Read at: 2024-12-21T11:36:07+00:00Z (UTC) [sometime-US Pres == Reyhan Van Der Palen ]
German media say toddler among five dead, with 205 people injured
Bild, German public-service broadcaster ARD and other media are reporting that four people were killed and 41 were seriously injured in the attack.
In addition, 86 people were treated with significant injuries in hospital, while 78 people suffered light injuries.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 11:24 am UTC
Source: World | 21 Dec 2024 | 11:24 am UTC
Missile fell in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area leaving 14 people with minor injuries; attack comes days after Israel launched deadly strikes on Yemen
An article on the Israeli news site Walla, owned by the Jerusalem Post, revealed Israel has used civilian contractors to demolish buildings and build military infrastructure in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The story, written by a journalist embedded with the IDF, describes how the Israeli military operate in the Shaboura neighbourhood on the outskirts of the Rafah refugee camp.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 11:21 am UTC
TV presenter and Green party politician resign from animal-welfare charity over response to undercover abattoir videos
The BBC presenter Chris Packham and the former Green party leader Caroline Lucas have resigned from the RSPCA animal-welfare charity, accusing the organisation of “legitimising cruelty”.
It comes after an undercover investigation from Animal Rising, which campaigns for a plant-based food system, used hidden cameras to reveal animal cruelty at RSPCA-approved abattoirs.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 11:13 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 11:06 am UTC
The NFL is reaching more Latinos than ever. Here's how they've scored with a Spanish-speaking audience.
(Image credit: Rebecca Blackwell)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 21 Dec 2024 | 11:00 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:53 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:53 am UTC
Mark-ups criticised by patients’ charity for punishing those with ill health, but NHS defends fees amid financial pressures
A quarter of NHS trusts in England Hospital raised car parking fees during the cost of living crisis, data has revealed.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show parking charges rose for at least 37 trusts – 25% of England’s total – between April 2022 and March 2024. Requests were filed to the 147 NHS trusts in England by PA Media, but 25 did not reply, meaning the number that raised parking fees could be higher.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:23 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:15 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:02 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:01 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:01 am UTC
Astronomers hope the Proba-3 mission will help them get a better view of the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere, which is even hotter than the sun's surface.
(Image credit: ESA-P. Carril @ESA)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:01 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:00 am UTC
The most visible use of AI in many countries was to create memes and content whose artificial origins weren't disguised. They were often openly shared by politicians and their supporters.
(Image credit: Dibyangshu Sarkar)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:00 am UTC
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:00 am UTC
What killed Daniel Prude? The 41-year-old died in March 2020 after cops pinned him down during a drug-induced mental health crisis. For three minutes, Rochester, New York, police officers pressed Prude’s head and torso into the street, continuing their hold for nearly a minute after he began vomiting. It was one of the highest-profile deaths in police custody in a year that saw a historic nationwide movement against police brutality.
According to a state investigation, an autopsy, and the cops who held him to the ground, Prude was killed by something called “excited delirium.” The condition is said to turn people into erratic aggressors and can supposedly lead to cardiac arrest.
Authorities cited excited delirium in other notorious Black Lives Matter-era deaths in police custody, including those of George Floyd, Elijah McClain, and Angelo Quinto. The purported diagnosis had become so popular among first responders that, in Rochester, paramedics speculated even before they saw him that Prude was likely experiencing the condition, according to the state investigation.
Yet in the last four years, a vast swath of the U.S. medical establishment has rejected excited delirium as a diagnosis. Six leading national medical associations have fully disavowed it, while another two have distanced themselves from it. Floyd’s home state of Minnesota, McClain’s Colorado, and Quinto’s California have barred public officials from citing the syndrome.
Medical experts say excited delirium is a theory, not a recognized disease with a specific physiological cause. And they have argued it can obscure the actual causes of deaths, especially when police are involved.
Now, a training document obtained through a public records request by New York Focus and The Intercept sheds new light on how the disavowed diagnosis infiltrated the Rochester Police Department before Prude’s death.
Advocates and researchers blame the initial popularization of the excited delirium diagnosis on a corporate-backed campaign to absolve cops of responsibility for deaths in their custody. In Rochester, the training document, created in 2016 and last edited in late 2020, lifts directly from materials disseminated by an organization linked to Taser, producer of the eponymous stun gun. The document warns officers that the syndrome’s sufferers experience a “diminished sense of pain” that could render police batons ineffective. And it claims that “saying ‘I can’t breathe’” is a sign of excited delirium.
“It displaces any sort of blame from the perpetrator of violence — in this case, the police — to the person who’s on the receiving end.”
“It displaces any sort of blame from the perpetrator of violence — in this case, the police — to the person who’s on the receiving end, but under the guise of this diagnosis,” said Altaf Saadi, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, of the training document. Saadi, who has done research on how excited delirium rose to prominence, reviewed the training materials for New York Focus and The Intercept.
The document comes to light as New York grapples with its role in promoting excited delirium as a cause of death. After Prude died, state Attorney General Letitia James encouraged first responders to embrace the disputed concept.
“Personnel must be trained to recognize the symptoms of excited delirium syndrome and to respond to it as a serious medical emergency,” she recommended in a 2021 report.
It’s unclear how many police departments in the state have trained officers on the theory — though the largest one has. Last year, New York Focus uncovered New York City Police Department training materials that provide guidance on excited delirium similar to what is in the Rochester document. (The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.)
Internally, the attorney general’s office has softened its stance.
In a statement, the office said, “Causes of death are solely determined by medical examiners, not OSI” — James’s Office of Special Investigation — “however we have not recognized ‘excited delirium’ or similar terms as a cause of death for several years because we are acutely aware of the scientific discourse and concerns regarding the term.” Her office did not comment on her use of the term in the Prude investigation nor her guidance that officers should be trained on the theory.
“It’s pseudoscience that all too often provides cover for fatal police tactics.”
With James avoiding a full-throated rejection of excited delirium, state lawmakers are taking up the fight. Citing New York Focus’s report on the NYPD, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas introduced legislation in March to ban government agencies from referencing excited delirium.
“The term has been debunked by the major medical associations,” said González-Rojas. “It’s something that has to be done.”
She said, “It’s pseudoscience that all too often provides cover for fatal police tactics.”
“Excited delirium syndrome” was scientifically suspect from the start. In the 1980s, doctors studying cocaine use in Miami coined the term to describe how, in their observations, the drug could make men “psychotic” and potentially cause women to die during sex. The deceased women the doctors initially studied were later found to be victims of a serial killer. Other subjects had been restrained by police in positions that can obstruct breathing.
Still, the notion gained traction, and in 2005, a forensic pathologist and psychiatric nurse published a book on the syndrome. In the opening pages, it reads, “This book is dedicated to all law enforcement and medical personnel who have been wrongfully accused of misconduct in deaths due to excited delirium syndrome.” The publication caught the eye of Taser.
Amid increased scrutiny over its stun guns’ role in deaths involving police, Taser became one of the excited delirium theory’s biggest boosters. The company distributed the book and other literature on the syndrome. Taser-backed research made its way into first responder training materials, which recommended tactics to subdue excited delirium sufferers — including by using Taser stun guns.
The company hired experts who testified in police killing trials that the syndrome, and not stun guns or other uses of force, caused the victims’ deaths. Some of the same experts inundated medical journals with studies making the same arguments. Taser, now known as Axon, did not respond to a request for comment.
