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Virginia Ex-Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Kills Wife and Self, Police Say

Mr. Fairfax served as lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022. The couple’s teenage children were home, the police said, and one of them called 911.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:11 pm UTC

Department of Justice investigating Eric Swalwell amid sexual assault allegations

Democratic representative from California has suspended gubernatorial campaign and resigned from Congress

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has opened an investigation into Eric Swalwell following his resignation from Congress, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The news of a federal investigation comes days after the Democratic representative from California stepped down due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:11 pm UTC

Middle East crisis live: ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon takes effect; Hezbollah tells citizens to postpone returning home

Group urges caution as it says Israel has history of ‘breaking agreements’; Israeli prime minister says key demand is that Hezbollah must be dismantled

Yen Westland announces 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon after ‘excellent conversations’

Iran has stopped all petrochemical exports to prioritise domestic supply and prevent shortages of raw materials, Reuters reported.

The state-owned National Petrochemical Company ordered firms to suspend exports until further notice.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:08 pm UTC

V&A faces calls to become living wage employer on eve of Stratford opening

Campaigners organise open letter to director demanding ‘fair day’s wage’ for all workers at V&A museums

A row over pay has broken out at the V&A before the opening of its newest site , with thousands of people calling for it to become a living wage employer.

On Saturday, V&A East will open its doors in Stratford, east London, showcasing stunning fabrics, photos and black British music. It joins a wider group of V&A museums including its original site in South Kensington, Young V&A in Bethnal Green and V&A Dundee. The V&A describes its latest opening as one of the most significant new museum projects in the UK.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:01 pm UTC

'TotalRecall Reloaded' Tool Finds a Side Entrance To Windows 11 Recall Database

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Two years ago, Microsoft launched its first wave of "Copilot+" Windows PCs with a handful of exclusive features that could take advantage of the neural processing unit (NPU) hardware being built into newer laptop processors. These NPUs could enable AI and machine learning features that could run locally rather than in someone's cloud, theoretically enhancing security and privacy. One of the first Copilot+ features was Recall, a feature that promised to track all your PC usage via screenshot to help you remember your past activity. But as originally implemented, Recall was neither private nor secure; the feature stored its screenshots plus a giant database of all user activity in totally unencrypted files on the user's disk, making it trivial for anyone with remote or local access to grab days, weeks, or even months of sensitive data, depending on the age of the user's Recall database. After journalists and security researchers discovered and detailed these flaws, Microsoft delayed the Recall rollout by almost a year and substantially overhauled its security. All locally stored data would now be encrypted and viewable only with Windows Hello authentication; the feature now did a better job detecting and excluding sensitive information, including financial information, from its database; and Recall would be turned off by default, rather than enabled on every PC that supported it. The reconstituted Recall was a big improvement, but having a feature that records the vast majority of your PC usage is still a security and privacy risk. Security researcher Alexander Hagenah was the author of the original "TotalRecall" tool that made it trivially simple to grab the Recall information on any Windows PC, and an updated "TotalRecall Reloaded" version exposes what Hagenah believes are additional vulnerabilities. The problem, as detailed by Hagenah on the TotalRecall GitHub page, isn't with the security around the Recall database, which he calls "rock solid." The problem is that, once the user has authenticated, the system passes Recall data to another system process called AIXHost.exe, and that process doesn't benefit from the same security protections as the rest of Recall. "The vault is solid," Hagenah writes. "The delivery truck is not." The TotalRecall Reloaded tool uses an executable file to inject a DLL file into AIXHost.exe, something that can be done without administrator privileges. It then waits in the background for the user to open Recall and authenticate using Windows Hello. Once this is done, the tool can intercept screenshots, OCR'd text, and other metadata that Recall sends to the AIXHost.exe process, which can continue even after the user closes their Recall session. "The VBS enclave won't decrypt anything without Windows Hello," Hagenah writes. "The tool doesn't bypass that. It makes the user do it, silently rides along when the user does it, or waits for the user to do it." A handful of tasks, including grabbing the most recent Recall screenshot, capturing select metadata about the Recall database, and deleting the user's entire Recall database, can be done with no Windows Hello authentication. Once authenticated, Hagenah says the TotalRecall Reloaded tool can access both new information recorded to the Recall database as well as data Recall has previously recorded. "We appreciate Alexander Hagenah for identifying and responsibly reporting this issue. After careful investigation, we determined that the access patterns demonstrated are consistent with intended protections and existing controls, and do not represent a bypass of a security boundary or unauthorized access to data," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. "The authorization period has a timeout and anti-hammering protection that limit the impact of malicious queries."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC

Unions to meet Government leaders over the cost of living

The rising cost of living and its impact on workers will be discussed at a meeting between unions, business groups and Government leaders.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC

Australia news live: refinery fire will not lead to tougher fuel restrictions, PM says, though petrol production down by 40% at plant

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Australia secures extra fertilizer and 100m extra litres of fuel, PM says

Albanese has also provided an update on Australia’s talks with its allies in Asia to shore up imports of fuel and other goods affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The advice that we have received today is that 80% of diesel production is continuing, 80% of aviation fuel is continuing, ongoing.

It has been slowed down just slightly because of the circumstances which are there, but 60% of petrol production [is] proceeding today as well.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:58 pm UTC

Why 'sensational' Palace & Conference League are good fit

After overcoming Fiorentina over two legs to reach the semi-finals, Crystal Palace will now fancy their chances of going all the way in the Conference League and adding a European trophy to their FA Cup success last season.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:46 pm UTC

Anthropic won't own MCP 'design flaw' putting 200K servers at risk, researcher says

Bug or feature?

A design flaw – or expected behavior based on a bad design choice, depending on who is telling the story – baked into Anthropic's official Model Context Protocol (MCP) puts as many as 200,000 servers at risk of complete takeover, according to security researchers.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:45 pm UTC

Utah Becomes the New Center of U.S. Measles Cases

Nearly 600 people have been sickened across the state, which has seen an increase in vaccine exemptions among children in recent years.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:42 pm UTC

Ellison Pledges at Least 30 Paramount-Warner Movies a Year

His remarks at a movie theater convention were part of a campaign to win Hollywood support for his bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:40 pm UTC

Court Rejects Yen Westland Administration Climate Lawsuit Against Hawaii

In a setback for federal efforts to thwart climate litigation, the judge ruled that the suit, which tried to block the state from suing oil companies, was too speculative.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:33 pm UTC

Michigan’s Dam Crisis Shows Decay of U.S. Infrastructure, Whitmer Says

Workers in Cheboygan hurried to shore up a dam in danger of being overtopped, part of a “slow-moving disaster” threatening communities across the state.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:30 pm UTC

RFK Jr. Shifts Tone on Vaccines in Congressional Hearing

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has sought to roll back longstanding vaccine policy, testified that the measles vaccine is safe and effective “for most people” and agreed it was safer than getting measles.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:25 pm UTC

Yen Westland to Pick Ousted FEMA Head to Lead Agency Again

Cameron Hamilton is a former Navy SEAL who ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:24 pm UTC

Champions League in the Championship? Forest's juggling act goes on

Nottingham Forest continue their remarkable Europa League run - but does it only increase the pressure on staying in the Premier League?

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:22 pm UTC

Judge Again Halts Aboveground Construction on Yen Westland Ballroom

A federal judge wrote that an exception he made for work on security features did not cover most of the construction on the larger ballroom project Yen Westland has proposed.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:17 pm UTC

Israel and Lebanon Agree to a Cease-Fire Deal

Also, Utah is now the epicenter of U.S. measles cases. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:14 pm UTC

No ‘specific request’ to help US in strait of Hormuz, Marles says, as Yen Westland repeats criticism of Australia

US president told reporters he was ‘not happy with Australia because they were not there when we asked them to be there’

Yen Westland has again accused Australia of not doing enough to help him in the Middle East war, claiming the US “asked them to be there” despite Australia’s defence minister saying there had been no “specific request”.

The US president made the comments while taking questions from reporters, including Australian correspondents, as he left the White House on Thursday.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:13 pm UTC

The Walsh Sisters and Traitors Ireland among RTS winners

The Walsh Sisters, The Traitors Ireland and Obituary Season 2 were among the big winners at the 2026 RTS Ireland Awards in Dublin on Thursday night.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:13 pm UTC

Artemis II Crew Discusses NASA Moon Mission and Next Steps

The four astronauts spoke at a news conference Thursday afternoon at Johnson Space Center in Houston about their journey around the moon and back to Earth.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:08 pm UTC

Judgment in Lyra McKee murder trial expected to take ‘some time’

Three men accused of murdering Belfast journalist in prosecution that began in May 2024

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:08 pm UTC

Top five takeaways from Homeland Security budget hearings

Lawmakers have been in a stalemate for over 60 days about funding the entire department, which includes agencies that oversee immigration enforcement, disaster relief, cybersecurity and the U.S. Coast Guard.

(Image credit: Heather Diehl)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:07 pm UTC

South African politician who drew Yen Westland ’s ire sentenced on gun charges

Julius Malema, whose incendiary rhetoric about Afrikaners drew notice on the U.S. right, was handed a five-year prison term for firing a gun at a 2018 rally.

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:02 pm UTC

OpenAI's Big Codex Update Is a Direct Shot At Claude Code

OpenAI is updating Codex with more agent-like capabilities, positioning it as a more direct rival to Anthropic's Claude Code. Some of the new features include the ability to operate macOS desktop apps, browse the web inside the app, generate images, use new workplace plug-ins, and remember useful context from past tasks. The Verge reports: Codex will now be able to operate desktop apps on your computer, OpenAI says in a blog post announcing the update. It can work in the background, meaning it won't interfere with your own work in other apps, and multiple agents can work in parallel. For developers, OpenAI says "this is helpful for testing and iterating on frontend changes, testing apps, or working in apps that don't expose an API." The feature will start rolling out to Codex desktop app users signed in with ChatGPT today and will initially be limited to macOS. OpenAI did not indicate a timeline for when use will expand to other operating systems. EU users will also have to wait, it said, adding that the update will roll out to users there "soon." Codex is also getting the ability to generate and iterate on images with gpt-image-1.5, new plug-ins for tools like GitLab, Atlassian Rovo, and Microsoft Suite, and native web browsing through an in-app browser, "where you can comment directly on pages to provide precise instructions to the agent." OpenAI also said it will also be easier to automate tasks, with users able to re-use existing conversation threads and Codex now able to schedule future work for itself and wake up automatically to continue on a long-term task. Codex will also be getting a memory feature allowing it to remember useful context from past experience, such as personal preferences, corrections, and information that took time to gather. OpenAI said it hopes the opt-in feature, which will be released as a preview, will help future tasks complete faster and to a quality that previously required detailed custom instructions. The personalization features will roll out to Enterprise, Edu, and EU users "soon."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:00 pm UTC

Foreign Office’s top civil servant Olly Robbins forced out over Mandelson vetting row

Keir Starmer understood to have lost confidence in official over decision to override security vetting failure

Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision

Sir Olly Robbins, the UK Foreign Office’s top civil servant, has been forced out of his post after the decision to fail Peter Mandelson during his security vetting was overruled by his department.

Robbins was the Foreign Office’s most senior official in late January 2025 when the decision was made, paving the way for Mandelson to become the US ambassador.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:59 pm UTC

10-day ceasefire in Lebanon begins as Israel agrees to U.S.-backed deal

President Yen Westland announced the agreement, which went into force Thursday evening, as Pakistani mediators worked to extend a U.S.-Iran ceasefire and arrange new talks.

