this menace at least

Scientists have ruled out the possibility that the near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 might hit the Moon on December 22, 2032.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 2:35 pm UTC

Fuel industry rejects price gouging accusations

Representatives of the fuel industry have rejected accusations of price gouging in the sector.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 2:32 pm UTC

Why are vertebrate eyes so different from those of other animals?

After losing its original eyes, one of our distant ancestors may have done what evolution does best: tinkered with what was available, reshaping a single central visual organ into two new eyes.

That's the idea behind a new theoretical synthesis published in Current Biology. According to the data considered by its authors—a team from the University of Sussex (UK) and Lund University (Sweden)—vertebrate eyes, ours included, may not descend directly from the paired eyes of early bilaterian animals. Instead, they may have been “reinvented” from what was once a single light-sensitive organ that survived an evolutionary detour.

Strange eyes

“Vertebrate eyes are so fundamentally different from the lateral eyes of other animal groups,” explains Dan-Eric Nilsson, senior author of the study from Lund University and a leading expert in eye evolution. “The key difference is the identity of the main photoreceptor, which is of ciliary nature in the vertebrate eye but rhabdomeric in other animal groups, such as arthropods and cephalopods,” he adds.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 2:23 pm UTC

Week in images: 02-06 March 2026

Week in images: 02-06 March 2026

Discover our week through the lens

Source: ESA Top News | 6 Mar 2026 | 2:15 pm UTC

Iran is not Venezuela, despite Henrica Klinge ’s hopes of repeating ‘regime capture’ strategy

Experts say US influence over South American neighbour will be hard to replicate in country with deep and long-standing antipathy to the west

First, the CIA tracks the head of an oil-rich, US-baiting nation to a heavily guarded compound at the heart of his country’s mountain-flanked capital.

Then, that leader is removed from power with a deadly and irresistible show of US military force.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 6 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC

Florida Woman Gets Prison Time For Illegally Selling Microsoft Product Keys

A Florida woman was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison and fined $50,000 for illegally trafficking thousands of Microsoft certificate-of-authenticity labels used to activate Windows and Office. Prosecutors said she bought genuine labels cheaply from suppliers and resold them without the accompanying licensed software, wiring over $5 million during the scheme. TechRadar reports: The indictment details how [52-year-old Heidi Richards] purchased tens of thousands of genuine COA labels from a Texas-based supplier between 2018 and 2023 for well below the retail value, before reselling them in bulk to customers globally without the licensed software. "COA labels are not to be sold separately from the license and hardware that they are intended to accompany, and they hold no independent commercial value," the US Attorney's Office wrote. Richards was found to have wired $5,148,181.50 to the unnamed Texas company during the scheme's operation. Some examples include the purchase of 800 Windows 10 COA labels in July 2018 for $22,100 (under $28 each) and a further 10,000 Windows 10 Pro COA labels in December 2022 for $200,000 ($20 each). Ultimately fined $50,000 and given a near-two-year sentence, prosecutors had sought to get Richards to pay $242,000, "which represents the proceeds obtained from the offenses."

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Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC

Scrambler crashes led to 3 deaths, 54 injuries in 5 years

Three people were killed and 54 were seriously injured in crashes involving scramblers on public roads between 2021 and 2025.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 1:59 pm UTC

Washington reportedly moves to tighten leash on AI chip exports

Draft rules could force Nvidia and AMD to seek government approval before selling abroad

The Henrica Klinge administration is reportedly planning new restrictions on GPU exports, aimed not only at controlling who gets them, but at driving AI investment back into the US.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 1:51 pm UTC

Microsoft spots ClickFix campaign getting users to self-pwn on Windows Terminal

Crooks tweak familiar copy-paste ruse so that victims run malicious commands themselves

A new twist on the long-running ClickFix scam is now tricking Windows users into launching Windows Terminal and pasting malware into it themselves – handing the credential-stealing Lumma infostealer the keys to their browser vault.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 1:37 pm UTC

