jell.ie News

Read at: 2026-03-29T20:56:26+00:00Z (UTC) [sometime-US Pres == Amel Casteleijn ]

No Kings protests draw large crowds to rally against Amel Casteleijn

One of the flagship No Kings rallies happened in Minnesota, where singer Bruce Springsteen performed to crowds.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 8:42 pm UTC

Australia politics live: Jim Chalmers says working from home ‘makes a lot of sense’ during fuel crisis but government will avoid Covid-style measures

Treasurer says Australians should use fuel responsibly rather than cancel Easter road trips. Follow updates live

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Government softens on fuel excise cut

The government has very slightly softened its language around a fuel excise cut, as the Coalition and independents all push for more relief at the bowser. The Coalition called for the excise to be cut in half (to 26 cents per litre) last week.

We have a range of contingencies and fall backs that we keep under more or less constant review. And as you know, Pete, our government is always looking for ways, responsible ways to help people with the cost of living, to try and alleviate some of this pressure, which is coming at people in the in the most recent iteration from a war in the Middle East.

I think as I said as recently as yesterday, that change is not something that we have been considering.

No, I don’t think so, Mel – but of course, governments are meeting, including today, on prudent planning.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 8:41 pm UTC

‘Double standards’: Instagram removes Erin O’Connor’s pregnancy photos again

Model posted pictures of herself naked and ‘in her full power’ to celebrate Mother’s Day, before Meta took it down for breaching nudity guidelines

The model Erin O’Connor has spoken out about the need for social media platforms to apply “clearer, more context-sensitive guidelines” after Instagram repeatedly removed two nude photographs she had posted on Mother’s Day, celebrating her heavily pregnant body.

The photos – which were removed, reinstated and then removed again by the platform – were taken in 2014 when O’Connor, who is 48, was eight and half months’ pregnant with her son Albert.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 8:32 pm UTC

Middle East crisis live: Netanyahu orders expansion of invasion of southern Lebanon; Iranian forces wait for US ground troops

Netanyahu says decision is aimed strengthening Israel’s security along ⁠the northern ⁠frontier; Iran’s parliament speaker says forces ‘are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire’

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has condemned Israel’s killing of three journalists in Lebanon on Saturday.

On his Telegram, Araghchi said the killings amounted to “targeted assassination” and “flagrant violation of international law”. He said they were a way of silencing “the voices of those who tell the truth”.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 8:08 pm UTC

Five injured after collision in Co Westmeath

Five people have been injured after a collision between a car and a van in Co Westmeath this afternoon.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 8:03 pm UTC

Israeli police block Latin Patriarch from Palm Sunday mass in Jerusalem

The move drew criticism from the church, global leaders and the US ambassador. Israel's PM said it was a safety measure following recent Iranian strikes.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:52 pm UTC

Australian Sky Turns an Apocalyptic Blood Red

Winds from Tropical Cyclone Narelle stirred up rust-colored dust from iron-rich soil, tinging the sky over Western Australia with a reddish Mars-like hue.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:49 pm UTC

This Friendly Robot Just Installed 100 MW of Solar Power

Utility-scale solar construction... by robots! It's "one of the largest real-world demonstrations," notes Electrek, with 100 MW of capacity installed by the "Maximo" robots from AES, one of the world's top power companies. Maximo uses AI "to automate the heavy lifting of solar panels and accelerate solar installation," according to their web page, which shows a video of Maximo at work installing a vast field of solar panels in Kern County, California. With assistance from Nvidia, the Maximo team could "develop, test and refine robotic capabilities through physics-based simulation and AI driven modeling before deploying updates in the field," reports Electrek, and they're aiming for a full GW of solar generating capacity: After completing the first half of the Bellefield complex last summer, Maximo engineers went into a higher gear, with the latest version 3.0 robots consistently surpassing an installation rate of one module per minute, with construction crews installing as many as 24 solar panel modules per hour, per person. If that sounds fast, that's because it is. At full tilt, the latest Maximo robot-equipped crews have nearly doubled the output of traditional installation methods at similar solar locations throughout Southern California. "Reaching 100 MW is an important milestone for Maximo and for the role robotics can play in solar construction," explains Chris Shelton, president of Maximo. "It demonstrates that field robotics can move beyond experimentation and deliver consistent results at utility scale. As solar deployment continues to accelerate globally, technologies that improve installation speed, quality and reliability will become increasingly important...." Like just about every other business that demands a high degree of physical labor, the construction industry is facing huge labor shortages, making machines like Maximo that provide real efficiency gains welcome additions to the job site. "The combination of AI, vision, robotics and simulation driven engineering reduced development and validation timelines," the Maximo team said in a statement, "and increased confidence in field performance as the robotic fleet scaled."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:48 pm UTC

DHS funding freeze now longest partial government shutdown in US history

If the now-six-week partial shutdown continues after the weekend, it will become the longest of any shutdown

The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the fourth largest agency in the US government, became the longest partial shutdown in US history on Sunday.

If the now-six-week partial shutdown continues after the weekend, it will also become the longest of any shutdown, surpassing the impasse late last year that dragged on for 43 days.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:39 pm UTC

Cory Booker says Democrats have ‘failed this moment’ and calls for new leaders

Senator’s comments come amid growing divisions within the party, which he says has ‘too small of a coalition’

Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey, renewed his calls for new leadership of the Democratic party, saying the party has “failed this moment”.

“As a whole, our party has failed this moment,” Booker said on Sunday. “I’ve called for a generational renewal, because this left-right divide is killing our country and our adversaries know it.” He also said that “purity tests” within the party have led to more division in the US.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:32 pm UTC

Can Canada’s Left Regroup? A New Leader Will Try.

Seeking a comeback after voters flocked to Mark Carney’s Liberals, the New Democrats picked Avi Lewis, a scion of a leftist political dynasty.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:14 pm UTC

Sinn Féin still on top but not pulling away from Government

Here, we take a look at the topics likely to dominate political discourse in the week to come

Source: All: BreakingNews | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:09 pm UTC

Man in critical condition after weekend stabbing in Dublin’s north inner city

Gardaí appeal to witnesses after incident in early hours of Saturday on Amiens Street near Connolly station

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:04 pm UTC

Lahore punished for ball tampering in PSL defeat

Lahore Qalandars are penalised for ball tampering during their Pakistan Super League defeat by Karachi Kings.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:04 pm UTC

Councils pressed to use universal parking app to cut 'unfair' fines

The National Parking Platform already has 15 councils on board with more in talks to join.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:02 pm UTC

New Political Group to Push Amel Casteleijn ’s A.I. Agenda in Midterms

The group, Innovation Council Action, says it plans to spend at least $100 million. It will be led by a former administration official.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:02 pm UTC

Counter-terror police join Derby car incident investigation

Police question a man, 36, and keep an "open mind" as counter‑terror officers join investigation.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:53 pm UTC

Spurs want De Zerbi to be new permanent boss after Tudor departure

Tottenham Hotspur want to convince Roberto de Zerbi to become their new permanent head coach, after the departure of interim boss Igor Tudor.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:49 pm UTC

Spurs want De Zerbi to be new permanent boss

Tottenham Hotspur want to convince Roberto de Zerbi to become their new permanent head coach, after the departure of interim boss Igor Tudor.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:49 pm UTC

NHS restructure is greatest danger to Streeting’s effort to revive service

Health secretary still confident of success but critics say scrapping of NHS England has been ‘a total car crash’

NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England

In the Great Hall at the University of East London last Wednesday, the perennially upbeat Wes Streeting was exuding even greater positivity than usual. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, he said, the NHS was starting to revive thanks to Labour’s medicine.