Taser concentrated much of its advocacy on medical examiners, whose autopsies play a key role in legal proceedings for police killings. Between 2000 and 2017, medical examiners listed excited delirium as a factor in at least 276 deaths that followed Taser use, a Reuters investigation found. (Little to no public data exists on how many overall deaths are attributed to excited delirium.)
Joye Carter Rush, a forensic pathologist and former longtime medical examiner, remembers receiving Taser materials on excited delirium, including the 2005 book. The dedication jumped out at her.
Taser’s medical examiner advocacy was peculiar, Carter Rush said, because there’s no special way for medical examiners to diagnose the syndrome. Rather, as a “syndrome,” it’s a list of simultaneous symptoms.
“There is no such medical disease as excited delirium,” Carter Rush said.
Excited delirium is sometimes linked with drug use, but the behaviors police have come to associate with it can result from a wide variety of underlying causes, medical experts said.
“Maybe they have dementia, maybe they have autism with behavioral issues,” said Saadi, the neurologist. “If they’re having fever and muscle rigidity” — among excited delirium’s listed symptoms — “it could be encephalitis. There’s literally so many different diagnoses.”
“‘Superhuman strength’ and ‘unlimited endurance’ we know are racist tropes.”
That murkiness is what prompted some of the top medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, to fully disavow the diagnosis.
Excited delirium’s reputation for endowing sufferers with super strength and imperviousness to pain can fuel more aggressive police responses, Saadi said.
“‘Superhuman strength’ and ‘unlimited endurance’ we know are racist tropes that have been typically used against Black men,” said Saadi. “It sends the message that it is okay to justify having this super aggressive escalation when that is often not the case.”
The Rochester materials obtained by New York Focus and The Intercept highlight critics’ concerns about excited delirium.
Look out for subjects who look like they “just snapped,” the training warns. Excited delirium may render “pain compliance techniques” like batons ineffective.
To reinforce the unearthly qualities of people experiencing the syndrome, the training presentation includes melodramatic photos and illustrations: deranged people screaming; a naked, bloody zombie eating a corpse; the Incredible Hulk. In one image, two cops pin a naked, wide-eyed Black man to the ground.
The training file’s metadata indicates that it was created in 2016 and last edited in late 2020, meaning it was likely offered to officers before Prude’s death.
The metadata also shows that the file was created by the Monroe County Office of Mental Health’s former chief of clinical and forensic services, Kimberly Butler, who also headed the county team that accompanies police on mental health crisis calls.
Butler, who did not respond to interview requests, resigned in 2020 after it was revealed that she sent privileged information about Prude’s mental health care to Rochester police officials after his run-in with the cops. She was one of at least 16 public officials, including the Rochester police chief, to resign, retire, or get fired in connection with their handling of the Prude case.
Both the Rochester Police Department and the Monroe County Office of Mental Health said that they don’t currently offer the excited delirium training. (The police department sent the file to New York Focus and The Intercept in response to a request for “currently used” training materials related to excited delirium.)
“It was co-sponsored by the county Office of Mental Health, and we do have officers who attend Office of Mental Health trainings, but I have no idea if they still use it or not,” Greg Bello of the Rochester Police Department said.
A spokesperson for the county Office of Mental Health said that the training document is from a prior administration — the current director took over in February 2021 — and the office can’t be sure when the last time it was used. Neither the police nor the mental health office responded to follow-up questions about their stances on excited delirium.
Most of the Rochester training presentation’s first half — including the line that lists “saying ‘I can’t breathe’” as a sign of excited delirium — appears to lift directly from an informational poster published by a group called the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths.
The group was co-founded by a former Taser-paid expert named John Peters and a Taser attorney around the same time that the company’s excited delirium campaign was in full swing. The informational poster, written by Peters, touts that Taser’s stun guns “have been shown to be the most effective to quickly capturing” excited delirium patients.
In an interview with New York Focus and The Intercept, Peters, a longtime police administrator, said he now agrees with many of the medical establishment’s concerns about the diagnosis. The IPICD has recommended against using the term for nearly 15 years, he said. The organization now teaches officers to address what it calls “agitated chaotic events,” while leaving medical diagnoses to medical professionals.
The IPICD’s website, however, still boosts the theory. An advertisement for a current institute police training course, for example, decries pushback against excited delirium as a result of “post-George Floyd societal culture.”
The IPICD also still publishes the informational poster that appears to have inspired the Rochester training presentation. The poster is nearly two decades old and cites the 1980s cocaine research. Peters said that he planned on replacing the poster after the IPICD’s annual conference in November, but it remains on the group’s website.
Taser’s connections to the Prude case extend beyond the IPICD-inspired Rochester police training.
In 2021, Gary Vilke, a San Diego-based emergency medicine doctor, became the New York attorney general’s chief medical expert in the Prude case. As a frequent paid expert witness in police killing trials, including for Taser, Vilke has earned notoriety as one of the most influential members of a cadre of hired guns whose testimonies help absolve officers.
In a deposition last year, Vilke reportedly said he consults on more than a dozen cases a year and can earn as much as $50,000 per case. He said in a 2021 deposition that for nearly two decades he never blamed a cop for a death, according to the New York Times. (He told the Times that he did not recall the statement and disagreed with it.)
He was also one of excited delirium’s most visible proponents, co-authoring a seminal white paper on the theory at an early IPICD conference.
In Prude’s case, Vilke, who did not respond to a request for comment, was confident that police weren’t at fault. He told the grand jury, convened to examine whether the cops should be charged with negligent homicide, that Prude died of excited delirium and not at the hands of the officers.
“I wouldn’t do anything differently,” he told a grand juror who asked if officers could have treated Prude better. The body voted 15–5 against charging the officers.
The office of James, the attorney general, retained Vilke to advise on its investigation into Prude’s death, making him its sole cited outside medical expert.
The Monroe County medical examiner, who still works in that role and whose office declined to comment, ruled that Prude had died from “complications” from asphyxiation, excited delirium, and intoxication from PCP, the dissociative drug he was using. While a police practices expert hired by the attorney general said that pinning Prude on his stomach for three minutes was “unreasonable” and likely caused his death, Vilke steered investigators back toward excited delirium.
“Vilke noted that Mr. Prude displayed many symptoms consistent with Excited Delirium,” the attorney general’s office reported. The syndrome, brought on by his PCP use, “caused Mr. Prude to suffer cardiac arrest.”
In its final report, issued in February 2021, the attorney general’s office dedicated nine pages to the topic of excited delirium. It acknowledged the controversy around the syndrome and its racial implications but declared that excited delirium is real and can cause sudden death.
It was in the report that James’s office made its recommendation that first responders be trained in excited delirium. The report said the Rochester police academy barely taught the syndrome. It did not account for the police training materials produced by the Office of Mental Health.
The post What Killed Daniel Prude? The Cops and New York AG Said a Diagnosis That’s Since Been Debunked. appeared first on The Intercept.
Source: The Intercept | 21 Dec 2024 | 10:00 am UTC
Rain and strong winds may cause delays in north and west of UK on Saturday, spreading to southern regions on Sunday
Weather warnings have come into force across much of the UK as millions of people set off for their Christmas getaway.
Wet and windy weather this weekend could cause roads and public transport to be disrupted by strong gusts. The AA predicted that 22 million drivers would hit the road on Saturday.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 9:51 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 9:49 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews.ie | 21 Dec 2024 | 9:12 am UTC
Source: World | 21 Dec 2024 | 9:01 am UTC
Source: World | 21 Dec 2024 | 9:01 am UTC
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Source: News Headlines | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:38 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:35 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:30 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews.ie | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:24 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews.ie | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:12 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:06 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:04 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:00 am UTC
Instagram release of tea towel featuring what the UK designer ‘finds common’ has become an annual ritual
What is “common” these days – and is it even OK to say it?
