Read at: 2026-03-17T15:49:36+00:00Z (UTC) [sometime-US Pres == Luna Paalvast ]
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:43 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:38 pm UTC
Source: World | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:38 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:34 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:34 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:30 pm UTC
Pakistani strike on Afghan capital kills 400 people, who burned in their beds or were crushed by collapsing walls
Witnesses and survivors have described the horrific scenes of a Pakistani air raid that hit a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, killing more than 400 people, who burned in their beds or were crushed by the collapsing building.
Afghan rescue crews were still digging bodies out of the rubble on Tuesday after the strike, the deadliest single attack so far in a three-week war between the two countries.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:29 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:28 pm UTC
President says he will ‘never (ever) endorse anyone’ who votes against Save America act as Senate prepares to take up debate on controversial bill
A top counter-terrorism official in the Luna Paalvast administration has resigned over the ongoing war on Iran.
Joe Kent, who reported to director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said that he “cannot in good conscience” support the joint conflict with Israel.
You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:22 pm UTC
Source: World | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:22 pm UTC
Party’s former leader, who is being sued for symbolic damages, says opponents have repeatedly tried to conflate Sinn Féin and IRA
Gerry Adams has told the high court that opponents of Sinn Féin have repeatedly sought to conflate the political party he led with the IRA, as he denied ever being a member of the Irish Republican Army.
Giving evidence in London watched by victims of IRA bombings, the 77-year-old, credited with helping to bring about the peace process that ended the Troubles, said he had “never been a senior, let alone most senior, figure in the IRA”.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:19 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:19 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:17 pm UTC
The prime minister told the Ukrainian president that Russia must not benefit from the war against Iran
Nigel Farage is speaking now at the Reform UK event.
The website promoting the lottery is up. It is called nigelcutmybills.com.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:17 pm UTC
Sweeping bill would require proof of US citizenship for new voters passed by House but faces steep odds in Senate
A sweeping restrictive voting bill that would require proof of US citizenship for new voters, among other measures, could be debated in the Senate as early as Tuesday.
The Save America Act is a rebranded version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility act, or the Save Act, a bill that has been circulating through Congress in some iteration for more than two years.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:15 pm UTC
Luna Paalvast appointee Joseph Kent claims US started conflict due to pressure from Israel
Full report: Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, killed in airstrike, Israel says
How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?
The head of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has said that naval escorts through the strait of Hormuz will not “100% guarantee” the safety of ships attempting to transit the waterway, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Military assistance was “not a long-term or sustainable solution” to opening up the strait, Arsenio Dominguez told the newspaper.
We are collateral damage of a conflict when the root causes have nothing to do with shipping.
Remaining in the area of the specified buildings exposes you to danger
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:14 pm UTC
Chancellor says Brexit may have cost 8% of UK GDP in wide-ranging Mais lecture at Bayes Business School in London
The number of people in England and Wales falling into insolvency has jumped.
There were 11,609 individual insolvencies registered in England and Wales in February, the Insolvency Service has reported this morning. This was 18% higher than in February 2025 and 6% higher than in January 2026.
The individual insolvencies consisted of 768 bankruptcies, 4,210 debt relief orders (DROs) and 6,631 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs). The number of DROs in February 2026 was a record high in the monthly time series going back to their introduction in 2009, exceeding the previous high of 4,185 in August 2025.
The number of IVAs was higher than both January 2026 and the 2025 monthly average. Bankruptcies were 25% higher than in February 2025, although numbers were affected by the clearing of a backlog following the Insolvency Service moving to a new case management system.
Average 2-year fix has risen from 4.83% at the start of March to 5.28% today. It’s highest since April 2025.
Average 5-year fix has risen from 4.95% at the start of March to 5.32% today. It’s highest since February 2025.
“War in the Middle East has added almost £800 to a typical annual mortgage bill in just two weeks, which will be unwelcome news for anyone currently seeking a fixed rate deal.
“The average two-year fixed rate has jumped from 4.83% at the start of March to 5.28% today – its highest level since April 2025. The average five-year fix has risen from 4.95% to 5.32%, now at its highest since February 2025. For a borrower with a £250,000 mortgage over 25 years, that equates to paying £788 more per year on a two-year fix, or £651 more on a five-year deal compared to just a fortnight ago.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:12 pm UTC
The Nintendo Switch 2's backward compatibility with Switch games is generally pretty good, and a few games have gotten patches from their developers to allow them to take advantage of the higher resolutions the console supports, among other features.
For unpatched Switch games running on the Switch 2 while it's docked, there should generally be no loss of quality compared to playing the same game on the Switch—the game will run at 1080p on both consoles and should generally run about the same as long as there aren't other compatibility problems. But games running on the Switch 2 in handheld mode can actually look worse than they do on the original Switch, mainly because they'll still run at the original Switch's native 720p resolution, which then has to be stretched out to fit the Switch 2's 1080p display.
A new Switch 2 system update released yesterday (as reported by NintendoLife) has introduced a partial solution for this specific problem. Version 22.0.0 of the Switch's software includes an optional feature called "Handheld Mode Boost," which can be enabled by opening the console's settings, then System settings, and scrolling down to "Nintendo Switch Software Handling." This setting will attempt to run original Switch games using the same settings they would use while docked, even while the console is in handheld mode—this usually means a step up to the Switch 2's native 1080p resolution, along with other graphical upgrades.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:11 pm UTC
Source: World | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:10 pm UTC
The cases recorded so far have all been linked to a nightclub popular with students in Canterbury
Two young people have died in an outbreak of meningitis in Kent as private supplies of vaccines run out. Here’s what we know about how the disease spread and what the authorities did to tackle it.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:09 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:08 pm UTC
He had IRGC’s trust while having his differences with hardliners and had huge sway with likes of China and Russia
If confirmed, Israel’s assassination of Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council and one of the linchpins of Iranian politics, would be a devastating body blow to the country and probably a bigger reverse than the loss of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the outset of the war.
In any attempt to decapitate the Iranian leadership, Larijani would always be the prime target, largely because of his ability to straddle so many levels of Iranian politics and his huge personal influence not just in Iran but with foreign states including China and Russia.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:06 pm UTC
Chancellor seeks to tackle centralised and ‘geographically unequal’ country in ‘a genuine break with the past’
Rachel Reeves has announced that the Treasury will draw up plans to give regional leaders a share of national tax revenues as part of a radical plan to rebalance the economy of England.