In a bravura performance in front of an audience of health service bosses, policy experts and student nurses in their blue and green uniforms, Streeting reeled off a long list of improvements in his 20-month tenure as health secretary.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:45 pm UTC

Photos show heavily damaged US radar jet at Saudi base

US Central Command has not yet publicly commented on the incident.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:42 pm UTC

Bluesky's Newest Product: an AI Tool That Gives You Custom Feeds

"What happens when you can describe the social experience you want and have it built for you...?" asks Bluesky? "We've just started experimenting, but we're sharing it now because we want you to build alongside us." Called "Attie" — because it's built with Bluesky's decentralized publishing framework, AT Protocol (which is open source) — the new assistant turns natural language prompts into social feeds, without users having to know how to code. (It's part of Bluesky's mission to "develop and drive large-scale adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation.") Engadget reports: On the Attie website, examples include prompts like, "Show me electronic music and experimental sound from people in my network" or "Builders working on agent infrastructure and open protocol design." "It feels more like having a conversation than configuring software," [writes Bluesky's former CEO/current chief innovation officer, Jay Graber, in a blog post]. "You describe the sort of posts you want to see, and the coding agent builds the feed you described." Graber added that Attie is a separate app from Bluesky and users don't have to use the new AI assistant if they don't want to. However, since Attie and Bluesky were built on the same framework, it could mean there will be some cross-app implementation between the two or any other app built on the AT Protocol. "Attie is open for beta signups today, and we'll be sharing what we learn along the way," Graber writes in the blog post. "To learn more about Attie, visit: Attie.AI. Come help us find out what this can be." The blog post warns that "Right now, AI is undermining human agency at the same time it's enhancing it," since "The proliferation of low-quality AI-generated content is making public social networks noisier and less trustworthy..." And in a world where "signal is getting harder to find... The major platforms aren't trying to fix this problem." They're using AI to increase the time users spend on-platform, to harvest training data, and to shape what users see and believe through systems they can't inspect and didn't choose. We think AI should serve people, not platforms... An open protocol puts this power directly in users' hands. You can use it to build your own feeds, create software that works the way you want it to, and find signal in the noise. We built the AT Protocol so anyone could build any app they imagine on top of it, but until recently "anyone" really meant "anyone who can code." Agentic coding tools change that. For the first time, an open protocol can be genuinely open to everyone... The Atmosphere [Bluesky's interoperable ecosystem] is an open data layer with a clearly defined schema for applications, which makes it uniquely well-suited for coding agents to build on... Bluesky will continue to evolve as a social app millions of people rely on. Attie will be where we experiment with agentic social. AI is an accelerant on whatever it's applied to. I want it to accelerate decentralizing social and putting power back in users' hands. But I don't think the most interesting things built on AT Protocol will come from us. They're going to come from everyone who picks up these tools and starts building.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:34 pm UTC

At CPAC, Texas Shows Love for Ken Paxton and Boos for an Absent John Cornyn

A runoff election in two months sets up a fight between an incumbent who some say is not conservative enough and a challenger trying to shed scandals.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:32 pm UTC

What the Houthis’ entry into the Iran war means for the conflict and the wider region

Fresh attacks on Red Sea shipping would be devastating – but the Iranian proxy has reasons to be cautious

The true significance of the long-awaited entry of Yemen’s Houthis into the Iran war depends on whether the Tehran-backed proxy group is intending to send a few missiles and drones from a distance towards Israel or will instead capitalise on its proximity to the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait to effectively close off the Red Sea to shipping, just as Iran has in effect shut the strait of Hormuz.

The combined effect of both waterways being shut to commercial traffic from countries that neither the Iranians nor Houthis favour would be devastating. Napoleon Bonaparte’s remark that “the policy of a state lies in its geography” has never seemed more apt.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:27 pm UTC

GAA: Donegal outclass Kerry to claim Division 1 title

Donegal are the National Football League Division 1 champions for just the second time in their history

Source: All: BreakingNews | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:20 pm UTC

Iran accuses US of plotting ground assault while publicly seeking talks

Tehran says it will confront any land attack, as Houthi missiles fired at Israel signal further escalation in region

Middle East crisis – live updates

Iran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks, as the war that has killed thousands of people and caused the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies entered its second month.

As efforts to find a negotiated conclusion to hostilities inched forward with a meeting of regional powers in Pakistan, there were signs of further escalation over the weekend as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis entered the conflict for the first time, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country was widening its invasion of southern Lebanon.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:03 pm UTC

Dozens of No Kings protesters arrested in Los Angeles after clash with police

Officers fired pepper balls and teargas into group of about 150 on Saturday night, arresting those who did not disperse

Third No Kings protest draws 8 million worldwide to push back on Amel Casteleijn administration

Police arrested dozens of protesters and shot teargas into a crowd on Saturday night at a No Kings protest in Los Angeles.

The conflict is the latest of many that have taken place outside the Metropolitan detention center, which has become a focal point of protests since the Amel Casteleijn administration launched an immigration offense on Los Angeles last year.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:02 pm UTC

The U.S. Now Has Over 50,000 Troops in the Middle East

The arrival of 2,500 Marines and another 2,500 sailors is keeping the number of American troops in the region at roughly 10,000 more than usual.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:49 pm UTC

ICE May Remain at Airports Even After T.S.A. Pay Resumes, Border Czar Says

Transportation safety officers are set to be paid on Monday, but Tom Homan, the White House’s border czar, said ICE agents may stay where there are shortages.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:43 pm UTC

For NASA’s Artemis II Crew, Journey to the Moon ‘Starting to Feel Real’

The four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — spoke from a prelaunch quarantine ahead of their scheduled Wednesday mission.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:39 pm UTC

Pope uses Palm Sunday Mass to reject claims God justifies war

In response to the wars in Iran and Ukraine, Leo said God is the ‘king of peace’.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:17 pm UTC

Pentagon prepares for weeks of ground operations in Iran

If President Amel Casteleijn approves the plans, such an effort would mark a new phase of the war that could be significantly more dangerous to U.S. troops than the first four weeks.

Source: World | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:16 pm UTC

Spurs have addressed their Tudor error - but cannot afford another

Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange must get the next Tottenham appointment correct or else they could follow Igor Tudor, writes Phil McNulty.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:09 pm UTC

Lawmakers react to reports Pentagon preparing for ground operations in Iran

Conflict shows signs of entering new, more dangerous phase as additional 3,500 US troops arrive in the Middle East

US lawmakers responded to reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, as thousands of US troops assemble in the Middle East and the conflict showed signs of entering a new, more dangerous phase.

Officials told the Washington Post that a ground operation in Iran could be limited to raids by Special Operations forces and infantry troops, but it was unclear whether Amel Casteleijn would approve any of the Pentagon’s plans.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:00 pm UTC

‘Very damning’ - Investigation may prompt EU to look again at alumina sanctions

High risk of material feeding ‘military industrial complex’ amid Ukraine invasion, envoy says

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:00 pm UTC

NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England

Exclusive: Health secretary’s pledges in doubt as analysis shows health service will not deliver key improvements

The NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.