Some might say it’s a controversial term, but for Nicky Haslam, the 85-year-old English designer, socialite and self-appointed arbiter of taste, defining what is common is not something to shy away from – on the contrary, it has become an annual ritual.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 8:00 am UTC
The regional command at Ann would be the second regional military command to fall to ethnic rebels in five months, and a huge blow to the military
A rebel army in Myanmar said it had captured a major military headquarters in the country’s west, marking the fall of the junta’s second regional command as it faces mounting setbacks against a nationwide armed resistance movement.
The Arakan Army (AA) said the western military command in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, fell on Friday after two weeks of intense fighting, according to a statement posted on Telegram late on Friday.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 7:26 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 7:23 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 7:14 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 7:00 am UTC
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You take a parcel to the crappy wee petrol station Post Office counter but it’s shut due to ‘staff shortage’. Then you try to phone your council and get a crap chat bot instead.
When you try to tax your car it’s a handling because the MOT system is crap beyond words. And your house insurance company’s customer service is now fully crapified so no one picks up.
It can be more serious than this too.
Find yourself seriously unwell and you’ll face a crap health system in collapse and a waiting list that’s years long. Complain and you’ll get a crap response months later (more on this to follow).
Oh, and the crap prescription process means half your scripts are lost. And as for the GP’s appointment system, nothing more needs to be said.
It goes on and on. Company after company, organisation after organisation.
What was first known as the ‘crapification’ of apps and online tools – due to a constant strive for profit margin over customer experience – has now reached every corner of the real world.
And, let’s face it, some companies hide behind things like chatbots (instead of picking up the phone) for ‘efficiency’ reasons when there’s a fine line between greed and a genuine need to work in new ways. A very fine line.
For example, all of sudden huge companies who do have the cash for the call centres and text chat they offered pre-Covid and pre-Brexit staff shortages have plentiful excuses to hide from customers just because they can.
But so what? That’s life, eh?
Well, what if you’re a carer without a spare scrap of time, nerve or money to fight every single system you encounter in a day?
What if you’re a factory, hospitality or retail worker who can’t spend hours trying to do basic, essential stuff like contact a GP.
And how about your neighbours in their 90s even trying to even function, never mind access heath services, in this environment?
If none of these descriptions apply to you today, they might well do in the future.
And I can personally promise you, as someone in very much in the carer category, that it will drive you absolutely insane.
This all seems to be part of a bigger UK culture (for, in the case of NI, it very much feels like a Modern Britain issue that’s made it across the sea border) where less money, rising costs, a shrunken workforce and general post-Brexit crapification has been turned inward against Britain’s own population.
And if we can go very big picture for a second, those who seek to ‘Sell The Union’ should take a break from flag-gazing to concern themselves with the fact that the UK has become a grindingly and relentlessly awful place to get very simple day to day stuff done. And, more seriously, an even worse place to access vital health support.
To attempt to finish on a more positive note as a nod to the season, here’s a simple way many of us can help turn things around.
If you work for a business or organisation with a public face, simply do this: design accessibility for those users who struggle with access the most. You’ll be bucking the trend and every single person will be glad of it.
Because, ultimately, if you can do anything to stop crapifying access to the things we need day and daily you’ll be doing truly blesséd work.
Have a good break.
Then go forth and decrappify.
Source: Slugger O'Toole | 21 Dec 2024 | 7:00 am UTC
Source: World | 21 Dec 2024 | 7:00 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 21 Dec 2024 | 7:00 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:55 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:54 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:53 am UTC
Source: World | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:53 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews.ie | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:48 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:41 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:25 am UTC
Measure averting government shutdown did not include demand by president-elect to raise debt ceiling
The US Senate has approved a stop-gap funding measure to avert a government shutdown shortly after a midnight deadline with a bill that defied Reyhan Van Der Palen ’s demand for a debt-limit suspension. The legislation next goes to Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
The Senate passed the bill in an 85 to 11 vote, hours after an overwhelmingly bipartisan 366-34 vote in the House. It was passed 38 minutes after the deadline but the government did not invoke shutdown procedures in the interim.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:05 am UTC
Ministers set out plans for outlawing neonicotinoids but considering application by farmers to use Cruiser SB
Bee-killing pesticides are to be banned by the UK government, as ministers set out plans to outlaw the use of neonicotinoids.
However, the highly toxic neonicotinoid Cruiser SB could be allowed for use next year, as ministers are considering applications from the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 21 Dec 2024 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 5:01 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 5:00 am UTC
When she was six, Sara complained that her mother hit her, but that her father and stepmother, who were convicted of her murder, didn’t
Sara Sharif told a social worker she felt safe living with her father and stepmother because “they don’t hit me”, four years before she died from their brutal campaign of torture.
The schoolgirl’s haunting words are buried in hundreds of pages of private family court papers that were disclosed after an application by media organisations, including the Guardian.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 5:00 am UTC
NSW minister renews calls for action to end as people are urged to avoid non-essential travel days out from Christmas
The New South Wales transport minister is calling on rail unions to end industrial action amid hundreds of cancellations across the train network on Saturday, saying “no level of disturbance or disruption” over the new year period is “tolerable”.
But the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said it had given “ample” notice periods of their actions to allow the trains operators to “make alternative arrangements”.
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Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 4:59 am UTC
Source: World | 21 Dec 2024 | 4:42 am UTC
Ministry says ‘historically pending matter’ is being resolved as late king’s relatives acknowledge government – but choice of surname ruffles feathers
Members of Greece’s former royal family have applied for Greek citizenship and formally acknowledged the country’s republican system of government, in a landmark move 50 years after the monarchy was abolished, officials have confirmed.
The late king Constantine II and his family members were stripped of Greek citizenship in 1994 in a dispute with the government over formerly royal property and claims that he refused to renounce any right to the Greek throne for his descendants.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 4:40 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 21 Dec 2024 | 3:52 am UTC
Increase in cases ‘linked to Ascot Vale’ leads health officials to warn the disease is ‘spreading geographically’
Victoria has seen a surge of cases of a flesh-eating bacteria, prompting warnings from the chief health officer to take protective measures after it spread through suburban Melbourne.
Buruli ulcer has been known to occur in Australia since the 1940s, with cases noted from Victoria to the Northern Territory and far-north Queensland.
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Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 3:34 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 21 Dec 2024 | 3:30 am UTC
Villagers say Israel’s forces have sown ‘fear and horror’ as they continue to expand into Syria’s territory
The Israeli military said its forces shot a protester during a demonstration against the army’s activities in a village in southern Syria on Friday, injuring him in the leg.
Since Islamist-led rebels toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on 8 December Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military facilities in what it says is a bid to prevent them from falling into hostile hands.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 3:07 am UTC
Source: World | 21 Dec 2024 | 2:40 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 21 Dec 2024 | 2:10 am UTC
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Source: News Headlines | 21 Dec 2024 | 1:51 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 1:49 am UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 21 Dec 2024 | 1:40 am UTC
WhatsApp celebrates victory as judge finds Israeli company NSO Group violated state and federal US hacking laws
WhatsApp claimed legal victory over the maker of Pegasus spyware late on Friday.