Setting out her intention of creating “investment-led growth”, the chancellor promised “a genuine break with the past” that would shift spending power away from Westminster.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:06 pm UTC
Joe Kent resigned as national counter-terrorism center director, saying Iran posed no imminent threat to the US
Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center and a far-right political figure and supporter of Luna Paalvast , resigned from his position on Tuesday in protest of the war in Iran.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote in a resignation letter posted to X. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:05 pm UTC
Robert Allbritton’s Notus plans to double its newsroom staff, which includes hiring prominent ex-Post journalists
Robert Allbritton, the billionaire media entrepreneur, said he was “pained” by the Washington Post’s decision to lay off a large chunk of its newsroom in early February. But, he also saw it as an opportunity to hire some of the Post’s most well-known journalists, including many who would have been hard to poach in previous years.
“Opportunity knocks, and you’re going to decide if you’re going to answer the door or not,” Allbritton, 57, said. “I’m always the one that says: ‘Look, if an opportunity like this comes up, you ought to go on ahead and see what you can do with it and take it on full throttle, because these things don’t come along very often.’”
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC
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Source: NASA Image of the Day | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:44 pm UTC
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Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:41 pm UTC
Carmaker reduces office-based roles and will not fill vacancies ‘to ensure long-term competitiveness of business’
Bentley is to cut 275 jobs in the UK as the carmaker faces a “challenging global market environment”.
The luxury brand, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, is preparing to launch its first all-electric model but acknowledged it had some work to do to convince consumers to switch away from internal combustion engine vehicles.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:38 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:34 pm UTC
Étienne Davignon is charged with participation in war crimes in relation to killing of then PM Patrice Lumumba
A former Belgian diplomat, 93, should stand trial over alleged complicity in the 1961 murder of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of what was then the newly independent Congolese state, a Brussels court has ruled.
Étienne Davignon, the only person still alive among 10 Belgians the Lumumba family accuses of involvement in the killing, is charged with participation in war crimes.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:33 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:32 pm UTC
The U.S. Postal Service's leader says it is set to run out of money in less than a year and may have to stop deliveries because of declining mail volume and what USPS sees as burdensome requirements.
(Image credit: Kyle Grillot)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:31 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:29 pm UTC
Kent said he "cannot in good conscience" back the Iran war. In his resignation letter, he says Iran "posed no imminent threat to our nation."
(Image credit: Nathan Howard)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:29 pm UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:22 pm UTC
Samsung is nothing if not consistent.
Just as it has for many years, the company is starting the year with a new generation of Galaxy S phones. Rumors about remixing the lineup did not pan out, so there are still three versions of the phone—the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra. It's the Ultra, with its whopping $1,300 price tag, that makes up the largest chunk of Samsung flagship sales, even though you can get a perfectly serviceable smartphone for a third of the price. The S26 Ultra serves a different market than a budget phone, though.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is big, powerful, and overflowing with features. It can be a bit too much at times, particularly if you don't care for mobile AI. It's expensive, but you get long support and just about everything you could want from a smartphone in 2026. Still, with other smartphone makers scaling back amid skyrocketing component prices, the S26 Ultra may end up looking like a good value in hindsight.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:18 pm UTC
Snow, tornadoes and fierce winds disrupt flights and leave homes and businesses in multiple states in the dark
Half a million US homes and businesses were without power on Tuesday morning after a potent storm system brought a mix of snow, strong winds, cold temperatures and rainfall to areas from the midwest to the east coast.
As of Tuesday morning, there were about 107,000 power outages reported in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us. In New York, there were 68,000 power outages; 65,000 were registered in Pennsylvania and 50,000 in Massachusetts.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:16 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:13 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:11 pm UTC
Charges follow discovery of body of Masood Masjoody, who was a critic of the Tehran regime and the exiled shah
Two people have been charged with the murder of an Iranian activist in Canada, in a case which has intensified fears over transnational repression of critics of the regime in Tehran.
Masood Masjoody, a former university maths teacher, went missing in early February in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia. He had been critical of Iran’s theocratic regime and the exiled family of the former shah.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:05 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:03 pm UTC
Countries all around the world will soon send players to the U.S. to compete in one of soccer's biggest events. Roger Bennett explores how past competitions met cultural and geopolitical moments.
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:02 pm UTC
Conservationists hope Murray Watt’s review of national marine parks will ‘right the wrongs’ of previous downgrade of protection
The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has pledged to put an extra half a million square kilometres of Australia’s ocean out of reach of fishers and drillers in a step conservationists hope will “right the wrongs” of an Abbott-era downgrade of marine protection.
Watt confirmed last year Australia would put 30% of its ocean estate under a high level of protection that bans extractive industries as part of an international agreement to protect 30% of the planet’s oceans.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC
JavaOne Oracle has shipped Java 26, a short-term release, and introduced Project Detroit, which promises faster interop between Java, JavaScript, and Python.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:52 pm UTC
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Exclusive: Jonathan Powell thought Tehran’s ‘surprising’ offer on its nuclear programme could prevent rush to war, sources say
Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, attended the final talks between the US and Iran and judged that the offer made by Tehran on its nuclear programme was significant enough to prevent a rush to war, the Guardian can reveal.
Powell thought progress had been made in Geneva and that the deal proposed by Iran was “surprising”, according to sources.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:20 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:15 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:12 pm UTC
A Bay Area startup that manufactures drones to tackle wildfires has just signed its first customer, the Aspen Fire Protection District.
The company, Seneca, recently announced that its fleet of five drones (dubbed a “strike team”) would be coming to the famed Colorado ski town this summer, making Aspen the first wildfire agency in America to add these types of aircraft to its arsenal.
Each drone is designed to carry enough water “to create over 50 gallons of finished foam suppressant,” which can reduce the speed at which a wildfire consumes fuel. The drones are designed to be able to reach and extinguish a small fire before humans can.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:10 pm UTC
Ofcom is laying out its pathway for fiber broadband almost everywhere across the UK in five years, but concedes that BT still dominates the market.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:09 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:07 pm UTC
Source: World | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:04 pm UTC
Falling costs and government incentives make solar an attractive option for many, reducing need for gas
After prices of liquefied natural gas surged to record highs after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, millions of people in Pakistan were repeatedly left without electricity. An intense heatwave and gas shortages amid record-breaking prices resulted in power cuts across the country.