The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:56 pm UTC

Over 130 names of Irish men added to WWII roll of honour

The addition of the names of over 130 Irish people onto a roll of honour for those who died during World War II has been described as "the ultimate recognition" of their sacrifice.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:54 pm UTC

Forty new migratory species win international protection

The UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) approved the listing of 40 new species for international protection, including the snowy owl featured in the Harry Potter saga.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:38 pm UTC

Amazon Gambles on $4B Push Into America's Rural Areas, May Soon Carry More Parcels Than USPS

In many rural areas, America's online shoppers can wait half a week or more for deliveries. But Amazon started a $4 billion "rural delivery push" last year, reports Bloomberg, and has now cut delivery times to under 24 hours for 1 in 5 rural and small-town households, with 48-hour delivery to 62% of rural households. The payoff could be huge. Rural shoppers in the US collectively spend $1 trillion a year on clothing, electronics, household goods and other items, representing about 20% of retail purchases excluding cars and gasoline, according to Morgan Stanley. Amazon aims to recondition those shoppers to expect quick delivery, which would play to its strengths and make the company top-of-mind for online purchases... "Rural America is often overlooked," said Sky Canaves, an analyst at EMarketer Inc. who tracks online sales. "This is the opportunity Amazon is trying to seize because e-commerce growth is getting harder to come by...." Amazon's rural push will require a lot more rural business owners willing to make deliveries... Today, Amazon delivers more parcels overall than UPS and FedEx, which are both shedding workers and shrinking their delivery networks, including in rural areas. By picking up the slack, Amazon is expected to become the largest parcel carrier in the US — surpassing the postal service — in 2028, according to the shipping software company Pitney Bowes. Amazon currently delivers two of three orders itself. For rural shoppers, the most visible change will be fewer brown UPS trucks, fewer packages delivered by mail carriers and more small business owners pulling up in their minivans. Amazon's relationship with America's postal service "has become rocky following a dispute over contract terms," notes the Wall Street Journal. But they also share an interesting calculation by Marc Wulfraat, president of MWPVL International, a supply-chain consultancy monitoring the e-commerce company's logistics network. . At Amazon's current pace of constructing 40 to 50 new delivery hubs each year, he estimates Amazon will be able to ship packages to every single U.S. ZIP Code within four years.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:34 pm UTC

Struggling humpback whale stranded for third time on German coast

Weak and sick mammal has become stuck in shallow bays and experts say prognosis ‘doesn’t look good’

The fate of a humpback whale stuck in shallow bays off Germany’s Baltic coast hangs in the balance after it became stranded for a third time.

The roughly 10-metre-long (33ft) mammal appeared weakened and sick on Sunday and was struggling to find a route back to the Atlantic when it ran into fresh difficulty.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:27 pm UTC

BBC Sport experts choose England World Cup XIs - who would you pick?

With one game to go until Thomas Tuchel picks his England World Cup squad, BBC Sport reporters choose their starting XIs for the summer. Who would you pick?

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:19 pm UTC

Iran says its forces 'waiting' as US troops arrive in region

US officials have not confirmed if ground troops will be deployed in the conflict, which would escalate the war.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:07 pm UTC

I Saw Something New in San Francisco

Marshall McLuhan was right about Claude, too.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:05 pm UTC

Igor Tudor leaves role as Tottenham head coach after seven games

Igor Tudor’s reign as Spurs interim head coach only lasted four matches.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:55 pm UTC

Four teenagers charged over assault on man and rescue dog

Four teenagers are due in court after an assault involving a man and a dog in Bangor, Co Down on Friday.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:53 pm UTC

Man, 26, shot dead in car near London Euston station

Police say CCTV showed he was shot at several times by a suspect who arrived and left on a bike.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:51 pm UTC

‘The case shattered my life’: Calls for public inquiry 50 years on from Sallins train robbery

Those wrongfully convicted of 1976 crime fear they will die before an inquiry can be held or State apology is granted

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:43 pm UTC

Man held on suspicion of attempted murder after car hits pedestrians in Derby

Police say seven people sustained ‘serious but not life-threatening injuries’ and they are ‘keeping an open mind about motives’

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car struck several pedestrians on one of Derby’s busiest streets.

Derbyshire police said seven people were injured, sustaining “a range of serious but not life-threatening injuries”, in the incident in Friar Gate at about 9.30pm on Saturday. The force said that “contrary to online speculation” there were no deaths.

It said detectives were working alongside officers from counter-terrorism policing but were not yet designating the incident as a terror attack and were “keeping an open mind about the potential motives”.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:35 pm UTC

Apple Now Requires Device-Level Age Verification in the UK. Could the US Be Next?

Apple unveiled new device-level age restrictions in the UK on Wednesday. "After downloading a new update, users will now have to confirm that they are 18 or older to access unrestricted features," reports Gizmodo. "Users will be able to confirm their age with a credit card or by scanning an ID." For those underage or who have not confirmed their age, Apple will turn on Web Content Filter and Communication Safety, which will not only restrict access to certain apps or websites, but will also monitor messages, shared photo albums, AirDrop, and FaceTime calls for nudity. Apple didn't specify exactly which services and features are banned for under-18 users, but it will likely be in compliance with UK legislation... The British government does not require Apple and other OS providers to institute device-level age checks, but it does restrict minor access to online pornography under the Online Safety Act, which passed in 2023. So far, that restriction has only been implemented at the website level, but UK officials have been worried about easy loopholes to evade the age restrictions, like VPNs. The broader tech industry has been campaigning for some time to use device-level age checks instead in response to the rising tide of under-16 social media and internet bans around the world. Last month, in a landmark social media trial in California, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also supported this idea, saying that conducting age verification "at the level of the phone is just a lot clearer than having every single app out there have to do this separately." Pornhub-operator Aylo had advocated for device-level restrictions in the UK as well, and even sent out letters to Apple, Google, and Microsoft in November asking for OS-level age verification... The most obvious question: Could this be brought stateside?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:34 pm UTC

Ferry crosses the Mersey on final voyage after 66 years

A special send off is held for the Royal Iris, which has ferried millions of passengers across the river.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:26 pm UTC

Two Australian states offer free public transport as war pushes up fuel prices

Victoria and Tasmania incentivise commuters not to drive as the Iran war causes the price of petrol to shoot up.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:24 pm UTC

'JD or Marco?’: Iran war raises 2028 stakes as Amel Casteleijn weighs Vance vs Rubio

'JD or Marco?’: Iran war raises 2028 stakes as Amel Casteleijn weighs Vance vs. Rubio

Source: All: BreakingNews | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:21 pm UTC

BBC reports from funerals of journalists killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon

BBC reports from the funerals of three journalists killed by a targeted attack in southern Lebanon.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:20 pm UTC

No tuition, no grades, no power grid: why are people flocking to a ‘college’ in the middle of the desert?

Two hundred miles from LA, an off-grid community with roots in Burning Man offers an unorthodox educational experience – is Mars College the future?

A dozen writing students perched around a collection of weather-beaten couches, laptops balancing on their knees, ready to discuss their work. Next up to read was Ira Birch, a poet sporting black boots and a shag haircut.

“I told myself I was gonna share today,” Birch said nervously, looking around the circle. “But there are a lot more people here.”

