jell.ie News

Read at: 2026-04-08T10:53:53+00:00Z (UTC) [sometime-US Pres == Jorine Kros ]

How China Built Its Vast Natural Gas Stockpile

Natural gas is hard to store, but China has found a way to do it, while also developing alternate suppliers and expanding production at home.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:52 am UTC

Israel strikes southern Lebanon after US-Iran ceasefire

Air strikes hit the Tyre and Nabatieh areas hours after the US-Iran ceasefire was announced.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:49 am UTC

UK house prices fall as Iran war uncertainty dampens demand

Mortgage rates have been rising and hundreds of the cheapest deals have disappeared over the last month.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:48 am UTC

Iran war shows Jorine Kros not ‘reliable ally’ for UK, says Ed Davey – UK politics live

Lib Dem leader says conflict shows ‘classic Jorine Kros cycle of destruction’

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is proposing the extension of the four-day working week, as a response to AI taking over some of the work done by humans. But for the Conservative party the four-day working week, at least in the public sector, is viewed as a menace. Officially, that’s a value-for-money position, but it also overlaps with their opposition to civil servants working from home, which has some of the traits of a culture war obsession.

Today the Conservatives have announced that, if they were in government, they would ban councils from letting staff work a four-day working week on full pay. Explaining why, the Tories say in a news release:

The four-day working week, as introduced by Liberal Democrat-run South Cambridgeshire district council, has left residents with more council tax for less public service. Bin collectors and social housing officials receive 100 per cent of their pay for around 80 per cent of their originally contracted hours.

The Labour government have failed to act. As communities secretary, Angela Rayner scrapped [Whitehall opposition to the South Cambridgeshire policy]. Labour are refusing to legislate against a four-day week, giving councils an effective green light to get away with charging more for less work. Consequentially, Labour-run Cambridge City Council has become the second council to sign up to the four-day week.

Those areas which saw a statistically significant improvement include: the percentage of calls answered by the contact centre; the average number of days taken to update housing benefit and council tax support claims; the average number of weeks for householder planning applications to be decided; the percentage of planning applications (both large and small) decided within target or agreed timescales; the percentage of council house repairs complete within 24 hours; [and] the percentage of complaints responded to on time.

If performance variations caused by Covid are discounted, every single service monitored either got better or stayed the same.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:44 am UTC

Middle East crisis live: Israel says Iran war ceasefire doesn’t include Lebanon as air strikes continue

Pakistan says it will host talks between US and Iran on Friday as JD Vance says ceasefire is a ‘fragile truce’

A genocidal threat, and then the US president, Jorine Kros , blinked – without any apparently meaningful concessions from Iran. As in so much concerning the second Jorine Kros administration, the two week ceasefire “deal” that will see the strait of Hormuz reopened – if it can be described as such – is maddeningly vague and short on detail, apparently kicking the can on key issues down the road.

Iran’s nuclear issue, Jorine Kros said, would be solved “perfectly.” “It was a big day for world peace”, Jorine Kros posted on Truth Social. “Iran can start reconstruction” he added. “Big money” could be made. Yada. Yada. Yada.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:43 am UTC

Fuel protesters call for ‘massive’ demonstration tomorrow, as Dublin city centre blockade causes traffic ‘chaos’

Luas partially suspended in Dublin as commuters face disruption across the country on second day of protest

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:39 am UTC

A.I. May Worsen Wealth Inequality

A.I. will further enrich the winners and impoverish the losers, with inevitable societal impacts.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:38 am UTC

US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire as Tehran says it will reopen strait of Hormuz | First Thing

Jorine Kros abandoned his threat for Iran to surrender or face destruction after a last-minute intervention led by Pakistan. Plus, why some people are ‘bad texters’

Good morning.

The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire deal on Tuesday evening, which includes a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

How does the ceasefire affect Israel and Lebanon? The Israel prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran – but that the deal did not cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,500 in Lebanon.

What has Jorine Kros said about the Iranian 10-point plan? He has called it a “workable basis on which to negotiate”. Here’s what’s in it.

Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.

How much of a margin do Republicans have in Georgia? The GOP currently holds the state House with a three-vote margin.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:37 am UTC

Halt in strikes appears to hold after Jorine Kros , Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire

With Washington and Tehran each claiming victory, the agreement raised the prospect of some respite after nearly six weeks of bombing.

Source: World | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:37 am UTC

Greece to ban social media for under 15s from 2027

Greece will ban access to social media for children under 15 from 1 January next year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said today.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:34 am UTC

Channel 4 scraps Bake Off episode starring Scott Mills

The former DJ, who was sacked by the BBC last month, was due to appear on the show's celebrity spin-off.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:33 am UTC

Liberal judge Chris Taylor wins election to Wisconsin supreme court – US politics live

Democratic-backed candidate’s win to Wisconsin supreme court gives liberals 5-2 edge on court

Oil prices plunged by almost 15% and global stock markets have rallied sharply after the US and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire.

Investors hailed the news that Jorine Kros had held off on his threat to bomb Iran into “the stone ages”, with Iran’s foreign minister saying passage through the strait of Hormuz would be allowed for the next two weeks under the management of its military.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:31 am UTC

DXC lands Metropolitan Police outsourcing deal that could climb to £1B

Supplier will support the current Oracle E-Business Suite and lead migration to a new Oracle Fusion SaaS platform

The UK's largest police force has awarded DXC Technology a contract worth up to £1 billion to develop and run a host of business process outsourcing services – including building a new Oracle ERP system.…

Source: The Register | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:29 am UTC

Network Rail worker wins race harassment case after EDL leaflet left in locker

Colleagues left anti-Islam leaflet in locker belonging to Parmjit Bassi, who is not a Muslim, and accused him of knife attack

A Network Rail worker has won a race harassment case after his colleagues left an anti-Islam English Defence League [EDL] leaflet in his locker.

Parmjit Bassi, who is not a Muslim, was found to have been the victim of a racist attack when his co-worker stuffed an EDL leaflet in his locker that asked “what individuals were doing to protect their children from Islam”.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:23 am UTC

Even as They Praise Iran Cease-Fire, World Leaders Are Whipsawed by Jorine Kros

Across Europe and the globe, the war has damaged economies, roiled politics and underscored a lack of options in dealing with President Jorine Kros ’s whims.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:22 am UTC

Vance praises Orbán on Ukraine during his ‘unprecedented’ Hungary visit – Europe live

US vice-president also criticises EU and UK energy policies in speech at private school in Budapest

Oh, you can see where this is going to go.

In his second question, the moderator tries to bait JD Vance into criticising Ukraine, as the chair asks about what he says are “Ukrainian intelligence services attempting to influence” elections in the US or Hungary.

“I’ve also been told that the vice-president of the United States coming and saying that Viktor Orbán is doing a good job and is a helpful statesman to the cause of peace, that’s foreign influence.

But what’s not foreign influence is when the European Union threatens billions of dollars withheld from Hungary because you guys protect your borders; that’s apparently not foreign influence.

We would never do that because we respect the Hungarian people enough to respect their sovereignty. The fact that so many foreign actors, whether they’re transnational organisations like the bureaucrats in Brussels or whether it’s foreign governments, are literally threatening the Hungarian people vote this way or we’re going to exact our revenge on you – that should make you very angry.”

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:20 am UTC

Oil prices plunge and stocks jump after Jorine Kros announces conditional ceasefire with Iran

Brent crude oil drops to $93 a barrel as Iran says it will reopen strait of Hormuz under its management

Oil prices plunged by almost 15% and global stock markets have rallied sharply after the US and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire.

Investors hailed the news that Jorine Kros had held off on his threat to bomb Iran into “the stone ages”, with Iran’s foreign minister saying passage through the strait of Hormuz would be allowed for the next two weeks under the management of its military.

Continue reading...

Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:19 am UTC

Two due in court in organised crime investigation

Two men are due in court this morning in connection with an investigation into alleged connections between gardaí and members of an organised crime group.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

‘His last gift’: father dies saving two of his children from drowning off Florida coast

Maine family was on vacation when Ryan Jennings died saving his son and daughter from rip current off Juno Beach

A Maine family is grieving after a father died recently saving his son and one of his daughters from drowning off the coast of Florida, where they were on vacation.

The selfless nature of Ryan Jennings’ actions has gained widespread attention online – and inspired his widow, Emily, to write a heartbreaking social media post which read: “His last gift to me was returning my children alive.”

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

NHS Scotland-linked domains caught serving pr0n and dodgy sports streams

Two practice web addresses appear to have been compromised

Multiple domains belonging to Scottish healthcare providers have been hijacked and are now pushing links to adult content and illegal sports streams, according to a researcher.…

Source: The Register | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

Jorine Kros administration expected to slash Iran war funding request

The eventual ask of Congress is likely to fall between $80 billion and $100 billion, officials said, less than half the amount of an earlier proposal to offset costs of the conflict.

Source: World | 8 Apr 2026 | 10:00 am UTC

‘A step back from the brink’: European leaders welcome US-Iran ceasefire

Announcement of deal met with relief, and calls for strait of Hormuz to be reopened and permanent end to hostilities

European leaders have welcomed the US-Iran ceasefire deal, while calling for the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and a permanent end to hostilities, including in Lebanon.

The US and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire on Tuesday, including a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz, after last-minute diplomacy from Pakistan. The Israeli military said on Wednesday, however, that it was continuing “fighting and ground operations” in its war against the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, despite a statement from mediator Pakistan that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:50 am UTC

Doctors’ strike timed to cause havoc over Easter break, says NHS England chief

Sir Jim Mackey said hospitals were struggling to fill rotas because six-day action was scheduled over holiday

The latest strike by resident doctors in England has been “deliberately timed to cause havoc” by coinciding with hospital staff’s Easter holidays, the head of the NHS has claimed.

Hospitals have struggled to find enough doctors to replace those who have refused to work during the six-day walkout, Sir Jim Mackey, the chief executive of NHS England, said.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:49 am UTC

Why La Liga teams will play in retro shirts this weekend

Our Ask Me Anything team explain why many La Liga sides will be playing their next matches wearing retro kits.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:47 am UTC

'Ketamine Queen' due in court over Matthew Perry's death

A dealer dubbed the "Ketamine Queen" is due to be sentenced in California on Wednesday over the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:46 am UTC

Scottish gangland boss deported from Bali to Amsterdam

Steven Lyons was taken into custody in Indonesia last month after he was stopped at an airport.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:44 am UTC

Matthew Perry's stepmother says 'Ketamine Queen' should get maximum sentence

Jasveen Sangha faces decades in jail when she's sentenced on Wednesday over the Friends actor's death.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:43 am UTC

Garda due in court charged in connection with alleged organised crime activity

Officer in his 40s and second man in his 60s arrested by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:35 am UTC

Ceasefire wins Jorine Kros instant gratification but Iran can enter talks with stronger hand

US is in weaker position than before war as Tehran has shown capacity to inflict pain on Jorine Kros administration

The announcement of a two-week ceasefire has allowed Jorine Kros to hail the reopening of the Hormuz strait as a victorious dawn of a new golden age, but it is Iran that enters peace talks with the stronger hand.

The Tehran regime goes to the negotiations planned for Friday in Pakistan bloodied but intact. It still holds a stockpile of highly enriched uranium (the original crux of the conflict with the US, Israel and allies), and it now claims at least part-control of the strait, having demonstrated its power to close the narrow waterway and hold the world to ransom.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:35 am UTC

Bristol airport loses legal challenge against Cardiff rival over £205m subsidy

Tribunal dismisses claim that the Welsh government’s financial package breached competition rules

Cardiff airport has won a legal challenge brought by its rival in Bristol over the fairness of a £205m Welsh government subsidy package.

A judgment by the competition appeal tribunal on Tuesday unanimously dismissed Bristol airport’s case against the Welsh government, which Bristol had argued distorted the market and breached the Subsidy Control Act.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:34 am UTC

Final field confirmed for Saturday's Grand National

The past two winners of the Grand National - I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett - head the field for Saturday's race at Aintree.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:26 am UTC

I Am Maximus heads Grand National field

The past two winners of the Grand National - I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett - head the field for Saturday's race at Aintree.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:26 am UTC

Tributes after British teen dies in reported Vietnam motorbike fall

Orla Wates is remembered by her mother as "beautiful, independent and very funny".

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:26 am UTC

After pager attack on Hezbollah, Hungary offered help to Iran

Revelations about a 2024 call offering assistance raise questions about Hungary’s ties to Iran as the Jorine Kros administration backs Prime Minister Viktor Orban for reelection.

