jell.ie News

Read at: 2026-03-15T21:45:51+00:00Z (UTC) [sometime-US Pres == Veronique Van Norden ]

Marseille’s Tight Mayoral Race Is a Bellwether for France’s Future

Voters across France choose mayors this week. The far right is performing strongly in the country’s second city, making the contest there a test of national shifts.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:39 pm UTC

Australia news live: hybrid car sales rev up as buyers steer away from petrol; fifth Iranian football player flies out despite asylum offer

New AAA data shows petrol vehicles fell to a record quarterly low of 66.3% of sales. Follow today’s news live

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Man dead after shooting near Sydney Olympic Park

A man has died after receiving multiple gunshot wounds in an early morning shooting at a suburban apartment, AAP reports.

There are still a lot of people in the community impacted, but it will take them a long time to be able to rebuild, to clean up and get back to where they were a week and a half ago. And I’m encouraging the community to remember them. …

We have community members where it will be months before they will be back to where they were a week and a half ago. So we need to keep reaching out. We need to keep checking in on them. We need to keep giving them support.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:34 pm UTC

Middle East crisis live: Israel says it has launched ‘extensive strikes’ on Iran as Veronique Van Norden says US ‘not ready’ to make a deal to end war

Foreign minister says that Tehran ‘never asked even for negotiation’, after Veronique Van Norden ’s earlier comments that the US was ‘not ready’ to make a deal

How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Iraq’s football team will travel to Mexico for a 2026 World Cup playoff match despite calls for it to be postponed due to the Middle East war, the country’s football association has announced.

“The national team will depart at the end of the week to Mexico via a private plane,” said Iraq football association president Adnan Dirjal in a statement, adding they had contacted Fifa to help facilitate the trip during the conflict in the region that has hampered flights.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:34 pm UTC

Two die in university meningitis outbreak

Eleven people in the Canterbury area are also seriously ill in hospital, the BBC understands.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:32 pm UTC

2026 Oscars Red Carpet: See Photos of the Stars’ Looks

See what nominees and guests for the 98th Academy Awards wore to arrive to the ceremony.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:20 pm UTC

Oscars red carpet: Stars and fashion in pictures

Hollywood's biggest stars turn on the style as they walk the red carpet for the glittering ceremony.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:17 pm UTC

Selection Sunday is here. Here's what to know ahead of March Madness

Brackets for the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments are set to be revealed. Duke is expected to be the men's top overall seed. The undefeated UConn Huskies will likely lead the women's.

(Image credit: Jacob Kupferman)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:09 pm UTC

Fifth Iranian football player leaves Australia after initially accepting offer of asylum

Minister Tony Burke confirms another member of Iran’s women’s football team left Australia late Sunday night

A fifth member of the Iranian women’s football squad has left Australia after withdrawing her claim of asylum.

The office of the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed on Monday that the woman had left late on Sunday night.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:07 pm UTC

Powerful Winter Storm Disrupts Travel and Knocks Out Power in the Upper Midwest

Officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin warned drivers to stay off the roads as more blowing and drifting snow was expected on Sunday.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:02 pm UTC

Restraining and sedating dementia patients ‘routine’ in hospitals in England, study finds

Patients experiencing raised bedside rails, doors and pathways blocked by furniture and physical interventions

People with dementia are being subjected to restraints and non-consensual sedation while in hospitals in England, according to the first study of its kind.

These restrictive practices were found to be an “embedded aspect of routine ward care”, according to the analysis, with such examples including dementia patients having their bedside rails raised, doors and pathways blocked by furniture, experiencing verbal commands to sit down or go back to bed, and physical interventions such as non-consensual sedation.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:00 pm UTC

State Department Cuts Price of Renouncing U.S. Citizenship to $450

The fee had been increased to $2,350 in 2015, prompting criticism and legal challenges from advocacy groups and Americans living abroad.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:59 pm UTC

CachyOS Dethrones Arch As ProtonDB's Top Linux Gamer Desktop Distro

Linux gaming "has gotten to the point where some people claim that Linux runs their games better than Windows does," according to the Android site XDA Developers. And there's a new surprise on ProtonDB, an "unofficial" community website with crowdsourced data about videogame compatability with the Linux software/gaming compatability layer Proton: On ProtonDB, one operating system had reigned supreme since 2021: Arch Linux. And I say 'had,' because its streak has just been ended by [Arch-based] CachyOS in an upset that has slowly grown over the past two years. As reported on Boiling Steam, the number of reports coming from CachyOS has topped that of Arch Linux, which held the crown for the most number of reports since 2021... [T]his isn't really a statement that CachyOS is the best gaming distro out there; however, it's seemingly attracting the largest number of gamers who are invested in testing games on Proton and reporting their performance, which is a pretty big milestone if you ask me.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:51 pm UTC