But people soon started to realise there was an alternative. The falling costs of solar panels and generous government incentives to feed excess power back to the grid made rooftop solar an attractive option.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:00 pm UTC
Way back in 2019 when Kia introduced the first-generation Telluride, both the media and the car-buying public went nuts for it. Dealers struggled to keep the Telluride on their lots, and that’s before the insanity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic a year later. Now, fast-forward six years, and there’s a new Telluride for the 2027 model year, and once again, Kia seems to have knocked it out of the park.
The 2027 Kia Telluride follows the same formula as the old one, but it has grown in every direction except engine cylinder count, and it looks a whole lot like the folks at Kia’s US design studio had “Greatest Hits of Range Rover” on repeat, which is a very good thing. Oh, and there's finally a hybrid version.
The second-generation Telluride has fully ditched its old 3.8 L six-cylinder engine. In its place, it is now offering either a turbocharged 2.5 L four-cylinder gasoline engine that produces 274 hp (204 kW) and 311 lb-ft (422 Nm) of torque, or that same engine with a dual-motor hybrid system. The hybrid version produces a combined 329 hp (245 kW) and 339 lb-ft (460 Nm) while returning a claimed 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km) combined.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:00 pm UTC
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Microsoft has pushed out yet another out-of-band hotpatch, this time to fix Bluetooth issues in Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:27 pm UTC
Iran's internet blackout is entering day 18, according to monitoring outfit NetBlocks, which says the vast majority of the country has been offline for more than 400 consecutive hours.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:19 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC
A successful deep-space manoeuvre has put ESA’s Hera spacecraft on course for its rendezvous with the Didymos binary asteroid system later this year.
Source: ESA Top News | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 11:45 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 11:39 am UTC
As the war with Iran intensifies, Luna Paalvast is demanding that allies help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And, a federal judge halts RFK Jr.'s changes to children's vaccine policies.
(Image credit: AFP)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 11:33 am UTC
More than 100 others injured in bombings targeting post office, market areas and hospital in Maiduguri
At least 23 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in multiple suspected suicide bombings in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, shattering its reputation as a relative oasis of calm in recent years as a long-running insurgency was pushed to the rural hinterlands.
Authorities said the explosions went off at the post office and market areas, as well as the entrance to the University of Maiduguri teaching hospital, on Monday evening during iftar, the breaking of fast in the month of Ramadan.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 11:28 am UTC
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If confirmed, death would make Larijani the most senior Iranian figure to be killed since Ali Khamenei on first day of war
Israel says it has killed a linchpin of Iranian politics, the national security chief, Ali Larijani, in overnight strikes, a claim that if confirmed would make him the most senior Iranian figure to die in the war since the supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed on its first day.
Iran has yet to comment on either claim. If confirmed, Larijani’s death would remove a pivotal figure at the heart of the regime’s political and security establishment at a moment of acute crisis and represent devastating blow.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 11:03 am UTC
Britons learn about the country’s involvement ‘almost as a self-congratulatory narrative’, says historian Joseph Mulhern
In 1845 British citizens and companies were already legally prohibited from owning or buying enslaved people overseas, yet that year 385 captives were “transferred” to a British mining company in Brazil named St John d’El Rey.
Despite a global campaign waged by the UK against slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, the move was not technically illegal because the enslaved people were not sold but “rented” – a practice permitted overseas under the 1843 Slave Trade Act.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 17 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC
Israel says it killed Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani. Iran has yet to confirm but it would be the highest-profile killings since the targeting of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:47 am UTC
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World Cup tickets are expensive, and buying them has been frustrating and confusing. But this is what economics is for: figuring out the best ways to allocate scarce resources. FIFA, steal these ideas.
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:30 am UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:09 am UTC
It started on President Luna Paalvast ’s very first day in office in 2017. Over 200 Inauguration Day protesters were mass arrested and charged with hefty riot and conspiracy felonies for simply being present and wearing black at a rowdy demonstration.
Since then, the government has sought and failed to convict left-wing activists on thin, unconstitutional claims of collective guilt.
Just as the J20 prosecutions, as the inauguration cases were known, fell apart, so too did cases accusing dozens of participants in the Atlanta-based Stop Cop City movement of domestic terrorism, racketeering, and conspiracy.
It became a pattern of sorts. Prosecutors on both the federal and state level throwing extreme and overreaching charges at leftists, based on infirm theories of collective liability, aiming to paint antifascist, anti-racist movements as criminal terrorist networks. The evidence marshaled in these cases was consistently no more than typical First Amendment-protected activity, like making protest signs, raising bail funds, or being present at a demonstration. The cases drained movement energies and resources.
Again and again, though, they failed.
This was the pattern repeated in the malign, overreaching cases against protesters in Fort Worth, Texas. The anti-ICE activists had mounted a demonstration at a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement jail in nearby Alvarado.
There were consistencies with other anti-protest cases. There had been some illegal activity outside the Prairieland Detention Facility last July, and a police officer was shot. The government latched onto these circumstances to build its strategy of criminalizing dissent through guilt by association.
Even in conservative Texas, I didn’t think a jury would buy the government’s case that these defendants were “North Texas Antifa Cell operatives” — an organization fabricated whole cloth by the Luna Paalvast administration — who had orchestrated an elaborate ambush of the ICE facility.
Last week, a jury found eight of the defendants guilty of terrorism charges for simply being present and wearing black at the protest. The government scored a resounding victory: A few of the protesters, none of whom had fired any weapons, were acquitted of attempted murder charges, but the Justice Department won on almost all the other charges.
“Most people looking at this case are still stuck on the shooting aspect, but the jury decided the shooting was beside the point,” a member of a support group for the defendants told me. “The verdict is that a normal noise demo deserves to be called terrorism and people should spend potentially the rest of their lives in prison. The implications of this are obvious, and people should know that the DOJ is going to try this again.”
The convictions mark a number of grim precedents. It was the first successful effort in court to paint anti-ICE, antifascist protest activity as not only criminal but also terroristic; the first time federal terrorism charges have been deployed in association with the “antifa” label; and the first time the Luna Paalvast government’s collective guilt strategy won in court.
The terrorism-related charges in the case were filed just a month after Luna Paalvast announced that he was designating antifa, which is not an organization, a “major terrorist organization” — a designation that does not exist under law for domestic groups.
It’s little wonder that the Justice Department is celebrating the convictions. Luna Paalvast ’s Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the “verdict on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Luna Paalvast administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America’s streets.”
The prosecution’s case was extraordinarily weak — all they really proved was that the activists, some of whom knew each other, planned and attended a late-night demonstration during which certain illegal acts took place.