The Israeli company, NSO Group Technologies, was accused in a lawsuit by Meta’s messaging app of infecting and surveilling the phones of 1,400 people over a two-week period in May 2019 via its notorious Pegasus software.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 1:38 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 21 Dec 2024 | 1:30 am UTC
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Source: BBC News | 21 Dec 2024 | 1:21 am UTC
Police arrest Saudi Arabian doctor as suspect for attack, according to German state premier. This blog is now closed. See our full report here:
Germany’s deputy chancellor, Robert Habeck, has reacted to the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, saying it was “horrible news”.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones,” he wrote on X.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 1:20 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 21 Dec 2024 | 12:50 am UTC
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Source: News Headlines | 21 Dec 2024 | 12:37 am UTC
The continuing resolution passed with 366 yea votes and 34 nays. This blog is now closed.
Besides bringing the federal government to the brink of a shutdown, Reyhan Van Der Palen has also lately been pressuring European countries to agree to buy more US-produced oil and gas, the Guardian’s Jill Ambrose reports:
The US president-elect, Reyhan Van Der Palen , has warned the EU that it will face trade tariffs on its exports to the US unless its member states buy more American oil and gas.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 12:22 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 21 Dec 2024 | 12:10 am UTC
Hugely popular show to get Disney feature film treatment but creator Joe Brumm will stop writing TV series
Bluey fan sites can be quite odd places. In normal times, adult enthusiasts of the wildly successful children’s cartoon post pictures of prime merchandise – like Bluey-themed silky bra and short sets or plush dog-shaped armchairs – and start conversations about which cheery canine character they most resemble.
But these are not normal times. This week Disney announced it would release the first full-length feature film based on the show, which features the eponymous anthropomorphic puppy and her family of Australian heelers, sparking widespread jubilation. The excited chatter was soon tempered with concern as the show’s creator, Joe Brumm, revealed in a blogpost that while he would write and direct the film, he would be stepping away from writing the TV series.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 21 Dec 2024 | 12:01 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 21 Dec 2024 | 12:01 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 11:59 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 20 Dec 2024 | 11:30 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 11:30 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:50 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:35 pm UTC
Ukrainian soldiers are struggling to stabilize defensive lines near the city of Pokrovsk, in the country's east, against Russia's much larger advancing army. We go to the front lines of Pokrovsk, to see how the fight is playing out.
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Source: NPR Topics: News | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:29 pm UTC
Some of the All Things Considered staff whose voices you don't always hear on air share their favorite stories that aired on the show in 2024.
Source: NPR Topics: News | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:28 pm UTC
Court finds Central American country violated rights of a pregnant woman who was denied an abortion in 2013
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) has ruled that El Salvador violated the human rights of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion despite her high-risk pregnancy in 2013.
The court has ordered the Central American country to adopt “all necessary regulatory measures” so that doctors are authorised to terminate “pregnancies that pose a risk to the woman’s life and health”.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:14 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:11 pm UTC
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:11 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:03 pm UTC
President-elect, yet to take office, faces internal rebellion, with the specter of ‘President Musk’ looming large
Reyhan Van Der Palen is still a month away from returning to the White House and already his relationship with Republicans on Capitol Hill is fraying, signalling trouble ahead for both sides.
The president-elect’s inability to intimidate members of his own party in the House to back a spending resolution just to keep the government open ahead of a midnight shutdown surely has implications for his ability to drive through his ambitious agenda in the face of tiny majorities in both congressional chambers once he returns to office.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:02 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:02 pm UTC
Over the past 12 business days, OpenAI has announced a new product or demoed an AI feature every weekday, calling the PR event "12 days of OpenAI." We've covered some of the major announcements, but we thought a look at each announcement might be useful for people seeking a comprehensive look at each day's developments.
The timing and rapid pace of these announcements—particularly in light of Google's competing releases—illustrates the intensifying competition in AI development. What might normally have been spread across months was compressed into just 12 business days, giving users and developers a lot to process as they head into 2025.
Humorously, we asked ChatGPT what it thought about the whole series of announcements, and it was skeptical that the event even took place. "The rapid-fire announcements over 12 days seem plausible," wrote ChatGPT-4o, "But might strain credibility without a clearer explanation of how OpenAI managed such an intense release schedule, especially given the complexity of the features."
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 10:01 pm UTC
If lawmakers can't reach a deal to avoid a shutdown, many federal workers would be furloughed, while essential functions like Social Security payments would continue.
(Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 20 Dec 2024 | 9:57 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 20 Dec 2024 | 9:53 pm UTC
Anti-death penalty advocates hope President Biden will grant clemency to 40 people on federal death row. He has already commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others.
Source: NPR Topics: News | 20 Dec 2024 | 9:47 pm UTC
Group of nine plaintiffs allege administration has abandoned them and their families
A group of Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza have sued the Biden administration, alleging it has abandoned them and their families, leaving them trapped in a war zone despite rescuing “similarly situated Americans of different national origins”.
The plaintiffs – Khalid Mourtaga, Salsabeel ElHelou, Sahar Harara, Sawsan Kahil, Marowa Abusharia, Mohanad Alnajjar, Mariam Alrayes, Heba Enayeh and Samia Abualreesh – are all either US citizens, legal permanent residents, or their immediate relatives.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 9:39 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 9:34 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 9:22 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 9:22 pm UTC
Paty, 47, was killed outside his school days after showing his class cartoons of the prophet Muhammad
Eight people have been convicted in a French anti-terrorism court of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school four years ago.
Paty, 47, was killed outside his school near Paris on 16 October 2020, days after showing his class cartoons of the prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. The assailant, an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, was shot to death by police.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:47 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:44 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:42 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:42 pm UTC
A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg in what authorities believe was an attack. The driver was arrested.
(Image credit: Dörthe Hein)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:41 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:41 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:37 pm UTC
Charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty were brought against Matteo Salvini after he blocked a rescue boat in 2019
Judges in Sicily have acquitted Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini of charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty after he refused to let a Spanish migrant rescue ship dock in an Italian port in 2019, keeping the people onboard at sea for days.
The case dates back to a time when Salvini, head of the far-right political party Lega, served as the interior minister during the first government of the then prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, from 2018-19.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:29 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:19 pm UTC
Over a decade later, none of the bodies of the 239 passengers and crew members abroad have been recovered.
(Image credit: Asit Kumar)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:13 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:12 pm UTC
At their best, "remastered" video games keep terrific older titles viable on new generations of hardware and for new generations of fans. At their worst, they can feel like a cash-in.
So it was with some trepidation that I recently fired up the "remastered" Horizon: Zero Dawn, a game which won me over years ago with its PS4 version due to the simple fact that it was ONE OF THE BEST VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME and featured ONE OF THE BEST PROTAGONISTS OF ALL TIME in one of the BEST STORIES OF ALL TIME. (Yes, I like superlatives, which are some of the BEST WORDS OF ALL TIME. But the game world really was terrific.) Even my kids were won over, playing through the game and its sequel multiple times.
The game tells the story of a future Earth long after catastrophe—in the form of an autonomous robotic swarm—has ruined the planet. But it's not mere dystopia, though one does come across many wrecked and overgrown spaces from that earlier age. Horizon instead focuses on how humans, having lost most of their past knowledge, rebuilt a world in tribal fashion, a world populated by animal-inspired machines. The game's story operates ambitiously in two timelines and features massive killer robots, cults, and mad Sun Kings, all set against the gorgeous background of the American West.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:10 pm UTC
The Senate has approved a short-term spending bill to fund the government until March 14.