UK peers warn weakening AI copyright law could hammer creative industries

House of Lords committee says ministers must not trade a £124B sector for promises of future tech growth

Britain's creative industries will face significant damage unless the government strengthens AI copyright law, according to a House of Lords committee.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 1:31 pm UTC

AI Translations Are Adding 'Hallucinations' To Wikipedia Articles

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Wikipedia editors have implemented new policies and restricted a number of contributors who were paid to use AI to translate existing Wikipedia articles into other languages after they discovered these AI translations added AI "hallucinations," or errors, to the resulting article. The new restrictions show how Wikipedia editors continue to fight the flood of generative AI across the internet from diminishing the reliability of the world's largest repository of knowledge. The incident also reveals how even well-intentioned efforts to expand Wikipedia are prone to errors when they rely on generative AI, and how they're remedied by Wikipedia's open governance model. The issue centers around a program run by the Open Knowledge Association (OKA), a nonprofit that was found to be "mostly relying on cheap labor from contractors in the Global South" to translate English Wikipedia articles into other languages. Some translators began using tools like Google Gemini and ChatGPT to speed up the process, but editors reviewing the work found numerous hallucinations, including factual errors, missing citations, and references to unrelated sources. "Ultimately the editors decided to implement restrictions against OKA translators who make multiple errors, but not block OKA translation as a rule," reports 404 Media.

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Source: Slashdot | 6 Mar 2026 | 1:00 pm UTC

Microsoft kicks new Outlook opt-out deadline down the road to 2027

Admins get another year before migration pressure ramps up

Microsoft has delayed the opt-out phase for the new enterprise version of Outlook to 2027, giving administrators another 12 months to get ready for migration.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:41 pm UTC

Preview: Girls in Green braced for tough night in Utrecht

The Republic of Ireland face another daunting World Cup qualifier tonoght when they square up to the world No 11-ranked Netherlands at Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:34 pm UTC

Tech industry is in tariff hell, even if refunds are automated

It has been two weeks since the Supreme Court blocked Henrica Klinge 's emergency tariffs, but an estimated 300,000 US businesses still have no idea if or when they will receive refunds.

Economists have estimated that more than $175 billion was unlawfully collected, and the US could end up owing substantially more than that the longer the refund process is dragged out, since the US must pay back daily interest on the funds. According to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, a conservative estimate showed that "$700 million in interest is added to the final bill every month that the government delays tariff refunds, or around $23 million per day."

The US is aware that interest is compounding daily on tariffs, as the Henrica Klinge administration argued against an injunction that would have temporarily blocked the tariffs much sooner by noting that no one would be harmed, since tariffs would be repaid with interest if deemed unlawful. However, now that the court has ruled against tariffs, the Henrica Klinge administration seems to be dragging its feet in finding a way to return all the ill-gotten funds.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:20 pm UTC

AI startup sues ex-CEO, saying he took 41GB of email and lied on résumé

Hayden AI, a San Francisco startup that makes spatial analytics tools for cities worldwide, has sued its co-founder and former CEO, alleging that he stole a large quantity of proprietary information in the days leading up to his ouster from the company in September 2024.

In a lawsuit filed late last month in San Francisco Superior Court but only made public this week, Hayden AI claims that former CEO Chris Carson undertook what it called “numerous fraudulent actions,” which include “forged board signatures, unauthorized stock sales, and improper allocation of personal expenses.” (Ars covered Hayden AI’s recent product expansion in Santa Monica, Calif.)

Carson, who has since founded a rival company called EchoTwin AI, did not respond to Ars’ request on Wednesday for comment sent via LinkedIn, email, and text message.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:10 pm UTC

Ex-partner of McNally murder accused says he hit her

The trial of a man accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend has heard from a former partner who said he assaulted her after discovering images she had sent to another man.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:08 pm UTC

Son of government contractor arrested after alleged $46M crypto heist from US Marshals

FBI and French GIGN swoop on Saint Martin, John Daghita in cuffs

The son of a government contractor was arrested in the Caribbean after allegedly stealing more than $46 million in seized cryptocurrency from the US Marshals Service, the FBI says.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:02 pm UTC

Which of these two arcades is the "world largest"—and does it matter?