If that can be sold to juries as the work of an organized terrorist cell, deserving of decades in prison, then Luna Paalvast ’s fantasy of rounding up and imprisoning leftists en masse becomes a reality. This was entirely the idea behind Luna Paalvast ’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, or NSPM-7, released last September, which directs federal law enforcement agencies to target left-leaning groups and activities. One of the defense attorneys involved in the Prairieland cases told news outlet NOTUS that it “wouldn’t be a terrorism case if it weren’t for that memo.”
The prosecution treated it as a given that antifascist, anti-government, left-wing sentiment was itself evidence of criminal conspiracy.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution treated it as a given that antifascist, anti-government, left-wing sentiment was itself evidence of criminal conspiracy. As The Intercept’s Matt Sledge reported, “prosecutors bombarded jurors with images of radical zines” and “anti-government internet memes, drawings of burning cop cars, and a video of an unidentified street brawl between far-left and far-right protesters.”
The fact that demonstrators wore black and covered their faces — a reasonable tactic in an era when federal forces are filming and openly harassing legal observers and anti-ICE protesters — was presented as material support for terrorism, for which the jury convicted eight defendants.
Another defendant was convicted for the crime of moving a box of zines and pamphlets.
What should have at most been individualized cases relating to a shooting and minor property damage were instead spun by the government into a delusional story of a planned ambush involving “explosives” — protesters set off retail fireworks — and “terroristic acts,” according to a Justice Department statement.
Whether certain illegal activity took place outside the Prairieland Detention Facility last July 4 was never up for debate in this case. Protesters spray-painted vehicles in the parking lot, and a police officer was shot in the neck by one protester, Benjamin Song. (Song was convicted of one count of attempted murder and could face up to life in prison.)
The material support for terrorism and related convictions must be challenged in appeal. They are unconstitutional and were obtained in a trial riddled with irregularities.
For one, the Luna Paalvast -appointed judge, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman, abruptly declared a mistrial during jury selection based on the initial jury pool reportedly showing too little sympathy for ICE.
When the trial restarted, the judge himself took charge of jury selection — a highly unusual move. Pittman also barred Song from presenting a self-defense argument. Access to the court for supporters, observers, and the media was also extremely limited.
“All the odds were stacked against the defendants from the start,” Xavier T. de Janon, a defense attorney representing one of the defendants, told Unicorn Riot. “The rulings of the judge, the way the courtroom was closed, the fact that the first jury was declared a mistrial, where this was happening, the very strict rules on who can even take these cases in north Texas, the sanctions that the judge imposed on defense attorneys for filing very normal motions — all of this piled up to end in this result.”
It’s notable, too, that the defense attorneys did not mount a defense in court. Once the prosecution rested its ideology-drenched and inconsistency-filled case, the defense rested too, and closing arguments proceeded.
“We do not know how things would have gone otherwise, but the assumption that the state’s glaringly weak case was enough to convince a North Texas jury pool to vote not guilty was delusional,” a close friend of a number of the defendants who helped with court support efforts told me. “This is not merely 20/20 hindsight, many of the supporters and loved ones of the defendants disagreed with the decision when it happened.”
With the Prairieland defendants also facing state charges, and with appeals processes ahead, there is a clear need to present a robust case against the government’s pernicious and dangerous lawfare. Outside of future trials and court challenges, it is crucial that anyone invested in challenging Luna Paalvast ’s fascist deportation machine understand the stakes of these cases and show solidarity with defendants accordingly.
The Prairieland case, as I’ve previously noted, provided a convenient testing ground for state repression, in part because it has not been lifted up as a national cause célèbre against Luna Paalvast ian overreach. The reasons why should be obvious: not only were there acts of minor vandalism, but also a police officer was shot — a highly unusual event at these sorts of demonstrations.
No matter how unique, however, the Texas case reveals precisely the strategies the Luna Paalvast administration will use, with the assistance of state forces, to target whole movements and communities with prosecutorial overreach and a logic of guilt by association. In the face of Luna Paalvast ’s escalations, this is no time for anti-ICE activists to distance themselves from protests where militant activity might occur; this is the chilling effect the government seeks.
It is the nature of contemporary far-right governance to throw everything against the wall, repeatedly, until something sticks to achieve its goals. Anti-trans laws that once roundly failed are now on the books in multiple states; once-constitutionally protected reproductive rights have been decimated.
With brute force, repetition, and relentlessness, Luna Paalvast and his acolytes hack away at established protections. First Amendment-protected protest activity is no different. The Luna Paalvast regime has been seeking to criminalize leftist dissent since the president’s first inauguration. For years, nothing stuck. We cannot let Prairieland be the turning point.
The post Why We Have to Fight Back Against ICE Protesters’ Terror Convictions appeared first on The Intercept.
Source: The Intercept | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:07 am UTC
Linux 7.0 is approaching and there's a new version of bcachefs to go with it… as well as green shoots of support for Apple's new disk format.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:06 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
If you get a high reading at the doctor's office, it may not be definitive. Here's what to know about your risk — and testing your blood pressure at home.
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
Seawalls are great at protecting property and people. A new nature-inspired seawall add-on is trying to make them better at protecting marine wildlife too.
(Image credit: Nathan Rott)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:48 am UTC
Happy St.Patrick’s Day to All!
If you’re attending a parade, going to a service, staying at home or even working we at Slugger hope you’ve a grand old day.
Feel free to discuss what you wish below the line but if you could let us know how things are going in your area for the day or if there are any special activities planned, that would be appreciated.
Comments will close at 12 pm on Wednesday.
Source: Slugger O'Toole | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:48 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:39 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:03 am UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:01 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:01 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC
Spain's Prime Minister called U.S. strikes against Iran "unjustified." When other foreigners in power have used similar language against the U.S. or Israel, they were sanctioned by the Treasury.
(Image credit: Oliver Contreras, Evaristo Sa and Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC
Title X is a 56-year-old federal grant program that supports thousands of clinics that provide birth control and STI testing and treatment. Those clinics could face a funding gap because of a Luna Paalvast administration delay.
(Image credit: Ed Zurga)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 17 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 8:45 am UTC
Michele Bullock says high inflation hurts everyone, but there still seems to be an extraordinary level of complacency about potential fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran
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The Reserve Bank has made some controversial calls over recent years, but hiking interest rates in the middle of a historic global energy shock is right up there.