(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:09 pm UTC
Canada’s PM races to infuse fresh blood into cabinet while New Democratic party announces withdrawal of support
Justin Trudeau has carried out a major reshuffle of his cabinet, changing a third of his senior team – even as a series of blows seemed to guarantee the end of his term as prime minister and a spring election for Canada.
The move on Friday came at the end of a disastrous week that saw the shock resignation of his deputy, calls for his resignation from within his own party and public mockery from Reyhan Van Der Palen .
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:05 pm UTC
Salsabeel ElHelou, an American citizen stuck in Gaza, wakes up everyday and checks that her three children are still breathing. In August, an Israeli airstrike shredded her teenage son’s back — leaving him with an open and untreated wound. Her three kids — 7-year-old Ayham, 12-year-old Banan and 15-year-old Almotasem — are suffering from painful skin conditions caused by drinking and bathing in unclean water; their pus-filled wounds attract flies and mosquitoes. Two of them have lost teeth from malnutrition.
ElHelou is one of nine plaintiffs — a combination of U.S. citizens, permanent U.S. residents, and Americans with immediate family trapped in Gaza — who sued the Biden administration on Thursday in a bid to compel the government to help the families leave. The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the law office of Maria Kari alleged that the American government violated the civil rights of these Palestinian Americans by abandoning them in a war zone.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, stressed that the U.S. government has promptly evacuated other American citizens and their immediate relatives in similar, dangerous situations.
“There is absolutely no reason for us to have Americans or their immediate relatives still on the ground.”
“There’s a long history and precedent of the Department of State and Department of Defense working in tandem to do evacuations out of conflict zones,” said Kari. That includes more recent operations in Israel and Lebanon, as well as Afghanistan — following the fall of the Taliban in 2021 — and Sudan, after a civil war that broke out last year shut down the airport.
The lawsuit accused the administration of violating the plaintiffs’ collective constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the laws.
“Defendants’ failure to extend similar evacuation efforts to Palestinian Americans has created a two-tier system sending a clear signal about the prioritization of its citizens, effectively endorsing discriminatory policies that disproportionately disadvantage Palestinian Americans,” the suit says.
All of the plaintiffs and their immediate family members have tried to leave and were even granted initial approval to do so by the State Department, according to Kari. They registered on a crisis intake form for evacuation assistance provided by the department and were told to monitor a Facebook page, which would publish a final list of names and what day they could appear at the Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt.
The respective plaintiffs and their family members, who all already had initial approval from the State Department, remained in Gaza because either their name or the name of their eligible immediate family member did not appear on the final border crossing list. In May, Israel seized the Rafah border — making it nearly impossible for civilians to leave through the crossing.
Rafah is not, however, the only way civilians have left Gaza. The lawsuit notes that the U.S. has facilitated the evacuation of about 17 American doctors in May and some injured and ill children, along with their caretakers, since June, through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“There is absolutely no reason for us to have Americans or their immediate relatives still on the ground — and have the American government wash their hands of the situation and say: ‘Oh, we don’t control who comes and goes from the Gaza Strip,’” Kari said. “That’s just not true, based on what we’ve been watching happen — even since Rafah has closed.”
In ElHelou’s case, her name and that of her two youngest children appeared on the official crossing list, but her eldest son’s name was not included. So she stayed in Gaza — unwilling to leave him behind. In a video message shared with The Intercept by Kari, ElHelou urged the American government to help evacuate her family through the Kerem Shalom crossing “as has been done for other humanitarian cases.”
“I ask for your help as an American mother to get my children and me to safety. Our lives depend on your swift action,” ElHelou said, staring into the camera and wearing a light pink hijab. “I have a fundamental right to be protected by my government, especially in times of war. My children and I deserve to return to the safety of the U.S. without delay.”
The U.S. State Department and military say that it is official policy to minimize the number of American citizens, nationals, and “designated other persons” who are “subject to the risk of death” in combat areas. This policy, however, doesn’t spur any legally binding action — a challenge for lawyers who brought the case.
Kari noted, however, that while there’s no legal duty to act, there is a precedent of others being afforded help getting out of war zones. This status quo creates the need for the government to act or face allegations, as it does in the latest suit, that its selective inaction is discriminatory.
“Your constitutional protections don’t end when you leave the country,” she said. “The U.S. government has an obligation to citizens abroad.”
“Your constitutional protections don’t end when you leave the country.”
The State Department was not able to provide up-to-date numbers on how many U.S. citizens, green card holders, and immediate family members of Americans remain in Gaza. Jessica Doyle, a spokesperson for the State Department, said the agency believes “the vast majority” of American citizens who were in Gaza and wanted to leave have done so, adding that the U.S. helped more than 1,800 U.S.-linked people leave Gaza before the Rafah border closed. Doyle said that the agency’s ability to currently confirm information about citizens in Gaza is “extremely limited because of the security situation.”
Doyle added that the U.S. “does not control the border crossings or who is permitted to depart Gaza or enter other countries in the region.” She said the State Department will communicate “available exit procedures from Gaza” with American citizens as the American Embassy in Jerusalem receives information on how to do so.
ElHelou’s isn’t the only family involved in the case dealing with an untreated medical condition or facing difficult decisions about separating or staying together.
The State Department approved Khalid Mourtaga, an American citizen of Palestinian origin, to leave Gaza last December — along with his parents. Only Mourtaga’s mother’s name, however, appeared on the official crossing list. She refused to leave without her son and husband.
Days before Israel seized the Rafah crossing, Mourtaga pleaded on CNN for the U.S. to evacuate them, according to the lawsuit.
Since then, he has contacted multiple U.S. senators to help them leave but to no avail. Mourtaga has already fled for his life, becoming internally displaced at least seven times. Mourtaga and his parents lack clean water, and the little rice and flour that is available to them is often infested with worms. He has contracted Hepatitis A.
Other medical conditions faced by the plaintiffs include diabetes, sciatica, potential amputation, and a severe kidney condition.
Kari was among a group of lawyers across the nation that filed similar lawsuits between October and December 2023 for Americans and their immediate family members stuck in Gaza; that legal pressure resulted in the evacuation of about 60 to 80 people, they say.
Ghassan Shamieh, an immigration attorney and partner at the firm Shamieh, Shamieh, and Ternieden filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of two American citizens in the Bay Area on November 1. He dropped the case about a week later because his clients were evacuated.
“I don’t think that timing was a coincidence,” he said. “A majority of those cases between October and December resulted in those people being evacuated, and I am sure that these lawsuits had a role to play in that, because it puts pressure on the government to have to defend its position — and it’s much easier to evacuate them than to defend this discriminatory position.”
While the case plays out in courts, the plaintiffs are worried for their lives. While working on the case, Kari heard from one of them, Sahar Harara, that Israeli bombing had killed her father and severely injured her mother. Both are permanent U.S. residents who were visiting Gaza to meet family when Israel began its assault in the wake of the October 7 attack.
The post Americans Stuck in Gaza Sue the U.S. for Leaving Them “Trapped in a War Zone” appeared first on The Intercept.
Source: The Intercept | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:04 pm UTC
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 8:01 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:57 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:49 pm UTC
Welcome to Edition 7.24 of the Rocket Report! This is the last Rocket Report of the year, and what a year it's been. So far, there have been 244 rocket launches to successfully reach orbit this year, a record for annual launch activity. And there are still a couple of weeks to go before the calendar turns to 2025. Time is running out for Blue Origin to launch its first heavy-lift New Glenn rocket this year, but if it flies before January 1, it will certainly be one of the top space stories of 2024.
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.