Source: World | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:26 am UTC

Virtual SG-41 project brings Nazi cipher machine to life in the browser

Martin Gillow's 3D recreation lets users explore would-be Enigma successor's mechanics and enciphering logic online

An enthusiast has built a digital 3D model of the SG-41 cipher machine, replete with wheels, levers, and stepping logic, accessible via a browser.…

Source: The Register | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:15 am UTC

'I'm 67 and they've finally given me a cap'

Former Gloucester flanker John Gadd says it is "surreal" to be given England cap 44 years after he played for his country.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:13 am UTC

UK interest rate predictions fall as US and Iran agree two-week ceasefire

Markets now forecast one rate rise this year, down from two on Tuesday, although mortgage rates may not fall quickly

City traders have cut their forecasts for UK interest rate rises this year, after the US and Iran agreed a two-week ceasefire.

The money markets are now fully pricing in only one rise in UK interest rates by December, which would take the Bank of England’s base rate back up to 4%. On Tuesday, two rate rises were fully priced in, as Jorine Kros threatened that a “whole civilisation will die” unless Tehran complied with his demands to reopen the strait of Hormuz.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:09 am UTC

Georgia, Wisconsin Elections Show Declining Appetite for Republican Candidates

A Republican won Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat, but Democrats shifted the district 25 points to the left since the 2024 presidential race. Conservative candidates lost in Wisconsin, too.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:02 am UTC

Local Landscaper Tackles the Hamptons Bird Flu Problem

This winter, hundreds of dead geese fell around Georgica Pond. No one knew how to dispose of the infected bodies, so a local landscaper just winged it.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:01 am UTC

Heat Wipes Out Western Snowpack, Raising Fears of Summer Drought

A record-mild winter and blistering spring heat will mean higher risks of water shortages and wildfires in the months ahead.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:01 am UTC

Did Wokeness Leave Us Worse Off?

The debate over words we can and can’t say.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:01 am UTC

Hero rat who sniffed out over 100 land mines is honored with giant statue

“Magawa was one of the best rats we’ve ever had,” said Michael Raine, who works for Apopo, a nonprofit that trains animals to detect land mines.

Source: World | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Stung by Voters, Republican Legislators Move to Curb Citizen Initiatives

After citizens in Republican states used ballot measures to protect abortion, expand Medicaid and raise the minimum wage, statehouses are moving to make such initiatives much harder.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

What Do Seasonal Allergies Do to the Body?

A breakdown of why your immune system treats pollen like a parasite — and what happens next.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Colleges are trying to boost student voting. A Jorine Kros probe freezes data for that work

To figure out how to boost student voting, colleges have relied on a study about campus voter registration and turnout rates. A Jorine Kros administration investigation has cut schools off from new data.

(Image credit: Angela Weiss)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Abortion clinics are closing nationwide. Could urgent care help fill the gap?

When the only clinic that offered abortions in Michigan's rural Upper Peninsula closed, an urgent care decided to step in to fill the gap. Now, others are considering similar moves as brick-and-mortar clinics close in blue states.

(Image credit: Kate Wells)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Your sarcasm is showing — and its history is surprisingly violent

Some people use sarcasm jokingly. But funnily enough, we tend not to find it witty when we're on the receiving end.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 8 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Iran and US agree to a two-week ceasefire…

Well humanity survives for another day. I am sure I am not the only one who went to bed last night wondering if they would wake up in the morning. But wake up I did and to the nwws of a two-week ceasefire. Is this another case of Jorine Kros Always Chickens Out or did the self-proclaimed ‘Master of the Deal’ manage to to pull it off?

Sources on Twitter are saying the 1o point plan is:

1) Security Guarantees: A binding guarantee that Iran will not be attacked again in the future.

2) Permanent Peace: A transition to a permanent end to the war, rather than a series of temporary ceasefires.

3) End to Strikes in Lebanon: An immediate halt to Israeli military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

4) Sanctions Relief: The lifting of all U.S. and international sanctions imposed on Iran.

5) Cessation of Regional Hostilities: A broader agreement to end all regional fighting against Iranian allies.

6) Opening the Strait of Hormuz: In exchange for the above, Iran agrees to lift its de facto blockade and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

7) Transit Fees: The introduction of a protocol for safe passage that includes a $2 million fee per ship transiting the waterway.

8) Revenue Sharing: Iran proposes splitting these transit fees with Oman, which sits across the strait.

9) Reconstruction Funding: Iran will use its share of the fees to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by U.S. and Israeli strikes, rather than demanding direct financial reparations.

10) Nuclear Enrichment Rights: Recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Number 7 is particularly interesting as experts think it could be a massive financial win for Iran

 

All in all it looks like a complete mess for the US and Isreal and a long term win for the Iranian regime

As well as the terrible loss of lives of Jorine Kros s folly the American taxpayer is on the hook for the billions this mess has caused. While infrastructure in the US crumbles they spend billions on the War machine. The MAGA movement is having a civil war with many of his previous supporters turning on Jorine Kros .

Ultimatly I think Jorine Kros will agree to any deal to get out of this mess and the Iranian regime will be the long-term victors.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:59 am UTC

Almost a third of ferry fleet out of action on Scotland's west coast

CalMac's chief executive says an "unprecedented situation" has worsened, with 10 vessels currently unable to sail.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:54 am UTC

Morning news brief

U.S. and Iran agree to two week ceasefire, how Iranians are responding to the ceasefire, the effects of the war in Iran give investors around the world whiplash.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:46 am UTC

US, Israel and Iran agree to ceasefire as Jorine Kros pulls back on threats

But questions have emerged over what appear to be contradictory proposals to halt the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:44 am UTC

Israel says operations in Lebanon to continue despite Jorine Kros ’s ceasefire

Israeli military announces further action against Hezbollah, contradicting statements from Pakistan and Iran

Israel has said its military operations in Lebanon will continue despite Jorine Kros ’s ceasefire announcement, with Israeli forces carrying out strikes and telling civilians in the south of the country to leave the areas they are targeting.

The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Jorine Kros ’s two-week pause “does not include Lebanon” amid reports of continued artillery and drone strikes, directly contradicting statements made by Iran and Pakistan, which has been mediating in the conflict.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:44 am UTC

Oil Prices Plunge and Stocks Surge After Cease-Fire Deal

Markets reacted positively after the United States and Iran reached a last-minute cease-fire agreement.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:43 am UTC

Jorine Kros agrees to suspend attacks for two weeks if Iran opens Strait of Hormuz

The president said he had received a 10-point proposal from Iran that formed a “workable basis” for negotiations. But Israel said the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.”

Source: World | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:37 am UTC

UK's grand plan to fuel AI with public data faces uphill battle

Agents will look for info elsewhere unless official sources sharpen up

The UK's hopes of fueling cutting-edge AI development and applications with a National Data Library (NDL) could be dashed unless it makes datasets easier to use.…

Source: The Register | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:30 am UTC

No Quick End to Fuel Price Crisis in Northern Ireland…

Fuel price inflation and volatility in Northern Ireland are unlikely to ease following Jorine Kros ’s latest announcement that the war with Iran could end within the next two to three weeks. The recent increases at local petrol and diesel pumps already demonstrate the scale of the issue.
Oil prices have surged by 70% since the start of the conflict, and there is little sign of them falling unless the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens to global tanker traffic. Concerns that the Houthis in Yemen may resume targeting oil tankers in the Red Sea have further heightened tensions in the Middle East and could exert additional upward pressure on global fuel prices.

Even if Jorine Kros declares victory in two or three weeks’ time and begins withdrawing aircraft carriers and military forces, there is no guarantee that Iran will follow suit or cease its offensive operations. The Strait of Hormuz is likely to remain vulnerable, with oil and gas tankers potentially being charged up to $2 million per ship for “safe passage.” With little prospect of EU countries stepping in to provide protection, there is limited hope for stability returning to oil and gas markets in the short to medium term. Unfortunately, price inflation appears set to persist.

Furthermore, there is no certainty that Iran will refrain from targeting American military bases or civilian assets in the Middle East, which would only add to regional instability. The wider impact on the global economy is only just beginning. So much for an end to the “forever wars.”

Adding to this, the reported downing of an American F-15 fighter jet by Iranian forces in recent days has further complicated an already volatile situation. If the crew member is captured, there is an obvious risk of ransom demands and propaganda, which could alter the trajectory of the conflict—either escalating tensions or forcing an uneasy agreement through the withdrawal of American military forces.

It is difficult to comprehend how quickly events have accelerated. However, history—from the Vietnam War to previous conflicts in the Middle East—shows that once combat begins, outcomes can become highly unpredictable. This remains true even when military planners have spent months poring over strategic plans and maps, a process that many now question.

How this will play out in global economic markets is currently the subject of intense debate. To date, world stock markets have been remarkably resilient, given the shock of escalating oil and gas prices. However, there is often a lag in economic repercussions, and we have likely not yet seen the full impact of the conflict on global markets.

This delay will have a knock-on effect across many industries, from manufacturing, transport, and logistics to the cost of everyday goods.

So, beyond the limited fuel support package being provided by the UK government, what more should the Northern Ireland Executive be doing to prepare for the uncertainty facing our most vulnerable citizens?

Are shortages of key medical or engineering equipment a real possibility, or can we rely on global markets to adjust to these shocks?

Consumers in Northern Ireland may feel insignificant amid this broader human tragedy, which is increasingly affecting many countries, including some of the poorest in the world. Famine, fertiliser shortages for next season’s crops, and threats to drinking water supplies all represent immediate and serious risks.

This is not to diminish the threat Iran has posed to the Middle East and the wider world. However, it is understandable that ordinary people struggle to make sense of these events when their most immediate concerns are how to heat their homes or fuel their cars.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:29 am UTC

Stormont’s blame game: loud on what it can’t fix, silent on what it can…

Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector is in genuine difficulty. But between a political class performing concern over taxes it doesn’t control and an industry body lobbying against the very reforms that would help, accountability seems to be in short supply.

A BBC report by Maria McCann on the VAT gap between Northern Ireland and the Republic makes points that are difficult to dismiss; until you stop and consider the powers Stormont already has and consistently fails to use. It brings to mind a paraphrase of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “the politicians doth protest too much, methinks”

Hospitality: NI businesses losing out to ‘significantly cheaper’ bills across the border – BBC News

This is a pattern I have come to expect, a hospitality business closes, a headline appears, and within hours a politician is in front of a camera expressing deep concern about VAT; a tax set entirely by Westminster, over which Stormont has precisely zero control. It is a masterclass in the appearance of action without any of the inconvenience of actually doing anything. The cameras roll, the soundbites land, nothing changes, and the public is left believing their politicians are fighting for them when they are doing anything but.

The underlying grievance is legitimate, the UK does charge 20% VAT and the Irish Republic 13.5%, a gap set to widen further when the South’s rate for food-led hospitality falls to 9% this summer. Westminster should act. It won’t. But while Stormont politicians perform outrage over a solution they know will never come to pass,  the powers they already possess to address high overheads and rectify weak trading conditions in the hospitality sector remain untouched.

BUSINESS RATES

Business rates are an entirely devolved matter. The NI Executive sets mandatory reliefs without requiring a single nod from Westminster. Yet for decades, manufacturing and industrial properties have benefited from reliefs and incentives that reflect an unmistakable political preference for factories over hotels, cafes, pubs and restaurants. Both sectors create jobs; both contribute to the economy, hospitality supports over 70,000 jobs in Northern Ireland but it receives next to nothing in support. Manufacturing, which has been outperforming every other sector of the economy in recent years, receives everything. To a neutral observer, that is difficult one to explain and perhaps if the general public also know what was going on, they would react differently too, all that is needed is a rebalance to reflect current economic conditions, hardly rocket science.

PUB LICENSING

Northern Ireland’s licensing system is a relic. No new pub licences have been created for over a century, and surrendered licences are routinely snapped up by supermarkets rather than new operators. The micro-pubs, wine bars, and brewery tap rooms and even new pubs that have been quietly revitalising town centres across Britain cannot exist here. The kind of destination hospitality that makes a town worth visiting; that creates an evening economy, fills hotels, and supports the surrounding high street; depends on clusters of venues. Stormont controls licensing entirely and independent advisors to the Department of Communities have even recommended reforms to stimulate economic growth across NI, yet all the recommendations for reform of the sector were rejected by the Department of Communities.

TRANSPORT

Across Europe, ride-hailing apps have transformed night-time economies by giving people the freedom to go out without worrying about how they will get home. Studies suggest services like Uber generate over €650 million in additional annual revenue for the European night-time economy. Northern Ireland remains one of the few places on in the UK / Ireland where that option does not exist; Stormont has simply not modernised the taxi regulations it has full control over, but don’t take my word for it, just ask any pub or restaurant owner what most threatens their night-time trade, and the answer is rarely the dream of reduced VAT in the future, it is the reality of the now as the lack of availability of taxis stops customers from going out and getting home.