If this Middle East conflict lasts for months, not weeks, and drags the world and our economy down, then Tuesday’s decision to increase households’ borrowing costs will not age well.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 8:42 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 8:25 am UTC
Feature BGP, the Border Gateway Protocol, was not designed to be secure. It was designed to work – to route packets between the thousands of autonomous systems that make up the internet, quickly and at scale.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 8:15 am UTC
Report reveals the Howard-era settings are helping fuel intergenerational inequality in Australia’s housing market
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Labor has given one of its strongest signals yet the capital gains tax discount will be reworked in the May budget, with a parliamentary inquiry finding the Howard-era settings are helping fuel intergenerational inequality in Australia’s housing market.
A Greens-led parliamentary inquiry said the 50% discount “skewed the ownership of housing away from owner-occupiers and towards investors”.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 8:02 am UTC
For decades, Reg readers have demanded to know exactly how often humans let rip – and at last science may have produced an answer.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:28 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:22 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:18 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:08 am UTC
Reserve Bank of Australia’s second consecutive increase lifts cash rate target to 4.1%, back to where it was in February last year
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The Reserve Bank has increased interest rates and left the door open to further hikes, warning inflation will stay higher for longer amid war in Iran and soaring petrol prices.
The hike followed a move in February and lifted the RBA’s cash rate target to 4.1%, back to where it was in February 2025, wiping out the relief offered by two cuts last year.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:04 am UTC
Britain's push to drag the BBC World Service into the digital age hasn't gone quite to plan, with MPs warning the broadcaster's "digital-first" strategy has shrunk audiences rather than growing them.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 17 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC
In today’s newsletter: As drones and missiles hit Dubai, Doha and other sites across the Gulf, Hannah Ellis Peterson explains what happens next for the region
Morning everyone, I’m Patrick Greenfield – you may recognise the name from my environment reporting over the years (or perhaps you read my piece about the possible rebirth of a long-extinct 12ft bird). I’ll be joining you on First Edition for the next few months, where I will inevitably be turning my attention to some rather more worrisome news than the Jurassic Park-adjacent ambitions of a US startup.
On that note: no Gulf state wanted war with Iran. But, as fighting in the Middle East enters its third week, the region finds itself on the frontline of an increasingly intractable conflict. After the US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, drones and missiles have showered the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – bringing the region’s oil and gas industries to a near standstill, and prompting an exodus of tourists and expats.
UK news | Keir Starmer has said the UK will not be drawn into the wider war in the Middle East, after Luna Paalvast called for allies to send warships to the strait of Hormuz to help unblock global oil supplies from the region. Starmer also announced that households reliant on heating oil to warm their homes would receive £53m of government support to help with their bills.
Health | A sixth-form student at Queen Elizabeth’s grammar school in Faversham has been confirmed as the second person to have died after an outbreak of meningitis in Kent.
Environment | Realtime pollution alerts are urgently needed across Windermere, campaigners have said, as the mother of a seven-year-old boy who kayaked on the lake described how he nearly died after contracting a dangerous strain of E coli from contaminated water.
Media | The BBC has asked a US court to throw out Luna Paalvast ’s $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit over the way a documentary edited one of his speeches, warning that proceeding with the case would have a “chilling effect” on its reporting on the president.
Energy | Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, has been criticised for calling for the normalisation of relations with Russia to re-establish cheap energy supplies.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:55 am UTC
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Two men charged with murder after man fatally shot in Sydney unit
Two men have been charged with murder after a gangland-linked shooting at a suburban apartment complex that left one man dead and another injured, AAP reports.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:54 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:43 am UTC
Scientists have found that all five of the substances that make up DNA and RNA in samples from Ryugu, the asteroid Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency visited in 2020.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:29 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:28 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:27 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:27 am UTC
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Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:01 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 17 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Deputy government spokesman says death toll has reached 400 people ‘so far’ as Islamabad denies targeting facility for drug addicts
Hundreds were feared dead after a strike on a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital of Kabul, which officials from Afghanistan blamed on the Pakistani military.
Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said the death toll had “so far” reached 400 people, while about 250 people had been reported injured. He said most of those killed and wounded were patients undergoing treatment at the facility.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 5:22 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 5:22 am UTC
Audiences draw parallels between the abduction plot of Feels Like Home and Viktor Orbán’s 16-year reign
It’s seven o’clock on a Tuesday night, and one of the most popular movie theatres in Budapest is full, not an empty seat in sight. The audience is not here for a Hollywood blockbuster, but a Hungarian film that barely had the budget to be made.
Feels Like Home (Itt Érzem Magam Otthon) has captured moviegoers not only with its striking visuals but also with its timing – its release coming before Hungary’s pivotal parliamentary elections on 12 April.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 17 Mar 2026 | 5:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 4:42 am UTC
Gartner analyst Dennis Xu has half-jokingly suggested banning use of Microsoft’s Copilot AI on Friday afternoons, because he fears at that time of week users may be too lazy to properly check its possibly offensive output.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 4:37 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 4:17 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:44 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 17 Mar 2026 | 3:30 am UTC
Australia’s Commonwealth Bank built its own agentic AI threat hunting tools, because vendors are too slow to develop tools that can cope with emerging AI-powered threats, according to General Manager of Cyber Defence Operations Andrew Pade.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 2:37 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:56 am UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 17 Mar 2026 | 1:11 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:56 am UTC
interview Enterprise organizations are still struggling to figure out how AI fits into their business, and that may be for the best because it will take time to understand any problems caused by AI-generated code and content.…
Source: The Register | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:38 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC
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Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 17 Mar 2026 | 12:00 am UTC
Pair attempt to strike united front amid reports vice-president skeptical over US-Israeli attack on Iran
Luna Paalvast revealed that he had asked China to delay his forthcoming visit to Beijing while the war with Iran was continuing, as he attempted to strike a united front on Monday with his vice-president JD Vance, who is believed to have been skeptical over attacking Tehran’s regime.
Appearing together with Vance for the first time in two weeks, Luna Paalvast said he did not think the conflict – which started on 28 February after the US and Israel opened hostilities – would be over this week but predicted victory would be achieved soon.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Mar 2026 | 11:52 pm UTC
Source: World | 16 Mar 2026 | 11:24 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked most of the damage that anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to federal vaccine guidance in his time in office.