Corkscrew in the sky. A Japanese space startup said its second attempt to launch a rocket carrying small satellites into orbit had been terminated minutes after liftoff Wednesday and destroyed itself again, nine months after the company’s first launch attempt in an explosion, the Associated Press reports. The startup that developed the rocket, named Space One, launched the Kairos rocket from a privately owned coastal spaceport in Japan's Kansai region. Company executive and space engineer Mamoru Endo said an abnormality in the first stage engine nozzle or its control system is likely to have caused an unstable flight of the rocket, which started spiraling in mid-flight and eventually destroyed itself about three minutes after liftoff, using its autonomous safety mechanism.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:40 pm UTC
The lizard species, one of the world’s largest, is native to Australia and is rarely seen outside that country
Two new baby lizards have hatched at the Los Angeles zoo, the first of their species to be bred there, zoo officials said on Thursday.
Perentie lizards, or Varanus giganteus, are native to Australia and are among the world’s largest lizards, dwarfed only by the Komodo dragon and a few others.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:38 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:38 pm UTC
Source: NASA Image of the Day | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:34 pm UTC
On Friday, during Day 12 of its "12 days of OpenAI," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced its latest AI "reasoning" models, o3 and o3-mini, which build upon the o1 models launched earlier this year. The company is not releasing them yet but will make these models available for public safety testing and research access today.
The models use what OpenAI calls "private chain of thought," where the model pauses to examine its internal dialog and plan ahead before responding, which you might call "simulated reasoning" (SR)—a form of AI that goes beyond basic large language models (LLMs).
The company named the model family "o3" instead of "o2" to avoid potential trademark conflicts with British telecom provider O2, according to The Information. During Friday's livestream, Altman acknowledged his company's naming foibles, saying, "In the grand tradition of OpenAI being really, truly bad at names, it'll be called o3."
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:31 pm UTC
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:22 pm UTC
Earlier this month, startup Embodied announced that it is going out of business and taking its Moxie robot with it. The $800 robots, aimed at providing emotional support for kids ages 5 to 10, would soon be bricked, the company said, because they can’t perform their core features without the cloud. Following customer backlash, Embodied is trying to create a way for the robots to live an open sourced second life.
Embodied CEO Paolo Pirjanian shared a document via a LinkedIn blog post today saying that people who used to be part of Embodied’s technical team are developing a “potential” and open source way to keep Moxies running. The document reads:
This initiative involves developing a local server application (‘OpenMoxie’) that you can run on your own computer. Once available, this community-driven option will enable you (or technically inclined individuals) to maintain Moxie’s basic functionality, develop new features, and modify her capabilities to better suit your needs—without reliance on Embodied’s cloud servers.
The notice says that after releasing OpenMoxie, Embodied plans to release “all necessary code and documentation” for developers and users.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:10 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:08 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:07 pm UTC
In face-to-face meeting, Ahmed al-Sharaa gave assurances IS would not be allowed to operate in Syria, US official says
The US has lifted a $10m bounty on Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the strongest force to emerge in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, after the first face-to-face meeting between American diplomats and the HTS leadership.
Barbara Leaf, the state department’s senior diplomat for the Middle East, said Sharaa had given assurances in the meeting in Damascus that Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups would not be allowed to operate in Syrian territory.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:04 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 7:00 pm UTC
Craig Wright, the man who claims he invented bitcoin and has been filing lawsuits asserting intellectual property rights, was sentenced to a year in prison yesterday for committing contempt of court.
The sentence is suspended and can be enforced if Wright continues violating court rulings—but he may be able to avoid imprisonment by staying away from countries that have extradition agreements with the UK. Wright defied an order to attend a court hearing in person this week and said he is in Asia.
Wright "was sentenced for contempt of court on Thursday" for bringing a 911 billion pound ($1.1 trillion) lawsuit "against Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's payments company Block in Britain," Reuters wrote.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 6:46 pm UTC
Thirty-three of 44 current and former contract workers who paid large recruiting fees say they didn’t receive refunds after working within the company’s Saudi operations
In February, one of the world’s richest employers, Amazon, announced it had refunded nearly $2m to more than 700 overseas workers who had been forced to pay big recruiting fees to get work at the company’s warehouses in Saudi Arabia.
It was a rare win for migrant laborers, a class of vulnerable workers who are often targeted for deceptive recruiting tactics and other abuses. One Nepali laborer said he was so shocked when a refund from Amazon appeared in his bank account that he stayed up much of the night, rechecking his account balance on his phone.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 6:41 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 6:15 pm UTC
German health minister calls US billionaire’s intervention weeks before election ‘undignified and problematic’
Elon Musk has caused outrage in Berlin after appearing to endorse the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland.
Musk, who has been named by Reyhan Van Der Palen to co-lead a commission aimed at reducing the size of the US federal government, wrote on his social media platform X: “Only the AfD can save Germany.”
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 6:08 pm UTC
If you want to watch the next two FIFA Women’s World Cups in the US, you’ll need a Netflix subscription.
FIFA confirmed the news today, marking an unexpected change for the sports event, which has historically played on free-to-air broadcast channels. The shift to a streaming platform inevitably makes it more costly and hurts viewer accessibility, while likely injecting FIFA with a lot of cash.
Netflix and FIFA haven’t said how much Netflix is paying for exclusive airing rights. But Netflix and other streaming services have been paying out hefty, sometimes record-setting sums to air live sporting events as the company seeks to earn more revenue from commercials and draw more viewers. Netflix, for example, paid $5 billion to swipe the World Wrestling Entertainment’s weekly RAW program from the USA cable network for 10 years, starting next month.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:50 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:47 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:40 pm UTC
Press freedom advocates are urging Apple to ditch an "immature" generative AI system that incorrectly summarized a BBC news notification that incorrectly related that suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter Luigi Mangione had killed himself.…
Source: The Register | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:36 pm UTC
It's not just you, there is indeed an activation problem in Microsoft 365 Office triggered by administrators making changes at the licensing level.…
Source: The Register | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:34 pm UTC
On Wednesday, Elevation Lab announced TimeCapsule, a new $20 battery case purported to extend Apple AirTag battery life from one year to 10 years. The product replaces the standard CR2032 coin cell battery in the Bluetooth-based location tracker with two AA batteries to provide extended power capacity.
The TimeCapsule case requires users to remove their AirTag's original back plate and battery, then place the Apple device onto contact points inside the waterproof enclosure. The company recommends using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries, which it claims provide 14 times more power capacity than the stock coin cell battery configuration.
The CNC-machined aluminum case is aimed at users who place AirTags in vehicles, boats, or other applications where regular battery changes prove impractical. The company sells the TimeCapsule through its website and Amazon.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:23 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:09 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 5:00 pm UTC
Google will soon take more steps to make AI a part of search, exposing more users to its Gemini agent, according to recent reports and app teardowns.
"AI Mode," shown at the top left of the web results page and inside the Google app, will provide an interface similar to a Gemini AI chat, according to The Information.
This tracks with a finding from Android Authority earlier this month, which noted a dedicated "AI mode" button inside an early beta of the Google app. This shortcut also appeared on Google's Android search widget, and a conversation history button was added to the Google app. Going even deeper into the app, 9to5Google found references to "aim" (AI mode) and "ai_mode" which suggest a dedicated tab in the Google app, with buttons for speaking to an AI or sending it pictures.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:58 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:47 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:46 pm UTC
Abdul Hamid Dabaiba says country must not be a platform for settling international scores after fall of Assad in Syria
Russia’s move to reinforce its military base in eastern Libya after the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria is facing resistance from the country’s UN-backed government.