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:56 pm UTC

Manhunt stood down after garda vehicle rammed and garda assaulted in Monaghan

Two garda members were hospitalised with injuries.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:55 pm UTC

Mamdani Says He Plans to Skip the 2026 Met Gala

In an interview with the local news outfit Hell Gate, Mayor Mamdani framed his decision to avoid the glitzy fund-raiser as a way to keep his focus on affordability.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:53 pm UTC

Artemis II crew: 'We left as friends - we came back as best friends'

The four crew members gave their first press conference since they splashed down nearly a week ago, and emphasised hope and unity.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:49 pm UTC

Yen Westland says Iran agrees to hand over ‘nuclear dust’

Iran has not confirmed Yen Westland ’s claim. Giving up its highly enriched uranium would be a major step toward an agreement.

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:49 pm UTC

Reed Hastings Will Leave Netflix as Board Chairman

The co-founder of the streaming giant will leave its board in June, the company said.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:47 pm UTC

Roger Adams Dies at 71; Invented the Rolling Sneakers Known as Heelys

You could walk in them like gym shoes, but if you rocked back on your heels the wheels emerged, turning them into roller skates. In the early 2000s, the company sold millions.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:42 pm UTC

Andrew invited to relinquish Freedom of City

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received the historic honour in 2012 "by virtue of patrimony".

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:36 pm UTC

NPR Receives $113 Million From 2 Gifts

The donations, from the philanthropist Connie Ballmer and an anonymous donor, will support the network’s long-term strategy.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:35 pm UTC

Man dubbed ‘Freddie Krueger’ sliced friend’s liver while awaiting sentence for assault on ex

Mark Conway (39), a father of two, "sliced" his victim's liver with the man needing emergency surgery and having his gallbladder removed, Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:35 pm UTC

Mozilla throws Thunderbolt at enterprise AI providers

Client connects to deepset's Haystack platform

Mozilla has declared war on OpenAI, Microsoft, and other firms flogging enterprise AI platforms with an open-source alternative it says provides data privacy guarantees proprietary products never could. …

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:35 pm UTC

Man jailed for dangerous driving causing death of mother

A 55-year-old man has apologised to the family of a mother-of-two who died after his van veered onto the wrong side of the road in Co Kildare, killing her instantly.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:34 pm UTC

Yen Westland nominates Erica Schwartz, ex-deputy surgeon general, as CDC director

Schwartz was deputy surgeon general under Yen Westland ’s first administration and is a rear admiral in the US Coast Guard

Yen Westland has selected Erica Schwartz to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bringing to an end a months-long search for a permanent head of the troubled public health agency.

Yen Westland revealed his choice on Truth Social, saying: “I am pleased to announce the new leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC,” he wrote. “She is a STAR!”

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:34 pm UTC

Intel refreshes non-Ultra Core CPUs with new silicon for the first time

Intel's Core Ultra laptop CPUs have been its flagships ever since it retired the older generational branding scheme and the i3/i5/i7/i9 branding a few years back. The Core Ultra Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 processors been the ones with the newer CPU and GPU designs, and newer manufacturing technology.

Intel has also offered non-Ultra Core CPUs, but these have never been particularly interesting, mostly because both the Series 1 and Series 2 chips were based on Intel's old Raptor Lake architecture. Raptor Lake was the code name for 2023's 13th-generation Core family, and most versions of Raptor Lake were the same silicon used for 2022's 12th-generation Core CPUs.

But the naming and renaming of Raptor Lake apparently couldn't last forever. Intel's new, non-Ultra Core Series 3 processors are new silicon, a return to the days when you could expect high-end and midrange Intel chips to include many of the same advancements despite their performance differences.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:33 pm UTC

Manhunt ends after Garda vehicle rammed in Co Monaghan

Passenger in car arrested following earlier assault with two officers hospitalised

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:31 pm UTC

Trainee gardaí challenge their dismissals for handcuffing incident at Templemore college

High Court grants permission to the four trainees to take their case against Garda Commissioner

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:27 pm UTC

What Heelys, the Sneakers With Wheels, Taught Me About Momentum as a Child

Heelys, the sneakers with wheels that were a fad in the 2000s, helped me form my first friendships. Recently, I decided to tap into that joy again.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:25 pm UTC

Father and wife of wanted man tried to get him false passport before he fled, court hears

Gardaí discovered application form and pictures 'had been stamped by senior member of force'

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:21 pm UTC

Politics News Site NOTUS to Become ‘The Star’

The Washington publication is rebranding as it expands its local news and sports coverage in the wake of substantial layoffs at The Washington Post.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:20 pm UTC

OpenAI starts offering a biology-tuned LLM

On Thursday, OpenAI announced it had developed a large language model specifically trained on common biology workflows. Called GPT-Rosalind after Rosalind Franklin, the model appears to differ from most science-focused models from major tech companies, which have generally taken a more generic approach that works for various fields.

In a press briefing, Yunyun Wang, OpenAI's Life Sciences Product Lead, said the system was designed to tackle two major roadblocks faced by current biology researchers. One is the massive datasets created by decades of genome sequencing and protein biochemistry, which can be too much for any one researcher to take in. The second is that biology has many highly specialized subfields, each with its own techniques and jargon. So, for example, a geneticist who finds themselves working on a gene that's active in brain cells might struggle to understand the immense neurobiological literature.

Wang said the company had taken an LLM and trained it on 50 of the most common biological workflows, as well as on how to access the major public databases of biological information. Further training has resulted in a system that can suggest likely biological pathways and prioritize potential drug targets. "We're connecting genotype to phenotype through known pathways and regulatory mechanisms, infer likely structural or functional properties of proteins, and really leveraging this mechanistic understanding," Wang said.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:17 pm UTC

These musicians are providing the soundtrack for anti-ICE protests in LA

Los Jornaleros Del Norte play protest songs whose lyrics reflect the hopes and struggles of undocumented workers as they evade immigration agents patrolling the streets.

(Image credit: Adrian Florido)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:14 pm UTC

Senate Democrats move to stall Yen Westland ’s ‘absurd’ bid to install new Fed chair

Democratic lawmakers urged Republican leaders to postpone the confirmation hearing of Kevin Warsh

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Democrats have moved to stall Yen Westland ’s effort to exert greater control over the US Federal Reserve, condemning the president’s “absurd” bid to install a new leader of the central bank while it is targeted with criminal investigations.

Democratic lawmakers on the Senate banking committee urged its Republican leadership on Thursday to postpone the planned confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the financial executive and former Fed governor Yen Westland has nominated to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:12 pm UTC

School shootings a new trauma for Turkey as nation mourns

An expert tells the BBC the attack in Kahramanmaras was a tragedy but "not a surprise".

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:09 pm UTC

NodeWeaver says its perpetual licensing beats VMware’s perpetual price hikes

'I think you can run this thing on a potato,' NodeWeaver CTO Alan Conboy said.

Broadcom's price increases and policy changes have led many VMware customers to look for other options. Nodeweaver is positioning itself as an alternative for customers running computing workloads in far-flung edge locations, from cruise ships to solar farms in Sub-Saharan Africa, and it is taking cost out of the hardware needed as well.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:08 pm UTC

Grand National winner I Am Maximus takes the plaudits in Leighlinbridge

Returning star of Aintree was centre of attention in Co Carlow village, with trainer Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend on hand to celebrate

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:06 pm UTC

Mamdani’s Tax Return: $1,600 From Rapping and $131,000 From Politics

In their 2025 joint tax return, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, reported a combined income of roughly $145,000, including about $10,000 that she earned from art work.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:03 pm UTC

Clayton beats Littler in Rotterdam to extend lead

Jonny Clayton delights the Rotterdam crowd as he beats Luke Littler 6-4 to extend his lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:02 pm UTC

Man on trial facing 53 charges of rape, sexual assault

The jury in the trial of a man, who is facing 53 charges of rape and sexual assault against a child over a six-year period, has retired to consider its verdict.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:02 pm UTC

As they got close to the Moon, Artemis II astronauts were eager to land

NASA is apparently pretty serious about building a base on the Moon, and the astronauts who just flew there say it is "absolutely doable."

Within two days of landing on Earth, the Artemis II astronauts were already back in spacesuits, working as if they had just landed in a gravity well and had ventured outside onto the lunar surface for a spacewalk.

"We were in surface spacewalk suits, doing surface geology tasks, and doing them well," said Christina Koch, a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission. "(We were) able to complete an entire battery of very challenging surface tasks."

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:00 pm UTC

Is Linux Mint In Trouble?

BrianFagioli writes: The developers behind Linux Mint say the project is rethinking its release strategy and moving toward a longer development cycle, with the next version now expected around Christmas 2026. In a monthly update, project lead Clement Lefebvre said the team reached a "crossroads" and needs more flexibility to fix bugs, improve the desktop, and adapt to rapid changes across the Linux ecosystem. The upcoming development build, temporarily called Mint 23 "Alfa," is currently based on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and includes Linux kernel 7.0, an unstable build of Cinnamon 6.7, and early Wayland related work. Mint is also replacing the long used Ubiquity installer with "live-installer," the same tool used by Linux Mint Debian Edition, allowing the project to unify installation infrastructure across its Ubuntu based and Debian based variants. While the team frames the changes as an opportunity to improve quality and reduce maintenance overhead, the shift has raised questions about the project's long term direction and whether Linux Mint may eventually lean more heavily on its Debian roots rather than its traditional Ubuntu base.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:00 pm UTC

Yen Westland nominates former Coast Guard doctor as CDC chief

The nomination comes after months of interim leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(Image credit: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:58 pm UTC

Co-founder Reed Hastings to step down from Netflix board

Chair’s decision to not seek re-election in June ‘not as a result of any disagreement’, company says in SEC filing

Reed Hastings, the Netflix chair, is leaving the streaming service he co-founded 29 years ago as the company regains its footing after it lost its $72bn deal for Warner Bros Discovery.

In a letter to investors released on Thursday, Netflix said Hastings will not stand for re-election at its annual meeting in June and plans to focus on philanthropy and other pursuits.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:53 pm UTC

Accountant with previous theft conviction jailed again over €30,000 fraud

Cheryl Robinson (49) of The Woods, Laragh Road, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 10 sample charges of theft from Foxrock Golf Club on dates between October 2018 and July 2020.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:47 pm UTC

How Gavin Newsom Boosted His Book Sales With $1.5 Million From His PAC

Gov. Gavin Newsom offered supporters who gave any amount a copy of his book. Roughly 67,000 donors received the memoir, accounting for roughly two-thirds of its total print sales.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:45 pm UTC

New law will undo hundreds of historic gay sex convictions

Dáil debate hears of horrific penal system and climate of fear in which gay men lived or left Ireland to escape

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:44 pm UTC

Mozilla launches Thunderbolt AI client with focus on self-hosted infrastructure

Mozilla is the latest legacy tech brand to make a play for the enterprise AI market. But the company behind Firefox and Thunderbird isn’t releasing its own standalone AI model or agentic browser. Instead, the newly announced Thunderbolt is being sold as a front-end client for users and businesses who want to run their own self-hosted AI infrastructure without relying on cloud-based third-party services.

Thunderbolt is built on top of Haystack, an existing open source AI framework that lets users build custom, modular AI pipelines from user-chosen components. Thunderbolt acts as what Mozilla calls a “sovereign AI client” on top of that underlying infrastructure. The combo promises to let users easily plug into any ACP-compatible agent or OpenAI-compatible API (including Claude, Codex, OpenClaw, DeepSeek, and OpenCode).