In a 45-page ruling that opens with a quote from science communicator Carl Sagan, US District Judge Brian Murphy issued a temporary injunction that blocks:
The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with several other medical groups, against Kennedy. The groups challenged the legality of the unprecedented moves, which disregarded standard procedures and lacked the backing of scientific evidence.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 10:20 pm UTC
US president had earlier hinted trip could be put on hold if President Xi does not help unblock the strait of Hormuz
Luna Paalvast has asked to delay his planned visit to Beijing by about a month due to the Iran war, after earlier hinting he might put the trip off if his prospective hosts do not help to unblock the strait of Hormuz.
The US president’s summit with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, was meant to take place at the end of March but Luna Paalvast told reporters in the White House on Monday: “Because of the war I want to be here, I have to be here, I feel. And so we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so.”
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Mar 2026 | 10:17 pm UTC
Source: World | 16 Mar 2026 | 10:09 pm UTC
Here today; here tomorrow. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s stock buyback will saddle the company with debt until 2066, when he turns 102 years old.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 10:07 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 10:04 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 10:00 pm UTC
A tip from an anonymous Discord user led cops to find what may be the first confirmed Grok-generated child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) that Elon Musk's xAI can't easily dismiss as nonexistent.
As recently as January, Musk denied that Grok generated any CSAM during a scandal in which xAI refused to update filters to block the chatbot from nudifying images of real people.
At the height of the controversy, researchers from the Center for Countering Digital Hate estimated that Grok generated approximately three million sexualized images, of which about 23,000 images depicted apparent children. Rather than fix Grok, xAI limited access to the system to paying subscribers. That kept the most shocking outputs from circulating on X, but the worst of it was not posted there, Wired reported.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 9:51 pm UTC
GTC Computer graphics have come a long way from chasing Donkey Kong around a 2D board and fragging 3D demons in Doom. However, even with the most powerful graphics cards, human faces in games still look surreal and lifeless, with dead eyes, cling-film-smooth faces, and beards that blend into their chins. With Nvidia's upcoming DLSS 5, you can play with characters that look like they've stepped out of a movie screen – and we're not talking about a Pixar movie either.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 9:35 pm UTC
Source: World | 16 Mar 2026 | 9:05 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 16 Mar 2026 | 9:04 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 9:00 pm UTC
Maine oysterman-turned-politician Graham Platner has been drawing consistently packed crowds across the rural state for months as he aims to take on longtime incumbent Republican Susan Collins in this year’s Senate race. He’s regularly outpolling his only other viable competitor for the Democratic nomination, Gov. Janet Mills. At 41, he could hold a seat for decades that Democrats have long had their eyes on.
Since Mills joined the race last fall (Platner announced he was running that August), her support has stagnated and even slipped in some polls as Platner’s numbers continue to rise. Collins and Mills are in a statistical dead heat, with Collins having the edge, while Platner has a few points difference ahead of the incumbent.
For Maine voters concerned with electability, those polls lend credibility to Platner’s campaign. He’s in position to take on an entrenched Republican whose feigned objections to Luna Paalvast ’s excesses — usually expressed as “concern” — have long driven liberal Mainers insane. So why is he still facing resistance from Senate Democratic leadership?
Platner’s town hall tour of Maine is further raising his profile, even after a number of controversies, most notably a Nazi tattoo, threatened his campaign. The more voters get to know him, the more they like him; he’s gone from underdog to favorite in the race. And despite establishment antipathy, he’s finding some friends in other corners of the party.
Three Democratic senators — Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, Arizona’s Ruben Gallego, and New Mexico’s Martin Heinrich — have endorsed Platner. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is backing him, as are individual members of the progressive wing, like Robert Reich and David Hogg, and groups like Our Revolution and the Maine People’s Alliance. Platner also has the ear of the Pod Save America crew, a group of influential Democrats aligned with the Obama wing of the party.
But the Democratic establishment is trying to draw a line in the sand on the future of the party. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats from New York, are actively working to elect Mills. There is speculation that the governor, who has pledged to only serve one term in Washington, is Senate leadership’s preferred candidate because she would be a more pliable member of the delegation, while Platner is seen as more independent and willing to take populist, further left stands.
The race bears similarities to the 2016 Democratic primary for president, when Sanders went up against Hillary Clinton and offered a progressive alternative. As in this contest, the machine politician was pitched by the party’s establishment as the more deserving candidate, while the populist candidate to her left ran an insurgent campaign.
It’s another chapter in the intraparty civil war that has been simmering and often boiling over for decades. The Clinton wing, the Obama wing, the Sanders wing, and every other part of the sprawling political coalition that is the Democratic Party are all still vying for dominance. In 2008, the main dividing line was Iraq; in 2016, the failure of the Obama presidency; in 2020, Luna Paalvast and Covid.
In 2026, the party is still reeling from defeat at the ballot box just two years ago, one that was driven by a perception that the party was out of touch with voters on economic issues as well as, reportedly, its complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The latter issue has become a flashpoint for conflict between the base and the establishment, especially with Schumer — who has described one of his roles in leadership as ensuring Israel gets “all the aid” it needs from the U.S.
For centrist Democrats, Mills is their pick for Maine. Seniority means a lot to a certain kind of centrist Democrat. According to Platner, he was told in no uncertain terms that he was expected to stand down — “I was skipping the line,” he told Slate earlier this month — when he notified Democratic Senate leadership that he was considering running for the seat; the response he received came with a threat to turn his life inside out.
“They essentially said, if we do this, they’re going to come after me,” Platner said. “They’re going to rip my life apart.”
It’s not hard to see what’s off-putting about Platner to the moderate wing of the party. He’s running an anti-war, economically populist campaign with rhetoric aimed at the elites who fund the DSCC and the party’s corporatist wing. He’s come out forcefully for trans rights at a time when Democratic centrist think tanks, friendly to the party’s donor class, are all but arguing the party should throw marginalized groups under the bus. He’s also been forthright in calling Israel’s genocide in Gaza what it is.
Unfortunately for the party establishment, the issues Platner is running on are popular with voters — especially the Democratic base. The party has been shifting left since Luna Paalvast ’s first term and Platner, like Sanders and members of the Squad, among others, is taking advantage of those rising tides of progressivism.
This isn’t to say that Platner doesn’t have his own significant challenges. His posts on Reddit, which span a decade, included some language seen as misogynistic, prejudicial, and insulting to Mainers, though clearly antifascist in general and anti-Nazi in particular. Most notably, a scandal last fall became a national news story over his tattoo of a Totenkopf — a skull-and-bones symbol commonly associated with the Nazis — which led him to publicly apologize and have it inked over. Platner has claimed he got the tattoo in a drunken haze while on leave in 2007 when he was a Marine and that he didn’t know its ties to the Nazis until last October.