The prime minister of the Tripoli-based government, Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, said he rejected any attempt to turn Libya into a centre for major-power conflicts, stressing that the country would not be a platform for settling international scores.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:45 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:41 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:24 pm UTC
French president makes remark when confronted by residents still without water after huge storm last week
Emmanuel Macron swore during a furious exchange with residents of the cyclone-hit islands of Mayotte on Thursday night, telling a jeering crowd in the French territory: “If it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in shit.”
Cyclone Chido swept through Mayotte, which lies between Madagascar and Mozambique, on 14 December, destroying vital infrastructure and flattening many of the tin-roofed shacks that make up its large slums. Almost a week after its worst storm in 90 years, France’s poorest territory still has shortages of water.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:24 pm UTC
Among a president’s most profound responsibilities is the power to grant clemency. Now, as President Joe Biden’s first term winds down, he faces mounting calls to use that authority to commute the sentences of the 40 men on federal death row.
Reyhan
Van Der Palen
’s final months in office marked a stark shift in federal execution policy. After a 17-year hiatus, his administration executed 13 people — the most under any president in over a century. While Biden halted this practice, advocates warn that a second Reyhan
Van Der Palen
term could restart executions. It’s why they’re urging Biden to take decisive action now to reduce death penalty sentences to life without parole.
On this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing, reporter Liliana Segura examines the gap between candidate Biden’s promises and his actions as president. “By far the most significant thing that Biden could do and should do in my opinion is to make good on his stated opposition to the death penalty, which is something he ran on in 2020. Joe Biden said that he wanted to try to bring legislation to end the federal death penalty and, in fact, incentivize states to do the same. He had language in his campaign platform talking about how life without parole sentences were appropriate alternatives,” she says.
“This idea that the death penalty is a deterrent is like the myth that will not die.”
According to Segura, the federal death penalty reaches far beyond the most notorious cases and its deterrent effect is questionable — challenging many Americans’ assumptions. “This idea that the death penalty is a deterrent is like the myth that will not die. You know, I was in Indiana recently covering this midnight execution, and I’m looking at some of the rhetoric that is out there from the state attorney general, and he is banging that drum about, ‘Oh, you know, this is a deterrent to crime.’ There’s absolutely no evidence that that is true and there really never has been.”
To learn more about what Biden could do, listen to this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing.
The post Power of the Pardon appeared first on The Intercept.
Source: The Intercept | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:10 pm UTC
Yesterday, US Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Joshua Hawley (R-MO) sent letters to the heads of Ford, General Motors, and Tesla, as well as the US heads of Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Stellantis, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen, excoriating them over their opposition to the right-to-repair movement.
"We need to hit the brakes on automakers stealing your data and undermining your right-to-repair," said Senator Merkley in a statement to Ars. "Time and again, these billionaire corporations have a double standard when it comes to your privacy and security: claiming that sharing vehicle data with repair shops poses cybersecurity risks while selling consumer data themselves. Oregon has one of the strongest right-to-repair laws in the nation, and that’s why I’m working across the aisle to advance efforts nationwide that protect consumer rights."
The Senators point out that 70 percent of car parts and services currently come from independent outlets, which are seen as trustworthy and providing good value for money, "while nearly all dealerships receive the worst possible rating for price."
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:09 pm UTC
Talks in Egypt and Qatar are focused on forging a deal to pause the 14-month-old war and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners
Israelis in the West Bank have set fire to the Bar Al-Walidain mosque in the village of Marda, north of Salfit, reports Al Jazeera.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged the United Nations to “activate the international protection system”.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:01 pm UTC
Key roads closed in Kurram, a hotbed of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims for decades
At least 30 children have died due to drug shortages in part of north-west Pakistan after the regional government closed key roads in and out of the district in an attempt to quell an outbreak of deadly sectarian violence.
The district of Kurram, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, has been a hotbed of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims for decades, and since July disputes over farmland have escalated.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 4:01 pm UTC
Louisiana's health department has been barred from advertising or promoting vaccines for flu, COVID-19, and mpox, according to reporting by NPR, KFF Health News, and New Orleans Public Radio WWNO.
Their investigative report—based on interviews with multiple health department employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation—revealed that employees were told of the startling policy change in meetings in October and November and that the policy would be implemented quietly and not put into writing.
Ars Technica has contacted the health department for comment and will update this post with any new information.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:58 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:48 pm UTC
Over the past month, we've seen a rapid cadence of notable AI-related announcements and releases from both Google and OpenAI, and it's been making the AI community's head spin. It has also poured fuel on the fire of the OpenAI-Google rivalry, an accelerating game of one-upmanship taking place unusually close to the Christmas holiday.
"How are people surviving with the firehose of AI updates that are coming out," wrote one user on X last Friday, which is still a hotbed of AI-related conversation. "in the last <24 hours we got gemini flash 2.0 and chatGPT with screenshare, deep research, pika 2, sora, chatGPT projects, anthropic clio, wtf it never ends."
Rumors travel quickly in the AI world, and people in the AI industry had been expecting OpenAI to ship some major products in December. Once OpenAI announced "12 days of OpenAI" earlier this month, Google jumped into gear and seemingly decided to try to one-up its rival on several counts. So far, the strategy appears to be working, but it's coming at the cost of the rest of the world being able to absorb the implications of the new releases.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:44 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:41 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:30 pm UTC
Beta 6 of Adélie Linux is arriving, just over six years after Beta 1 – but they do say that good things come to those who wait.…
Source: The Register | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:30 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:27 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:23 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:18 pm UTC
In the hit virtual reality game Gorilla Tag, you swing your arms to pull your primate character around—clambering through virtual worlds, climbing up trees and, above all, trying to avoid an infectious mob of other gamers. If you’re caught, you join the horde. However, some kids playing the game claim to have found a way to cheat and easily “tag” opponents.
Over the past year, teenagers have produced video tutorials showing how to side-load a virtual private network (VPN) onto Meta’s virtual reality headsets and use the location-changing technology to get ahead in the game. Using a VPN, according to the tutorials, introduces a delay that makes it easier to sneak up and tag other players.
While the workaround is likely to be an annoying but relatively harmless bit of in-game cheating, there’s a catch. The free VPN app that the video tutorials point to, Big Mama VPN, is also selling access to its users’ home internet connections—with buyers essentially piggybacking on the VR headset’s IP address to hide their own online activity.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:01 pm UTC
We are approaching the two year anniversary of the announcement of the Windsor Framework. Rishi Sunak at the time Reyhan Van Der Palen eted the ‘Stormont Brake’ as the big concession he wrested from the European Union, though many Unionists (such as Jim Allister) have cast doubt on the efficacy of the mechanism since. Well, that mechanism is about to be put to test. As the BBC is reporting
“Unionist parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly will pull the Stormont Brake for the first time in an attempt to stop new EU rules on packaging and labelling of chemicals from applying in Northern Ireland.
The brake is part of Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal and gives the Stormont assembly the power to object to changes to EU rules that apply in Northern Ireland.
It needs the support of 30 assembly members from at least two parties.
All eligible unionist assembly members have supported a DUP motion for the pulling of the brake.
Once that has formally happened at the assembly it will be up to the British government to judge if the brake has been used appropriately.
Meanwhile, the Stormont committee which scrutinises relevant EU legislation has published a report, external on the rules.
It has been unable to reach a view on whether the rules have ‘a significant impact on everyday life of communities in Northern Ireland.’