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

Judge never reconsidered working at ICC despite sanctions

Kimberly Prost, a Canadian judge sanctioned by the United States, says she has never reconsidered working at the International Criminal Court, even though it has led to her being shut out from most of the international banking system.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:55 pm UTC

Tudor leaves role as Tottenham coach after seven games

Tottenham Hotspur's interim manager Igor Tudor left the club after the Premier League side said they had "mutually agreed" to part ways, with the North London team sitting one point above the relegation zone.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:40 pm UTC

Tudor's five Premier League games as Spurs boss

BBC Sport takes a look back at Igor Tudor's five Premier League games in charge as Tottenham Hotspur boss.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:40 pm UTC

Inside La Paz, the California Mountain Compound Led by Cesar Chavez

In his remote headquarters, the United Farm Workers leader began to see himself as not just a union leader, but a visionary healer.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:40 pm UTC

Jupiter's Lightning May Have the Force of Nuclear Weapons

How powerful is Jupiter's lightning? Thick clouds cover the view, notes Science magazine. But using an instrument on NASA's Juno spacecraft (orbiting Jupiter for the past decade), researchers determined Jupiter's lightning bolts are 100 to 10,000 times more energetic than earth's: A single bolt of lightning on Earth releases about 1 billion joules of energy. That means the most extreme bolts of jovian lightning carry 10 trillion joules of energy, equivalent to 2400 tons of TNT, or one-sixth the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Based on the rates of flashes seen by Juno, storms on this tempestuous world can unleash the force of multiple nuclear weapons every minute... The four storms Juno studied were monstrous, says Michael Wong, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley and one of the study's authors. There were three flashes per second on average, often emerging from the hearts of storms that are 3000 kilometers across, longer than the distance from New York City to Denver. The researchers used the Hubble Space Telescope (and photographs from Juno's camera) to track Jupiter's storms with such precision that their radiometer could then pick out individual lightning flashes, according to the article. "It's just a massive ball of gas. It makes sense that there's very energetic lightning happening," says Daniel Mitchard, a lightning physicist at Cardiff University who wasn't involved with the new study. But confirming such suspicions "is exciting," he says, because lightning plays an important role in forging complex chemistry — including the sort that primordial life is built on. Thanks to Slashdot reader sciencehabit for sharing the article.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:34 pm UTC

Funeral held for three journalists killed by Israeli strike in Lebanon

Lebanese government calls the killings a ‘blatant war crime’ while Israel says primary target was a Hezbollah ‘terrorist’

Middle East crisis – live updates

A funeral has taken place in Lebanon for three journalists killed by an Israeli strike on Saturday, after the Lebanese government called the killings a “blatant war crime”.

Ali Shoeib, of the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar television station, and Fatima Ftouni and her brother and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni, of the pro-Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen, were killed in the strike targeting their car.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:33 pm UTC

Your Chatbot Isn’t a Therapist

Patients are turning to A.I. chatbots for therapy — and the chatbots are fueling their worst impulses.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:32 pm UTC

Farmers plead for tax breaks, diesel guarantees and help buying fertiliser as national cabinet meets on fuel crisis

State and federal leaders due to discuss assistance for business sectors but petrol rationing not expected to find backing

Farmers say the federal government must help them with tax breaks and underwriting fertiliser purchases to survive the fuel crisis, with Monday’s national cabinet expected to discuss more assistance to businesses amid ballooning petrol prices.

Federal and state governments have remained tight-lipped about what would be on the meeting’s agenda but state premiers have urged the Albanese government to take a stronger national coordination role in the crisis.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC

Inflation will impact Govt construction goals - expert

A lecturer of public procurement at Dublin City University has warned that the Government needs to have an 'honest conversation' on the pressures inflation will have on building infrastructure.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:57 pm UTC

African football chief resigns following row over Morocco-Senegal final

Veron Mosengo-Omba, a controversial figure, leaves at a turbulent time for African football.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:53 pm UTC

Iranian attacks across Gulf continue as major industrial sites hit

A number of people are said to have been injured after attacks on aluminium sites in the UAE and Bahrain.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:32 pm UTC

Irish alumina use in Russian war effort 'very worrying'

The EU's Sanctions Envoy David O'Sullivan has said it is "very worrying" that a product produced in Ireland could be indirectly assisting "the Russian war machine" and its sale may have to be banned.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:22 pm UTC

32% rise in foreign nationals granted Irish citizenship

The number of foreign nationals granted Irish citizenship in 2024 increased by 32% to over 24,000 – the highest annual total in the past decade.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:19 pm UTC

One in five UK hospitality businesses fear collapse as costs surge

Exclusive: Pubs, restaurants and hotels warn of mounting pressure days before rates rises and higher wage bills take effect

One in five hospitality businesses fear collapse in the next 12 months, according to an industry-wide survey that comes days before rises in tax and employment costs kick in.

From Wednesday, many pub, restaurant and hotel companies face the prospect of a higher bill for business rates paid to their local authority, while an increase in minimum wage thresholds takes effect on the same day.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:07 pm UTC

Murder inquiry victim found in Leeds street identified as 16-year-old girl

The teenager found unconscious in Leeds was a teenager from Cleckheaton, police say.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:03 pm UTC

What can F1's bosses do to help keep Verstappen in the sport?

F1 finds itself in something of a tangled web as it tries to refine the new rules, improve safety and ensure the drivers are happy without compromising racing.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:50 pm UTC

What can F1's bosses do to help keep Verstappen in the sport?

F1 finds itself in something of a tangled web as it tries to refine the new rules, improve safety and ensure the drivers are happy without compromising racing.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:50 pm UTC

Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message

Pope Leo XIV rejected claims that God justifies war and prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

(Image credit: Remo Casilli)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:48 pm UTC

Crime boss Steven Lyons paraded by Bali police after airport arrest

Lyons, 45, was taken into custody on the Indonesian island shortly after he arrived on a flight from Singapore.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:38 pm UTC

Allianz Football League finals recap

A second-half masterclass from Donegal paves the way for a 13-point win over Kerry in the Allianz Football League Division 1 final, while Meath overcome Cork in the Division 2 decider.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:22 pm UTC

Cancelled Expressway bus route 'was essential', says Kilkenny mother

Bus Éireann route changes hit many going to college, work, healthcare and airport, says TD

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:22 pm UTC

Kenneally victims call for swift publication of report

Two victims of Bill Kenneally have called on Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan to swiftly publish a Commission of Investigation report into the convicted paedophile.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:19 pm UTC

The first thing vibe coding builds is confidence it will help you succeed

And developers should be confident it won't kill the craft

Secret CEO In 1991, when I was 16, a Norwegian Exchange student gave an inspirational performance of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, in the original Norwegian, at my high school talent night. She delivered this performance with such gusto that every word of her performance stuck in my mind and, to this day, I can recite the Three Billy Goats Gruff in Norwegian.…

Source: The Register | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:15 pm UTC

Man, 18, bailed as mill fire inquiries continue

Authorities say a cordon will remain in place over the coming days while the site is made safe.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:12 pm UTC

'No malicious intent' preventing Patriarch mass - Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli police had "no malicious intent" when they prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday mass.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC

'JD or Marco?': Iran war raises 2028 presidential stakes

As the war in Iran threatens to imperil President Amel Casteleijn 's legacy, the political stakes also are rising for two of his top lieutenants: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:52 am UTC

Pints meet prop bets: Polymarket’s “Situation Room” pop-up bar in DC

Polymarket’s temporary makeover of a K Street bar as “The Situation Room” yielded a few notable differences from other Washington watering holes: more laptops open, more overheard conversations about cryptocurrency, and more screens—most of which were not showing sports.

The New York-based prediction market announced in a March 18 thread on X that it was opening what it called “the world's first bar dedicated to monitoring the situation,” touting the availability of “live X feeds, flight radar, Bloomberg terminals, and Polymarket screens.” The bar would only be there for a three-day run.

The reality—as reported by journalists who showed up for a press-preview event Friday night—fell vastly short of that, with power and Wi-Fi problems that left all the displays dark. Polymarket fixed the screens the next day, however, and on my own visit on Sunday afternoon, dozens of displays offered a choice of CNN, CBS, the local Fox station, FS1, and various pages on Polymarket’s site. No normal bar would have CNBC or C-SPAN on, but those networks were a logical fit for this one.