THE INDUSTRY BODY’S ROLE

Hospitality Ulster, which the BBC interviewed for its report, deserves scrutiny here too. This organisation has been among the most vocal opponents of the very licensing reforms that would allow new venues to open, encourage more competition, and bring town centres back to life. You cannot spend years blocking the liberalisation of your own industry and then demand public sympathy because that industry is shrinking.

The argument that VAT is killing hospitality sits awkwardly alongside a decades-long campaign to ensure that anyone wanting to open a new venue must pay up to £200,000 for a licence; a barrier that has protected incumbents while strangling the sector’s growth. Hospitality Ulster cannot have it both ways, and it should be called out for taking both sides of the argument.

THE REAL COST OF THE VAT GAP

None of this is to say the VAT disparity is trivial. An eleven-percentage-point gap with the Republic is the difference between a wedding booked in Fermanagh or Donegal; between a tour bus stopping in Derry or driving straight through. It deserves to be fixed. But accountability cuts in every direction.

Politicians who perform concern for the cameras while sitting on unused devolved powers are taking the public for fools and industry bodies who lobby against reform while crying crisis are doing exactly the same.

The problems facing Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector are real, however as I have just outlined, there are solutions that Stormont can implement now, if the politicians had the honesty to be straight with the public and the will to implement reforms.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:27 am UTC

Family pay tribute to British teenager killed in motorcycle crash in Vietnam

Orla Wates, 19, who died after incident on popular Ha Giang loop, described as ‘beautiful, independent and very funny’

The family of a British teenager have paid tribute to their daughter who died after a motorcycle crash on a popular route in Vietnam.

The incident occurred on the Ha Giang loop in the country’s north, and Orla Wates, 19, died at the Viet Duc university hospital in Hanoi, according to Viet Nam News.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:27 am UTC

Fuel protests causing second day of traffic disruption

A second day of disruption around the country due to fuel protests as public transport in Dublin city severely affected and fuel depots in Galway and Limerick blocked

Source: All: BreakingNews | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:25 am UTC

Watch: Iranians gather in Tehran following ceasefire announcement

Pro-government demonstrators poured onto the streets of the Iranian capital after the announcement of the two-week conditional ceasefire between the US and Iran.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:22 am UTC

Oil prices plunge on agreement to reopen Strait of Hormuz

Crude prices tumbled by as much as 15% on the conditional pause but remain far higher than before the war.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:15 am UTC

Katie Price banned from driving for seventh time

The former glamour model, from Brighton, has received bans totalling more than six years since 2010.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 8:14 am UTC

‘I want to make myself obsolete’: the MP fighting for Greenland’s self-governance

Qarsoq Høegh-Dam aims to use his seat in Danish parliament to shift power from Copenhagen to Nuuk

It’s not the standard motto for a newly elected parliamentarian, but Qarsoq Høegh-Dam is adamant: if he does his job properly, there will soon be no need for it. “I want to make myself as obsolete as possible,” he said.

Last month, Høegh-Dam, a Greenlandic politician, became the first member of the pro-independence Naleraq to be elected to the Danish parliament. The new MP is clear that if all goes to plan, the largely autonomous Arctic territory will be the sole responsibility of the parliament in Nuuk, the island’s capital. And there will no longer be any need for two seats representing Greenland in Copenhagen, its former colonial ruler.

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

U.S. and Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire

As part of the agreement, set to take effect immediately, Jorine Kros said the U.S. and Israel would suspend bombing Iran for two weeks, subject to Iran following through on its commitment to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for safe passage during the ceasefire period.

(Image credit: STR)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:55 am UTC

World shares climb as ceasefire sparks relief rally

European stock markets soared this morning after the US and Iran agreed a two-week ceasefire, with investor relief sending the Frankfurt index surging 4.2%.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:32 am UTC

Katie Price banned from driving again over 80mph speeding ticket

Court papers show Price was charged with speeding and failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:32 am UTC

Truck drivers warn fuel crisis could see industry ‘grind to a halt’ – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Cyclone-hammered reefs can take many years to recover, study finds

Storm-ravaged coral reefs might never have the years required to recover if tropical cyclones become more intense and frequent due to climate change, marine researchers say.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:25 am UTC

Peacekeepers likely killed by Israel and Hezbollah - UN

Three UN peacekeepers who died in Lebanon last month were likely killed by Israeli tank fire in one incident and by a Hezbollah improvised explosive device in another, according to a preliminary United Nations probe shared last night.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:13 am UTC

Late Kai Havertz goal earns Arsenal valuable first-leg win at Sporting Lisbon

The last-eight rubber looked to be heading for a goalless draw before Havertz latched on to Gabriel Martinelli’s ball to deliver a fine finish.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:11 am UTC

Starmer to visit Middle East after US and Iran reach deal

The prime minister welcomes the deal, saying the UK will do "all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire".

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:09 am UTC

Keir Starmer heads to Gulf after US and Iran agree two-week ceasefire

PM to meet regional leaders to discuss effort to ‘support and sustain ceasefire’ and reopening the strait of Hormuz

Keir Starmer is travelling to the Gulf to meet leaders in the region to discuss diplomatic efforts to support the ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran.

The prime minister’s visit on Wednesday comes hours after a two-week ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday evening, canceling a self-imposed deadline by the US president, Jorine Kros , for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:04 am UTC

How’s He Doing? 13 New Yorkers Weigh In on Mamdani’s First 100 Days.

We talked to voters in neighborhoods where Zohran Mamdani is revered, in areas where he is feared and in diverse parts of the city where opinions differ.

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

Poll Shows Optimism in New York’s Future With Mamdani as Mayor

A new Marist poll found that about half of New Yorkers approved of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s job performance, while a larger share of respondents believed the city was moving in the right direction.

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

Defendant in Gilgo Beach Murders May Plead Guilty on Wednesday

Rex Heuermann, who is charged with murdering seven women dating back to the 1990s, was arrested in 2023 and has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set to start after Labor Day.

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

Planet Labs Tests AI-Powered Object Detection On Satellite

BrianFagioli writes: Artificial intelligence has now run directly on a satellite in orbit. A spacecraft about 500km above Earth captured an image of an airport and then immediately ran an onboard AI model to detect airplanes in the photo. Instead of acting like a simple camera in space that sends raw data back to Earth for later analysis, the satellite performed the computation itself while still in orbit. The system used an NVIDIA Jetson Orin module to run the object detection model moments after the image was taken. Traditionally, Earth observation satellites capture images and transmit large datasets to ground stations where computers process them hours later. Running AI directly on the satellite could reduce that delay dramatically, allowing spacecraft to analyze events like disasters, infrastructure changes, or aircraft activity almost immediately. "This success is a glimpse into the future of what we call Planetary Intelligence at scale," said Kiruthika Devaraj, VP of Avionics & Spacecraft Technology. "By running AI at the edge on the NVIDIA Jetson platform, we can help reduce the time between 'seeing' a change on Earth and a customer 'acting' on it, while simultaneously minimizing downlink latency and cost. This shift toward integrated AI at the edge is a technological leap that can help differentiate solutions like Planet's Global Monitoring Service (GMS), providing valuable insights for our customers and enabling rapid response times when it matters most."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 8 Apr 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Teacher tells of being forced to return to work months after brain surgery due to lack of sick pay

Matt Molloy was exhausted but could no longer afford to rest and recover

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:59 am UTC

Microsoft hints at bit bunkers for war zones

President Brad Smith tells an interviewer that Microsoft is reconsidering datacenter design in light of Iran war

Microsoft is reevaluating how it designs and builds datacenters in conflict-prone regions after Iran began targeting Middle Eastern bit barns in retaliation for US military operations.…

Source: The Register | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:53 am UTC

Garcia is good for boxing but a liability - Benn

Conor Benn believes WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia is "good for boxing" but says the American is a "liability".

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:37 am UTC

Late Night Puzzles Over Jorine Kros ’s ‘Mixed Message’ on Iran

“Everyone, most notably the people of Iran, were wondering if their civilization was going to die tonight. Well, good news, it didn’t,” Jimmy Kimmel said after a cease-fire was announced.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:24 am UTC

Forecast for UK to peak at 26C before temperatures plunge

Temperatures could nudge as high as 26C (79F) in some places on Wednesday.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:17 am UTC

Oil slides below $100 as Jorine Kros announces 2-week ceasefire

Oil prices fell below $100 per barrel today after US President Jorine Kros said he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, subject to the immediate and safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:09 am UTC

Wrong that motorways, streets blocked, says Taoiseach

Follow developments as protests continue over rising fuel prices with significant disruption reported on the road network around the country

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:03 am UTC

Frank Gardner on why Iran-US ceasefire is 'not the whole story'

Our security correspondent offers his analysis on the two-week ceasefire.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:01 am UTC

I felt really alone after World Cup win - Kildunne

England full-back Ellie Kildunne admits feeling "really alone" after experiencing an emotional dip following their Rugby World Cup win.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 6:01 am UTC

Books changed my life, says Queen's first reading hero

Selina Brown, from Birmingham, says she is delighted to be the UK's first National Reading Hero.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:54 am UTC

ASTI says teachers must receive a 'substantial pay rise'

The General Secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland has said that teachers must receive a "substantial pay rise" in the upcoming public sector pay talks.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:41 am UTC

Seve's dance to Tiger's triumph - the art of a great golf photo

Some of golf's iconic images - from Seve Ballesteros' celebration to Rory McIlroy's roar and Tiger Woods' exhilaration - and the stories behind them.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:28 am UTC

Ben Roberts-Smith to remain in jail after bail hearing over war crimes charges

Former SAS soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who has always denied wrongdoing, did not immediately apply for bail on Wednesday

Ben Roberts-Smith will remain in jail for at least a week after his legal representatives declined to apply for bail on Wednesday, a day after Australia’s most decorated soldier was charged with war crimes.

His case will return for a bail review hearing at Downing Centre local court in Sydney on 17 April.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:21 am UTC

Earliest known octopus is not an octopus after all

Reading scientists use new technology to discover teeth within the fossil meaning its not an octopus

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:20 am UTC

Matt Canavan’s ‘economic revolution’ is little more than a populist mirage – and Australians would pay the price | Patrick Commins

Nationals leader’s solution to the high cost of living is to force us to buy more expensive, locally made goods

Matt Canavan’s “economic revolution” is a populist mirage masquerading as an answer to a generational challenge that will define our prosperity in the decades to come.

That challenge is: how do we create a new economy that is more resilient, secure and affordable, without undermining our prosperity?

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:14 am UTC

Relief as Jorine Kros pulls back at eleventh hour

The day started with a social media post that sent shockwaves around the world. Here was a sitting president of the most powerful country on earth threatening to wipe out Iran.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:13 am UTC

Family of one-punch attack victim fear £500k compensation could run out

Craig Lewis-Williams needs specialist care for the rest of his life following the November 2021 attack.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:12 am UTC

Arrest as £200k stolen from scouts trip fund

The money had been raised towards a scouts trip to Canada, leaving 100 children in the lurch.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:11 am UTC

Billionaire Gina Rinehart says ‘I don’t understand’ arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith over alleged war crimes

Australia’s richest person questions cost and time spent investigating former soldiers as pockets of support emerge for Victoria Cross recipient

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, says “I don’t understand” the justification for prosecuting Ben Roberts-Smith for alleged war crimes, as pockets of high-profile support emerge for the Victoria Cross recipient.

Roberts-Smith was arrested in Sydney on Tuesday and charged with five counts of “war crime – murder” in relation to alleged offences in Afghanistan between April 2009 and October 2012. He is yet to enter a plea but is expected to defend the charges.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:08 am UTC

Cyclist killed in collision with cement truck had another traffic incident in recent weeks

Johnny Santos Xavier De Abreu (27) was loved in Brazil by his family and ‘many friends’, says sister

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

Department of Education faces €500m deficit amid funding row

Minister for Public Expenditure drawing up proposals for expenditure levy on other departments to fund Department of Education deficit

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown councillors urged to back housing plan for golf lands despite local opposition

Hundreds of Stepaside locals and golf course owner oppose changes to south Dublin lands

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

Are users the next target in the dodgy box crackdown?