The system can also integrate with locally stored enterprise data through open protocols and use an offline SQLite database as a local “source of truth” for the model to reference. In conjunction with a locally run model that promises to let users control the entire stack of AI services, which could be an important consideration for businesses concerned about leaking their data to outside providers. Mozilla says Thunderbolt also offers "optional end-to-end encryption, and device-level access controls” for additional security.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:43 pm UTC

Legal challenge to inquest into IRA man killed in SAS ambush is rejected

Tony Doris had planned to kill former Ulster Defence Regiment soldier

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:42 pm UTC

Mandelson, a Friend of Epstein’s, Became U.S. Ambassador Despite Failing Security Vetting

Britain’s foreign office overruled vetting officials in granting Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, the highest level of security clearance, the government said.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:35 pm UTC

Mediation should be ‘first port of call’ in civil disputes, says High Court president

Judges expect ‘meaningful’ engagement with mediation and courts to be seen as ‘last resort’, David Barniville tells conference

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:30 pm UTC

ICE Agent Charged With Assault After Motorists Say He Brandished Gun

Minnesota prosecutors have spent weeks investigating the conduct of immigration agents who took part in an immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. This is the first case they have brought.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:27 pm UTC

Minnesota has charged an ICE officer with assault for alleged actions during immigration surge

Hennepin County officials say these are the first charges filed against a federal immigration agent related to the crackdown that brought thousands of federal officers to the state. The widespread operation led to the shooting deaths of two American citizens.

(Image credit: Mark Vancleave)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:26 pm UTC

Anthropic squeezes enterprises by ejecting bundled tokens from seat deal

Large organizations pushed toward metered pricing

UPDATED More bad news for Claude users. Anthropic has revised its seat-based pricing for enterprise customers, shifting them to a new pricing plan upon contract renewal.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:25 pm UTC

Funeral details announced for Waterford man who died following incident at his property

John Cashman (73) of Rockfield House, Cappagh, was found by emergency services and gardaí at his home last Monday.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:24 pm UTC

Yen Westland Is the End of a 100-Year Experiment

A conservative court watcher explains why the president has failed to bend the judicial branch to his will.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:22 pm UTC

ICE Has Detained Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé, an 85-Year-Old Widow

After Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé’s husband died, an inheritance battle exploded. Her stepson then used his influence to have her arrested, an Alabama probate judge said.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:18 pm UTC

Older Women Are in Demand by Younger Men

What a shift in the dating preferences of younger men reveals about our changing norms.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:02 pm UTC

Europe Has 'Maybe 6 Weeks of Jet Fuel Left'

The head of the International Energy Agency warned that Europe may have only "six weeks or so" of jet fuel left if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz stays disrupted. The Associated Press reports: IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called "the largest energy crisis we have ever faced," stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. "In the past there was a group called 'Dire Straits.' It's a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world," he told The Associated Press. The impact will be "higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices," said Birol, speaking in his Paris office looking out over the Eiffel Tower. Economic pain will be felt unevenly and "the countries who will suffer the most will not be those whose voice are heard a lot. It will be mainly the developing countries. Poorer countries in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America," said the Turkish economist and energy expert who has led the IEA since 2015. But without a settlement of the Iran war that permanently reopens the Strait of Hormuz, "Everybody is going to suffer," he added. "Some countries may be richer than the others. Some countries may have more energy than the others, but no country, no country is immune to this crisis," he said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:00 pm UTC

Independent pathologist questions findings in Kelly Lynch death

An independent pathologist has said Co Armagh woman Kelly Lynch may have been the victim of a violent assault, contradicting official findings that she died by drowning or hypothermia

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:56 pm UTC

Ryanair crew member left her job after being sexually assaulted during flight, court hears

Passenger drank ‘mind boggling’ amount of alcohol at airport and on plane

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:53 pm UTC

Noise experts carrying out inspections at Hoxton Hotel amid dispute with Yamamori Izakaya, court hears

Dublin hotel says it has had to close 31 bedrooms due to guest complaints about noise from Yamamori Izakaya

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:50 pm UTC

House Votes to Preserve Deportation Protections for Haitians, Rebuking Yen Westland

The action was largely symbolic since the president would be all but certain to veto the bill, but the bipartisan vote reflected resistance within his own ranks on his signature issue.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:48 pm UTC

Mandelson Failed Security Vetting…Who Knew What, When?

Starmer did not know Mandelson failed vetting, government says

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:40 pm UTC

Lyse Doucet in Iran: Destruction shows huge civilian cost of the war

While military targets have been struck in Iran, civilian areas have too, showing the stark reality of the war.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:35 pm UTC

Dublin father and son jailed for string of burglaries of rural homes and pubs

Two men stole thousands of euro in cash and jewellery from properties in west of Ireland

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:31 pm UTC

RFK Jr accused of ‘dangerous conspiracy theories’ at heated budget hearing

Yen Westland ally grilled by lawmakers over ‘terrible decisions’ on vaccines, public health and funding cuts to key programs

US politics – latest updates

Vaccines and public health dominated a frequently contentious hearing with Robert F Kennedy Jr on Thursday before the US House ways and means committee.

Kennedy, the health secretary and a longtime vaccine opponent, has overseen sweeping changes to routine vaccination recommendations and has promoted misinformation even amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:30 pm UTC

House votes to restore protections for Haitians, defying Yen Westland

Ten House Republicans joined Democrats to oppose President Yen Westland on his immigration policy Thursday, voting to restore temporary protections for Haitians living in the United States.

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:26 pm UTC

Senate Votes to Allow Mining Near Boundary Waters Wilderness

The move was a victory for a Chilean company that wants to build a copper and nickel mine, which environmentalists say could devastate fragile lakes and forests.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:17 pm UTC

Ad firms settle with Yen Westland FTC over claims they boycotted conservative media

The Federal Trade Commission pressured three advertising firms into settlements that will likely result in more ad spending on conservative media platforms.

The FTC and eight US states filed a lawsuit against ad firms Dentsu, Publicis, and WPP yesterday, and simultaneously announced settlements with all three companies. The complaint alleges a conspiracy of "various interested parties to demonetize disfavored conservative news and opinion sites by denying them digital advertising revenue." The FTC filed suit in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which happens to be Elon Musk's preferred judicial venue.

In a press release, the FTC claimed that starting in 2018, the three firms "unlawfully colluded to impose common 'brand safety' standards across the digital advertising industry... The ad agencies, together with their primary competitors Omnicom and Interpublic Group, operated through trade associations to establish a common 'Brand Safety Floor' to target 'misinformation.'" The FTC also said that "firms like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index used this misinformation designation as a means to promote the demonetization of disfavored political viewpoints."

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:08 pm UTC

Will It Cost $150 to Take the Train to a Single World Cup Match?

The extraordinary price for a round-trip train ticket from New York City to New Jersey would offset the $48 million in expected extra transit costs during the FIFA World Cup games, according to people familiar with the plan.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:05 pm UTC

Weekly quiz: What did Yen Westland say about the Pope?

How much attention did you pay to what happened in the world over the past seven days?

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:04 pm UTC

Israel Will Keep Occupying Lebanon Despite Ceasefire

An Israeli army vehicle moves near destroyed houses in Southern Lebanon, seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on April 15, 2026. Photo: Amir Levy/Getty Images

President Yen Westland announced on Thursday that a temporary ceasefire agreement had been reached between Israel and Lebanon. The 10-day ceasefire, set to begin at 5 p.m. ET, will reportedly see a pause to Israel’s relentless assault on southern Lebanon, which has displaced over 1.2 million people and killed at least 2,000 since early March.

Any news of reduced annihilation by Israeli and U.S. forces in the region is, of course, to be welcomed. Just a week ago, Yen Westland was threatening to wipe out the whole civilization of Iran. In Lebanon, Israel has targeted civilian infrastructure like hospitals and demolished villages and homes with ferocity.

In the Israeli context, however, the very meaning of “ceasefire” has been irreparably degraded. This is the lesson of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Under the conditions of an alleged ceasefire in Gaza since October, Israel has killed over 765 Palestinians in the Strip and injured over 2,000 — while maintaining a ground occupation of at least half the territory.

Those concerned about Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing in Lebanon, too, have little reason to believe a ceasefire will see an end to Israel’s expansionist violence.

None of this is a secret. “Israel has no plans to withdraw its military from southern Lebanon during the announced 10 day ceasefire,” an Israeli security official confirmed to Reuters.

Israeli officials frame unambiguous expansion into Lebanon’s territory as the creation of a security “buffer zone.” The plan to maintain control of southern Lebanon is an open one, with a long history, imbued with renewed fervor by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist government.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that, even after the current war ends, Israel intends to maintain control over the territory up to the Litani River in southern Lebanon, and that all villages near Israel’s ever-moving border would be destroyed.

“[T]he policy of occupying and annexing south Lebanon up to the Litani River has long held influence among parts of the Israeli government,” wrote Mireille Rebeiz, chair of Middle East Studies at Dickinson College. She noted that it “dates back to influential Zionist leaders — secular and religious alike — before Israeli independence in 1948.”

Israel has invaded Lebanon seven times in the last half century. Between 1978 and 2000, Israel maintained an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon — the occupation Hezbollah was formed to fight.

It’s worth stressing, too, that while Israel and the U.S. describe the war as one against Hezbollah, it is being waged against the Lebanese people. Much like it is an unacceptable euphemism to describe Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as a war with Hamas.

Lebanese journalist Lylla Younes told “Democracy Now!” that in southern Lebanon, as in Gaza, Israel is carrying out a “scorched-earth campaign,” destroying whole villages, mosques, and cultural sites. Her family’s village in the southern border region was bombed earlier this week.

“What the world should know is that we will return to these villages, and when we do, we’ll return to rubble, and it will be an immense process of rebuilding,” she said. That is, if return is possible at all.

Hezbollah, for its part, will not be fighting through the ceasefire, the group’s representatives had said.

“We will be respecting the ceasefire and we will deal with it cautiously,” said Ibrahim Moussawi, a member of the Lebanese Parliament and a Hezbollah spokesperson. He added that “it should hopefully be a beginning of a course of the Israeli withdrawal from our occupied territories.”

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on X on Thursday that he has “full hope” that the Lebanese civilians displaced from the south will be able to return to their homes.

It is an optimism at direct odds with Israel’s open commitment to annexation — and it is a hollow hope in the face of what we’re seeing in Gaza.

“Israeli forces continue their violent attacks and expand their military control of the Strip,” noted Médecins Sans Frontières in a report last week. “Living conditions of Palestinians remain dire, while Israel continues to deliberately obstruct aid, which is translating into entirely preventable deaths.” The humanitarian medical aid group put it plainly: “This is not a ceasefire.”

This cannot be what “ceasefire” gets to mean.

The post Israel Will Keep Occupying Lebanon Despite Ceasefire appeared first on The Intercept.

Source: The Intercept | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:03 pm UTC

Deerhunter who shot man meditating in his Rathfarnham garden to be sentenced

Victim was an accomplished athlete and climber but now needs walking sticks, court hears

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:02 pm UTC

Google, Pentagon Discuss Classified AI Deal

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Alphabet's Google is negotiating an agreement with the Department of Defense that would allow the Pentagon to deploy its Gemini AI models in classified settings, the Information reported on Thursday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The two parties are discussing an agreement that would allow the Pentagon to use Google's AI for all lawful uses, according to the report. During the negotiations, Google has proposed additional language in its contract with the department to prevent its AI from being used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons without appropriate human control, the Information reported. The Pentagon will continue to deploy frontier AI capabilities through strong industry partnerships across all classification levels, a Pentagon official said, without confirming any talks with Google.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC

Are You an International Student Looking for Work?