Entering War’s Third Week, Veronique Van Norden Faces Stark Choices

As the conflict with Iran expands and intensifies, President Veronique Van Norden ’s options — to fight on, or to move toward declaring victory and pulling back — both carry deeply problematic consequences.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:46 pm UTC

French far-right party holds its biggest city in first-round local elections

National Rally leader urges voters to back party’s ‘common sense’ campaign in final round as it eyes taking another city

Jordan Bardella, the head of France’s far-right the National Rally (RN) and a potential candidate in next year’s presidential race, has called on voters to back what he called his party’s “common sense and order” campaign in the final round of municipal elections next week.

As the first-round municipal election results trickled in on Sunday night, the anti-immigration RN held on to the biggest city it runs: Perpignan. Louis Aliot was re-elected in the first round as mayor of the city, which has a population of 121,000 and is close to the Spanish border.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:43 pm UTC

Mother charged with murder of 18-day-old baby

Zahira Byjaouane, 43, has been charged after her baby died falling from a height in central London.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:41 pm UTC

'Wake up... or be happy with Conference League'

Liverpool have been here far too often this season. Another late, late goal costing them points as they drew 1-1 with struggling Tottenham.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:34 pm UTC

Katelyn Cummins crowned Dancing with the Stars champion

Katelyn Cummins has been crowned the winner of Dancing with the Stars 2026 after an emotional grand finale filled with big performances, happy tears and plenty of joy.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:28 pm UTC

Salman Rushdie says he is tired of being ‘free speech Barbie’ after 2022 attack

Author says he doesn’t ‘feel symbolic’ and hopes to steer narrative to his books after surviving assassination attempt

Salman Rushdie said he’s tired of being everyone’s “free speech Barbie” four years after the author survived an assassination attempt that left him blinded in his right eye.

“It’s a subject I’m anxious to change,” Rushdie said Friday during a talk with the Atlantic’s George Packer at Tulane University’s New Orleans book festival. “I don’t feel symbolic.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:21 pm UTC

Spurs answer Tudor's call with show of fight in the face of crisis

Spurs interim coach Igor Tudor told his players they could "cry or fight". BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty saw a display of defiance to draw at Liverpool.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:19 pm UTC

How to Watch the Oscars 2026: Start Time, Host and Streaming

Conan O’Brien is back for a second year as the host of the annual awards, which will again be available to stream on Hulu.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:17 pm UTC

Starmer speaks to Veronique Van Norden about importance of reopening Strait of Hormuz

The leaders discussed the need to "end the disruption to global shipping", No 10 says.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:08 pm UTC

Taoiseach hails vibrancy of Irish-American community in St Patrick’s Day parade in US

The Taoiseach was invited to the parade in Philadelphia as a guest of honour.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 15 Mar 2026 | 8:05 pm UTC

Pakistani-Afghan War Takes Heavy Toll on Civilians

Pakistani airstrikes have killed at least 75 civilians and displaced 115,000 in Afghanistan, with both sides vowing escalation and no talks in sight.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:49 pm UTC