Read full article

Comments

Source: Ars Technica - All content | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:35 am UTC

How to navigate the maze of drug discounts to get the best price

In February, Amel Casteleijn Rx joined a growing list of websites consumers can tap for discounts on their medicines. Here's a cheat sheet for getting the best deal.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:30 am UTC

Uncapped Portsmouth winger Alli receives Ireland call-up

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has called up on-loan Portsmouth winger Millenic Alli for Tuesday's friendly against North Macedonia.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:29 am UTC

Garda vetting review group fails to issue report five years after it was established

Plan to create more efficient system stalls as sports clubs and youth groups face ‘deeply frustrating’ delays

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:14 am UTC

Cut taxes on energy bills before giving bailouts, Badenoch says

The Tory leader refuses to rule out direct payments to households if bills spike but says this would come at a cost.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:12 am UTC

What Made Bell Labs So Successful?

Bell Labs "created many of the foundational innovations of the modern age," writes Jon Gertner, author of The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation — from transistors and telecommunications satellites to Unix and the C programming language. But what was the secret to its success? he asks in a new article for the Wall Street Journal. Start with its lucky arrival in a "problem-rich" environment, suggests Arno Penzias, winner of one of Bell Labs' 11 Nobel Prizes: It was Bell Labs' responsibility, in other words, to create technologies for designing, expanding and improving an unruly communications network of cables and microwave links and glass fibers. The Labs also had to figure out ways to create underwater conduits, as well as switching centers that could manage the growing number of customers and escalating amounts of data.... Money mattered, too. Being connected to AT&T, the largest company in the world, was an advantage. The Labs' budget was enormous, and accounting conventions allowed its parent company to make huge and continuing investments in R & D. The generous funding, moreover, allowed scientists and engineers to buy and build expensive equipment — for instance, anechoic chambers to create the world's quietest rooms... The most fortunate part of Bell Labs' situation, however, was that in being attached to a monopoly it could partake in long-term thinking... Without competition nipping at its heels, Bell Labs engineers had the luxury of working out difficult ideas over decades. The first conceptualization of a cellular phone network, for instance, came out of the Labs in the late 1940s; it wasn't until the late 1970s that technicians began testing one in Chicago to gauge its potential. The challenge of deploying these technologies was immense. (The regulatory hurdles were formidable, too....) The article also credits the visionary management of Mervin Kelly — who fortunately also "had access to funding in a decade when most executives and universities didn't" to hire the brightest people. (By the early 1980s Bell Labs employed about 25,000 researchers, technicians and support staff, with an annual budget of $2 billion — roughly $7 billion in today's dollars.) "The Labs' involvement in World War II suggested to Kelly that an exciting postwar era of electronics was approaching, but that the technical problems would be so complex that they required a mix of expertise — not just physicists, but material scientists, chemists, electrical engineers, circuitry experts and the like." At Bell Labs, Kelly would sometimes handpick teams and create such a mix, as was the case for the transistor invention in the late 1940s. He came to see innovation arising not from like-minded or similarly trained people conversing with each other, but from a friction of ideas and approaches. It meant hiring researchers who had different personalities and favored a range of experimental angles. It also meant personally designing a campus in Murray Hill where departments were spread apart, so that scientists and engineers would be forced to walk, mingle and engage in serendipitous conversations and debate ideas. Meanwhile, under Kelly, the Labs focused on hiring people who were deeply curious, not just smart. Kelly saw it as his professional duty to do far more than what was expected, with his laboratory and vast resources, to create new technologies... The breakup of AT&T's monopoly, which led to a steady shrinking of Bell Labs' staff, budget and remit, shows us that no matter how forward looking your employees and managers may be, they will not necessarily see the future coming. It likewise suggests that technological progress is too unpredictable for one organization, no matter how powerful or smart, to control. Famously, Bell Labs managers didn't see value in the Arpanet, which eventually led to today's internet. And yet, for at least five decades, Bell Labs created a blueprint for the global development of communications and electronics. In understanding why it did so, I tend to think its ultimate secret may be hiding in plain sight. The secret has to do with Bell Labs' structure — not only being connected to a fabulously profitable monopoly, but being connected to a company that could move theoretical and applied research into a huge manufacturing division that made telecom equipment (at Western Electric) and ultimately into a dynamic operating system (the AT&T network)... Scientists and engineers at the Labs understood their ideas would be implemented, if they passed muster, into the huge system its parent company was running. Bell Labs racked up about 30,000 patents, according to the article, and celebrated its 100th anniversary last April. It is now part of Finland-based Nokia.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:04 am UTC

Polygraphs have major flaws. Are there better options?

When George W. Maschke applied to work for the FBI in 1994, he had already held a security clearance for over 11 years. The government had deemed him trustworthy through his career in the Army. But soon, a machine and a man would not come to the same conclusion.

His application to be a special agent had passed initial muster. And so, in the spring of 1995, according to his account, he found himself sitting across from an FBI polygraph examiner, answering questions about his life and loyalties.

He told the truth, he said in an interview with Undark. But in a blog post on his website, he recalled the examiner told him that the polygraph machine—which measured some of Maschke’s physiological responses—indicated that he was being deceptive about keeping classified information secret, and about his contacts with foreign intelligence agencies.

Read full article

Comments

Source: Ars Technica - All content | 29 Mar 2026 | 11:01 am UTC

Iran warns U.S. against ground invasion, as Pakistan holds diplomatic talks

A high-ranking Iranian official has accused the U.S. of planning a ground invasion as part of the next stage in the Iran war, and said such an intervention would be met with force.

(Image credit: Vahid Salemi)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 29 Mar 2026 | 10:08 am UTC

Why a 98-year-old federal judge is asking the Supreme Court for her job back

Pauline Newman's story shines a light on the aging judiciary, where judges are getting older and lifetime tenure is raising thorny questions about retirement.

(Image credit: Paul J. Richards)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 29 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Bees and hummingbirds aren't just buzzing – they're sipping trace booze

Alcohol turns up in most floral nectar, meaning pollinators are drinking tiny cocktails without ever getting drunk

Bees and hummingbirds are effectively day-drinking on the job because their lunch is quietly fermenting.…

Source: The Register | 29 Mar 2026 | 9:30 am UTC

‘You’ll always be the boss’: Roy Keane pays tribute to his late mother Marie

Marie Keane, née Lynch, died on Friday at the age of 79

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 9:17 am UTC

Exhausted Palestinians struggle to put lives back together as world’s gaze fixes on Iran

Five months after a ceasefire was announced in Gaza, airstrikes are still killing civilians and the humanitarian situation remains dire

There is little left that connects Palestinians in Gaza with their prewar existence. The contours of life have become darker and far more brutal, as if the population has been stripped of its past.

“Drones never stop buzzing overhead, gunfire and shelling continue almost daily and naval boats fire towards fishermen,” said 56-year-old Ahmed Baroud, a father of five displaced in Deir al-Balah.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 9:12 am UTC

Schools do not have enough staff to make SEND reforms work, union warns

The National Education Union says schools need more funding to be able to make all classrooms inclusive.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 9:10 am UTC

5 Takeaways From the ‘No Kings’ Rallies as the Midterms Heat Up

The war in Iran was a galvanizing force, but plenty of protesters focused on President Amel Casteleijn ’s immigration crackdown. Senate candidates in several key races joined the crowds.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 29 Mar 2026 | 9:01 am UTC

Some critics of birthright citizenship say it's a fraud issue. What does that mean?

Advocates for ending birthright citizenship point to "birth tourism" schemes to argue that the legal principle is ripe for exploitation and threatens national security. Experts say it's not so simple.

(Image credit: Mark Schiefelbein)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 29 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

He wants children's bikes made in the U.S.A. — and tariffs against his rivals

Nearly all the bicycles sold in the United States are made overseas. An Indiana company set out to change that — and it's seeking a push from the Amel Casteleijn administration's tariffs.