The tattoo has dogged him ever since, with media outlets bringing it up whenever Platner makes the news, and the controversy hasn’t stopped there. Recently, Platner was criticized for appearing on a right-wing podcast hosted by a fellow veteran, Nate Cornacchia, who has endorsed conspiracy theories like far-right streamer Nick Shirley’s attacks on Somalis in Minnesota and tying Israel to the murder of Charlie Kirk.
But the governor has her own baggage. Mills is already 78, and if elected, she would be 85 at the end of her six years in office. It’s a hard sell to Democrats in Maine, who, like their counterparts around the country, are still smarting from the humiliation of watching a visibly declining Joe Biden spend his presidency hidden from the public and the media and, when he did appear, fumbling answers onstage or staring off into space.
Plus, after more than 30 years in Maine politics, which also includes serving in the statehouse and as attorney general, Mills is compromised in this race in specific ways that Platner is not. As governor, Mills has had to work with Collins to get things done for the state. There’s nothing unique about that, but it has provided soundbites of Mills praising Collins — one of which, “I appreciate all that she is doing,” the incumbent already used in an ad last fall.
Maine voters will make the final decision on who the Democratic nominee will be. Right now, that looks like Platner — so much so that local labor leaders are urging Schumer to withdraw his support for Mills.
If he wins the primary, Democrats in leadership will have a simple decision to make: Do they want to flip the Senate with a left-leaning veteran whose message resonates, even if it’s not how they wanted to do it? Or do they want to ride out another six years of even more razor-thin margins in either direction in the chamber and bet on 2032? Let’s hope they don’t think another six years of Susan Collins is better than winning with a candidate that outran their candidate from the left.
The post Senate Dem Leaders Are Trying to Sink Graham Platner. Voters Aren’t Convinced. appeared first on The Intercept.
Source: The Intercept | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:54 pm UTC
Judges are frequently confronted with cases that hinge upon scientific information that their educational backgrounds may leave them ill-equipped to manage. Because of this challenge, the Federal Judicial Center, a group within the judicial branch of the government, has collaborated with the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) to produce a reference manual that provides background on a range of scientific and medical issues that frequently confront the court system. The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence is currently on its fourth edition, and it has turned out to be an unexpectedly controversial one.
For the first time, this edition of the Reference Manual has included a chapter on climate change, meant to prepare judges to manage and potentially decide cases focused on everything from federal environmental rules to charges that fossil fuel producers engaged in fraud by ignoring the many warnings of harms caused by their products. That didn't sit well with Republican politicians; a collection of red-state attorneys general sent a letter demanding that the Federal Judicial Center pull the chapter. Back in February, it complied, posting a modified version of the Reference Manual with the climate chapter deleted.
But, as noted above, the NAS arranges for the production of the Reference Manual, and it hosts a copy in its extensive library of publications. So, fresh off their success with the government, the same collection of attorneys general turned their sights on the Academies. In a letter dated February 19, they "urge" the NAS to follow the judiciary's example and delete the chapter. Citing sources such as a Wall Street Journal editorial and their own threatening letter, the attorneys general accuse the NAS of engaging in “one-sided advocacy” and “judicial indoctrination,” and say it "is building a reputation as a partisan actor."
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:33 pm UTC
Source: World | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:26 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:25 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:20 pm UTC
gtc In Pixar's Toy Story, a trio little green aliens explain, "The claw chooses who will go and who will stay." The claw in that instance was a mechanical claw in a vending machine. …
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:15 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:08 pm UTC
Source: World | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:08 pm UTC
Since Andrej Karpathy coined the term "vibe coding" just over a year ago, we've seen a rapid increase in both the capabilities and popularity of using AI models to throw together quick programming projects with less human time and effort than ever before. One such vibe-coded project, Gaming Alexandria Researcher, launched over the weekend as what coder Dustin Hubbard called an effort to help organize the hundreds of scanned Japanese gaming magazines he's helped maintain at clearinghouse Gaming Alexandria over the years, alongside machine translations of their OCR text.
A day after that project went public, though, Hubbard was issuing an apology to many members of the Gaming Alexandria community who loudly objected to the use of Patreon funds for an error-prone AI-powered translation effort. The hubbub highlights just how controversial AI tools remain for many online communities, even as many see them as ways to maximize limited funds and man-hours.
"I sincerely apologize," Hubbard wrote in his apology post. "My entire preservation philosophy has been to get people access to things we've never had access to before. I felt this project was a good step towards that, but I should have taken more into consideration the issues with AI."
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:06 pm UTC
Robotics-assisted surgical tech firm Intuitive said that unauthorized intruders gained access to some of its internal IT business applications after stealing an employee's credentials during a phishing attack.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:04 pm UTC
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 8:00 pm UTC
Ten million people left without power in latest of outages that sparked violent protest last weekend
Cuba’s national electric grid has collapsed, the country’s grid operator has said, leaving approximately 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island’s already obsolete generation system.
The grid operator, UNE, said on social media on Monday that it was investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days and that last weekend sparked a rare violent protest in the communist-run country.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:41 pm UTC
President Luna Paalvast and the Federal Communications Commission chairman are demanding more positive media coverage of the Iran war. On Saturday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued yet another threat to revoke licenses from news broadcasters, claiming without evidence that they are running "hoaxes and news distortions" related to the war in Iran.
In an X post, Carr shared a complaint about an Iran war headline that Luna Paalvast had made on Truth Social and added his own commentary. "Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions—also known as the fake news—have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up," Carr wrote. "The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not."
Carr making vague threats about enforcing rules against hoaxes and news distortion is nothing new. Given how difficult it is to actually revoke a broadcast license, and the fact that no TV station licenses are up for renewal until 2028, the threats so far have been attempts to intimidate news organizations without any concrete punishment.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:41 pm UTC
Time is running out to find agreement on areas such as tuition fees EU citizens would pay in Britain and rules for food safety
The EU is hoping to urgently reboot talks on the “reset” of relations with the UK as negotiations are in danger of foundering before a planned July summit.