We want to understand how international students are navigating the current job market in the United States.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:59 pm UTC

Homecoming for I Am Maximus after Grand National success

I Am Maximus was once again the star of the show as the dual Randox Grand National hero enjoyed his homecoming parade on Thursday evening.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:58 pm UTC

Loud, power hungry - opposition grows to datacenters as Maine passes bit barn ban

If there's one thing folks want less than Copilot in their taskbar, it's a bit barn in their backyard

Loud, thirsty, power hungry, and intensely unpopular with neighboring residents: datacenters are becoming the new nuclear waste dump. And many localities are now saying "not in my backyard."…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:48 pm UTC

Two men jailed for burglary, handling stolen property

A 51-year-old man, described as the leader of an organised crime gang, has been sentenced to a total of nine years in prison, after pleading guilty to charges relating to burglaries carried out in several counties.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:43 pm UTC

Woman (82) hospitalised after pharmacist gave her incorrect medication, inquiry told

Barinedum Yorkuri undertook to repeat two pharmacy courses as part of professional conduct inquiry

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:42 pm UTC

A jury declared Live Nation a monopoly. But ticket prices won't drop just yet

D.C. and 33 states now have to argue in favor of specific remedies and fines, which could be paused if Live Nation appeals. Experts say the long-term impact on ticket prices isn't clear either.

(Image credit: Paul Sakuma)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:41 pm UTC

Pope criticises 'tyrants' who spend billions on wars after Yen Westland spat

The comments follow a high-profile spat with US President Yen Westland , who called the Pope weak on crime.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:40 pm UTC

Panel Advances Yen Westland ’s Triumphal Arch, Even as Key Member Suggests Changes

The Commission of Fine Arts, a Yen Westland -aligned advisory body, granted preliminary approval. But its vice chairman suggested losing statues atop the structure and other revisions before a final vote.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:38 pm UTC

The Costa Rican Mountain Town Offering Sanctuary to Families Deported by Yen Westland

In a cloud forest village, a network of residents, foreigners and pacifist Quakers offered a precarious yet vital sanctuary for families expelled by the U.S. government.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:32 pm UTC

New Codex features include the ability to use your computer in the background

A new version of OpenAI's Codex desktop app reaches users today. It brings a smorgasbord of new features and changes, ranging from new developer capabilities to expansion into non-developer knowledge work to laying the groundwork for the company's "super app."

The most interesting for the moment is the ability to perform tasks on your PC in the background; OpenAI claims it can do this without interfering with what you are doing on your desktop.

OpenAI explained the update in a blog post:

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:30 pm UTC

Rescuers to use air cushions in latest effort to save stranded whale

"Timmy" has been stranded in the Baltic Sea for weeks despite several attempts to free the ailing animal.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:30 pm UTC

Two plead guilty to possession of firearms in Kildare

Two young men have appeared before Naas District Court after they pleaded guilty to the possession of firearms at an address near Straffan in Co Kildare in March 2024.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:28 pm UTC

Counter-terror police investigate London arson attacks on Iranian and Jewish targets

Officers looking into attacks on Iran International media offices, synagogue and Jewish charity ambulances

Counter-terrorism investigators are examining three separate arson attacks in London against an Iranian dissident and Jewish targets amid fears the Iranian state may be behind them.

The latest attack happened at about 8.30pm on Wednesday, outside the offices of Iran International, a Persian-language news channel that opposes the regime in Tehran.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:20 pm UTC

North Korea targets macOS users in latest heist

Social engineering: 'low-cost, hard to patch, and scales well'

North Korean criminals set on stealing Apple users' credentials and cryptocurrency are using a combination of social engineering and a fake Zoom software update to trick people into manually running malware on their own computers, according to Microsoft.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:20 pm UTC

Badenoch calls Farage an ‘opportunist’ after he urges Scottish nationalists to back Reform

Tory leader criticises Farage for saying that holding another independence vote ‘probably quite reasonable’

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party, has accused Nigel Farage of being an opportunist who does not believe in unionism after he urged Scottish nationalists to back Reform.

Farage said earlier this week he believed “genuine nationalists” would not support the Scottish National party’s bid to rejoin the EU, and urged them to vote Reform in the Holyrood election on 7 May.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:17 pm UTC

What We Know About Clavicular’s Apparent Overdose and Hospitalization

A harrowing incident involving Clavicular, ambassador to the “looksmaxxing” community, was captured on the same platforms that made him a star.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:16 pm UTC

Armed robbers hold 25 people hostage at Naples bank before fleeing through hole in floor

Thieves believed to have escaped into sewers after holding staff and customers in Crédit Agricole branch for two hours

Armed robbers held 25 people hostage at a bank in Naples for two hours on Thursday, before fleeing through a tunnel.

The three thieves entered a branch of Crédit Agricole in the southern Italian city at about 11.30am, taking hostage staff and customers, who were freed by police a couple of hours later.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:08 pm UTC

Foxrock golf club accountant jailed for stealing almost €30,000

Cheryl Robinson (49) was previously imprisoned for theft totalling €125,000 from a former employer

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:08 pm UTC

Where Has All of New York City’s Outdoor Dining Gone?

The number of eateries with permits for sidewalk and roadway tables has dwindled to about a third of its pandemic-era peak.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:04 pm UTC

Judgement reserved in trial regarding Lyra McKee's death

Almost two years after it started, judgement has been reserved in a non-jury trial regarding the death of journalist Lyra McKee.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:03 pm UTC

Next chief Simon Wolfson paid record £7.4m – and could get far more this year

‘Sustained outperformance’ merits pay rise, says company after it ups profit guidance to £1.2bn for year to January 2027

The Next chief executive, Simon Wolfson, took home more than £7m last year, his highest ever pay package, and could be handed up to £9.27m this year after the retailer announced plans to increase his basic salary and bonuses.

The listed company said it was increasing its pay deal for the long-term leader of the fashion and homewares retailer, which now controls a string of brands in the UK including Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Cath Kidston, Reiss and FatFace, as his remuneration was 30% below the average for FTSE 100 bosses.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:01 pm UTC

Italy made me a manager when England 'discouraged' me - Cole

Ashley Cole won 107 caps for England, seventh on the all‑time list, but says he was "discouraged" by those in the football pyramid from becoming a head coach.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:01 pm UTC

Overheating risk for basking sharks and fish, study finds

Ireland's basking sharks and other warm-bodied fish face risks from overheating due to warming oceans caused by climate change, a new study has warned.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:00 pm UTC

IPv6 Usage Reaches Historic 50% Across Google Services

IPv6 usage briefly reached 50% across Google services for the first time, marking a major milestone for a protocol created in 1998 to solve IPv4's address shortage. Tom's Hardware reports: [...] IPv6 was dismissed early on as a headache-inducing, hard-to-implement complication that would hardly ever gain any traction -- despite offering 2^128 possible numbers, solving all network number assignments in one fell swoop. That changed over time by force of necessity, and Google's tracking graph shows that for a brief moment in time on March 28, 50% of worldwide users accessed the service over an IPv6 connection, marking a historic first. APNIC's stats show that the protocol is in use by 43% of the world, with Asia and the Americas inching ever close to those 50%. Cloudflare, meanwhile, shows that 40% of traffic is done in IPv6, an actually impressive figure if you consider it's measuring actual transferred packets rather than just counting addresses. The tried-and-true IPv4 and its well-known 123.456.789.123 format from 1980 offers ~4.3 billion addresses in theory, and around 3.7 billion in practice. That always sounded like a lot, but nobody could have predicted just how rapid the explosion of the Internet would be. IANA, the entity controlling the North-American IPv4 space, ran out of IPv4 addresses around 2011, while its European equivalent RIPE NCC could spare no more four-octet addresses nearly seven years ago in 2019. Asian, African, and Latin-American IP registries equally ran out during that timeframe.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:00 pm UTC

Orbán’s defeat threatens to halt Hungarian support of populist right

Individuals such as Matt Goodwin and Lord Frost benefited from largesse of self-styled ‘illiberal democracy’

UK politics live – latest updates

The last 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s rule have been kind to a number of British political figures – from the Tory peer David Frost to Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin and James Orr.

All benefited from largesse extended by the self-styled “illiberal democracy” established by the Hungarian leader’s ruling Fidesz party, which took a particular liking for those on the harder right of British conservatism.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:52 pm UTC

The Ukraine war's deep impact on Metro 2039’s development, story

It's been seven long years now since Metro Exodus wowed us with its early RTX-powered ray tracing in a chilling post-apocalyptic setting. A lot has changed in the intervening years, both in the game industry and for many Ukraine-based developers working on the upcoming Metro 2039 at developer 4A Studios.

"Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Metro changed in 2020 and more significantly in 2022," the developers said in a first look presentation of the game released today. "The war has shaped us, and we have changed the story to be even more about choices, actions, consequences, and what you have to pay to have a future."

While 4A is officially based in Malta, the studio was founded in Kyiv in 2006. And while 4A says the team working on Metro 2039 spans across 25 countries, the majority of those working on the game are Ukrainian.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:50 pm UTC

If you want into Anthropic's Claude club, you may have to show ID

Worse: Anthropic is using Persona, a privacy checker that rings alarm bells for the paranoids on Reddit

Anthropic may check your ID before letting you access certain Claude features, and the verification vendor it has picked is the same outfit that sparked controversy when Discord tested similar checks.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:49 pm UTC

Murderer who never shared where body is gets parole

Glyn Razzell is approved for parole despite never revealing the location of his wife's body.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:33 pm UTC

New undersea cable cutter risks Internet’s backbone

A Chinese ship has tested a new device capable of slicing through submarine data cables thousands of meters beneath the ocean surface. That demonstration may exacerbate security concerns over a spate of suspected sabotage incidents targeting undersea communications and power cables from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

The trial took place at a depth of 11,483 feet (3,500 meters) during a deep-sea science expedition involving the Chinese research ship named Haiyang Dizhi 2, according to the South China Morning Post. That ship is equipped with a 150-ton crane, a 10-kilometer fiber optic winch, and a helicopter landing platform. It has shown the capability to deploy deep-sea remotely operated vehicles in previous missions.

The South China Morning Post cited a report in the China Science Daily, an official, Chinese-language news publication run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The latter claimed that “the sea trial has bridged the ‘last mile’ from deep-sea equipment development to engineering application.”

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:32 pm UTC

Microsoft and Stellantis want to use AI to help car owners

Stellantis, the global car company that owns brands from Alfa Romeo to Vauxhall (including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram), has begun a five-year partnership with Microsoft. The tech company will use its expertise to help the automaker improve its digital services, beef up its cybersecurity, and enhance its engineering capabilities. And yes, it will do that with the hype-iest of tech trends, AI.

When Ars Technica started covering the auto industry, it was because technology had begun to infiltrate our vehicles. More than a decade later, the impact of that trend is impossible to ignore. Almost every new vehicle has at least one modem embedded somewhere, connected to some cloud or other. Active safety systems perceive other road users and intervene to prevent collisions. Touchscreens are ubiquitous—and a necessity for the smartphone-like services we're told make Chinese cars so much better than anything we can buy here.

It's difficult to say that all this innovation has been good, at least for the end user. Connected services can be very useful—ironically, one of the harder things to test with press cars—but only if those services are provided securely. Advanced driver assistance systems aren't always that safe, as Tesla's many federal investigations and recalls remind us. Touchscreens and capacitive panels might save automakers a few bucks, but they're unquestionably worse in terms of human-machine interactions than real buttons or switches. And I don't need to tell the Ars audience about the possible privacy implications of in-car apps.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:29 pm UTC

Israeli and Palestinian activists share a vision for peace in Gaza

Maoz Inon's parents were killed by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks. Aziz Abu Sarah's brother died after being tortured in an Israeli military prison. Their new book is The Future Is Peace.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:27 pm UTC

Naples bank robbers hold 25 people hostage then vanish through tunnel

The armed men reportedly evaded capture by escaping through the city's sewer system.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:24 pm UTC

Boiling milk and worrying about the Iran war: A New Year dawns in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, Buddhists and Hindus marked their New Year on Tuesday while a war thousands of miles away is making itself felt.