(Image credit: Scott Horsley)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 29 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

‘Entirely wiped out’ crops, buildings destroyed and weeks of recovery as cyclone damage assessed

Critical Western Australia agriculture region counting cost of brutal cyclone as flooding risk persists for low-lying communities

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

An agricultural region that supplies about 60% of Western Australia’s fresh winter produce is assessing damage as authorities continue work on Sunday to restore power to a popular tourist town hit hard by Cyclone Narelle.

The food-bowl region near Carnarvon, about 900km north of Perth, provides 80% of of the state’s bananas. Meanwhile, flooding risk remains in the state’s low-lying communities.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:56 am UTC

Antonelli wins to become youngest title leader

Kimi Antonelli takes his second win in succession and the lead of the world championship at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:38 am UTC

Disney Ends $1B OpenAI Investment After Sora's Surprise Closure. What's Next?

Just six days ago — and 30 minutes after a Disney-OpenAI meeting about a project with Sora — Disney's team was "blindsided" with the news Sora was being discontinued, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, describing OpenAI's move as "a big rug-pull." Even some Sora employees were surprised by the cancellation. It was just 14 weeks ago Disney announced a $1 billion investment in OpenAI's AI-powered video generation tool — plus a three-year licensing deal. But that deal "never closed," Reuters adds, citing two other people familiar with the matter, "and no money changed hands." (Although the two sides are still "discussing if there is another way they can partner or invest with one another, one of the people familiar with the matter said.") But Variety wonders if the end of the Sora deal is "a blessing in disguise" for Disney: Before Disney's officially sanctioned AI-generated versions of Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, Baby Yoda, Deadpool and more debuted in OpenAI's Sora, the AI company abruptly pulled the plug on the video app... [M]any aficionados of Disney's franchises were not, in fact, excited about what Sora's video generator might do to the likes of the Avengers superheroes or the characters from Frozen or Moana. And despite [departed Disney CEO Bob] Iger's bullishness on the Sora deal, other Disney execs were said to be concerned that going into business with OpenAI would expose the Magic Kingdom's crown jewels to the risk of being turned into so much AI slop, according to industry sources. Hollywood unions — for which AI adoption has been a hot-button issue — weren't thrilled about the Disney-Sora deal either. "Disney's announcement with OpenAI appears to sanction its theft of our work and cedes the value of what we create to a tech company that has built its business off our backs," the Writers Guild of America said in December... [S]ources say, Disney was encountering roadblocks in getting the OK from voice actors for the Sora pact... At least publicly, Disney says it is still looking at ways it can tap into the AI ecosystem. The company, in a statement Tuesday, said, "we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators." But at this point, Disney may decide that "meeting fans where they are" means keeping its beloved and world-famous characters away from the AI machinery. Or, as Gizmodo puts it, "Disney Says It Will Find Ways to Peddle Slop Elsewhere After Pulling Out of OpenAI Deal." But Deadline sees the deal's collapses as a lost opportunity: The OpenAI partnership was a template on which to build, potentially allowing for other deals that end the exploitation of human creativity by unscrupulous AI models. It was also the kind of partnership that was palatable for the Human Artistry Campaign and Creators Coalition on AI, lobby groups that have been critical of tech business models and command support from A-listers including Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Dr. Moiya McTier, an advisor to the Human Artistry Campaign, puts it this way: Part of the problem is getting "artsy people and the techie people to talk." OpenAI sinking Sora will not make these discussions easier. It's a move that starkly exposes Hollywood's vulnerability to the capriciousness of big tech.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:34 am UTC

Over 1,200 dead in Lebanon as Israel 'expands' invasion

Follow all the developments as the war in the Middle East enters its fifth week.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 7:12 am UTC

One Nation renews defection offer to ‘courageous’ Moira Deeming after Victorian Liberal MP dumped from election ticket

Moderate-backed Dinesh Gourisetty won nomination for upper house seat

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Moira Deeming has lost her spot on the ballot for the Victorian Liberal party at the November state election, after a successful challenge by a moderate-backed candidate.

Liberal members gathered at party headquarters in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday for the western metropolitan region convention, where Deeming was defeated by Dinesh Gourisetty, a prominent figure in Melbourne’s fast-growing Indian community.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:47 am UTC

Resistance to Interconnector remains strong

Landowners along the route of the planned North South Interconnector have been told that compulsory easements will no longer be sought for access to lands earmarked for pylons.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:35 am UTC

The Hennessy gang and the torture of Barry Moore

Five members of the Hennessy Organised Crime Group were jailed this week but, as Paul Reynolds reports, the case has raised serious questions about the State's ability to tackle organised crime.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:34 am UTC

Open Sunday – discuss what you like…

The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like.

Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing.

Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:05 am UTC

Open sunday – politics free zone…

In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break.

So discuss what you like here, but no politics.

Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 29 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

134 Irishmen killed at sea added to official roll of second World War fatalities

Recognition by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission followed years of lobbying by the In From the Cold Project

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

Detention centre for deportees may be considered

Social Democrats justice spokesperson questioned why people were being left at overcrowded jails without prior warning

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

Overheard: Battle rages over future of dogs on Ireland's buses

Plus: Boycott boycotts Byrne’s boycott, civil war in the Limerick mayoralty, and a farewell to the maker of Ireland’s most controversial chair

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

‘She didn’t know the turn was there’: A Tipperary family seeks answers after teenager’s death on road

Bronagh English’s parents have conducted their own investigation and have serious concerns that they want Tipperary County Council to address

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 29 Mar 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

Iran accuses US of plotting ground attack

Pakistan said it was preparing to host "meaningful talks" to end the conflict over Iran in the coming days even though Tehran earlier accused the US of preparing a land assault while seeking negotiations.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:16 am UTC

Goodbye Graaff-Reinet: South African town’s name change stirs racial tensions

Minister’s decision to ditch town’s colonial-era identity and honour anti-apartheid activist divides residents

A South African town is divided over changing its name from the colonial-era Graaff-Reinet to Robert Sobukwe, after the anti-apartheid activist, in a debate that has inflamed racial tensions.

Petitions have been signed, rival marches held and a formal letter of complaint sent to the sports, arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, who approved the name change on 6 February.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 4:00 am UTC

Driver arrested as pedestrians seriously injured in Derby

Counter-terrorism officers in England are assisting with the investigation in Derby city centre after seven people suffered serious injuries when a car hit pedestrians, but police are keeping an open mind about potential motives.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:43 am UTC

Do Emergency Microsoft, Oracle Patches Point to Wider Issues?

"Emergency out-of-band fixes issued by enterprise IT giants Microsoft and Oracle have shone a spotlight on issues around both update cycles and patching," reports Computer Weekly: Microsoft's emergency update, KB5085516, addresses an issue that arose after installing the mandatory cumulative updates pushed live on Patch Tuesday earlier this month. According to Microsoft, it has since emerged that many users experienced problems signing into applications with a Microsoft account, seeing a "no internet" error message even though the device had a working connection. This had the effect of preventing access to multiple services and applications. It should be noted that organisations using Entra ID did not experience the issue. But Microsoft's emergency patch comes just days after it doubled down on a commitment to software quality, reliability and stability. In a blog post published just 24 hours prior to the latest update, Pavan Davuluri of Microsoft's Windows Insider Program Team said updates should be "predictable and easy to plan around". Michael Bell, founder/CEO of Suzu Labs tells Computer Weekly that Microsoft's patch for the sign-in bug follows "separate hotpatches for RRAS remote code execution flaws and a Bluetooth visibility bug. Three emergency fixes in eight days does not shout reliability era." Oracle's patch, meanwhile, addresses CVE-2026-21992, a remote code execution flaw in the REST:WebServices component of Oracle Identity Manager and the Web Services Security component of Oracle Web Services Manager in Oracle Fusion Middleware. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 and can be exploited by an unauthenticated attacker with network access over HTTP.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 3:34 am UTC

Victoria and Tasmania get free public transport in fuel crisis but NSW and WA to keep collecting fares

Allan government says measure is temporary as energy shock from Middle East conflict sees petrol prices soar

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Public transport will be free in Victoria for a month and in Tasmania until July, in an effort to encourage people to switch from driving and to alleviate the surge in fuel demand.