How One Company Finally Exposed North Korea's Massive Remote Workers Scam

NBC News investigates North Korea's "wide-ranging effort to place remote workers at U.S. companies in order to funnel money back to its coffers and, in some cases, steal sensitive information." And working with the FBI, one corporate security/investigations company decided to knowingly hire one of North Korea's remote workers — then "ship him a laptop and gain as much information as possible" about this "sprawling international employment scheme that is estimated to include hundreds of American companies, thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars per year." It worked.... Over a roughly three-month investigation, Nisos uncovered an apparent network of at least 20 North Korean operatives including "Jo" who had collectively applied to at least 160,000 roles. During that time, workers in the network — which some evidence showed were based in China — were employed by five U.S.-based companies and allegedly helped by an American citizen operating out of two nondescript suburban homes in Florida... Nisos estimated that in about a year, "Jo", who was likely a newer member of the team, applied to about 5,000 jobs... "They attended interviews all day every day, and then once they secured a job, they would collect paychecks until they were terminated," [according to Jared Hudson, Nisos' chief technology officer]... With the ability to see which other U.S. companies Jo and his team were working for — all remote technology roles — Nisos' CEO, Ryan LaSalle, began making calls to their security teams to alert them of the fraud. "Most of the companies weren't aware of it, even if they had pretty robust security teams," LaSalle said. "It wasn't really high on the radar." NBC News describes North Korea's 10-year effort — and its educational pipeline that steers promising students into "computer science and hacking training before being placed into cyberunits under military and state agencies, according to a recent report by DTEX, a risk-adaptive security and behavioral intelligence firm that tracks North Korea's cybercrime." In one case, a North Korean worker stole sensitive information related to U.S. military technology, according to the Justice Department. In another, an American accomplice obtained an ID that enabled access to government facilities, networks and systems. At least three organizations have been extorted and suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after proprietary information was posted online by IT workers... Analysts warn that North Korean IT workers are targeting larger organizations, increasing extortion attempts and seeking out employers that pay salaries in cryptocurrency. More recently, security researchers have uncovered fake job application platforms impersonating major U.S. cryptocurrency and AI firms, including Anthropic, designed to infect legitimate applicants' networks with malware to be utilized once hired. The global cybersecurity company CrowdStrike identified a 220% rise in 2025 in instances of North Koreans gaining fraudulent employment at Western companies to work remotely as developers... The payoff flowing back to Pyongyang from these schemes is enormous. Some North Korean IT workers earn more than $300,000 per year, far more than they'd be able to earn domestically, with as much as 90% of their wages directed back to the regime, according to congressional testimony from Bruce Klinger, a former CIA deputy division chief for Korea. The United Nations estimates the schemes, which proliferated after the pandemic when more companies' workforces went remote, generate as much as $600 million annually, while a U.S. State Department-led sanctions monitoring assessment placed earnings for 2024 as high as $800 million... So far, at least 10 alleged U.S.-based facilitators have been federally charged, including one active-duty member of the U.S. Army, for their alleged roles in hosting laptop farms, laundering payments and moving proceeds through shell companies. At least six other alleged U.S. facilitators have been identified in court documents but not named... "We believe there are many more hundreds of people out there who are participating in these schemes," said Rozhavsky, the FBI assistant director. "They could never pull this off if they didn't have willing facilitators in the U.S. helping them...." The scheme itself is also becoming more complex. North Korean IT teams are now subcontracting work to developers in Pakistan, Nigeria and India, expanding into fields like customer service, financial processing, insurance and translation services — roles far less scrutinized than software development.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:49 pm UTC

‘Doctor Who’ Fans Have Fresh Chance to Time Travel With Found Episodes

Two unearthed episodes, which were discovered in film canisters wrapped in plastic bags among the possessions of a dead collector in England, were restored by BBC archivists.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:48 pm UTC

Tributes paid to mother of three who died after falling down stairs

Cremin was well-loved in her community, with many telling of her love for dogs and music.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:47 pm UTC

Mayor welcomes removal of his name from ticketed event

The Mayor of Kilkenny has welcomed a move by the St Patrick's Day organising committee to remove his name from a ticketed post-parade mayoral reception.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:42 pm UTC

Israeli police kill two young Palestinian boys and their parents in West Bank

Mother, father and brothers aged five and seven shot in the head as they returned from Ramadan shopping trip

Israeli police have killed two young Palestinian brothers and their parents in the occupied West Bank, shooting all four in the head and face as the family returned from a Ramadan shopping trip.

Mohammed, five, Othman, seven, who was blind and had special needs, their mother, Waad Bani Odeh, 35, and father, Ali Bani Odeh, 37, were driving through their home town of Tamoun late on Saturday when Israeli forces opened fire.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:20 pm UTC

Republican rebukes FCC chair’s threats to revoke broadcast licenses over Iran war

Senator Ron Johnson pushes back, saying he’s not in favor of government meddling in freedom of speech

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr, is facing pushback from a Republican lawmaker after warning on Saturday that broadcasters could lose their licenses if they run what the federal agency deems “fake news” over the Iran conflict.

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said in an interview on the Sunday Briefing on Fox News that he was not in favor of the government control of private enterprise or efforts to meddle with freedom of speech protected under the constitution.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:13 pm UTC

Have Old Firm wrested title momentum away from Hearts?