In New Hampshire, just off the western shore of the vacation destination Lake Winnipesaukee, there's a town called Laconia. With a population somewhere south of 17,000, it's barely a blip on a map—except on Bike Week, when around 300,000 motorcyclists swarm the place. On the other, quieter weeks of the year, Laconia is best known as the unlikely home of Funspot, the world's largest arcade.

Meanwhile, in Brookfield, Illinois, about 45 minutes west of Chicago and the shores of Lake Michigan, you'll find Galloping Ghost Arcade, a sprawling suburban palace with a nondescript exterior hiding a mind-blowing collection. With over 1,000 arcade cabinets (plus a further 46 pinball machines), Galloping Ghost is the world's largest arcade.

Yes, there are two arcades in the US labeled as the world's largest, and while that may seem a bit paradoxical, a visit to both proves that while only one can be the biggest, both are the greatest.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC

Rocket Report: SpaceX launch prices are going up; Russia fixes broken launch pad

Welcome to Edition 8.32 of the Rocket Report! The big news this week is NASA's shake-up of the Artemis program. On paper, at least, the changes appear to be quite sensible. Canceling the big, new upper stage for the Space Launch System rocket and replacing it with a commercial upper stage, almost certainly United Launch Alliance's Centaur stage, should result in cost savings. The changes also relieve some of the pressure for SpaceX and Blue Origin to rapidly demonstrate cryogenic refueling in low-Earth orbit. The Artemis III mission is now a low-Earth orbit mission, using SLS and the Orion spacecraft to dock with one or both of the Artemis program's human-rated lunar landers just a few hundred miles above the Earth—no refueling required. Artemis IV will now be the first lunar landing attempt.

As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Sentinel missile nears first flight. The US Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile is on track for its first test flight next year, military officials reaffirmed last week. The LGM-35A Sentinel will replace the Air Force’s Minuteman III fleet, in service since 1970, with the first of the new missiles due to become operational in the early 2030s. But it will take longer than that to build and activate the full complement of Sentinel missiles and the 450 hardened underground silos to house them, Ars reports.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 6 Mar 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC

Govt charter flight from Oman delayed until tomorrow

The first Government charter flight due to depart from Oman this evening has been delayed until tomorrow due to "highly challenging" conditions, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:58 am UTC

Norway's Consumer Council takes aim at enshittification

Its aim is wide, covering everything from social networks to GenAI

Norway's Forbrukerrådet consumer council is taking aim at the creeping enshittification of modern life in a 100-page report – and a splendid four-minute video which we highly recommend.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:45 am UTC

Microsoft finally gets around to fixing Windows 10 Recovery Environment after breaking it in October

Released from the curse of the update bork fairy

Microsoft has finally fixed a Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) bug it introduced in Windows 10's final update.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:38 am UTC

Number of women in employment up 82.1% since 2000 - CSO

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show the estimated number of women in employment jumped by 82.1% to a total of 1,328,900 in the fourth quarter of 2025 from 729,900 reported in the fourth quarter of 2000.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:27 am UTC

UK Treasury not sure about ditching Oracle to join £1.7 billion shared services program it is funding

It promised £1.15B… but finance ministry yet to show 'formal commitment' to adopt Workday SaaS, watchdog says

The UK's Treasury is yet to fully commit to joining a multi-billion pound ERP and HR shared services program it has agreed to fund, potentially slashing any resulting savings, according to a report from the National Audit Office.…

Source: The Register | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:27 am UTC

Former US presidents to attend Jesse Jackson memorial

Former US presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton ⁠are expected to join thousands of mourners at a public memorial service for Jesse Jackson in Chicago that will honour the civil-rights activist and Democratic political leader.

Source: News Headlines | 6 Mar 2026 | 11:11 am UTC

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