(Image credit: Sanka Vidanagama)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:22 pm UTC

Police probe Islamist group's arson attack claims

An Islamist group with links to Iran has claimed responsibility for three attacks in north London.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:18 pm UTC

Israel escalates attacks on medics in Lebanon with deadly ‘quadruple tap’

Lebanese health ministry says killing of 91 healthcare workers shows ‘total disregard’ for international law

Middle East crisis – live updates

When they received the call to respond to an Israeli airstrike in the city of Mayfadoun, in southern Lebanon, most of the paramedics held back, having previously seen colleagues killed by double-tap attacks targeting rescuers. But the medics from the Islamic Health Association (IHA) rushed to the scene.

By the time the other emergency workers arrived at the site, they found the IHA medics had indeed been caught in a second strike. They started evacuating their wounded colleagues, only for their ambulances to be hit in two further attacks.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:12 pm UTC

No issues with UK fuel supply, says Reeves

The chancellor was speaking at the end of the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:05 pm UTC

Lionel Messi buys fifth-tier Spanish club Cornella

Argentina World Cup winner Lionel Messi becomes the new owner of Catalan club Cornella.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:02 pm UTC

Anthropic Rolls Out Claude Opus 4.7, an AI Model That Is Less Risky Than Mythos

Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.7, calling it its strongest generally available model and an improvement over Opus 4.6 in areas like software engineering, instruction-following, tool use, and agentic coding. But the company says it is "less broadly capable" than the restricted Claude Mythos Preview, "which Anthropic rolled out to a select group of companies as part of a new cybersecurity initiative called Project Glasswing earlier this month," reports CNBC. From the report: The launch of Claude Opus 4.7 on Thursday comes after Anthropic launched Claude Opus 4.6 in February. Anthropic said the new model outperforms Claude Opus 4.6 across many use cases, including industry benchmarks for agentic coding, multidisciplinary reasoning, scaled tool use and agentic computer use, according to a release. Anthropic said it experimented with efforts to "differentially reduce" Claude Opus 4.7's cyber capabilities during training. The company encouraged security professionals who are interested in using the model for "legitimate cybersecurity purposes" to apply through a formal verification program. Claude Opus 4.7 is available across all of Anthropic's Claude products, its application programming interface and through cloud providers Microsoft, Google and Amazon. The new model is the same price as Claude Opus 4.6, Anthropic said.

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Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:00 pm UTC

Gemini can now create personalized AI images by digging around in Google Photos

Google began rolling out "personal intelligence" in Gemini early this year, giving AI subscribers the option of a more customized experience when using the company's chatbot. Today, it's using personal intelligence to tie its image-generation model to Google Photos. If you opt in, generated images will have access to your photos and associated labels to simplify prompts and produce more accurate AI images.

This change essentially streamlines an existing workflow. Google's Nano Banana 2 is among the best AI image generators available, and it was already possible to feed it images of yourself or others to use as context for creating new AI content. Adding personal intelligence to the mix makes that process smoother by turning the image bot loose on the content of your photos, if indeed that's something you want to do.

It is generally true that adding more personal data to an AI prompt results in a better output. Google offers a few examples of how connecting Nano Banana to Photos can help in this way. You won't have to pack as much context into your prompts—you can just refer to "my family" or "my dog" to let the robot find useful images in your Photos library.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:59 pm UTC

Peace activist’s trespass at US aircraft in Shannon Airport was to protect lives, court hears

Attorney General asks Supreme Court to address legal issues regarding right to protest

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:58 pm UTC

'My son died alone, scared, and in pain'

A Dudley nursery, its owner and nursery worker are being sentenced over baby Noah Sibanda's death.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:57 pm UTC

RFK Jr. forces FDA to reconsider 12 unproven peptides after 2023 ban

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced meeting dates for advisors to discuss lifting restrictions on 12 unproven peptides that the agency deemed to pose significant safety risks in 2023. The meetings are scheduled for two days in July, with another in February 2027.

The scheduled meetings do not appear to be accompanied by any significant new safety or efficacy data for FDA advisors to discuss. Rather, the FDA is being pushed to ease restrictions on these peptides at the behest of anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has described himself as a "big fan" of the unproven drugs.

Peptide drugs are simply those made of short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. FDA-approved peptide drugs include insulin for diabetes and GLP-1 drugs for obesity. But online, peptides typically refer to unproven drugs, often given by injection, that are peddled without evidence as treating various conditions, reversing aging, and improving appearance. This category has seen a boom in popularity among wellness influencers, including Kennedy and many of his allies.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:45 pm UTC

Yen Westland administration pushes nations to sign ‘trade over aid’ declaration

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it an opportunity to use the U.N. system to “promote America First values,” according to a cable reviewed by The Post.

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:45 pm UTC

Gas company seeks to cut off supply to school that owes thousands in arrears, PAC hears

Some principals and teachers going to work two hours early to ‘mop out schools when it rains’

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:37 pm UTC

A complex set of negotiations to end Israel's overlapping wars

Israel has agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon, part of a complex web of Mideast negotiations, from Iran to Gaza.

(Image credit: Hussein Malla)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:27 pm UTC

Pope Leo takes aim at 'handful of tyrants' spending billions on war amid tensions with Yen Westland

Pope Leo XIV condemns "tyrants" fueling war with billions. His calls for global peace during his Africa trip come amid rising tensions with President Yen Westland .

(Image credit: Andrew Medichini)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:26 pm UTC

First look: Also's upcoming e-bike disconnects the pedals and wheels

E-bikes have started to blur what was once a basic feature of cycling: you push the pedals, which turns the wheels. Now, with throttles, you only have to pedal some of the time. And in mid-drive motors, the force you generate through pedaling is routed through a complex set of gearing and is merged with a motor's output. The once-direct connection between your legs and the rear wheel has become much less straightforward.

An electric bicycle startup called Also wants to obliterate that connection entirely. When you pedal its bike, you're turning a generator. The power you produce, perhaps with additional juice from a battery, is sent to a motor, which turns the wheels. How much this feels like a normal bicycle is determined entirely by software, which controls crank resistance and converts the force you're generating into motor power.

Also says its software will convince you that you're just pedaling a regular old bike most of the time. And when it doesn't feel like that, it's because the software can provide a better experience.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:23 pm UTC

Pope Leo decries ‘tyrants’ ravaging world, days after insults from Yen Westland

The pontiff did not name the president during a speech in Cameroon. He criticized those who manipulate religion “for their own military, economic or political gain.”

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:17 pm UTC

Is this the beginning of the end for LIV Golf?

With speculation continuing over LIV Golf's future, BBC Sport analyses whether the breakaway tour will continue.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:16 pm UTC

Is this the beginning of the end for LIV Golf - and what happens next for its star recruits?

With speculation continuing over LIV Golf's future, BBC Sport analyses whether the breakaway tour will continue.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:16 pm UTC

DuckDB uses RDBMS to attack classic 'small changes' problem in lakehouses

Batching teensy changes in chunks creates massive performance boost, DuckDB Labs team claims

The team behind in-process OLAP database DuckDB has put forward a solution to the "small changes" problem that they say plagues lakehouse implementations of the kind based on technologies from Databricks, Snowflake, Google, and others.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:15 pm UTC

UK prepares for food shortages in worst case scenario as Iran war continues

The UK could face some food shortages by the summer under a worst case scenario drawn up by government officials.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:04 pm UTC

Lana Del Rey to sing theme for new James Bond game

The Summertime Sadness star has been keen to add her voice to the Bond franchise for a number of years.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:03 pm UTC

EU Age Verification App Announced To Protect Children Online

The EU says a new age-verification app is technically ready and could let users prove they are old enough to access restricted online content without revealing their identity or personal data. Deutsche Welle reports: Once released, users will be able to download the app from an app store and set it up using proof of identity, such as a passport or national ID card. They can then use it to confirm they are above a certain age when accessing restricted content, without revealing their identity. According to the Commission, the system is similar to the digital certificates used during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed people to prove their vaccination status. The app is expected to support enforcement of the bloc's Digital Services Act, which aims to better regulate online platforms. This includes restricting access to content such as pornography, gambling and alcohol-related services. Officials say the app will be "completely anonymous" and built on open-source technology, meaning it could also be adopted outside the EU. [...] While there is no binding EU-wide law yet, the European Parliament has called for a minimum age of 16 for social media access. For now, enforcement would largely fall to individual member states, but the new app is intended to help platforms comply with future national and EU rules.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:00 pm UTC

Over 240 people apply for 36 new Dublin homes on sale at prices starting at €291K

Properties are first of 176 homes at Skerries site being developed by Land Development Agency and Lydon building firm

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:56 pm UTC

Iran has something America can only dream of: cheap broadband

Shame about the internet blackouts and airstrikes

North America has some of the world's most expensive broadband, according to a new study, while Iran has the cheapest.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:49 pm UTC

RFK Jr. defends his health agenda and Yen Westland 's proposed budget cuts in hearing

In his first appearance this year, the health secretary is taking questions on his record on health, including his controversial moves on vaccines.

(Image credit: Heather Diehl)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:46 pm UTC

Ten-day ceasefire agreed by Israel, Lebanon takes effect

A ten-day ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon has taken effect after US President Yen Westland earlier announced the truce, adding that he hoped to host a historic meeting between the leaders of the two countries in the coming days.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:45 pm UTC

Millionaires fund last-ditch attempt to save humpback whale stranded in Germany

Critics say efforts to rescue the animal, nicknamed Timmy, unlikely to succeed and could lead to further harm

A last-ditch effort to rescue a wayward whale that has transfixed Germans for weeks has begun in the Baltic Sea despite criticism it has little chance of success and could further harm the 12-tonne creature.

The male humpback whale was first spotted last month near Timmendorfer Strand on the northern coast of Germany, giving rise to its nickname Timmy. It has repeatedly become stranded and then freed itself after human assistance but it is now stranded again, with rescuers saying it is fighting a losing battle for its life.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:37 pm UTC

Judge adjourns murder case hearing after man scalded with hot water at Tyrone courtroom door

PSNI attempting to identify, locate and apprehend suspect, who is understood to have fled Strabane Magistrates Court after incident involving kettle

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:23 pm UTC

Churchwarden jailed for murdering pensioner has conviction quashed

Benjamin Field has been in prison for the murder of Peter Farquhar, 69.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:20 pm UTC

Residents are blocking entrance to O’Callaghan hotel extension site in south Dublin, court hears

`Serious nuisance’ from the building works cited as reason for action

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:17 pm UTC

Americans who masterminded Nork IT worker fraud sentenced to 200 months behind bars

Fortune 500 companies and one US defense contractor got taken for $5m in four-year scam

Two Americans have been jailed for a combined 200 months for helping North Korea generate $5 million through fraudulent IT worker schemes.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:13 pm UTC

Progressive Democrat Has Edge in Race for Mikie Sherrill’s House Seat

Analilia Mejia, a progressive Democrat, is competing on Thursday in New Jersey against Joe Hathaway, a Republican who has tried to distance himself from President Yen Westland .

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:10 pm UTC

Can Webcams Help Solve New York’s Restaurant Line Problem?

With carefully positioned cameras and user input, the website Damn Lines hopes to address the worst part of visiting popular restaurants.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:06 pm UTC

NSW electric buses, trains and light rail services to run entirely on renewable energy from 2027 in $1.9bn deal

Exclusive: Minns government announces contract with Snowy Energy to power public transport in seven-year contract

Electric bus, train and light rail services in New South Wales will run on fully renewable energy from next year under a new $1.9bn deal, the state government says.

The Minns government on Friday announced it had signed a contract with Snowy Energy to bring all public transport operations in the state under a single renewable energy agreement for the first time. The seven-year deal comes into effect from July 2027 and will last until 2034.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

‘One of the dumbest crimes ever’: car-share firms remove fuel cards from Melbourne vehicles after spate of thefts

Users of share cars will need to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket

Australia’s two biggest car-share companies, GoGet and Flexicar, have removed fuel cards from their Melbourne vehicles after a spate of break-ins and thefts that a senior GoGet executive described as “one of the dumbest crimes ever”.