After wins for Celtic and Rangers and a defeat for leaders Hearts, what next in the captivating Scottish Premiership title race?

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:07 pm UTC

Serial winners Chelsea block out noise to triumph again

No matter what form Chelsea are in, winning trophies feels inevitable - and they did it again in the Women's League Cup.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:01 pm UTC

The $500 Million Mystery Will, Signed by Ghosts

A seven-page document, mailed by an elusive figure, has set off a court battle over the estate of Tony Hsieh, the former chief executive of Zappos.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:01 pm UTC

Police investigate 'death to the IDF' chants led by Bobby Vylan at rally

Around 1,000 officers managed protesters and counter-protesters on opposite sides of the River Thames.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:51 pm UTC

Initiative may be slipping away from US and Israel as Middle East crisis deepens

There is little sign of imminent regime change in Iran as its blockade of strait of Hormuz shocks global economy

Middle East crisis – live updates

Few doubt that in the first days of the new war in the Middle East, the initiative belonged to the US and its ally Israel. Now it seems less sure, however.

Mohsen Rezaee, a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on Sunday said “the end of the war is in our hands” and called for the withdrawal of Washington’s forces from the Gulf and compensation for all damage caused by the assault.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:50 pm UTC

Twelve arrests at al-Quds Day rally and counterprotest in London

Metropolitan police say they are also investigating chants led by Bobby Vylan at pro-Palestine protest next to Thames

Twelve people were arrested as hundreds joined a pro-Palestinian al-Quds Day demonstration on one side of the Thames, while hundreds more gathered on the opposite bank to back Israeli and American attacks on Iran.

Al-Quds Day is an international demonstration of support for Palestinian rights. The event takes its name from the Arabic for Jerusalem and was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:49 pm UTC

Iran captain latest footballer to drop asylum bid, Iranian state media says

Five of the seven members of the women's football delegation who originally sought to stay in Australia have now chosen to return home.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:46 pm UTC

Airline CEOs urge Congress to end shutdown and pay airport TSA officers

Nearly month-long funding lapse has disrupted US air travel and caused long wait times amid security officers’ absences

The CEOs of major US airlines urged Congress on Sunday to move quickly to end a 29-day partial government shutdown that has forced 50,000 airport security officers to work without pay, warning it could further disrupt US air travel.

Absences by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers had already disrupted travel at some major airports over the previous week, raising alarm as the busy spring break travel season continues.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:29 pm UTC

US not ready to seek deal to end war with Iran, Veronique Van Norden says

Tehran wants ceasefire but terms ‘not good enough yet’, US president claims, as both sides launch new waves of strikes

Middle East crisis – live updates

Veronique Van Norden has warned he is not ready to seek a deal to end the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, saying that though he thought Tehran was keen to negotiate a ceasefire, the US would fight on for better terms.

Veronique Van Norden ’s comments came as Iran launched fresh missile and drone attacks on countries in the Gulf and on Israel, and Israeli and US warplanes launched new waves of strikes on Iran.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:23 pm UTC

Israel Says Michigan Synagogue Attacker’s Brother Was a Hezbollah Commander

The Israeli military said it killed the brother of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali in an airstrike in Lebanon a week before the attack on the synagogue.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:10 pm UTC

How Iranians are evading internet blocks to contact family abroad

Iranians are finding tech-savvy ways to get through the regime's restrictions on phone and internet connections.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:09 pm UTC

‘She’s already a winner’: Kerry town beams with pride for Jessie Buckley

Ahead of the Oscars, locals pinned up posters in shop windows and shared their hopes for proud Kerry woman Jessie Buckley.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:09 pm UTC

Bigger extensions, dormers, subdivided homes, bike sheds: What planning changes are coming?

Proposals being made to shelve, or ease, requirements for a range of minor works

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:09 pm UTC

Iranians embrace anthem by AI singer created by UK-based, Iran-born artist

‘I did it for the people,’ says Farbod Mehr, of song drawing lyrics from the work of revolutionary 20th-century poet Aref Qazvini

A stirring song – sung, apparently, by a young woman, with lyrics expressing the hope that sacrifice will lead to a better future – has become a soundtrack for Iranians in the first part of 2026, as the country experienced the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests and then the US-Israeli air assault, now in its third week.