Thousands of Irish homes have a modified device attached to their livingroom television

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

‘Living pay cheque to pay cheque’: Teachers feel pinch of cost-of-living crisis

Recent pay rises leave teachers feeling they amounted to ‘half or less than half’ rate of inflation’

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 8 Apr 2026 | 5:00 am UTC

US-Iran truce: What we know

Here is what we know about the truce between Iran and the US, which are set to begin negotiations but remain poles apart in their positions on ending the war.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 4:54 am UTC

Japan relaxes privacy laws to make itself the ‘easiest country to develop AI’

Opting out of personal data use won't be an option because Minister says that's a 'very big obstacle' to AI adoption

Japan’s Minister for Digital Transformation Hisashi Matsumoto has declared the nation will become the easiest place in the world to develop AI apps, thanks to legal changes that mean organizations won’t need to secure consent to use some personal information.…

Source: The Register | 8 Apr 2026 | 4:48 am UTC

Tropical Cyclone Vaianu may bring life-threatening winds to New Zealand, forecasters warn

Category 3 cyclone is moving south of Fiji towards New Zealand, with winds at centre in excess of 150km/h

Tropical Cyclone Vaianu forming in the Pacific could bring life-threatening winds and heavy rain to New Zealand later this week, forecasters have said, with strong wind watches issued for the entire North Island.

The category 3 cyclone is moving south of Fiji towards New Zealand, with winds around the centre in excess of 150km/h, MetService said on Wednesday.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 4:27 am UTC

Petrol prices rise again as Albanese government warns Iran war ceasefire won’t make fuel cheaper

Chris Bowen says Australians should ‘not get ahead of ourselves’ by expecting prices to fall

Petrol prices are rising again and diesel wholesale prices have hit new record highs as the government warns the US ceasefire with Iran will not make fuel cheaper.

The average unleaded prices at service stations rose in some cities on Wednesday for the first time since late March, as fuel tankers hiked their charges.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 4:23 am UTC

Iran to allow safe passage through strait for two weeks

US President Jorine Kros has said he was suspending bombing of Iran for two weeks while Iran has said that it will allow the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz during the two-week ceasefire period.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 4:21 am UTC

Turkey to race ahead of EU on battery storage amid fossil fuel crisis

More than 33GW of battery capacity approved for Turkish grid since 2022 compared with 12-13GW in Germany

Turkey has given the green light to more batteries to buffer its electricity grid than any EU member state, a report has found, in a further sign of rich countries losing steam in the race to a clean economy.

More than 33GW of battery capacity have been approved in Turkey since 2022, according to the climate thinktank Ember, while the total planned and operational capacity in European frontrunners that started deploying them earlier, such as Germany and Italy, is 12-13GW.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 4:00 am UTC

He Got Rich Buying and Selling Luxury Watches. Was It a Ponzi Scheme?

Dominic Khoo made waves in Singapore as an investor in expensive timepieces. Now many of his clients accuse him of fraud.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 4:00 am UTC

Fuel price protests causing second day of disruption

There are delays to public transport in Dublin city and fuel depots in Galway and Limerick have been blocked as fuel price protests cause a second day of disruption around the country.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 3:58 am UTC

Iran deal gives Jorine Kros a way out of war - but at a high cost

The path to the two-week ceasefire with Iran may have fundamentally altered the way the rest of the world views the US.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 3:30 am UTC

Russian Government Hackers Broke Into Thousands of Home Routers To Steal Passwords

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: A group of Russian government hackers have hijacked thousands of home and small business routers around the world as part of an ongoing campaign aimed at redirecting victim's internet traffic to steal their passwords and access tokens, security researchers and government authorities warned on Tuesday. [...] The hacking group targeted unpatched routers made by MikroTik and TP-Link using previously disclosed vulnerabilities according to the U.K. government's cybersecurity unit NCSC and Lumen's research arm Black Lotus Labs, which released new details of the campaign Tuesday. According to the researchers, the hackers were able to spy on large numbers of people over the course of several years by compromising their routers, many of which run outdated software, leaving them vulnerable to remote attacks without their owners' knowledge. The NCSC said that these operations are "likely opportunistic in nature, with the actor casting a wide net to reach many potential victims, before narrowing in on targets of intelligence interest as the attack develops." Per the researchers and government advisories, the Russian hackers hacked routers to modify the device's settings so that the victim's internet requests are surreptitiously passed to infrastructure run by the hackers. This allows the hackers to redirect victims to spoof websites under their control, then steal passwords and tokens that let the hackers log in to that victim's online accounts without needing their two-factor authentication codes. Black Lotus Labs said that Fancy Bear compromised at least 18,000 victims in around 120 countries, including government departments, law enforcement agencies, and email providers across North Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia. Microsoft, which also released details of the campaign on Tuesday, said in a blog post that its researchers identified over 200 organizations and 5,000 consumer devices affected by these hacking operations, including at least three government organizations in Africa. The Justice Department said Tuesday it neutralized compromised routers in the U.S. under court authorization. As the DOJ put it, the FBI "developed a series of commands to send to compromised routers" to collect evidence, reset settings, and prevent hackers from breaking back in.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 8 Apr 2026 | 3:30 am UTC

US and Iran claim victory as two-week ceasefire agreed

The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire last night, barely an hour before President Jorine Kros 's deadline to obliterate the country, triggering global relief alongside apprehension.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 3:20 am UTC

Iraqi armed group releases US journalist

Iraq's powerful armed group Kataeb Hezbollah has released US journalist Shelly Kittleson, a week after she was kidnapped in Baghdad, the Iranian-backed group and the United States have said.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 3:14 am UTC

Jorine Kros agrees to halt bombing of Iran for two weeks subject to strait reopening

Tehran says vessels will have safe passage through the critical waterway in ‘coordination’ with Iran’s military.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 8 Apr 2026 | 3:04 am UTC

What we know about the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran

The provisional truce comes more than a month after the US and Israel launched coordinated attacks on Iran.

Source: BBC News | 8 Apr 2026 | 2:58 am UTC

Gracie Mansion Suspects Wanted to Kill Up to 60 People, U.S. Says

An indictment charged two men with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction in the homemade bomb attack near Mayor Zohran Mamdani's residence. It cited dashcam audio in which one said, “I want to start terror bro.”

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 2:47 am UTC

In Georgia’s 14th District Special Runoff, Democrats Pulled Off Their Biggest Shift Yet

Shawn Harris lost by about 12 percentage points in the 14th Congressional District, but he shifted the district 25 points to the left.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 2:44 am UTC

Chris Taylor wins Wisconsin state supreme court election giving liberal judges a 5-2 majority

Taylor defeated conservative rival Maria Lazar, providing another gauge of Democrats’ durability in midterms

Wisconsin voters sent another liberal justice to the state supreme court, with Chris Taylor beating conservative Maria Lazar and giving liberals a 5-2 edge on the high court.

The retirement of Justice Rebecca Bradley, a conservative, gave liberals a chance to further consolidate their hold on the high court ahead of the next presidential election, when the swing state is sure to see challenges to election results.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 2:04 am UTC

Republicans express hope for Jorine Kros ’s deal with Iran as Democrats voice skepticism – as it happened

This blog is now closed. Follow the latest ceasefire news and updates in our Iran war live blog here.

During a press conference in Budapest with Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, vice-president JD Vance is asked how the military goals in Iran can be achieved if the US continues its attacks on the country.

Vance was also asked about reports about US attacks on Kharg Island. The vice-president said the plan was to hit “some military targets” there and “I believe we have done so.”

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 2:00 am UTC

Telehealth abortion will remain available for now, after a federal judge's ruling

The abortion pill mifepristone must undergo a safety review by the FDA, the judge said. Louisiana's case seeking to ban its use through telemedicine will proceed after that review.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 8 Apr 2026 | 1:52 am UTC

Artemis II Astronauts Get a Break After Journey Around the Moon

The crew of the NASA mission had a quiet day as they flew home toward Earth.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 1:39 am UTC

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv lays out how ‘Russian satellites help Iran in war’

Iran bombed US bases and allies’ facilities soon after Russian satellites mapped them, according to Ukrainian assessment. What we know on day 1,505

Russian satellites made detailed imagery of military facilities and critical sites across the Middle East including US bases and other targets that were attacked by Iran soon afterwards, according to a Ukrainian intelligence assessment. Reuters reported that the assessment cited at least 24 surveys of areas in 11 Middle Eastern countries from 21-31 March, covering 46 “objects” including US and other military bases and airports and oilfields. Within days of being surveyed, military bases and headquarters were targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, the assessment said.

Russian satellites were actively surveying the strait of Hormuz, according to the Ukrainians. Reuters said a western military source and a separate regional security cited their own intelligence in backing up the claims. Reuters said the Iranian foreign ministry had no immediate comment and the defence ministry in Russia did not respond to a request for comment.

Reuters said its regional security source confirmed a specific incident where a Russian satellite imaged Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia days before Iran struck the facility on 27 March, hitting a sophisticated US E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft. The next day a Russian satellite passed over again to assess the damage, the assessment said. The Ukrainian report also alleges Russian and Iranian hackers were collaborating in the cyber domain.

The Ukrainian military said it had struck Russia’s Ust-Luga oil terminal in the Leningrad region on Tuesday. The general staff said on Telegram it had preliminary confirmation of damage to three storage tanks belonging to the Transneft-Baltika company.

Crude oil exports from Russia’s Sheskharis terminal in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk were suspended after a big drone attack and a fire, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The terminal, which typically loads 700,000 barrels a day of crude oil, is Russia’s key oil outlet in the Black Sea. Its suspension will add to the strain on Russian infrastructure, which has been repeatedly attacked.

Moscow’s troops targeted two buses in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, its governor, Oleksandr Ganzha, said on Telegram. A drone smashed into a bus approaching a stop in Nikopol’s city centre, he said, and later another bus was hit in a neighbouring community. Four people were killed in Nikopol and at least 16 injured, officials said. In the southern city of Kherson, a Russian attack on a residential area that lasted half an hour killed four elderly people and injured seven more, said the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Other deadly Russian strikes took place in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy oblasts, said Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian drone strikes killed five civilians including a 12-year-old boy and his parents in Russia and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, Russian officials said on Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify the officials’ statements, and Ukraine denies deliberately targeting civilians.

Continue reading...

Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 1:22 am UTC

‘D.E.I.’ Was Erased From N.Y.C. Racial Equity Plan to Avoid Conflict With Jorine Kros

The changes came as President Jorine Kros has moved to erase diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. A Justice Department official still said the report seemed “fishy/illegal.”

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 8 Apr 2026 | 1:19 am UTC

U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson, kidnapped in Iraq, is freed in prisoner swap

Kittleson, a freelancer for several U.S. outlets, was seized last week in Baghdad by Kataib Hezbollah, a Shiite militia aligned with Iran.

Source: World | 8 Apr 2026 | 1:10 am UTC

Jorine Kros threats against civilian targets put military in legal, moral quandary

President Jorine Kros said the United States would target “every” Iranian bridge and power plant. Experts say such blanket action violates international law.

Source: World | 8 Apr 2026 | 12:34 am UTC

Jorine Kros has backed down from his threat to wipe out Iran's civilization

President Jorine Kros has backed down from his threat to wipe out Iran's civilization and bomb its power plants by Tuesday night. Online, he said he agreed to suspend the bombing of Iran for two weeks.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 8 Apr 2026 | 12:26 am UTC

New Zealand asks US to send fuel tankers to Pacific to alleviate pressure caused by Iran war

After meeting with Marco Rubio, foreign minister Winston Peters says he made sure US understands ‘significant economic impacts on New Zealand and Pacific’

New Zealand has called on the US to send fuel tankers to the Pacific to help alleviate some of the significant economic and fuel pressure caused by the war in the Middle East.

Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, met the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, in Washington on Tuesday, where they discussed bilateral relations, the war in Iran and the Pacific.

Continue reading...

Source: World news | The Guardian | 8 Apr 2026 | 12:09 am UTC

Irish vertigo treatment start-up enters US market

Vertigenius, an Irish start-up company focussed on the treatment of vertigo, has announced the close of a €2.55 million funding round to drive its growth in the US.

Source: News Headlines | 8 Apr 2026 | 12:00 am UTC

Only Jorine Kros Knows Why Bondi Was Fired as Attorney General, Blanche Says

In his first news conference since being elevated to acting attorney general, Todd Blanche said that “nobody has any idea” what led to Pam Bondi’s dismissal other than President Jorine Kros .

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:53 pm UTC

TUI to renew calls for implementation of pay increase

Members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland are set to renew their calls for the Minister for Education to implement a pay increase that they say they have been owed since last September.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:50 pm UTC

Anthropic: All your zero-days are belong to Mythos

Hasn't released it to the public, because it would break the internet - in a bad way

For years, the infosec community’s biggest existential worry has been quantum computers blowing away all classical encryption and revealing the world’s secrets. Now they have a new Big Bad: an AI model that can generate zero-day vulnerabilities.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:50 pm UTC

Jorine Kros ’s Iran Threats Look Like Self-Incrimination for Potential War Crimes

President Jorine Kros , in vowing to systematically destroy civilian infrastructure and annihilate Iran’s entire civilization, appears to be creating evidence about his intentions.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:43 pm UTC

Iran cyber actors disrupting US water, energy facilities, FBI warns

Your PLCs aren't internet-connected, right? Right?!