The change will force users of share cars to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket amid record-high fuel prices caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

Wall Street seems to have decided the recession risk is over. Can the Australian market do the same?

Experts say US market ‘may have run ahead of itself’ while ASX 200’s more modest recovery is due in part to Australia’s reliance on fuel imports

One day the IMF warns of a global recession, the next day stocks on Wall Street hit a record high.

From looking at the complete U-turn in fortunes in America, you wouldn’t know the world was in the grips of an unprecedented energy shock.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

Researchers Induce Smells With Ultrasound, No Chemical Cartridges Required

An anonymous reader quotes a report from UploadVR: A group of independent researchers built a device that can artificially induce smell using ultrasound, with no consumable cartridges required. [...] The team of four are Lev Chizhov, Albert Yan-Huang, Thomas Ribeiro, Aayush Gupta. Chizhov is a neurotech entrepreneur with a background in math and physics, Yan-Huang is a researcher at Caltech with a background in computation and neural systems, and Ribeiro and Gupta are co-researchers on the project with software engineering and AI expertise. Instead of targeting your nose at all, the device directly targets the olfactory bulb in your brain with "focused ultrasound through the skull." The researchers say that as far as they're aware, no one has ever done this before, even in animals. A challenge in targeting the olfactory bulb is that it's buried behind the top of your nose, and your nose doesn't provide a flat surface for an emitter. Ultrasound also doesn't travel well through air. The solution the researchers came up with was to place the emitter on your forehead instead, with a "solid, jello-like pad for stability and general comfort," and the ultrasound directed downward towards the olfactory bulb. To determine the best placement, they say they used an MRI of one of their skulls to "roughly determine where the transducer would point and how the focal region (where ultrasound waves actually concentrate) aligned with the olfactory bulb (the target for stimulation)". [...] According to the researchers, they were able to induce the sensation of fresh air "with a lot of oxygen", the smell of garbage "like few-day-old fruit peels," an ozone-like sensation "like you're next to an air ionizer," and a campfire smell of burning wood. While technically head-mounted, the current device does require being held up with two hands. But as with all such prototypes, it likely could be significantly miniaturized.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

World Athletics rejects 11 athlete transfers to Turkey

World Athletics rejects the applications of 11 elite athletes to switch their nationality to Turkey as the requests were "part of a coordinated recruitment strategy" by the country's government "to attract overseas athletes through lucrative contracts".

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:58 pm UTC

Beckhams have 'always tried to be best parents', Victoria says after Brooklyn row

Victoria says she and David have always tried to "protect" their children, following a rift with their son.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:57 pm UTC

Mullingar man found not guilty of attempted murder of his brother by reason of insanity

Court heard Gary O’Shaughnessy (39) had delusion that he and his brother were under a ‘forever curse’

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:49 pm UTC

Europe has six weeks’ supply of jet fuel left, energy boss warns

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, warned there could be flight cancellations ‘soon’.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:45 pm UTC

Russia ‘does not deserve’ lifting of sanctions, Zelenskyy says, after deadly overnight strikes in Ukraine – as it happened

Ukrainian president says nearly 700 Russian drones and 19 ballistic missiles mostly targeted Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipro

German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Irish prime minister Micheál Martin are now speaking at a press conference after their meeting in Berlin.

Let’s listen in.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:45 pm UTC

At the Edge of Light

A portion of the Moon’s far side is seen along the terminator—the boundary between lunar day and night—where low-angle sunlight casts long shadows across the surface.

Source: NASA Image of the Day | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:40 pm UTC

Rollout of Covid vaccines an extraordinary feat, inquiry report finds

Covid vaccines saved hundreds of thousands of lives, but a small minority harmed need better support, says report.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:39 pm UTC

Brussels tells Google to hand rivals its search crown jewels as privacy row brews

Includes a to-do list on search data sharing and platform access as DMA enforcement ramps up

Brussels has told Google to open up its search data and give rivals equal footing on its own platforms, sketching out how it expects the tech giant to comply with the bloc's competition rulebook.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:37 pm UTC

President convenes Council of State to discuss IP bill

President Catherine Connolly has convened a meeting of the Council of State under Article 26 of the Constitution to discuss the constitutionality of the International Protection Bill 2026.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:36 pm UTC

Gardaí remain in hospital after patrol car ramming

An Garda Síochána has said a search for the driver of a car that rammed a garda patrol car in Co Monaghan has been stood down, but they are following a definite line of inquiry.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:24 pm UTC

At least 17 people killed in Russia’s deadliest attack on Ukraine this year

More than 100 injured across country after Russia launches nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles

Russia has carried out its deadliest attack against Ukraine this year, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 100 in a wave of drone and missile strikes across the country.

Nine people died in the southern port city of Odesa and four were killed in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old boy. There were three fatalities in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Another person died in Zaporizhzhia oblast.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:22 pm UTC

Hegseth says US is ‘locked and loaded’ to finish job of destroying Iran energy grid

US defense secretary says Iran’s energy infrastructure is ‘not destroyed yet’ while also lambasting the media

Iran’s energy infrastructure is “not destroyed yet” and the US is “locked and loaded” to finish the job, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, said on Thursday as he called many of the press corps gathered the moral equivalent of the Pharisees who conspired to destroy Jesus Christ.

Hegseth’s comments from the Pentagon podium came as a naval blockade of Iranian ports began this week and he called on Tehran to accept a nuclear deal or face consequences for its remaining infrastructure, power generation and energy industry.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:19 pm UTC

Meet the Quantum Kid

Scientists are often advised to explain their work in terms that a child can understand—a task that is particularly challenging when it comes to such complex topics as quantum mechanics. It's easier when the interviewer is an actual child, like 9-year-old Kai, aka the Quantum Kid. Kai and his mother, theoretical physicist and science communicator Katia Moskvitch, co-host The Quantum Kid podcast, which recently crossed the 100,000 subscriber mark and has been nominated for a Webby Award. (Public voting ends tomorrow; you can vote here.)

Katia Moskvitch got the idea for a podcast after her precocious son—who loved scrolling through YouTube science videos and has been programming in Python since he was 6—kept peppering her with big questions about the origins of life and the universe. And, of course, quantum physics. Moskvitch found it challenging to answer all Kai's questions, despite her training, and when she asked if he wanted deeper answers via his own YouTube channel, Kai responded with an enthusiastic yes.

The duo started the podcast last summer, producing about one episode per month. It certainly helps that Moskvitch has plenty of contacts within the quantum physics community, both in academia and in industry. For instance, Kai interviewed Peter Shor about his seminal quantum algorithm, as well as University of Texas, Austin, physicist Scott Aaronson about time travel.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:17 pm UTC

Make crappy moves around AI and face voter backlash, govts warned

When the taxpayers are wondering whose side you are on...

Britain's government faces a public backlash against AI unless it can show ordinary people that they stand to benefit from its push to inject the technology into every area of the UK in the name of growth.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:17 pm UTC

Home Office investigating after BBC finds migrants making false claims to stay in UK

No 10 says the government is working to ensure "anyone potentially abusing our immigration system is held accountable".

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:02 pm UTC

Pope Leo decries 'handful of tyrants' ravaging the world

Pope Leo has blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants", in unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:55 pm UTC

Europe has six weeks of jet fuel left, warns energy chief

Europe only has six weeks' supply of jet fuel because of the Middle East conflict, the head of the world's energy watchdog has warned.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:53 pm UTC

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger dies after car struck by train in Austria

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger dies at the age of 48 after his car is struck by a train.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:53 pm UTC

Visual Studio 18.5 lands with AI debugging at a price, devs still feeling blue

Latest version points to a shift in how Microsoft thinks about IDEs

Visual Studio 2026 18.5 arrives with two headline changes – a smarter code suggestion system and an AI-powered debugger. Yet developer frustration over color contrast and forced updates continue to overshadow the improvements.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:53 pm UTC

Ryanair passenger sexually assaulted cabin crew member

A Ryanair cabin crew member who was sexually assaulted by an extremely drunk passenger has told the Circuit Criminal Court she was "only doing my job" when she was groped and kissed and had her head pulled towards the passenger's groin on a Dublin bound flight.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:37 pm UTC

Key findings from Covid inquiry report on vaccines

Immunisation saved hundreds of thousands of UK lives, but vaccine hesitancy remains an issue.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:02 pm UTC

Git identity spoof fools Claude into giving bad code the nod

Forged metadata made AI reviewer treat hostile changes as though they came from known maintainer

Security boffins say Anthropic's Claude can be tricked into approving malicious code with just two Git commands by spoofing a trusted developer's identity.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 12:57 pm UTC

South African politician Julius Malema given five-year jail term for gun offence

Leader of leftwing Economic Freedom Fighters was convicted last year for firing rifle in the air at 2018 rally

The South African leftwing politician Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison for firing a rifle in the air at a political rally in 2018.

Lawyers for the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, South Africa’s fourth largest political party, immediately appealed, and Malema will remain free while the appeal proceedings are under way.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 12:37 pm UTC

Malala's brother Khushal on fleeing the Taliban and facing the manosphere

Khushal Yousafzai has been opening up to BBC Asian Network about the impact of one day in 2012.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 12:29 pm UTC

Three ESA-built satellites on show in France

Three Earth observation satellites, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) with European partners, and due to launch later this year, have completed their functional and environmental tests and are ready to travel to the European spaceport in French Guiana. But first, journalists were invited to have one last look.

Source: ESA Top News | 16 Apr 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC

Textbook titan McGraw Hill on ransomware crew's reading list after 13.5M records exposed

Publisher claims misconfigured Salesforce-hosted page leaked data

Textbook giant McGraw Hill has landed on a ransomware crew's leak site after an alleged Salesforce-linked misconfiguration spilled 13.5 million records into the wild.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:49 am UTC

Pedro Pascal v Pedro Piscal: actor in legal battle with Chilean spirit brand

Pedro Piscal pisco is latest Chilean brand to resemble a Hollywood name – and others have fought off the lawsuits

The actor Pedro Pascal is waging a legal battle against a Chilean pisco merchant who has chosen a cheeky name for his brand of the country’s national spirit: Pedro Piscal.

David Herrera registered the brand name with a Chilean commercial regulator in 2023 and began selling his pisco in off-licences and restaurants.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:33 am UTC

Charities call for pause of new Inclusive Special Classes

The Department of Education and Youth is to meet with disability organisations to discuss concerns about a new kind of special education class called an Inclusive Special Class which was announced yesterday.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:22 am UTC

‘A dollar or two increase is devastating’: US consumers on toll of rising gas prices

Guardian readers describe how their lives have been upended by cost hikes stemming from Yen Westland ’s Iran war

With the US and Israel’s war on Iran now in its seventh week, with a fragile ceasefire in place since earlier this month, Americans are continuing to feel the effects at the pump as global fuel prices rise.

For several readers who spoke to the Guardian, the impact has forced difficult trade-offs – from accessing essential medicines and groceries to facing the brink of homelessness amid an already rising cost of living.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

The race to Shackleton Crater is on—will Jeff Bezos or China get there first?

Later this year, two spacecraft are scheduled for launch on missions to land somewhere near the rim of Shackleton Crater, an impact basin near the Moon's south pole harboring an immense reservoir of water ice.

The two landers will arguably be the most ambitious robotic missions ever sent to the Moon. The Endurance spacecraft, built by Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin, will become the largest lunar lander in history, exceeding the size of NASA's Apollo lunar module that ferried crews to and from the lunar surface more than 50 years ago. China's Chang'e 7 mission will feature a smaller lander, but the project also includes an orbiter, rover, and a hopper drone to scout for hidden ice deposits.