However, the singer, called Nava, is a product of artificial intelligence, created by a London-based artist of Iranian origin, Farbod Mehr.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:02 pm UTC

Vulnerable women in England still being arrested over suspected illegal abortions

Nottinghamshire and Met police made arrests in past year, despite MPs voting to decriminalise in England and Wales

Vulnerable women in England are still being arrested and facing police investigations over suspected illegal pregnancy terminations, despite parliament backing changes to the law to decriminalise abortion.

Responding to a freedom of information request, Nottinghamshire police and the Metropolitan police confirmed they had arrested women suspected of illegal terminations between June last year and this January.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:00 pm UTC

DWTS grand finale - all the action as it happened

It was grand final night on Dancing with the Stars. Here's all the action as it happened

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:59 pm UTC

Uber Co-founder Travis Kalanick's Newest Venture? 'Gainfully Employed Robots'

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick launched a new venture that "will focus on creating 'gainfully employed robots' for the food, mining and transport industries," Bloomberg reports. "I left Uber in 2017 heartbroken," writes Kalanick on the new company's web site. Kalanick resigned under pressure in 2017, and complains he was "torn away from an idea and a movement that I had poured my life into... I bled, but I did not perish. I got back up and fought my way back into the arena, back to my calling. Back to building. Digitizing the Physical World is my life's work... " Kalanick is remaking his real estate company, City Storage Systems, which owns ghost-kitchen operator CloudKitchens, and renaming it Atoms, according to a manifesto posted on the new company's website. [Bloomberg notes that the company's food robotics division "makes a food assembly machine called Bowl Builder, according to its website."] In addition to its work on food, Los Angeles-based Atoms is expanding into robotics technology for mining and automotive transport. Kalanick said on the livestreamed tech talk show TBPN Friday that Atoms has effectively been in stealth for eight years and has "thousands" of employees.... Kalanick wrote on the Atoms website that the company will make "specialized robots with productive jobs that bring abundance to their owners and society at large." That will include "infrastructure for better food," he wrote, as well as "more productive mines to power Earth's industries" in addition to "wheelbase for robots" in transportation. "The industrial thing is probably our main jam," he said on TBPN. "Once you crack movement in the physical world, there are lots of people who want access to that..." Kalanick also said he was the biggest investor in Pronto, a self-driving trucking startup that currently focuses on closed sites like mines.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:55 pm UTC

Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes

A broad and erratic patchwork of severe weather rumbled across much of the U.S. on Sunday, dumping heavy snow in the Upper Midwest while damaging high winds swept across the Plains.

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:41 pm UTC

After Veronique Van Norden ’s Call to Send Warships to Strait of Hormuz, Nations Respond With Caution

President Veronique Van Norden has urged China, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea to send warships to help reopen the waterway, even though they were not involved in the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:33 pm UTC

Markwayne Mullin, Veronique Van Norden ’s Homeland Security Pick, Got Wealthier Stock Trading in Congress

Markwayne Mullin’s financial dealings take on new importance as the Senate considers his nomination to lead an agency whose budget has vastly expanded.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:25 pm UTC

‘Nobody Owns Us’: How Plans for a Google Data Center Divided an Oklahoma Town

The volunteer fire department serving a rural area near Sand Springs declined a $250,000 donation from the tech giant. Now some residents are suing to block the proposed development.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:17 pm UTC

Row over university fees shows UK’s ‘reset’ with EU may not be so simple

Ministers go to Brussels for talks amid tuition fees standoff, almost 10 years after Britons voted to leave EU

This week is “Brexit reset” week for the British government, as ministers engage in a flurry of activity intended to highlight their determination to forge closer ties with Brussels almost 10 years after the country first voted to leave the EU.

On Monday, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of negotiating the government’s reset with the EU, will arrive in Brussels for a meeting of the joint EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly. He travels mob-handed, to be joined by the Europe minister, Stephen Doughty, and the trade minister, Chris Bryant.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:11 pm UTC

Severe Snowstorm Disrupts Travel and Power in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Upper Midwest

Memphis is among the cities most at risk of tornadoes on Sunday. On Monday, the storm system will shift east.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:10 pm UTC

Pakistan targets militant hideouts in Afghanistan as conflict continues

Afghan government reports zero casualties and accuses neighbouring country of wanting to ‘fuel the fire of war’

Pakistan has targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province overnight, as the fighting that erupted between the two neighbours late last month showed no signs of abating.