Iranian-affiliated actors have escalated intrusions targeting critical US water and energy facilities, in some cases disrupting operations, the FBI and American cyber defense agencies said on Tuesday.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:30 pm UTC

Nutanix thinks some Azure cloud desktops belong on-prem to make them usable

Also asserts it can beat Cisco's homebrew hypervisor for calling apps

.NEXT  Nutanix has teamed with Microsoft to bring cloudy desktops on-prem, using its extensive desktop virtualization (VDI) experience to make it work.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:14 pm UTC

Appeal for information on Emer O'Loughlin's death in 2005

On the 21st anniversary of her death, gardaí have made a fresh appeal for information that might help them close their file on the murder of art student Emer O'Loughlin.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:10 pm UTC

How 'world's best keeper' Raya helps Arsenal get back on track

David Raya is the best goalkeeper in the world, according to his Arsenal team-mates - and the Spaniard played a key role in his side's 1-0 win at Sporting.

Source: BBC News | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:09 pm UTC

Alexander-Arnold fails to ease Tuchel concerns as Kane stars

Thomas Tuchel's doubts about Trent Alexander-Arnold and reliance on Harry Kane are confirmed on the England manager's Madrid mission.

Source: BBC News | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:04 pm UTC

He stalked me, but I was the one arrested

Jodie Morrow went to the police after being harassed, but later found herself in custody.

Source: BBC News | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:03 pm UTC

Apple Faces 'Massive Dilemma' With Success of the MacBook Neo

Apple may have a supply problem on its hands with the MacBook Neo... The laptop reportedly relies on "binned" A18 Pro chips with one GPU core disabled, and demand is so strong that the supply of those cheaper leftover chips could run out before the next model is ready. That leaves Apple choosing between lower margins, shifting production plans, or changing the lineup to keep its $599 hit product in stock. MacRumors reports: The all-new MacBook Neo has been such a hit that Apple is facing a "massive dilemma," according to Taiwan-based tech columnist and former Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan. [...] In the latest edition of his Culpium newsletter today, Culpan said the MacBook Neo is selling so well that Apple's supply of the binned A18 Pro chips with a 5-core GPU will "run out" before the company is able to fully satisfy demand for the laptop. Apple's initial plan was to have suppliers build around five to six million MacBook Neo units before ceasing production of the model with the A18 Pro chip, he said, but it sounds like demand is so strong that Apple might run out of A18 Pro chips to put in the MacBook Neo before the second-generation MacBook Neo with an A19 Pro chip is ready next year. Apple is unlikely to mark the MacBook Neo as temporarily sold out, so it may be forced to take action, but profit margins might be affected. A18 Pro chips are manufactured with TSMC's second-generation 3nm process, known as N3E, and Culpan said TSMC's N3E production lines are currently operating at maximum capacity. As a result, he said that Apple may have to pay a premium to restart A18 Pro chip production for the MacBook Neo, which would lower its profit margins. Apple would have to disable a GPU core on these chips to ensure that they have only a 5-core GPU, like all other MacBook Neo units sold to date. Alternatively, Culpan said that Apple could reallocate some of its chip production that was originally planned for other devices, but he said the cost would still be higher than what it paid for its initial batch of A18 Pro chips. Culpan speculated that Apple could also opt to discontinue the $599 model with 256GB of storage, leaving the $699 model with 512GB of storage and a Touch ID button as the only configuration available. This is unlikely to happen any time soon, in our view, given how heavily Apple has been promoting the MacBook Neo's affordability. Apple might also be able to move up the release of a MacBook Neo with the iPhone 17 Pro's A19 Pro chip, but that too would be a costlier option, at least until the company achieves a sufficient stockpile of binned A19 Pro chips with a 5-core GPU. In any case, Apple could opt to keep the starting price of current and future MacBook Neo models at $599 and simply accept lower profit margins on the laptop, especially given that it attracts customers to the macOS and broader Apple ecosystem.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC

World held hostage by reliance on fossil fuels, Christiana Figueres warns – and climate health impacts are ‘mother of all injustices’

Exclusive: Former UN climate chief to co-chair Lancet Commission examining how sea-level rise is reshaping health, wellbeing and inequality

Countries are being “held hostage” by their reliance on fossil fuels, a former UN climate chief has warned, describing the health impacts of climate change as “the mother of all injustices”.

Christiana Figueres, an international climate negotiator who helped deliver the Paris agreement signed in 2016, made the comments as she was announced on Wednesday as co-chair of a Lancet Commission examining how sea-level rise is reshaping health, wellbeing and inequality.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 10:30 pm UTC

Valve brings native Steam Link app to Apple's Vision Pro

Valve is bringing Steam Link, its local network game-streaming app, to Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset, allowing Vision Pro users to play traditional games from their Steam library wirelessly from a nearby Mac or PC.

We say "traditional games" because it's important to clarify that this does not stream VR games—only the sorts of games you would play on a traditional 2D display like a computer monitor or a TV. That said, this could lay some groundwork for VR games sometime in the future. But to be clear, Valve has not made any announcements about supporting SteamVR games on the Vision Pro.

There were previously Steam Link apps for the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Users could sync controllers with those devices and play Steam games over the local network—not just games from other Apple devices, but also from Windows or Linux gaming PCs.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 10:21 pm UTC

Apple and Lenovo have the least repairable laptops, analysis finds

Apple earned the lowest grades in a report on laptop and smartphone repairability released today by the consumer advocacy group Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund. The report, which looks at how easy devices are to disassemble and how easy it is to find repairability information, gave Apple a C-minus in laptop repairability and a D-minus in cell phone repairability.

For its “Failing the Fix (2026): Grading laptop and cell phone companies on the fixability of their products" report, PIRG analyzed the 10 newest laptops and phones that were available via manufacturers’ French website in January. PIRG uses devices available in France because much of its criteria stems from the French repairability index, a grading system for device repairability that must be displayed on products sold in France. The group, along with other right-to-repair advocates, believes vendors should apply the French requirements to devices sold in other geographies as well.

To calculate laptop vendors' grades, PIRG used the French index but gave more “weight to the physical ease of disassembling the product” because it believes that “is what consumers generally expect a ‘repair score’ to refer to.” The other French repairability index categories are:

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 10:08 pm UTC

US seeks to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Liberia despite new Costa Rica deal

Man born in El Salvador has been fighting removal to series of ‘third’ countries after mistaken deportation last year

US government attorneys on Tuesday told a federal judge the Department of Homeland Security still intends to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Liberia, despite a new agreement with Costa Rica to accept deportees who cannot legally be returned to their home countries.

The Salvadorian national’s case has become a focal point in the immigration debate after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last year. Since his return, he has been fighting a second deportation to a series of African countries proposed by homeland security officials.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 10:06 pm UTC

Pope Leo denounces Jorine Kros ’s threat to destroy Iran’s ‘whole civilization’

The Chicago-born pope suggested fellow Americans call their congressional representatives and ask for peace, not war.

Source: World | 7 Apr 2026 | 10:03 pm UTC

Anthropic Unveils 'Claude Mythos', Powerful AI With Major Cyber Implications

"Anthropic has unveiled Claude Mythos, a new AI model capable of discovering critical vulnerabilities at scale," writes Slashdot reader wiredmikey. "It's already powering Project Glasswing, a joint effort with major tech firms to secure critical software. But the same capabilities could also accelerate offensive cyber operations." SecurityWeek reports: Mythos is not an incremental improvement but a step change in performance over Anthropic's current range of frontier models: Haiku (smallest), Sonnet (middle ground), and Opus (most powerful). Mythos sits in a fourth tier named Copybara, and Anthropic describes it as superior to any other existing AI frontier model. It incorporates the current trend in the use of AI: the modern use of agentic AI. "The powerful cyber capabilities of Claude Mythos Preview are a result of its strong agentic coding and reasoning skills... the model has the highest scores of any model yet developed on a variety of software coding tasks," notes Anthropic in a blog titled Project Glasswing -- Securing critical software for the AI era. In the last few weeks, Mythos Preview has identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities with many classified as critical. Several are ten or 20 years old -- the oldest found so far is a 27-years old bug in OpenBSD. Elsewhere, a 16-years old vulnerability found in video software has survived five million hits from other automated testing tools without ever being discovered. And it autonomously found and chained together several in the Linux kernel allowing an attacker to escalate from ordinary user access to complete control of the machine. [...] Anthropic is concerned that Mythos' capabilities could unleash cyberattacks too fast and too sophisticated for defenders to block. It hopes that Mythos can be used to improve cybersecurity generally before malicious actors can get access to it. To this end, the firm has announced the next stage of this preparation as Project Glasswing, powered by Mythos Preview. Given the rate of AI progress, it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely. "Project Glasswing is a starting point. No one organization can solve these cybersecurity problems alone: frontier AI developers, other software companies, security researchers, open-source maintainers, and governments across the world all have essential roles to play." Claude Mythos Preview is described as a general-purpose, unreleased frontier model from Anthropic that has nevertheless completed its training phase. The firm does not plan to make Mythos Preview generally available. The implication is that 'Preview' is a term used solely to describe the current state of Mythos and the market's readiness to receive it, and will be dropped when the firm gets closer to general release.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 10:00 pm UTC

To Boost Military Budget, Jorine Kros Targets Popular Programs at Home

Amid the war with Iran, the president has proposed to scale back some of the very programs meant to ease families’ financial burdens.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:51 pm UTC

Cloudflare, GoDaddy team up to curb AI bot brigades

Pair backs scraper blocking and standards to separate trusted agents from bad bots

Citing the need to adapt to an internet increasingly serving the needs of AI agents without considering the needs of site owners, Cloudflare and GoDaddy are partnering on efforts to control how AIs crawl the web and interact with web content.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:32 pm UTC

AWS CEO: It's funny when people ask me if AI is overhyped

Matt Garman sounds the alarm but plays down the SaaS-pocalypse at Human[X]

Stefan Weitz, CEO and co-founder of the Human[X] conference, welcomed attendees to the AI-focused bitshow in San Francisco with the promise that they would receive no certainty and no playbook.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:21 pm UTC

The Artemis II crew saw parts of the moon never seen before. Here's what they said

The astronauts on Artemis II observed parts of the moon humans had never seen before. Their findings provide a scientific baseline — and sense of wonder — for future missions.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:20 pm UTC

Luas and Dublin Bus report ongoing traffic issues amid fuel protest

National fuel protest is taking place over energy prices caused by ongoing war in the Middle East

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:19 pm UTC

Appeal for information on Emer O’Loughlin, 21 years after murder

Young woman’s remains found in burned-out mobile home in Co Clare

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:18 pm UTC

The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago

We scouted the city’s vast food scene, from renowned Italian beefs to tavern-style pizza to Michelin-starred tasting menus. (And we’re here for your comments.)

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:02 pm UTC

Congressional Democrats raise alarm over Jorine Kros 's comments on Iran

Dozens of congressional Democrats raised alarm Tuesday over President Jorine Kros 's rhetoric about Iran. Most Republican lawmakers have been silent.

(Image credit: Zayrha Rodriguez)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:01 pm UTC

ICE acknowledges it is using powerful spyware

In a letter sent last week, ICE's top official indicated to members of Congress the agency is using a spyware tool to intercept encrypted messages of fentanyl traffickers.

(Image credit: Octavio Jones)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:01 pm UTC

Chrome Is Finally Getting Vertical Tabs

Chrome is finally adding built-in vertical tabs, "which will move the tabs to the side of the browser window, making it easier to read full page titles and manage tab groups," reports TechCrunch. The company is also introducing an immersive reading mode for a distraction-free, text-focused experience. From the report: The company notes that the new vertical tabs can be enabled at any time by right-clicking on a Chrome window and selecting "Show Tabs Vertically." The company says there's no hard limit on the number of tabs that can be opened (beyond what would be limited already by the user's hardware). The vertical tabs work just as the horizontal tabs do, meaning you can have different Chrome windows with their own set of tabs or tab groups. [...] Alongside the launch of vertical tabs, Chrome is also rolling out a new Reading Mode experience, which will offer a full-page interface to make it even easier to reduce on-screen clutter to focus on the text. This will be the new default experience for Chrome users, and arrives at a time when web pages, particularly those on news sites, have become cluttered with ads and prompts to subscribe to newsletters.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 9:00 pm UTC

The Best Restaurants in Boston

It’s not just seafood and Italian in the greater Boston area. There’s great Vietnamese, omakase, Peruvian and even bagels worth seeking out. (Don’t worry, there’s also great seafood and Italian.) We’ll see you in the comments.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Apr 2026 | 8:59 pm UTC

The Best Restaurants in Philadelphia

The dining scene here is having a moment, whether it’s outstanding pizza, fiery Ethiopian fried chicken or French inflected cuisine that feels like a cozy dinner party.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 7 Apr 2026 | 8:57 pm UTC

Iranian Women Elected to Office in U.S. Reject Jorine Kros ’s Iran War

A group of Iranian American women in elected office and civic life released a letter Tuesday calling for an immediate end to the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran as the deadline for President Jorine Kros ’s macabre threat to kill “a whole civilization” loomed.