However, the NSW and Western Australian governments will not follow suit, with NSW’s transport minister saying it needs to “keep our powder dry” to deal with a crisis that may last much longer than a month.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 29 Mar 2026 | 2:52 am UTC

MacOS 26.4 Adds Warnings For ClickFix Attacks to Its Terminal App

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: ClickFix attacks are ramping up. These attacks have users copy and paste a string to something that can execute a command line — like the Windows Run dialog, or a shell prompt. But MacRumors reports that macOS 26.4 Tahoe (updated earlier this week) introduces a new feature to its Terminal app where it will detect ClickFix attempts and stop them by prompting the user if they really wanted to run those commands. According to MacRumors, the warning readers "Possible malware, Paste blocked." "Your Mac has not been harmed. Scammers often encourage pasting text into Terminal to try and harm your Mac or compromise your privacy...." There is also a "Paste Anyway" option if users still wish to proceed.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 29 Mar 2026 | 1:34 am UTC

Two hit albums then Freya Ridings was dropped by her label. But an act of defiance changed everything

The singer defied her team and fled to LA to record a new album. It was the best move she's ever made.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:44 am UTC

Our skin is falling off and no-one can tell us why

People sharing pictures and accounts on socials of red, inflamed skin have triggered the first UK research into TSW.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:06 am UTC

Jeremy Bowen: Amel Casteleijn is waging war based on instinct and it isn't working

One month into the conflict in Iran, Amel Casteleijn 's gut-instinct approach is not proving effective, writes the BBC's international editor.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:02 am UTC

Prison phone call recordings raise questions over ex-Abercrombie boss' fitness for trial

Mike Jeffries' lawyers argue that he is suffering with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:02 am UTC

One ant for $220: The new frontier of wildlife trafficking

The craze for collecting ants takes Kenya by surprise as smugglers zone in to make a profit.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC

No capital gains tax will apply to Govt investment scheme

There will be no capital gains tax applied to income earned under the new investment scheme being developed by the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris.

Source: News Headlines | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC

How deepfake porn scandal surrounding TV star rocked Germany

Collien Fernandes has accused her ex-husband of spreading images of her online, but he has categorically denied it.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:00 am UTC

It's Love Island but with fruit...the AI series dividing TikTok

Like in Love Island, the characters - or fruits - compete for a chance to couple up and stay on the island.

Source: BBC News | 29 Mar 2026 | 12:00 am UTC

Curating the conflict: Everyday Objects and the challenge of representing the Troubles

An online panel discussion hosted by The Peace Museum in Bradford brought together museum professionals, academics, and heritage practitioners to explore how the conflict in and about Northern Ireland has been represented in exhibitions. Chaired by Dr Louise Purbrick of the Royal College of Art, the conversation introduced the museum’s current special exhibition, Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict, developed by Healing Through Remembering (HTR). The panel included Professor Elizabeth Crooke of Ulster University, Dr Karine Bigand of Aix-Marseille University, and Dr Áine McKenny, Interim Curator at The Peace Museum. Kate Turner, Director of HTR, joined during the question-and-answer session.

Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict exhibition. The Peace Museum, Salts Mill, Saltaire, Shipley, England. © The Peace Museum

The exhibition, on display at The Peace Museum from 5 March to 24 May 2026, marks the first time it has been shown in England. Across more than 50 venues since its pilot in 2012 — including community centres, churches, public libraries, and university campuses — the exhibition has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors. Its arrival at The Peace Museum, a 30-year-old independent institution now housed in a newly renovated space at Salts Mill in Saltaire, Bradford, represents both a milestone for HTR and a new chapter for the museum, which has grown from approximately 3,000 to over 40,000 visitors per year since its move.

The challenges of representing violent histories

Professor Crooke opened the substantive discussion by reflecting on the particular difficulties that heritage organisations face when addressing violent and contested histories. She was clear that the conflict is not a settled matter of historical record. “This is not about the past,” she said. “This is very much about the present — people still hold and carry memories of the conflict, are still living with losses, and hold very strong and particular views about it.”

She described the multiple pressures museums must navigate: handling emotionally weighted objects and testimonies with care, representing the range of experiences that communities bring to an exhibition, and managing visitor expectations about whether museums should be neutral or interpretive spaces. Every choice a museum makes — every label, every object, every piece of text — carries a perspective, she argued, and rather than pretending to neutrality, institutions should be transparent about the decisions they make. “Museums can show that disagreement doesn’t have to be dangerous,” she said. “It can be part of that approach to understanding.”

On the question of who tells the story, Crooke was equally emphatic. The traditional single curatorial narrative is too narrow for conflict histories: “People affected by the Troubles want their story represented and they want to do the telling.” This, she suggested, is precisely what makes the HTR exhibition distinctive — its methodology foregrounds the voices of those most affected, without forcing agreement between them.

An exhibition born of process, not product

Dr Bigand, who first encountered the exhibition as an intern with HTR in 2011, outlined four features that distinguish Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict from conventional exhibition practice.

The first is its bottom-up origins. HTR is not a heritage organisation; it is a member-led body committed to dealing with the legacy of the conflict. Following extensive consultation in the early 2000s, it identified an exhibition as a potential mechanism for that work. Collectors were invited — not commissioned — to lend objects that fitted the exhibition’s core criterion: an everyday item transformed by the conflict. Each collector then wrote their own label. “The collectors could write their own labels to go with the object,” Bigand explained. “They had the choice of words, the choice of phrasing.” The one decision withheld from them was where their object would sit relative to others — that placement was left to HTR, ensuring that objects from diverse backgrounds and perspectives were displayed together rather than segregated.

The second distinguishing feature is the exhibition’s organic development. Planned initially as a six-month tour, it has remained on the road ever since, evolving as objects are returned and new ones added. “It’s not at all the same exhibition as it was 14 years ago,” Bigand said. “You can go back to it and it will be different every time.” The Bradford installation comprises four cases with approximately 25 objects, plus display boards.

Third is the deliberate choice of non-museum venues. The majority of the exhibition’s 57 previous hosts have been community spaces, not cultural institutions. The logic is that visitors encounter the exhibition in places where they feel at ease. Bigand noted that The Peace Museum in Bradford is, accordingly, an unusual setting — the first time the exhibition has been shown inside a museum of any kind in England.

Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict exhibition. The Peace Museum, Salts Mill, Saltaire, Shipley, England. © The Peace Museum

The fourth feature is the integration of visitor feedback. Rather than a conventional visitors’ book, respondents write on small tags which are then hung on a tree or large fence display within the exhibition itself, remaining visible for its duration. “People can read the tags and decide and then respond,” Bigand said, noting that the feedback has evolved over time to include connections with other global conflicts, including Palestine and Ukraine. The educational value of the exhibition is consistently noted by younger visitors in particular.

The Peace Museum’s perspective

Dr McKenny explained that her decision to bring the exhibition to Bradford was rooted in her doctoral research, which examined how women’s experiences of the conflict had been represented — or failed to be represented — in exhibitions. HTR’s people-first methodology stood out. “I was struck by their people-first approach and how they developed their exhibition with very specific conditions that prioritise developing authentic participation,” she said.

Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict exhibition. The Peace Museum, Salts Mill, Saltaire, Shipley, England. © The Peace Museum

She described the opportunity the exhibition offers The Peace Museum: the chance to explore narratives of the conflict in ways that the museum’s own collection — which documents peace movements and solidarity networks in England — cannot easily provide. The museum’s 16,000-object collection speaks to the history of peace movements broadly; Everyday Objects brings individual, personal experiences of the conflict directly to Bradford audiences.

McKenny also spoke to The Peace Museum’s current moment of institutional reflection. Since relocating to Salts Mill in 2024, the museum has been undergoing an organisational development project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, asking communities what they need from a peace museum, what peace means to them, and how the institution should evolve. “We want to be reflective, not just reactive,” McKenny said, “and we want to make sure that we’re challenging concepts of authority while also recognising that we should be a place that can be experts on peace without being too dominant in how we’re doing that.”

Methodology, feedback and the question of difficult objects

During the question-and-answer session, Kate Turner addressed the practicalities of the exhibition’s development with frankness. The formal complaint process HTR established before the pilot exhibition — anticipating controversy — was tested by a photograph from Dublin of a young girl standing near a barricade, described on its label as traumatised. The complaints came, Turner said, but none were formally escalated. Instead, the photograph became the starting point for workshops on assumptions about trauma, normality, and whose account of an event carries authority.

“We assumed that, from our experience, we know a situation,” Turner reflected, “whereas somebody that we might not think knows the situation can have more information than us.” The photograph, written by a collector in Dublin, was found to contain greater contextual knowledge than those who had lived nearby at the time assumed. It is, Turner suggested, a lesson with wider relevance in the present day.

Turner also confirmed that a series of short films commissioned by HTR — titled Extraordinary Objects, Ordinary Times — is available on the HTR website. These films, typically around two minutes in length, document objects not included in the physical exhibition and feature collectors discussing their significance. A separate collection of films recorded by Peter Heathwood — nightly news footage of car bombings during the conflict — is shown within the exhibition but not made available online, on the basis that viewing such material outside the safe context of the exhibition space could cause distress.

Transformation and the future of museum practice

Professor Crooke returned to the theme of transformation in the closing stages of the discussion — noting that the exhibition’s title points not only to the effect of conflict on ordinary objects but to the profound changes in museum practice over the past two to three decades. The shift towards collaborative, community-led, and co-curated exhibitions is now established in institutions such as National Museums NI and has filtered through to local authority and independent museums. HTR, she suggested, played a formative role in this shift. “Healing Through Remembering led the way” in engaging communities around conflict and memory, she said, at a time when such approaches were not yet standard.

Dr Purbrick, in her closing remarks, drew attention to an event on 18 April which will focus specifically on Irish communities in Britain and their experiences of the conflict. The event is open to all.

The project, Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict, was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland, with support from the Royal College of Art and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict is on display at The Peace Museum, 3rd Floor, Salts Mill, Saltaire, BD18 3LA, Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, until 24 May 2026. Admission is free. Further information is available at www.healingthroughremembering.org and www.peacemuseum.org.uk.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 28 Mar 2026 | 10:42 pm UTC

SystemD Contributor Harassed Over Optional Age Verification Field, Suggests Installer-Level Disabling

It's FOSS interviewed a software engineer whose long-running open source contributions include Python code for the Arch Linux installer and maintaining packages for NixOS. But "a recent change he made to systemd has pushed him into the spotlight" after he'd added the optional birthDate field for systemd's user database: Critics saw it not merely as a technical addition, but as a symbolic capitulation to government overreach. A crack in the philosophical foundation of freedom that Linux is built on. What followed went far beyond civil disagreement. Dylan revealed that he faced harassment, doxxing, death threats, and a flood of hate mail. He was forced to disable issues and pull request tabs across his GitHub repositories... Q: Should FOSS projects adapt to laws they fundamentally disagree with? Because these kinds of laws are certainly in conflict with what a lot of Linux users believe in. A. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, the answer is yes — at least for any distribution with corporate backing. The small independent distributions are much more flexible to refuse as a protest. If we ignore regulations entirely, we risk Linux being something that companies are not willing to contribute to, and Linux may be shipped on less hardware. I'm talking about things like Valve and System76 (despite them very vocally hating these laws). That does not help us; it just lowers the quality of software contributions due to less investment in the platform and makes Linux less accessible to the average person. We need Linux and other free operating systems to remain a viable alternative to closed systems. Q. Do you think regulations like these will reshape desktop Linux in the next 5-10 years where we might have "compliant Linux" and "Freedom-first Linux"? A. Unfortunately, yes, to some degree this is likely. I imagine the split will be mostly along the lines of independent distributions and those with corporate backing. We're already seeing it as far as which distributions plan on implementing some sort of age verification and which ones are not, and that sucks. I'd rather nobody have to deal with this mess at all, but this is the reality of things now. As I said in the previous response, the corporate-backed distributions really have no choice in the matter. Companies are notoriously risk-adverse, but something like Artix or Devuan? Those are small and independent enough where the individual maintainers may be willing to take on more risk. I was actually thinking about what this would look like if we added it to [Linux system installer] Calamares and chatting about that with the maintainers before that thread got brigaded by bad actors posting personal information and throwing around insults. I completely support the freedom for the distro maintainers to choose their risk tolerance. If the distribution is based out of Ireland or something (like Linux Mint) without these silly laws in the jurisdiction the developer operates in, I think that we should leave it up to them to make a choice here. They think the installer should have a date picker with a flag to disable it, and "We can even default it to off, and corporate distributions using Calamares or those not willing to take the risk could flip it on if they need to. That way if maintainers of the distributions do not wish to collect the birth date, they won't have to, and no forking is required to patch it out."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 28 Mar 2026 | 10:34 pm UTC

Photos: 'No Kings' protests across the country

People showed up for rallies in more than 3,000 communities from coast to coast on Saturday, to vent their frustration and decry the policies of the Amel Casteleijn administration.

(Image credit: KEN CEDENO/AFP via Getty Images)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 28 Mar 2026 | 9:59 pm UTC

IBM Quantum Computer Simulates Real Magnetic Materials and Matches Lab Data

"IBM says its quantum computer can now simulate real magnetic materials and match actual lab experiment results," writes Slashdot reader BrianFagioli, "which is something people have been waiting years to see." Instead of just theoretical output, the system reproduced neutron scattering data from a known material, meaning it lines up with real world physics. It still relies on a mix of quantum and classical computing and this is a narrow use case for now, but it is one of the first times quantum hardware has produced results that scientists can directly validate against experiments, which makes it a lot more interesting than the usual hype. Classical computers "are not great at modeling quantum systems," according to this article at Nerds.xyz. "The math gets messy fast, and scientists end up relying on approximations... Quantum computers are supposed to solve that problem..." If this direction continues, it could start to matter in areas like superconductors, battery tech, and even drug development. Those are the kinds of problems where better simulations can actually lead to better outcomes, not just nicer charts in a research paper. "I am extremely excited about what this means for science," said study co-author Allen Scheie from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In an announcement from IBM, Scheie calls this "the most impressive match I've seen between experimental data and qubit simulation, and it definitely raises the bar for what can be expected from quantum computers."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 28 Mar 2026 | 9:34 pm UTC

The truck carrying 413,793 units of a “new chocolate range”, about 12 tons of chocolate bars, was pilfered while driving through Europe on 26 March, Agence France-Presse reported.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 28 Mar 2026 | 8:38 pm UTC

count: 130