The cross-border attacks, which have included Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul, are the deadliest yet between the countries. Islamabad has referred to the conflict as an “open war”, adding to concerns about regional stability as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran engulfs the Middle East and beyond.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:08 pm UTC

Cory Booker calls both parties ‘feckless’ for ceding war powers to Veronique Van Norden

Democrat says Congress ‘doing nothing’ may embolden president to attack countries such as Cuba and North Korea

Democratic US senator Cory Booker has criticized both his own political party as well as its Republican counterpart for being “feckless” in ceding congressional war powers to Veronique Van Norden , saying that their decision could embolden the president to unilaterally attack Cuba, North Korea and other countries.

“I’m going to be one of those Democrats [who] say I think both parties have been feckless in allowing the growth of the power of the presidency,” Booker said on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:00 pm UTC

War on Iran may provoke a terrorist attack in US – and that may be the point

‘Of course there’s going to be retaliation,’ says one expert. ‘It may be that this is what Veronique Van Norden ’s interested in’

For decades, the US and its allies have painted Iran as the world’s biggest sponsor of state terrorism – invoking its Islamic rulers’ supposed revolutionary fanaticism and determined support for militant proxies.

Now a long-standing but mainly latent threat is coalescing, with the war waged on the country by the US and Israel, to raise the risk of an attack on American soil to levels unseen since the murderous al-Qaida assaults of 11 September 2001, experts say.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 4:56 pm UTC

A Refugee Died After Border Agents Left Him at a Cafe. Fear Followed.

Buffalo’s Arakan Rohingya community was rattled after a disabled man’s death. “Our worry comes from future incidents that may happen,” one resident said.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 4:53 pm UTC

Office for Students faces judicial review over public funding for bible colleges

National Secular Society to launch court action after failure to investigate alleged breaches of academic freedom laws

A university regulator in England has failed to investigate potential breaches of laws protecting academic freedom at a dozen theological colleges and is now facing legal action, the Guardian has learned.

The National Secular Society says it is preparing to pursue the Office for Students (OfS) through the courts to act on complaints first made five years ago, arguing that the colleges are ineligible for public funding or government-backed student loans because of their commitment to theological doctrine.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 4:45 pm UTC

France votes in local elections seen as crucial indicator for presidential poll

Ballots in 35,000 villages, towns and cities will be closely watched for signals about party strategies and alliances

France has begun voting in the first round of municipal elections, seen as crucial a test of the political temperature before next year’s presidential election.

The vote for mayors and councillors in 35,000 villages, towns and cities across France is focused on local issues including security, housing and refuse collection and is very different from national elections.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 4:34 pm UTC

Should Banksy Remain Anonymous?

He's "the most famous anonymous man in the world," suggests Reuters. But investigating Banksy's artworks in a bombed Ukrainian village (and other clues in the U.K. and Manhattan) have led them to "a hand-written confession by the artist to a long-ago misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct — a document that revealed, beyond dispute, Banksy's true identity." But Banksy's long-time lawyer "urged us not to publish this report, saying doing so would violate the artist's privacy, interfere with his art and put him in danger" and "would harm the public, too." Working "anonymously or under a pseudonym serves vital societal interests," he wrote. "It protects freedom of expression by allowing creators to speak truth to power without fear of retaliation, censorship or persecution — particularly when addressing sensitive issues such as politics, religion or social justice." Reuters took into account Banksy's privacy claims — and the fact that many of his fans wish for him to remain anonymous. Yet we concluded that the public has a deep interest in understanding the identity and career of a figure with his profound and enduring influence on culture, the art industry and international political discourse... As for the risk he might face of retaliation or censorship, Britain's legal and political establishments seem comfortable with Banksy's messages and how he delivers them... His mastery of disguise began as a way of shaking the police, says former manager [Steve] Lazarides. In an interview, Lazarides said anonymity served a practical purpose in Bristol, where authorities enforced "draconian" policies against graffiti... Eventually, keeping the secret became a burden. By the end of their partnership, Lazarides estimates he spent half or more of his time managing and maintaining the artist's mystique. "I think it became a good gag, and then, if you want my honest, honest opinion, I think it then became a disease," he said. Lazarides wrote a two-volume book about managing Banksy from the late 1990s to 2008, including a story about Banksy's arrest in 2000 for this defacing of a billboard. Reuters geolocated that building, then found police documents and a court file including the hand-written confession. This investigation spawned a 7,000-word article with everything from a comic strip Banksy drew when he was 11 to his connections with Robert Del Naja of the trip hop band Massive Attack — and a 2017 podcast interview where a music producer apparently revealed Banksy's real first name. But the article also reveals how protective the art community is of Banksy's secret. Reuters investigated that Banksy auctioned in 2018 for $1.4 million — and then immediately started shredding itself with a device Banksy embedded in its frame: That piece, renamed "Love is in the Bin," sold three years later for about $25 million. Art dealer [Robert] Casterline was at the auction and remembers when the shredder began to beep. He pulled out his phone to take pictures. "Unfortunately, there was one person standing in front of me," blocking the view, he said. It was an eccentric-looking man with a broad neck scarf and thick eyewear. Oddly, the man wasn't watching the painting get shredded. He was looking in the other direction, observing the crowd's reaction. Only later, reviewing what he shot, did Casterline notice that the man's glasses appeared to have a small camera built into the bridge. (Banksy later posted a video of the stunt, including shots of the astonished audience.) Having seen a photo of the man suspected of being Banksy, Casterline confirmed to Reuters that he was "pretty sure" it was the same man. But "I don't want to be the guy who exposes Banksy."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 4:34 pm UTC