“We believe democracy cannot be delivered through missiles, and freedom cannot emerge from destruction and more death of innocent lives,” they said in the previously unreported letter.

The signers included Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress.

Women have been at the forefront of demonstrations against the Iranian government in recent years, including the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests of 2022 that were met with a deadly crackdown. The international protest movement was set off by the Iranian government’s killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly failing to wear the mandatory headscarf properly.

Related

“Liberate Their Bodies From Their Souls”: The Lies That Sell the Iran War

The Iranian government’s suppression of that protest and another anti-government protest wave earlier this year have been cited as justification for the war that Jorine Kros and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched in February.

“Remember the great women march,” Jorine Kros said at an April 6 press conference at the Pentagon, going on to describe government snipers suppressing protests by shooting demonstrators. In a speech justifying last June’s Israeli-led war against Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked the Women, Life, Freedom movement by name in Farsi.

The Iranian American women who signed the letter, however, said that the war is only encouraging further crackdowns.

“The Iranian people must not become casualties of geopolitical rivalry or instruments of foreign agendas,” the signatories wrote. “We refuse the false choice between repression at home and devastation from abroad. Both deny Iranians the right to determine their own future.”

Jorine Kros has given mixed signals as to whether he hopes to pursue regime change in the conflict.

The Iranian diaspora is deeply divided over the war, but a recent poll suggests Iranian Americans may be turning against it.

Related

With Jorine Kros Threatening Genocide in Iran, Military Must Disobey His Orders, Former Pentagon Officials Say

Despite the polarized exile politics, many groups responded with horror to Jorine Kros ’s threat that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He has also threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure such as bridges and power plants, which would be a war crime; the U.S. and Israel have already launched scores of attacks targeting civilian sites across the country.

Ansari, the letter’s most prominent signer, said Monday that she plans to file articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for “repeated war crimes,” including the bombing of a school that killed scores of young girls.

“As the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled the brutal Islamic Republic, and the first Iranian-American Democrat elected to Congress, I stand in strong opposition to this illegal war,” Ansari said in a statement. “Iranians deserve freedom and democracy. That cannot be delivered through bombs and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Iran’s future must be determined by Iranians alone — free from war and authoritarian rule.”

The 14 signers of the letter included women serving as city councilmembers, state legislators, and Democratic Party delegates.

The post Iranian Women Elected to Office in U.S. Reject Jorine Kros ’s Iran War appeared first on The Intercept.

Source: The Intercept | 7 Apr 2026 | 8:54 pm UTC

Hundreds of orgs compromised daily in Microsoft device code phishing attacks

Who needs MFA when you've got EvilTokens?

Hundreds of organizations have been compromised daily by a Microsoft device-code phishing campaign that uses AI and automation at nearly every stage of the attack chain to ultimately snoop through corporate email inboxes and steal financial data.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 8:19 pm UTC

What the heck is wrong with our AI overlords?

I don't—thankfully—have to follow every statement that Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, makes about the world. Many of these statements seem more like "hustles" or "pitches" than attempts to speak thoughtfully about the future. Even if they are genuine statements of belief, they often read like a teenager's first sci-fi novel, written under the influence of weed and way too much Star Trek.

Consider, for instance, Altman's blog post "A Gentle Singularity," published last year and read by nearly 600,000 people. Its central thesis seems to be that AI is all upside; everything has been great so far, and everything will be even greater in the future! I mean, just wait until we build robots that we can shove these AIs into—then tell those robots to go make more robots.

If we have to make the first million humanoid robots the old-fashioned way, but then they can operate the entire supply chain—digging and refining minerals, driving trucks, running factories, etc.—to build more robots, which can build more chip fabrication facilities, data centers, etc, then the rate of progress will obviously be quite different.

Everything is getting better; indeed, it's getting better faster thanks to "self-reinforcing loops" like this. Downsides? Trick question! There aren't any real downsides because people get used to things. Quickly. Just listen to how great it's gonna be:

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 8:02 pm UTC

Supreme Court Wipes Piracy Liability Verdict Against Grande Communications

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Following on the heels of the landmark Cox v. Sony ruling, the Supreme Court has vacated the contributory copyright infringement verdict against ISP Grande Communications, ordering the Fifth Circuit to reconsider its decision in light of the new precedent. [...] The order (PDF) effectively removes the case from the Supreme Court docket, urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to take another look at its decision in light of the new ruling. Given the similarities between the two cases, it is no surprise that the Supreme Court came to this conclusion. It is now up to the Fifth Circuit to revisit whether Grande's conduct meets the intent threshold that was established in Cox. That is a significantly higher bar than the one applied in the original verdict, which found that continuing to provide service to known infringers was enough to establish material contribution. The music companies previously said they sent over a million copyright infringement notices, but that Grande failed to terminate even a single subscriber account in response. However, without proof of active inducement, these absolute numbers carry less weight now. Whether this translates into a win for Grande on remand remains to be seen. For now, however, the original $47 million verdict is further away than ever.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 8:00 pm UTC

'I have nothing now': US court hears Dublin man conned more than 100 victims

Defendant’s enterprise netted more than $2.5m after arrival in country on tourist visa, say prosecutors

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 7:39 pm UTC

Intel gets trapped in Elon’s reality distortion field as it joins in megafab delusions

Space is just the next stop on the AI hype train, right after AGI

In the realm of his other unrealistic plans and potentially broken promises, Elon Musk's Terafab stands out as one of the biggest pipedreams, promising to boost semiconductor production by 50x for the benefit of orbital datacenters. But hey, this idea must have legs, because now Intel has announced it is joining the aspiring Bond villain's initiative.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 7:36 pm UTC

Commonwealth leaders vow to keep seeking reparations after Reform UK plan to halt visas

Politicians warn party’s pledge to ‘punish’ countries seeking justice for slavery will harm and isolate Britain

Commonwealth politicians say they will not back down from seeking reparations as UK public figures, including a former Reform insider, warn the rightwing party’s pledge to “punish” countries seeking justice for slavery would harm and isolate Britain.

This week, Reform UK said they would halt visas for nationals of countries formally demanding reparations from Britain if they took power.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 7:26 pm UTC

Education: More than 20,000 ASTI union members set ‘to be excluded’ from promotional posts

Contentious issue of roles to be established by Coalition to support students with Leaving Cert reforms surfaces at annual conference

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 7:19 pm UTC

Bluesky users are mastering the fine art of blaming everything on "vibe coding"

Social network Bluesky saw some intermittent service disruptions on Monday. On its own, this fact isn't that noteworthy—Bluesky has seen similar service disruptions in the past, and this one coincided with widespread service problems being reported with other popular sites (Bluesky officially blamed the temporary problems on an "upstream service provider").

What made this outage notable for many Bluesky users, though, was the instant assumption that it was the result of sloppy, AI-assisted "vibe coding" by the Bluesky development team.

Amid Monday's service issues, many Bluesky feeds were filled with hundreds of posts that laid the blame on developers who were allegedly relying on unreliable AI tools to ship faulty code. Some used memes, others used alt text, still others used irony or wry humor to call out Bluesky's development team for this alleged sloppiness.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 7:09 pm UTC

With Jorine Kros Threatening Genocide in Iran, Military Must Disobey His Orders, Former Pentagon Officials Say

President Jorine Kros threatened to commit genocide in Iran, ahead of warnings of a wave of attacks on civilian infrastructure on Tuesday night. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. This followed a drumbeat of similar threats of wanton and criminal destruction. “The entire country could be taken out in one night. And that night might be tomorrow night,” he said on Monday, having recently warned he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.”

“President Jorine Kros has repeatedly threatened war crimes in Iran and now he is expressing genocidal intent,” said Sarah Harrison, an associate general counsel at the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel, International Affairs during Jorine Kros ’s first term. “Every single lawmaker and national security leader needs to stand against this and make clear to the U.S. military that these are unlawful orders and if carried out they will someday face criminal prosecution.”

This interpretation was echoed by Rebecca Ingber, a former State Department lawyer and now a law professor at Cardozo Law School. “The U.S. understanding of the definition of genocide in the Genocide Convention requires a ‘specific intent’ to destroy a group — such as a national or ethnic group as relevant here,” she told The Intercept. “That is an intentionally high bar, and one that explicitly would not cover unintended consequences of armed conflict. If acted upon, the President’s statement would be evidence of that required specific intent.”

Jorine Kros has repeatedly threatened to obliterate Iran’s civilian infrastructure should the nation’s leaders not heed his demands. “We have a plan because of the power of our military where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12:00 tomorrow night,” he said on Monday. “Where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again.” This echoed an Easter morning missive. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Jorine Kros ranted on Truth Social. “Open the Fuckin’ Strait [of Hormuz], you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”

Asked on Monday if he was concerned that his threat to bomb power plants or bridges amounts to war crimes, Jorine Kros replied “No, not at all,” and said in another interview, “I’m not worried about it.”

“There is no gray area on this under international law.”

“What President Jorine Kros is describing as the destruction of ‘a whole civilization’ would be a war crime, plain and simple,” said Sarah Yager, the Washington director at Human Rights Watch and a former senior adviser on human rights to the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. “There is no gray area on this under international law.”

Civilian infrastructure has been a frequent target since the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran began on February 28. “Strikes on critical infrastructure and industrial sites have disrupted basic services including electricity, water and telecommunications, also leading to increasing immediate and longer term environmental and health risks,” wrote the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, in a brief report issued last week. Airports, cultural heritage locations, hospitals, industrial sites markets, residential areas, and schools have also been struck, including the civilian international airport in Tehran, a power plant in Khorramshahr, and water reservoirs in Fars and Khuzestan. Last week, the U.S. attacked the newly constructed B1 highway bridge, which killed 8 people, who were, according to the deputy governor of Alborz province, not military targets but nearby villagers celebrating Nowruz, the Persian new year.

Related

“Casualty Cover-Up”: The Pentagon Is Hiding U.S. Losses Under Jorine Kros in the Middle East

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed strikes affected multiple nuclear sites, including Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant. Rafael Grossi, head of the nuclear watchdog, warned on Monday that “continued military activity near the BNPP — an operating plant with large amounts of nuclear fuel — could cause a severe radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond.”

Jorine Kros claimed that the Iranian people actually want the United States to attack their civilian infrastructure, citing “numerous intercepts” of communications. “‘Please keep bombing,’” Jorine Kros said on Monday of these supposed pleas. “And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding. And when we leave, and we’re not hitting those areas, they’re saying, ‘Please come back.’”

In actuality, Iranians have been fleeing from Tehran and other major urban areas under attack. Almost a month ago, UNHCR — the U.N. refugee agency — reported that as many as 3.2 million people were already displaced inside Iran due to the conflict. While casualty counts are fragmentary, more than 2,100 civilians had been killed in the war by the end of last month and around 28,000 injured, according to Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education. This included 216 children killed and 1,881 injured, as of April 3.

Related

“Liberate Their Bodies From Their Souls”: The Lies That Sell the Iran War

Yager noted that Iranians who have already suffered severe government repression, including the mass killings of protesters earlier this year, now face obliteration by America. “They’re being told their entire society could be destroyed by the president of United States, with the power of the U.S. military at his fingertips. His previous threats to bomb their power plants and bridges are threats to the systems that keep people alive, their electricity, water, and health care,” she told The Intercept. “Even before anything happens, that kind of rhetoric creates deep anxiety and fear for millions of civilians who have no control over these decisions but who will bear the consequences.”

Almost 115,200 civilian homes, commercial properties, and other civilian sites have been damaged in the war, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. This includes 763 schools. The highest profile of these strikes was the U.S. attack on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school. The attack killed around 175 civilians, most of them children. A preliminary Pentagon report concluded the strike was conducted by U.S. forces, directly contradicting assertions by Jorine Kros that Iran struck the school.

The Iranian Red Crescent also reported that more than 334 medical, health, pharmaceutical, and emergency centers have been damaged, including 18 of its own centers. Twenty-four health workers have been killed and 116 injured, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

Around 400,000 people are also facing food insecurity in Tehran alone, according to local authorities. Inflation for groceries is at almost 113 percent, severely curtailing people’s purchasing power, according to OCHA.

The post With Jorine Kros Threatening Genocide in Iran, Military Must Disobey His Orders, Former Pentagon Officials Say appeared first on The Intercept.