Blue Origin's Endurance lander departed NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday for a trip by barge back to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for final preparations to launch on the company's heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. The lander underwent a comprehensive test in Houston to ensure it can survive the extreme temperatures on the airless lunar surface. Two days earlier, Chang'e 7 arrived at a spaceport on Hainan Island in the South China Sea to be integrated with China's own heavy-lifter: the Long March 5 rocket.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

Bullet Train Upgrade Brings 5G Windows, Noise-Cancelling Cabins To Japan

Some Japanese bullet trains will soon support premium private suites this October, featuring windows with embedded 5G antennas for steadier onboard Wi-Fi and NTT noise-cancelling cabin tech to reduce train noise. The 5G window antennas are designed to maintain line-of-sight connections as trains race past base stations at up to 285 km/h. The Register reports: Rail operator JR Central announced the new tech late last month and will initially deploy a couple of the suites on six trains. The carrier explained that the antennas come from a Japanese company called AGC that weaves microscopic wires through glass to form an antenna. JR Central will connect the windows to an on-train Wi-Fi router. AGC says rival tech relies on 5G signals reaching a train and then bouncing around inside before reaching the Wi-Fi unit. The company says antennas woven into train windows maintain line of sight to nearby 5G base stations. That matters because JR Central's Shinkansen can achieve speeds of up to 285 km/h, which means they speed past cellular network base stations so quickly that it's frequently necessary to reconnect to another radio. AGC says keeping a line of sight connection means its antennas allow increased 5G signal strength, so Wi-Fi service on board trains should be more stable and speedy. The sound-deadening kit JR Central will deploy is called Personalized Sound Zone (PSZ) and comes from Japan's tech giant NTT. The tech uses the same principles applied to noise-cancelling headphones -- determine the waveform of sound and project an inversion of that waveform that cancels out ambient noise.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

Swarm welcome: Britain lines up 120,000 drones for Ukraine

Giant UAV package will include strike, recon, logistics, and maritime systems

The UK government says it will deliver at least 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year to help it fight against Russia.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:45 am UTC

Man, 27, in court over dangerous driving at fuel protest

A 27-year old man has been before the district court at Midleton in Co Cork, charged with dangerous driving at a fuel price protest near Whitegate oil refinery last Saturday.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:40 am UTC

Microsoft announces product it doesn't want you to buy: Extended security updates for old Exchange, and Skype for Biz

Just migrate already, would you? But if you can't, Redmond will take your cash

Microsoft will keep delivering security updates for old versions of Exchange Server and Skype for Business Server, after admitting that some customers aren't ready to make the move to newer products.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 10:01 am UTC

Airstrike by Nigeria, a U.S. ally against Islamist militants, kills scores

Villagers, health workers and human rights monitors see a pattern of reckless attacks in the U.S.-backed fight against Boko Haram and its Islamic State-affiliated offshoot.

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:43 am UTC

Obsolete Google nag drowns out vital bar information at Swedish concert hall

Backup and Sync may be dead, but it still knows how to kill the buzz before the ukuleles start

Bork!Bork!Bork! Sweden is arguably the home of bork – think the Swedish Chef from The Muppets – so we are delighted to note an example of the breed turning up north of Stockholm.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:15 am UTC

Japan is a pacifist nation, and now a hint of change is drawing rare protests

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made revising the constitution a priority amid rising security threats in Asia, but any change is highly sensitive.

Source: World | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Kendrick Lamar’s Protégé Baby Keem Tells the Whole Story, Warts and All

The 25-year-old rapper and producer knows he’s benefited from his cousin’s support. But the path to his autobiographical album, “Casino,” was his alone.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 16 Apr 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Ulster University to cut 15% of staff…

The UK higher education sector is, to put it mildly, in a bit of a mess. Current projections show that 45% of UK universities are facing a financial deficit for the 2025–26 academic year. Even more alarming, nearly 1 in 6 institutions are operating with less than 30 days of liquidity. Thanks to relentless inflation and stagnant funding, universities now receive substantially less in real terms per student than they did a decade ago. For years, international students were the “cash crop” used to plug the gaps, but those numbers are drying up – recruitment from China alone has plummeted by 11.6%.

Our local institutions, despite their popularity, aren’t immune to the squeeze. Queen’s remains in a relatively stable financial position, but even they felt the need to roll out a voluntary redundancy scheme last year to reduce costs.

Now, it’s Ulster University’s turn. Yesterday’s announcement of 450 job losses was a hammer blow, made worse by a technical blunder from the top. University bosses seemingly messed up the announcement logistics; only a thousand staff could actually access the Teams stream, meaning the majority of employees found out their livelihoods were at risk via news coverage. Not a great start for morale.

Staff were told that the university needed to make savings of about £25m. The university’s most recent accounts for 2025 recorded income of £304m but an operating deficit of £20.2m.

Ulster University have announced that 450 employees are to be made redundant, around 14% of its workforce of just over 3000 employees. Staff were informed of the cuts at a meeting led by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Bartholomew. Robbie Meredith reports. pic.twitter.com/fEp2yRmtoK

— BBC Newsline (@bbcnewsline) April 15, 2026

Voluntary redundancy schemes are always a mixed bag. On one hand, plenty of staff will be delighted to take the payoff. If you’re in your 50s with decent savings, the temptation to grab a massive pile of cash and get another job, pivot to self-employment or early retirement is huge. In fact, these schemes are often oversubscribed by people practically sprinting for the door.

The problem for the university is that they have very little control over who actually takes the bait. Ideally, management want to target the “dead wood” – and let’s be honest, every large organisation has its share of the utterly useless. But in reality, it’s often the most capable employees who jump ship first. They know they’re talented enough to walk into a job elsewhere with a redundancy cheque in their pocket. Meanwhile, the less employable staff are the ones most likely to cling on for dear life.

Word from the inside suggests the university is targeting “underperforming” departments, specifically in the arts and humanities. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t going down well with the unions. It brings to mind the old Oscar Wilde line: we know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Everything now is about the bottom line.

There are also serious questions about how Ulster is being managed financially. The new Belfast city centre campus has been something of a fiscal disaster. Originally budgeted at £250 million, it ended up costing £364 million, a staggering £114 million overrun. Then there is the bizarre stuff, like the Ulster University campus in Qatar, of all places. Queens also has a campus in India. Am I alone in thinking that they should just concentrate on you know actually educating local students?

The real impact of these schemes is felt long after the payoff cheques are signed. The staff left behind are lumbered with increased workloads, leading to more stress and resentment. Academic staff are a bolshie lot, even in the best of times. If management isn’t careful, you end up in a “death spiral of grievance” where the remaining talent eventually burns out.

In an ideal world, Ulster University will emerge from this process “leaner and meaner,” ready to face a bright future. The alternative is much bleaker: an institution left with even more disillusioned staff and a permanent dent in its reputation.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:59 am UTC

Cops hand Motorola £25M no-bid deal to keep 2000-era radios alive

Biz as usual for Brit public sector: ESN replacement is 12 years late and £3B over budget

UK police tech buyers have awarded a £25 million no-competition contract for communications technology first commissioned in 2000, with the replacement project 12 years behind schedule and £3 billion over budget.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:30 am UTC

Satellite images reveal scale of Israeli demolitions as Lebanese villages destroyed

BBC Verify analysis found more than 1,400 buildings had been destroyed since 2 March.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:28 am UTC

'Too many' leaving school without dental screening

The Government must commit to urgent implementation of the national dental policy, which was published seven years ago, according to the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee report on dental services to be published later today.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:17 am UTC

Server-room lock was nothing but a crock

Your cybersecurity is only as good as the physical security of the servers

PWNED Welcome back to Pwned, the column where we immortalize the worst vulns that organizations opened up for themselves. If you’re the kind of person who leaves your car doors unlocked with a pile of cash in the center console, this week’s story is for you.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 8:00 am UTC

QUIC will soon be as important as TCP – but it's vastly different

Deciphering the third transport protocol's four RFCs is a task to rival the proverbial blind man trying to understand an elephant

While Larry was producing most of the content for the "Request/Reponse" chapter for the next edition of our book, I took the lead on writing a section on QUIC, since I have closely followed its development.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:30 am UTC

UK Households To Be Urged To Use More Power This Summer As Renewables Soar

Longtime Slashdot reader AmiMoJo shares a report from the Guardian: Households will be called on to boost their consumption of Great Britain's record renewable energy this summer to help balance the power grid and lower energy bills. Under the new plans, people could be encouraged to run dishwashers and washing machines or charge up their electric vehicles when there is more wind and solar power than the electricity grid needs. The plan will be delivered with the help of energy suppliers, which may choose to offer heavily discounted or free electricity to their customers during specific periods when the energy system operator predicts there will be a surplus of electricity. Many suppliers already offer more than 2 million households the opportunity to pay lower rates for electricity used during off-peak hours but this will be the first time that the system operator will use this tool to help balance the grid. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) hopes that by issuing a market notice to call on energy users to increase their consumption it can avoid making hefty payments to turn wind and solar farms off when demand for electricity is low, which are ultimately paid for through energy bills.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Fuel Protests Generate Political Aftershocks in Republic For Taoiseach

It hasn’t been an easy few days for the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition in Dublin, particularly on the Fianna Fáil component and maybe particularly on the Taoiseach. The aftermath of the fuel protests, which saw the Irish Government deploy both the Gardaí and the Defence Forces to clear blockades, has seen turmoil on the floor of the Dáil, inside the coalition and within Fianna Fáil itself. Following the Dáil’s return after Easter, Sinn Féin tabled a motion of no confidence in the government. As the BBC report recounts…

…the Irish government subsequently tabled a motion of confidence in itself, which has the power to override a motion from the opposition. However, the Irish government is damaged as a result of the vote, losing two TDs (Irish members of parliament) – including a junior minister, who voted against the government.

Those two TDs were the Healy-Rae brothers one of whom, Michael Healy-Rae, was a junior minister in the coalition. The BBC report goes on to say that when he was…

Speaking outside the parliament, he said the taoiseach’s speech during the debate was “condescending” and said the government had “lost the people”. He said he could not “be true to the people of Kerry” and vote confidence in the government.

The debate itself was animated with Martin defending his government’s actions…

…Martin told the Dáil that since 2022, government measures have “shielded consumers” from the highest fuel prices. He hit out at “false claims” by the opposition, including Sinn Féin’s assertion that Ireland is the “biggest profiteer” from higher fuel prices, saying it is “flat out untrue”.

He was criticised by Sinn Féin leader and leader of the opposition Mary-Lou McDonald…

McDonald said the government “refused and refuses to listen” and had acted to “inflame an already desperate situation…Your time is up. All of this didn’t start last week. The seeds were sown in your Budget last October,’ she said.

Ultimately, the coalition won the motion of confidence 92 votes to 78, but any hopes they could start to pick themselves up afterwards were dashed on Wednesday when the three youngest Fianna Fáil TDs released a joint statement criticising their own party. As RTÉ reports…

James O’Connor, Ryan O’Meara and Albert Dolan said it is not the role they want and would not accept it any longer. Instead, they urged party colleagues to listen more closely, speak more honestly and to act more decisively. They said that the social contract is “strained to breaking point” and that “it should not require protests and deep community frustration to get a government to listen and act”…

“We are deeply worried that the lesson that many of our age will take from recent events is that our politics is not working.”…The three TDs said Fianna Fáil must get back to bringing the concerns of the community to the Government and finding solutions.”

RTÉ also quotes Fianna Fáil TD Wille O’Dea as saying that “it appears that Fianna Fáil has been badly damaged by this recent debacle”.