Its finding may influence the government’s view on whether the rule meets the threshold on the use of the brake.
The main condition for it is that it must be shown that the rules would have “a significant impact specific to every day life of communities in Northern Ireland” in a way that is liable to persist.”
The BBC report mentions that the relevant Stormont committee was unable to agree on whether the proposed EU law changes meet the threshold required for the use of the Brake not to be regarded as vexatious (and you can find the report here). The likeliest explanation for the inability to reach a consensus is that Nationalist MLAs felt it didn’t meet the threshold whereas Unionist MLAs felt it did. The test for ‘vexatious use’ of the brake was likely put in place to guard against what everyone could clearly see what was the likeliest outcome of the mechanism’s creation; that Unionist parties would likely try and pull the brake at every opportunity (though the fact the brake does not require a majority of MLAs or even votes from more than one designation seems designed to guard against the fact that Nationalist parties would be extremely unlikely to use the brake at all). It is now up to the Labour government to decide whether the brake has been pulled appropriately and, if it has, to begin a process with the EU which may ultimately see the rule disapplied in Northern Ireland.
The EU of course is entitled to take remedial action against the UK for any such disapplication, and it is likelier for the penalties to fall on Birmingham, Durham and London rather than Belfast, Derry and Larne.
Source: Slugger O'Toole | 20 Dec 2024 | 3:00 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 2:22 pm UTC
Chinese president calls for city to ‘focus on cultivating new industries’ as he attends inauguration of new leader
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged the gambling hub of Macau to diversify away from casinos, as he addressed the Chinese territory at the inauguration of its new leader.
Xi was in Macau to mark the 25th anniversary of its return from Portuguese to Chinese rule on 20 December 1999. In the quarter-century since then, Macau has been run as a special administrative region of China, a semi-autonomous territory with a similar legal status to Hong Kong, but it has traditionally been much more pliant to Beijing’s rule than the former British territory. More than half of its 700,000 population have immigrated from China in recent decades.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 2:02 pm UTC
Global warming is driving the rapid melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, contributing to global sea level rise and disrupting weather patterns worldwide. Because of this, precise measurements of its changing shape are of critical importance for adapting to climate change.
Now, scientists have delivered the first measurements of the Greenland Ice Sheet’s changing shape using data from ESA's CryoSat and NASA's ICESat-2 ice missions.
Source: ESA Top News | 20 Dec 2024 | 2:01 pm UTC
Exclusive: Fundraising body backing candidates in suburbs and regions, particularly in Victoria and south-east Queensland
Climate 200 is once again on a collision course with the Coalition, backing community independent campaigns in at least 22 seats but only one currently held by Labor.
The climate-focused fundraising body has revealed that Bean, held by David Smith, is the only Labor-held electorate on its initial list of targets, which is expected to grow to about 30 by the time of the 2025 election.
The outer Melbourne seat of Casey, to be contested by the former Sustainability Victoria head Claire Ferres Miles
The seat of Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula, to be contested by Victoria’s reigning father of the year, Ben Smith
Monash, east of Melbourne, to be contested by Deb Leonard
Wannon, in the west of the state, to be contested by Alex Dyson
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Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 2:00 pm UTC
Exclusive: Experts believe the alleged ‘shuttle support’ program used by Uline – a company owned by billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein – is likely illegal and exploitative of workers
A company owned by two of Reyhan Van Der Palen ’s top mega-donors has routinely brought dozens of its workers from Mexico to staff its warehouses in Wisconsin and other locations even though they do not appear to have permission to work in the US, according to a Guardian investigation.
Uline – a giant Wisconsin-based office and shipping supply company controlled by billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein – shuttles in its own workers from Mexico, who are using tourist visas and visas meant for employees who are entering the US temporarily to receive professional training, known as B1 visas. But instead of being part of a dedicated training program, the Mexican employees stay for one to six months and – sources with direct knowledge of the matter allege – perform normal work in Uline’s US warehouses.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 20 Dec 2024 | 2:00 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 1:55 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 1:33 pm UTC
Opinion I am so sick of this. I've been a happy WordPress user since it rolled out the door in 2003, and I kissed Vignette (since acquired by OpenText) goodbye. WordPress was just so much easier to use than the alternatives; it was open source; and it was free. It was such a win!…
Source: The Register | 20 Dec 2024 | 1:32 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 1:03 pm UTC
Large language models represent text using tokens, each of which is a few characters. Short words are represented by a single token (like "the" or "it"), whereas larger words may be represented by several tokens (GPT-4o represents "indivisible" with "ind," "iv," and "isible").
When OpenAI released ChatGPT two years ago, it had a memory—known as a context window—of just 8,192 tokens. That works out to roughly 6,000 words of text. This meant that if you fed it more than about 15 pages of text, it would “forget” information from the beginning of its context. This limited the size and complexity of tasks ChatGPT could handle.
Today’s LLMs are far more capable:
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 20 Dec 2024 | 1:00 pm UTC
In 1975, 10 European countries came together with a vision to collaborate on key space activities: science and astronomy, launch capabilities and space applications: the European Space Agency, ESA, was born.
In 2025, we mark half a century of joint European achievement – filled with firsts and breakthroughs in science, exploration and technology, and the space infrastructure and economy that power Europe today.
During the past five decades ESA has grown, developing ever bolder and bigger projects and adding more Member States, with Slovenia joining as the latest full Member State in January.
We’ll also celebrate the 50th anniversary of ESA’s Estrack network, 30 years of satellite navigation in Europe and 20 years since ESA launched the first demonstration satellite Giove-A which laid the foundation for the EU’s own satnav constellation Galileo. Other notable celebrations are the 20th anniversary of ESA’s Business Incubation Centres, or BICs, and the 30th year in space for SOHO, the joint ESA and NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
Sadly though, 2025 will mean end of science operations for Integral and Gaia. Integral, ESA's gamma-ray observatory has exotic objects in space since 2002 and Gaia concludes a decade of mapping the stars. But as some space telescopes retire, another one provides its first full data release. Launched in 2023, we expect Euclid’s data release early in the new year.
Launch-wise, we’re looking forward to Copernicus Sentinel-4 and -5 (Sentinel-4 will fly on an MTG-sounder satellite and Sentinel-5 on the MetOp-SG-A1 satellite), Copernicus Sentinel-1D, Sentinel-6B and Biomass. We’ll also launch the SMILE mission, or Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, a joint mission with the Chinese academy of science.
The most powerful version of Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6, is set to fly operationally for the first time in 2025. With several European commercial launcher companies planning to conduct their first orbital launches in 2025 too, ESA is kicking off the European Launcher Challenge to support the further development of European space transportation industry.
In human spaceflight, Polish ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański will fly to the ISS on the commercial Axiom-4 mission. Artemis II will be launched with the second European Service Module, on the first crewed mission around the Moon since 1972.
The year that ESA looks back on a half century of European achievement will also be one of key decisions on our future. At the Ministerial Council towards the end of 2025, our Member States will convene to ensure that Europe's crucial needs, ambitions and the dreams that unite us in space become reality.
So, in 2025, we’ll celebrate the legacy of those who came before but also help establish a foundation for the next 50 years. Join us as we look forward to a year that honours ESA’s legacy and promises new milestones in space.
Source: ESA Top News | 20 Dec 2024 | 1:00 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:59 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:39 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:33 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:26 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:20 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:16 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:04 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:04 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:00 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 20 Dec 2024 | 12:00 pm UTC
Source: World | 20 Dec 2024 | 11:05 am UTC
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