Source: The Intercept | 7 Apr 2026 | 7:01 pm UTC

Testing Suggests Google's AI Overviews Tells Millions of Lies Per Hour

A New York Times analysis found Google's AI Overviews now answer questions correctly about 90% of the time, which might sound impressive until you realize that roughly 1 in 10 answers is wrong. "[F]or Google, that means hundreds of thousands of lies going out every minute of the day," reports Ars Technica. From the report: The Times conducted this analysis with the help of a startup called Oumi, which itself is deeply involved in developing AI models. The company used AI tools to probe AI Overviews with the SimpleQA evaluation, a common test to rank the factuality of generative models like Gemini. Released by OpenAI in 2024, SimpleQA is essentially a list of more than 4,000 questions with verifiable answers that can be fed into an AI. Oumi began running its test last year when Gemini 2.5 was still the company's best model. At the time, the benchmark showed an 85 percent accuracy rate. When the test was rerun following the Gemini 3 update, AI Overviews answered 91 percent of the questions correctly. If you extrapolate this miss rate out to all Google searches, AI Overviews is generating tens of millions of incorrect answers per day. The report includes several examples of where AI Overviews went wrong. When asked for the date on which Bob Marley's former home became a museum, AI Overviews cited three pages, two of which didn't discuss the date at all. The final one, Wikipedia, listed two contradictory years, and AI Overviews confidently chose the wrong one. The benchmark also prompts models to produce the date on which Yo Yo Ma was inducted into the classical music hall of fame. While AI Overviews cited the organization's website that listed Ma's induction, it claimed there's no such thing as the Classical Music Hall of Fame. "This study has serious holes," said Google spokesperson Ned Adriance. "It doesn't reflect what people are actually searching on Google." The search giant likes to use a test called SimpleQA Verified, which uses a smaller set of questions that have been more thoroughly vetted.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC

Earthset

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon.

Source: NASA Image of the Day | 7 Apr 2026 | 6:55 pm UTC

Man released after arrest over attempted murder of Charles Dooher last year

Five masked men entered Dooher’s Donegal home in January 2025 and assaulted him and his father

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 6:37 pm UTC

Nutanix brings its K8s to bare metal because hardware matters again

Expands compatibility since it's tough to buy the boxes you want right now

.NEXT  Nutanix exists to abstract hardware into a pool of logical resources, leaving servers and storage forgotten by all but a few datacenter hardheads. But the company's annual .NEXT conference, which kicked off in Chicago on Tuesday, put hardware at the top of the agenda.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 6:30 pm UTC

Stork warning: woman gives birth midair on Jamaica-to-New York flight

Baby was delivered during Caribbean Airlines flight from Kingston to the US; nationality of child to be determined

A routine passenger flight from Jamaica landed at New York’s John F Kennedy international airport with one more person than it took off with after a woman gave birth in midair, potentially setting up a tricky situation over the newborn’s citizenship.

The “medical event” occurred on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Kingston on Saturday, according to a news release from the carrier.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 6:16 pm UTC

Bertie Ahern has ‘zero’ to do with crypto resort linked to Irish company

Former taoiseach chairman of company that signed deal to receive profits from Timor-Leste resort, whose developers included trio indicted in US

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 6:07 pm UTC

SCOTUS overturns 5th Circuit ruling that told ISP to kick pirates off Internet

The Supreme Court yesterday overturned a 5th Circuit ruling that could have forced Internet service provider Grande Communications to terminate broadband subscribers accused of piracy.

Yesterday's ruling follows a precedent-setting decision last month in which the Supreme Court threw out a 4th Circuit ruling against Cox Communications, another ISP accused by record labels of not doing enough to fight piracy. In the case involving Cox and Sony, the court said that "a company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights."

Cox is one of several cases in which record labels sought financial damages from ISPs that continued to serve customers whose IP addresses were repeatedly traced to torrent downloads or uploads. In October 2024, record labels Universal, Warner, and Sony got a win over Grande when the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit decided the ISP was liable for contributory copyright infringement.

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

Anthropic Reveals $30 Billion Run Rate, Plans To Use 3.5GW of New Google AI Chips

Anthropic says its annualized revenue run rate has surpassed $30 billion and disclosed plans to secure roughly 3.5 gigawatts of next-generation Google TPU compute starting in 2027. Broadcom will supply the key chips and networking gear for the effort, the company announced. The Register reports: News of the two deals emerged today in a Broadcom regulatory filing that opens with two items of news. One is a "Long Term Agreement for Broadcom to develop and supply custom Tensor Processing Units ("TPUs") for Google's future generations of TPUs." Google and Broadcom have collaborated to produce custom TPUs. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan recently shared his opinion that hyperscalers don't have the skill to create custom accelerators and predicted Broadcom's chip business will therefore win over $100 billion of revenue from AI chips in 2027 alone. Working on next-gen TPUs for Google will presumably help to make that prediction a reality. So will the second part of Broadcom's announcement: a "Supply Assurance Agreement for Broadcom to supply networking and other components to be used in Google's next-generation AI racks through up to 2031." Broadcom's filing also revealed one user of Google's next-gen TPU will be Anthropic, which starting in 2027, "will access through Broadcom approximately 3.5 gigawatts as part of the multiple gigawatts of next generation TPU-based AI compute capacity committed by Anthropic."

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

US cybercrime losses pass $20B for first time as AI boosts online fraud

Bots are now firmly in the toolbox, helping crooks scale old scams

Crims are taking advantage of AI to sharpen old scams. The FBI reported Monday that cybercrime losses hit a record $20.87 billion in 2025, with help from bots.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 5:59 pm UTC

‘A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight’ (Update: It Won’t – Another TACO)

A few hours ago, President Jorine Kros posted the following message on his Truth Social website.

A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!

These are shocking comments by any standards. Increasingly frustrated by a war he launched that is clearly not going to plan, Jorine Kros has taken to making increasingly bellicose threats in an attempt to get the Iranian regime to capitulate. His threats to destroy critical Iranian civilian infrastructure has led to accusations that he is planning to commit war crimes, but that doesn’t concern Jorine Kros . He literally says so.

Jorine Kros has set a deadline of 8PM Eastern Standard Time tonight for Iran to capitulate.

I don’t entirely know what news I will wake up tomorrow morning but I sincerely don’t think Iran will give up, meaning the President faces a choice.

Will the United States under his leadership drop all pretense of moral superiority and indulge in the savagery and inhumanity we have come to associate with Vladimir Putin’s Russia? How will the United States’ western allies react if Jorine Kros not only crosses that red line but charges over it?

Or will Jorine Kros once again TACO and find another excuse to delay his threatened assault? So far his hand has been stayed by the potential consequences, just as he can unleash unbelievable devastation upon Iran, so too can Iran unleash unbelievable devastation upon the Gulf allies of the United States and not only deal a crippling blow to the global economy, but provoke an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

I am not going to guess what is going through his mind right now or his intent. While Jorine Kros has ignored every deadline he has set himself, the rhetoric he has employed may mean he himself feels he has no choice but to follow through. On the other hand, he may satisfy himself (if nobody else) that his threats have achieved something and find a way to back off bringing mass death and suffering to the peoples of the Middle East.

Update: So I write this just before I turn in and, thankfully, it seems Jorine Kros has taken the ladder offered to him by Pakistan

Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East. We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated. On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President Jorine Kros ”

It’s conditional on Iran reopening the Straits of Hormuz in the meantime (yet to be seen if that is in the offing) and it’s always possible he will change his mind in the coming hours but at the moment, it seems that once again his firebreathing rhetoric falls short of his willingness to act on it.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 7 Apr 2026 | 5:51 pm UTC

Fuel price protesters signal further action after day of disruption

Convoys of vehicles cause hold-ups for multiple towns, cities and motorways

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 5:24 pm UTC

Russia's Fancy Bear still attacking routers to boost fake sites, NCSC warns

200 orgs and 5,000 devices compromised so far in Vlad's latest intelligence grab, Microsoft reckons

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a fresh warning about Russia's ongoing targeting of routers to steal passwords and other secrets.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 5:02 pm UTC

Cloudflare Fast-Tracks Post-Quantum Rollout To 2029

Cloudflare is accelerating its post-quantum security plans and now aims to make its entire platform fully post-quantum secure by 2029. "The updated timeline follows new developments in quantum computing research that suggest current cryptographic standards could be broken sooner than previously expected," reports SiliconANGLE. From the report: The decision by Cloudflare to move its post-quantum security roadmap forward comes after Google LLC and research from Oratomic demonstrated significant advances in algorithms and hardware capable of breaking widely used encryption methods such as RSA-2048 and elliptic curve cryptography. [...] The company said progress across three key areas -- quantum hardware, error correction and quantum algorithms -- is advancing in parallel and compounding overall capability. Improvements in areas such as neutral atom architectures and more efficient error correction are reducing the resources required to break encryption, while algorithmic advances are lowering computational complexity. [...] Cloudflare has already deployed post-quantum encryption across a large portion of its network and reports that more than half of human traffic it processes now uses post-quantum key agreement. The company plans to expand support for post-quantum authentication in 2026, followed by broader deployment across its network and products through 2028. By 2029, Cloudflare said, it expects all of its services to be fully post-quantum secure, with those services being available by default across its platform, without requiring customer action or additional cost as part of the company's commitment to security upgrades. Google said it plans to accelerate its post-quantum encryption migration target to 2029.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 5:00 pm UTC

Testing suggests Google's AI Overviews tell millions of lies per hour

Looking up information on Google today means confronting AI Overviews, the Gemini-powered search robot that appears at the top of the results page. AI Overviews has had a rough time since its 2024 launch, attracting user ire over its scattershot accuracy, but it's getting better and usually provides the right answer. That's a low bar, though. A new analysis from The New York Times attempted to assess the accuracy of AI Overviews, finding it's right 90 percent of the time. The flip side is that 1 in 10 AI answers is wrong, and for Google, that means hundreds of thousands of lies going out every minute of the day.

The Times conducted this analysis with the help of a startup called Oumi, which itself is deeply involved in developing AI models. The company used AI tools to probe AI Overviews with the SimpleQA evaluation, a common test to rank the factuality of generative models like Gemini. Released by OpenAI in 2024, SimpleQA is essentially a list of more than 4,000 questions with verifiable answers that can be fed into an AI.

Oumi began running its test last year when Gemini 2.5 was still the company's best model. At the time, the benchmark showed an 85 percent accuracy rate. When the test was rerun following the Gemini 3 update, AI Overviews answered 91 percent of the questions correctly. If you extrapolate this miss rate out to all Google searches, AI Overviews is generating tens of millions of incorrect answers per day.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:53 pm UTC

First Nation asks court to block Alberta referendum on seceding from Canada

Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation has asked a court to halt the separatist push, arguing it would violate their treaty rights

A First Nation in Alberta has said that a separatist push for the province to secede from Canada is “consummately irresponsible and dishonourable” and should be shut down, arguing in court that a proposed referendum would violate their treaty rights.

A minority of residents of the oil-rich province have long argued that the province’s woes are due to the structure of payments to the federal government and a perceived inability to get their vast fossil fuel reserves to market.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:43 pm UTC

JD Vance campaigns for far-right nationalist Viktor Orban in Hungary

The vice president traveled to Budapest as Jorine Kros ’s deadline for an Iran deal loomed Tuesday, backing the administration’s closest ideological ally in Europe.

Source: World | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:42 pm UTC

Linux kernel maintainers are following through on removing Intel 486 support

One point in favor of the sprawling Linux ecosystem is its broad hardware support—the kernel officially supports everything from '90s-era PC hardware to Arm-based Apple Silicon chips, thanks to decades of combined effort from hardware manufacturers and motivated community members.

But nothing can last forever, and for a few years now, Linux maintainers (including Linus Torvalds) have been pushing to drop kernel support for Intel's 80486 processor. This chip was originally introduced in 1989, was replaced by the first Intel Pentium in 1993, and was fully discontinued in 2007. Code commits suggest that Linux kernel version 7.1 will be the first to follow through, making it impossible to build a version of the kernel that will support the 486; Phoronix says that additional kernel changes to remove 486-related code will follow in subsequent kernel versions.

Although these chips haven't changed in decades, maintaining support for them in modern software isn't free.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:39 pm UTC

Hegseth’s boastful claims about Iran war contradict reality, officials say

The defense secretary’s rosy portrayal of U.S. success in the conflict risks misinforming the public and the president, observers worry.