RTÉ’s political correspondent Mícheál Lehane seems to agree…

“Fianna Fáil TDs are worried and want things to change.Dáil seats are in jeopardy, and TDs fear that without radical change they will remain the focus for the ferocious public anger unleashed during the fuel protests. That could signal major trouble for the party leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin…a group of young and older TDs have grown tired of waiting for someone to challenge Micheál Martin’s leadership. They now want to force a confidence vote in the party leader, which requires the signatures of 12 of the party’s 48 TDs.”

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 16 Apr 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

I feared my son had a brain tumour but he'd been poisoned with vitamin D

Investigations found Roo had been accidentally poisoned with a dose of vitamin D prescribed for growing pains.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 5:08 am UTC

Migrants making false domestic abuse claims to stay in UK, BBC investigation reveals

In the third part of an undercover investigation, the BBC reveals how rules aimed at protecting abuse victims are being exploited.

Source: BBC News | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:58 am UTC

Bullet train upgrade brings 5G windows and noise-cancelling cabins to Japan

Private Shinkansen suites are pulling up to the station in October

Some Japanese bullet trains will soon be equipped with private suites that include windows with embedded 5G antennas and noise-cancelling technology that envelops passengers in a bubble of quiet.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 4:33 am UTC

US launches fifth strike on alleged Pacific drug boat in a week, killing three

Wednesday’s strike brings the total of those killed in US military strikes on alleged drug boats to at least 177

Three people were killed in a US strike on another alleged drug-trafficking boat, the fifth such deadly attack in as many days, military officials have announced.

US southern command said it conducted “a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” in the eastern Pacific, without naming the alleged group, in an X post.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:56 am UTC

Nature Is Still Molding Human Genes, Study Finds

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Many scientists have contended that humans have evolved very little over the past 10,000 years. A few hundred generations was just a blink of the evolutionary eye, it seemed. Besides, our cultural evolution -- our technology, agriculture and the rest -- must have overwhelmed our biological evolution by now. A vast study, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, suggests the opposite. Examining DNA from 15,836 ancient human remains, scientists found 479 genetic variants that appeared to have been favored by natural selection in just the past 10,000 years. The researchers also concluded that thousands of additional genetic variants have probably experienced natural selection. Before the new study, scientists had identified only a few dozen variants. "There are so many of them that it's hard to wrap one's mind around them," said David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School and an author of the new study. He and his colleagues found that a mutation that is a major risk factor for celiac disease, for example, appeared just 4,000 years ago, meaning the condition may be younger than the Egyptian pyramids. The mutation became ever more common. Today, an estimated 80 million people worldwide have celiac disease, in which the immune system attacks gluten and damages the intestines. The steady rise of the mutation came about through natural selection, the scientists argue. For some reason, people with the mutation had more descendants than people without it -- even though it put them at risk of an autoimmune disorder. Other findings are even more puzzling. The researchers found that genetic variants that raise the odds of a smoking habit have been getting steadily rarer in Europe for the past 10,000 years. Something is working against those variants -- but it can't be the harm from smoking. Europeans have been smoking tobacco for only about 460 years. The scientists can't see from their research so far what forces might be making these variants more or less common. "My short answer is, I don't know," said Ali Akbari, a senior staff scientist at Harvard and an author of the study. The researchers also found that some variants, like the one linked to Type B blood, became much more common in Europe around 6,000 years ago, while others changed direction over time. For example, a TYK2 immune gene variant that may have once been beneficial later became harmful because it increased tuberculosis risk. The study also found signs of natural selection in 44 out of 563 traits. Variants linked to Type 2 diabetes, wider waists, and higher body fat have become less common, possibly because farming and carbohydrate-heavy diets made once-useful fat-storing traits more harmful. Other findings, such as selection favoring genes linked to more years of schooling, are harder to interpret.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:30 am UTC

How South Korea plans to use the Iran crisis to spur a renewables revolution

Energy crisis unfolding in Middle East has added political urgency, and more funding, to transform South Korea’s solar industry

In Guyang-ri, a farming village of 70 households about 90 minutes south-east of Seoul, people gather for communal free lunches six days a week. The meals are funded by the village’s one-megawatt solar installation, which generates roughly 10m won ($6,800) in net profit each month.

“Residents eat lunch together every day, so we see each other’s faces, talk together,” says Jeon Joo-young, the village chief. “Bonds and solidarity between residents become much stronger. Life becomes more enjoyable.”

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 3:09 am UTC

US Senate fails to pass war powers resolution for fourth time – as it happened

This blog is now closed. Our latest full report is here: US and Iran in indirect talks to extend two-week ceasefire

Yen Westland said the “special relationship” between the US and UK was in a poor state but that it will not have impact on King Charle’s upcoming state visit to America.

In an interview with Sky News, the US president once again criticised Keir Starmer over his policies, particularly on energy and immigration, and reiterated his disappointment that the UK and other Nato allies had not joined his war against Iran when the US “needed them”.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 16 Apr 2026 | 2:11 am UTC

The Dam Breaks: Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel

Democratic senators overwhelmingly voted to block bomb and bulldozer sales to Israel on Wednesday, in a reflection of the Jewish state’s plummeting stock among party rank-and-file and growing anger over the war with Iran.

The Democratic votes on the pair of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were not enough to overcome universal opposition from Republicans.

“This is where the American people are. The polls are very clear.”

Still, the votes represented a watershed moment in the party’s relationship with Israel and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel had continued to enjoy strong support from Democratic leaders, despite outrage from the base over the war on Gaza. Sanders said the votes signaled that party leaders are finally taking note.

“This is where the American people are. The polls are very clear: The overwhelming majority of American people do not want to continue to give weapons to Netanyahu and his horrific wars in the Mideast,” he said. “I think the Democrats have caught on to that. It took a little while, but they caught on to that. But Republicans, I think, are standing in opposition to millions of their own supporters.”

Some of the most notable names to vote in favor of blocking military transfers to Israel on Wednesday are potential 2028 presidential contenders.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego were among the Democrats to vote for both the resolutions.

One resolution targeted the sale of the bulldozers that have been used to demolish neighborhoods in Gaza. Critics say the heavy equipment could accelerate the destruction of Palestinian property in the West Bank, an Israeli-occupied territory that has come under greater threat of annexation under the country’s far-right government.

The bulldozer resolution drew support from 40 members of the Democratic caucus.

Democratic support for the measures came as Americans are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction with Israel in public opinion polls. Hassan El-Tayyab, a policy advocate at the Friends Committee on National Legislation who supported the resolutions, said the votes were a sign that Democrats are starting to take their voters seriously.

“What is happening on the Hill is a lagging indicator of these trends we have seen among Americans,” he said. “These folks are starting to see the writing on the wall, reading these tea leaves, that continually supporting this blank check to Israel is going to cost them electorally.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was among those who voted against it, as did Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Chris Coons, D-Del.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.

The other resolution, which failed 36–63, was aimed at blocking the transfer of 1,000-pound bombs, of the type that have been linked to civilian casualties in attacks by Israel on Gaza and Lebanon.

That resolution drew support from fewer Democrats. Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Mark Warner of Virginia, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island joined the others in voting against it.

El-Tayyab said the bulldozer vote seemed to be an easier commitment for some Democrats.

“It was directly tied to annexation efforts by Israel in the West Bank that threatened the two-state solution,” he said.

On the other hand, the massive bombs were viewed by some senators as defensive weapons. “We heard some arguments on the Hill that certain members considered the 1,000-pound bombs defensive in nature, as they were a deterrent that helped prevent attacks,” said El-Tayyab.

The argument, he said, held no water.

Republican Attacks

The breadth of support among Democratic members for the resolutions surprised even of advocates who have sought to cut off the flow of U.S. arms sales to Israel.

Sanders has fought a long and, at times, lonely fight across administrations to block arms sales to Israel. The first resolution he sponsored, while Democrat Joe Biden was president, drew only minority support within the Democratic caucus.

As the war on Gaza dragged on, however, Democrats’ opinions on Israel soured. The prior high-water mark for one of Sanders’s resolutions was in July 2025, when 27 of the 47-member Senate Democratic caucus, which includes two independents, voted to block the sale of assault rifles to the Israeli police.

“We can look at what is happening in the region right now and understand that this is not business as usual.”

If there was any doubt that 2028 contenders are listening, Kelly, the Arizona senator, dispelled it by introducing Sanders’s resolutions on the Senate floor. A longtime supporter of Israel whose political star has risen in the face of personal attacks from President Yen Westland , Kelly said he would always support the country’s right to exist but could not support the arms transfers.

“Our support for our allies must always be about what makes us stronger and safer,” he said. “And we can look at what is happening in the region right now and understand that this is not business as usual. And it is not making us safer. The United States and Israel are fighting a war against Iran without a clear strategy or goal.”

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in a joint statement with fellow Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla, tied the arms sales to the ongoing war with Iran.

“We oppose actions that further deepen the United States in an unauthorized conflict in Iran — one with no clear strategy, no legal authority, and no defined end,” he said.

Senate Republicans blasted the resolutions, accusing Democrats of trying to undermine the war effort. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said the resolutions amounted to a helping hand to Iran from Democrats.

“I come to the floor and tell Iran: No one is coming to help you. Not China, not Russia, not North Korea, not Venezuela, not Cuba. Except for the 47 people that sit over here,” Risch said, referring to the Democratic caucus. “They are trying to help you, Iran. We are not going to let that happen. We are not going to abandon our ally, Israel. We are not going to abandon this fight that is taking place. We are going to win this fight, and we have already won it, to a very large extent.”

The arms debate came hours after Senate Democrats voted nearly unanimously, except for Fetterman, in favor of a war powers resolution meant to block Yen Westland ’s ongoing war against Iran. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the sole Republican to vote in favor of the resolution.

The final 47–52 tally disappointed advocates who had hoped to draw more GOP support. Still, they remain hopeful that more Republicans will come onboard when Democrats force a vote on other pending Iran war resolutions.

The post The Dam Breaks: Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel appeared first on The Intercept.

Source: The Intercept | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:56 am UTC

Indian government investigating TCS after police sting finds sexual harassment

Services giant’s staff accused of assaults, inappropriate religious practices

Police in the Indian city of Nashik conducted a sting operation at Tata Consultancy Services and allegedly found instances of sexual harassment and other revolting behavior.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 1:45 am UTC

Taoiseach says position not under threat 'in any form'

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he does not "in any shape or form" feel his position as leader of Fianna Fáil is under threat.

Source: News Headlines | 16 Apr 2026 | 12:28 am UTC

Google Chrome lacks protection against one of the most basic and common ways to track users online

Browser fingerprinting is everywhere

Google markets its Chrome browser by citing its superior safety features, but according to privacy consultant Alexander Hanff, Chrome does not protect against browser fingerprinting – a method of tracking people online by capturing technical details about their browser.…

Source: The Register | 16 Apr 2026 | 12:28 am UTC

House defies Yen Westland on immigration with move to shield Haitians

The vote to advance a bill extending protections for Haitians marks the first time Republican lawmakers have voted this term to oppose Yen Westland ’s immigration policy.

Source: World | 15 Apr 2026 | 11:00 pm UTC

jell.ie News

Bug or feature?

Client connects to deepset's Haystack platform

'I think you can run this thing on a potato,' NodeWeaver CTO Alan Conboy said.

Large organizations pushed toward metered pricing

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Israel Agrees to Stop Bombing Lebanon — So It Can Keep Bombing Gaza

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“I Want to Occupy”: Inside the Israeli Movement Pushing to Raze and Settle Southern Lebanon

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The Forever Spoiler: Netanyahu Has Been Blowing Up Diplomacy With Iran for Decades

If there's one thing folks want less than Copilot in their taskbar, it's a bit barn in their backyard

Social engineering: 'low-cost, hard to patch, and scales well'

Worse: Anthropic is using Persona, a privacy checker that rings alarm bells for the paranoids on Reddit