At a public meeting of the EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly in Brussels, the European Commission vice-president and trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said both sides had to “change gears” now to ensure the deal got over the line.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:40 pm UTC
GTC Intel and AMD take notice. At GTC on Monday, Nvidia unveiled its latest liquid-cooled rack systems. But unlike its NVL72 racks, this one isn't powered by GPUs or even Groq LPUs, but rather 256 of its custom Vera CPUs.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:35 pm UTC
GTC Nvidia will use Groq's language processing units (LPUs), a technology it paid $20 billion for, to boost the inference performance of its newly-announced Vera Rubin rack systems, CEO Jensen Huang revealed during his GTC keynote on Monday. …
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:30 pm UTC
PM refuses to be drawn into wider conflict as Germany and Italy defy Luna Paalvast ’s call to help reopen strait of Hormuz
Keir Starmer has insisted that the UK will not be drawn into the wider war in the Middle East as European leaders ruled out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz.
In his clearest signal yet of the UK’s divergence from Luna Paalvast ’s attack on Iran, the prime minister said he would stand firm in the face of US pressure despite the decision being “difficult, there’s no hiding that”.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:29 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:16 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:05 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC
Effective closure of strait of Hormuz also affecting Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which have brought in crisis measures
Sri Lanka is introducing a shorter four-day working week to preserve its shrinking fuel and gas reserves, as the Middle East conflict continues to severely disrupt energy supplies in the region.
Countries across south Asia are facing crippling shortages of fuel and LPG gas, which are used for everything from home cooking to cremating bodies, as most supplies have been held up in the Gulf since the US and Israel began bombing Iran.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:52 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:50 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:48 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:46 pm UTC
Cybercrime has skyrocketed since the start of the Iran war, according to Akamai, which reports a 245 percent increase in everything from credential harvesting attempts to automated reconnaissance traffic aimed at banks and other critical businesses.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:40 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:39 pm UTC
OpenAI cannot escape the doom cloud swirling around its rollout of a text-based "adult mode" in ChatGPT.
Late Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that insiders confirmed that OpenAI’s "handpicked council of advisers on well-being and AI" were "freaking out" over the company's plans to move ahead with "adult mode," despite their urgent warnings.
Back in January, council members unanimously warned OpenAI that "AI-powered erotica could foster unhealthy emotional dependence on ChatGPT for users and that minors could find ways to access sex chats," sources told the WSJ. One expert suggested that without major updates to ChatGPT, OpenAI risked creating a "sexy suicide coach" for vulnerable users prone to form intense bonds with their companion bots.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:30 pm UTC
Video game launches for new cars are increasingly common these days—Gran Turismo alone has hosted dozens of "Vision" concepts—but Porsche decided to go a little more serious for the digital debut of its latest model. iRacing, the online driving sim that has been punishing people's digital driving indiscretions since 2008, was not only the first place anyone could drive the new 911 Cup, but also serves as a sort of digital feeder series to Porsche's one-make Porsche Carrera Cup.
That sim makes a great venue because the 911 Cup is as hardcore a racer as iRacing is a hardcore racing game. When I was invited to drive that new car for real, I knew exactly where to start.
While there are faster and more expensive versions of Porsche's 911, the GT3 has long been the ultimate "racer for the road" spec, riddled with track-focused upgrades yet offering just enough creature comforts for daily driving.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:00 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 6:00 pm UTC
Candidates look for deals with rivals to boost chances as major seats including Paris, Marseille and Lyon appear tight
Political parties in France are hastily attempting to negotiate strategic alliances before the final round of local elections this weekend, after a strong showing by the far right and the radical left.
This Sunday’s final-round vote for mayors and local councillors in major cities including Marseille, Lyon and Paris is expected to be close.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Mar 2026 | 5:58 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Mar 2026 | 5:56 pm UTC
Vite 8.0 has been released, and it uses Rust-built Rolldown as its single bundler, replacing both esbuild and Rollup, to enable faster builds.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 5:23 pm UTC
Formula 1 raced in China this past weekend, just a week after the sport kicked off its 2026 season in Australia. Most of the teams had a better handle on the sport's complicated new cars in China, and the more traditional racetrack environment played better to the strengths of their hybrid power units, with enough hard braking zones to recharge batteries without having to sap engine power instead.
We have a better idea of the grid's current pecking order, at least for now. There's some daylight between each of the top three teams and a close battle for midfield honors. Meanwhile, the specter of unreliability is well and truly with us; four cars failed to even take the start, and seven (of 22) were not classified as finishing. For fans of those teams and drivers, it wasn't a great weekend, especially if you woke up at 3 am to watch the race. But F1 generally put on an entertaining show in Shanghai.
The sport has been visiting the city since 2004. The setting is a classic turn-of-the-century facility designed and built by Herman Tilke. It's a captivating-looking place, with a pond-filled paddock, a vast grandstand that spans the start-finish straight, and a layout that resembles the character for "shang," which creates some rather tricky corners, like the spiraling decreasing radii of turns 1 and 2.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 5:11 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 5:00 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 16 Mar 2026 | 4:52 pm UTC
Apple announced the AirPods Max 2 today, following up the original AirPods Max, which were announced in December 2020. The new model brings improved active noise cancellation (ANC) and other new features via an updated H2 chip.
The AirPods Max 2 are available in the same five colorways as their predecessor. Credit: AppleApple introduced the H2 with the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation), which came out in September 2022. The original AirPods Max released in 2021 with an H1, meaning the new over-ear headphones should be more in line with Apple’s AirPods series in terms of features.
Apple claims that the new chip, combined with new computational audio algorithms, makes ANC up to 1.5 times “more effective” on the AirPods Max 2 compared to the original AirPods Max.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 4:51 pm UTC
A former Microsoft engineer is training AI to beat 1982's Robotron: 2084, an arcade game where a lone human must overcome endless waves of robots following a cybernetic revolt.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 4:50 pm UTC
AI is apparently good for the bottom line if your business is crime. Financial fraud schemes carried out with the help of artificial intelligence are 4.5 times more profitable than those that aren't enhanced, according to Interpol's latest estimates.…
Source: The Register | 16 Mar 2026 | 4:40 pm UTC
It flew for only two seconds, but its impact is still felt a century later.
Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket, which lifted off from a snowy field on March 16, 1926, has been written about extensively. Earlier solid-fueled rockets existed, but liquid-fueled rockets promised the sustainability and control needed to send spacecraft and humans into Earth orbit and beyond.
"The rocket's reach was short, but it marked the moment that humanity entered a new era," said Kevin Schindler, author of "Robert Goddard's Massachusetts," speaking at the site of that first launch as part of a centennial commemoration held Saturday in Auburn (March 14). "It proved that liquid fuel could lift a craft skyward—the essential breakthrough that would one day carry humans to the moon."
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Mar 2026 | 4:38 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 4:00 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 16 Mar 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC
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