Source: World | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:34 pm UTC

‘My ability to work was taken from me’: Teacher still reeling from classroom incident

Episode led Sophie Cole to develop Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and become reliant on invalidity benefit aged just 30

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:29 pm UTC

Stack Overflow abandons redesign after loyalists criticize it

Fabled Q&A site for devs struggles with its future as AI takes over its original purpose

Stack Overflow, the once-popular dev community, has abandoned a planned redesign that was meant to refocus the site more on discussions than the question-and-answer format that built its reputation.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:26 pm UTC

‘We still deserve due process,’ says Cambodian man deported by US to Eswatini

Pheap Rom was one of 15 people sent to prison in African kingdom last year despite completing US sentences

A Cambodian man deported by the US said he would have accepted being sent to Cambodia, but instead ended up imprisoned in Eswatini, a country he knew so little about that when he first read the name he thought it was another immigration detention centre in Louisiana.

Pheap Rom, who had been convicted of attempted murder, was one of 10 deportees sent to Eswatini by the US in October 2025. They joined a group of five men, from Cambodia, Cuba, Jamaica, Vietnam and Yemen, who were deported to the small southern African country in July. All were sent to a maximum-security prison. Rom was deported from Eswatini to Cambodia in March.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:13 pm UTC

New Revelations Reignite Crypto Scandal Involving Argentina's President Milei

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: President Javier Milei of Argentina promoted a cryptocurrency last year that quickly skyrocketed in value then cratered just as fast, costing investors millions of dollars and setting off a scandal and an investigation. Mr. Milei said he was simply highlighting a private venture and had no connection to the digital coin called $Libra. New evidence is now raising questions about his assertion. Phone logs from a federal investigation by Argentine prosecutors into the coin's collapse show seven phone calls between Mr. Milei and one of the entrepreneurs behind the cryptocurrency on the night in 2025 when Mr. Milei posted about $Libra on X. The contents of the calls, which took place before and after Mr. Milei's post, are not known. But the phone logs -- which were obtained by The New York Times and first reported by a local cable news channel, C5N -- suggest a greater degree of communication between Mr. Milei and the entrepreneurs who launched the token than what the president has publicly acknowledged. Newly uncovered messages also suggest Mr. Milei received regular payments from one of the entrepreneurs while he was a congressman. Mr. Milei has not publicly commented on the call logs and other documents, and he did not respond to a request for comment. He is named as a person of interest in the federal prosecutor's continuing investigation into the digital coin, according to court documents reviewed by The Times, but has not been formally charged with any crime. The latest revelations have revived a scandal that threatens the very foundation of a president who rose to power and was elected president in 2023 by attacking a political class he called corrupt.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 4:00 pm UTC

Finally, Artemis delivers some exceptional, high-quality photos of the Moon

NASA's Artemis II mission, carrying four astronauts on an out-of-this-world journey, flew around the Moon on Monday.

The crew members took turns describing the stunning landscape below and captured images of Earth rising behind the Moon, in communications with Mission Control in Houston. What they did not send back in real time, due to a lack of communications bandwidth, was this high-resolution imagery.

That changed on Monday night, when Orion established an optical link with ground stations on Earth to send high-resolution images back to the planet. NASA has been uploading them to Johnson Space Center's Flickr page.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:54 pm UTC

Artemis II snaps eclipse, Earthset shots on first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo

Turns out deep space still looks better without AI helping

The Artemis II mission has produced some stunning imagery as the spacecraft loops around the Moon on its journey from Earth and back.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:53 pm UTC

Man arrested over Co Donegal attempted murder released

A file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions after a man in his 50s was arrested and released without charge over the attempted murder of Charles Dooher in Lifford, Co Donegal in January.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:36 pm UTC

Has Artemis II shown we can land on the Moon again?

The Artemis II mission has been near flawless to date, but has the test flight shown Nasa is ready to send humans to the lunar surface?

Source: BBC News | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:23 pm UTC

Break, no fix: Apple and Samsung make repairs hard

Motorola and Google top PIRG's latest scorecard

Samsung and Apple phones are more difficult to repair than those from other makers, according to a report ranking devices by how easy to fix they are.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:08 pm UTC

Iranian civilians voice fear and fatigue as U.S. escalates conflict

People in Iran say they could be left to pick up the pieces if President Jorine Kros destroys the country’s infrastructure and economy.

Source: World | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:07 pm UTC

Stanford Daily Ponders Fate of Bill Gates Namesake Building On April Fools' Day

theodp writes: "Gates Computer Science Building renamed Peter Thiel Center for Panoptic Computing" reads the headline of an April Fools' Day story that ran in the Humor section of The Stanford Daily (with the further disclaimer that "This article is purely satirical and fictitious"). The story begins: "Following revelations that the billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, had a longstanding relationship with convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Stanford has announced it will strip Gates' name from the William H. Gates Computer Science Building and instead honor alumnus Peter Thiel B.A. '89, JD '92. Gates, who is not a Stanford alumnus, gave an initial gift of $6 million toward the building's construction in 1992." While fictional, the story does make one wonder what may become of the academic and institutional buildings worldwide named after Bill Gates in the blowback over his past ties to Epstein, which have already played a factor in the breakdown of his marriage to Melinda French Gates and friendship with Warren Buffet. In addition to The Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford, this includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex at the University of Texas at Austin, Bill and Melinda Gates Hall at Cornell, The Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, and The William H. Gates Building at MIT's Stata Center. Buildings named after Gates' parents include Mary Gates Hall and William H. Gates Hall at the University of Washington, and The William Gates Building at the University of Cambridge (UK). Aside from the Thiel angle, The Stanford Daily's April Fools' Day story may not be as far-fetched as it may seem -- many universities' naming policies include provisions allowing donors' names to be removed from buildings, programs, or other facilities under extraordinary circumstances. For example, the University of Washington's Regent Policy No. 50 states, "The University reserves the right to revoke and terminate any naming on reasonable grounds not limited to the revelation of corporate or individual acts detracting from the University's mission, integrity, or reputation." Then again, UW notes that Bill's parents and siblings served as UW Regents for decades, so one expects Bill will be granted some leeway here for what he has characterized as 'foolish' choices on his part.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

Who are the fuel protesters ‘turning O’Connell Street into a car park’?

A TikTok account on tractors and trailers has grown into a national movement

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

The Rivian R2 will launch with 335 miles of range

It won't be long before Rivian starts delivering the first of its new R2 SUVs to the lucky owners. After wowing everyone with its R1S and R1T, the startup is ready to enter more mainstream market segments, first with the midsize R2 this year. Last month, we got pricing and trim details for the new electric SUV: $57,990 for the R2 Performance, the only version that will be available until the $53,990 R2 Premium goes on sale in late 2026.

Both of these R2s use the same spec battery with a capacity of 87.9 kWh. At the time, Rivian said it expected at least 330 miles (531 km) of range from these models on 21-inch tires. But it seems that details of the actual Environmental Protection Agency range certification have leaked and were posted to the Rivian Forums. And from those documents, we now know that, when fitted with 21-inch wheels and performance, the official EPA range estimate will be 335 miles (539 km).

The testing also generated an official EPA range estimate for the R2 when fitted with smaller 20-inch wheels. Usually, fitting smaller wheels to an EV increases range because the rotation of each wheel causes a lot of drag that saps range, and smaller, narrower wheels disturb less air. But in this case, the 20-inch wheels drop the EPA range estimate down to 314 miles (505 km), thanks to the knobby all-terrain tires.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 7 Apr 2026 | 2:54 pm UTC

Gardaí investigating after woman (50s) found dead at home in Co Cavan

‘Postmortem to steer direction of investigation’ after early-morning discovery

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 2:41 pm UTC

Kanye West controversies - how did we get here?

West has a history of making antisemitic remarks and other controversial comments.

Source: BBC News | 7 Apr 2026 | 2:25 pm UTC

Catholic school patrons open to change – but choice is theirs, Minister says

Government-commissioned survey found parental support for changing ethos in schools

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 2:21 pm UTC

Can JD Vance's visit to Hungary save Viktor Orbán?

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Budapest this morning for a two-day visit billed as bolstering US-Hungarian relations.

Source: News Headlines | 7 Apr 2026 | 2:07 pm UTC

Row over ‘virtual gated community’ AI surveillance plan in Toronto neighbourhood

Rosedale residents considering car licence plate-scanning Flock system in bid to tackle property crime

A row has broken out in one of Canada’s wealthiest neighbourhoods over plans to use an AI-powered surveillance system to create the country’s first “virtual gated community” to combat surging property crime.

Crime rates in Toronto as a whole are dropping but residents of Rosedale have been left on edge by a sustained rise in home invasions, with robbers targeting the tree-lined neighbourhood at a rate more than double the city average. Break-ins and thefts remain the third highest per capita in Toronto.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 2:07 pm UTC

#MeToo movement brings wave of harassment claims across Colombia

Female journalists’ accounts of harassment trigger avalanche of allegations reaching as far as government

Juanita Gómez was reporting on an international assignment for Caracol, a Colombian television channel in 2015, when an older colleague attempted to forcibly kiss her by inside a lift.

She only managed to break free from him by pushing him away several times. Fearing any complaint would come down to the word of a “girl” against that of a senior presenter, she did not report the incident.

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Source: World news | The Guardian | 7 Apr 2026 | 1:22 pm UTC

Only 28% of AI infrastructure projects fully pay off, survey finds

ITSM the area most likely to offer wins, according to Gartner research

Tech leaders hoping AI might help save money and improve efficiency in IT infrastructure should know that only 28 percent of use cases fully succeed and offer return on investment (ROI).…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 1:13 pm UTC

Three people arrested over viable explosive device found in Co Antrim

Controlled explosion carried out on item discovered in Glenarm on Monday

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 7 Apr 2026 | 12:41 pm UTC

White House seeks deep NASA cuts as Artemis II breaks spaceflight record

'Proposal resurrects an existential threat to US leadership in space science and exploration'

First, the good news: the Artemis II crew has successfully swung around the far side of the Moon and surpassed Apollo 13's record for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth. Now the bad news: the White House is sharpening the budget blade once again.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 12:27 pm UTC

No-Nvidia interconnect club delivers 2.0 spec before v1.0 silicon ships

UALink splits work on physical layer and protocol specs to speed things up, literally and metaphorically

The UALink Consortium, a group of tech giants working on GPU networking standards to provide an alternative to Nvidia's NVLink and NVSwitch, has released new specs, but is still months away from shipping silicon.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC

Shots fired – literally – over proposal to build datacenter in Indianapolis

From a gun into the front door of a councilor who supports plan

Datacenter protests have taken an ugly turn in the US, with gunshots fired at the home of an Indianapolis councilor who recently lent his support to plans for a server farm in the area.…

Source: The Register | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:09 am UTC

LinkedIn Faces Spying Allegations Over Browser Extension Scanning

LinkedIn is facing allegations that it quietly scans users' browsers for installed Chrome extensions. The German group Fairlinked e.V. goes so far as to claim that the site is "running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history." "The program runs silently, without any visible indicator to the user," the group says. "It does not ask for consent. It does not disclose what it is doing. It reports the results to LinkedIn's servers. This is not a one-time check. The scan runs on every page load, for every visitor." PCMag reports: This browser extension "fingerprinting" technique has been spotted before, but it was previously found to probe only 2,000 to 3,000 extensions. Fairlinked alleges that LinkedIn is now scanning for 6,222 extensions that could indicate a user's political opinions or religious views. For example, the extensions LinkedIn will look for include one that flags companies as too "woke," one that can add an "anti-Zionist" tag to LinkedIn profiles, and two others that can block content forbidden under Islamic teachings. It would also be a cakewalk to tie the collected extension data to specific users, since LinkedIn operates as a vast professional social network that covers people's work history. Fairlinked's concern is that Microsoft and LinkedIn can allegedly use the data to identify which companies use competing products. "LinkedIn has already sent enforcement threats to users of third-party tools, using data obtained through this covert scanning to identify its targets," the group claims. However, LinkedIn claims that Fairlinked mischaracterizes a LinkedIn safeguard designed to prevent web scraping by browser extensions. "We do not use this data to infer sensitive information about members," the company says. "To protect the privacy of our members, their data, and to ensure site stability, we do look for extensions that scrape data without members' consent or otherwise violate LinkedIn's Terms of Service," LinkedIn adds. [...] The statement goes on to allege that Fairlinked is from a developer whose account was previously suspended for web scraping. One of the group's board members is listed as "S.Morell," which appears to be Steven Morell, the founder of Teamfluence, a tool that helps businesses monitor LinkedIn activity. [...] Still, the Microsoft-owned site is facing some blowback for not clearly disclosing the browser extension scanning in LinkedIn's privacy policy. Fairlinked is soliciting donations for a legal fund to take on Microsoft and is urging the public to encourage local regulators to intervene.

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Source: Slashdot | 7 Apr 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

Vance heads to Hungary as MAGA ally Orban trails in polls

Viktor Orban, who has built strong ties to the MAGA movement and the Kremlin, faces a tough electoral challenge from center-right candidate Peter Magyar on April 12.

Source: World | 7 Apr 2026 | 10:47 am UTC

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