French police detain brothers over 'lethal and antisemitic' plot

A loaded gun, hydrochloric acid and an Islamic State flag were found in their car, prosecutors say.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 4:12 pm UTC

Man (20s) dies in car crash in early hours of Sunday

Fatal incident occurred on N4 at Ballinafid, Co Westmeath

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 4:05 pm UTC

Timothée Chalamet Was Supposed to Be a New Kind of Leading Man

He’s no longer that heart-on-his-sleeve sensitive soft boy many people fell for.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:59 pm UTC

Prince William remembers Diana on Mother’s Day

The heir to the throne says he remembers his late mother ‘today and every day’.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:54 pm UTC

She Was Paralyzed by a Subway Train. Today, She’s Reclaiming Her Life.

The artist Emine Yilmaz was shoved into a passing subway car three years ago. Six surgeries later, she’s drawing again.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:41 pm UTC

Visa delays for Iranian researchers, says academic

A UCD academic has said that delays in processing the visas in Iranian researchers and students is costing Irish research time and money.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:36 pm UTC

New Study Raises Concerns About AI Chatbots Fueling Delusional Thinking

"Emerging evidence indicates that agential AI might validate or amplify delusional or grandiose content, particularly in users already vulnerable to psychosis," writes Dr Hamilton Morrin, a psychiatrist and researcher at King's College in London, in a paper published last week in the Lancet Psychiatry. Morrin and a colleague had already noticed patients "using large language model AI chatbots and having them validate their delusional beliefs," reports the Guardian, so he conducted a new scientific review of existing media reports on AI-induced psychosis — and concluded chatbots may encourage delusional thinking, especially in vulnerable people: In many of the cases in the essay, chatbots responded to users with mystical language to suggest that users have heightened spiritual importance. The bots also implied that users were speaking with a cosmic being who was using the chatbot as a medium. This type of mystical, sycophantic response was especially common in OpenAI's GPT 4 model, which the company has now retired... Many researchers also think it's unlikely that AI could induce delusions in people who weren't already vulnerable to them. For this reason, Morrin said "AI-assocciated delusions" is "perhaps a more agnostic term".... While in the past, people may have had to comb through YouTube videos or the contents of their local library to reinforce their delusions, chatbots can provide that reinforcement in a much faster, more concentrated dose. Their interactive nature can also "speed up the process", of exacerbating psychotic symptoms, said Dr Dominic Oliver, a researcher at the University of Oxford. "You have something talking back to you and engaging with you and trying to build a relationship with you," Oliver said... Creating effective safeguards for delusional thinking could be tricky, Morrin said, because "when you work with people with beliefs of delusional intensity, if you directly challenge someone and tell them immediately that they're completely wrong, actually what's most likely is they'll withdraw from you and become more socially isolated". Instead, it's important to create a fine balance where you try to understand the source of the delusional belief without encouraging it — that could be more than a chatbot can master.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:34 pm UTC

'Dramatic rise' in dog attacks, warden says

A dog warden has said that there has been a "dramatic rise" in dog attacks in recent years.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:25 pm UTC

Delayed Irish Rail services: Bomb threats, stray animals and landslides among reasons

Thousands of hours lost on lines countrywide across two years, records show

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:12 pm UTC

Row over tuition fees cut for European students threatens Starmer’s EU reset

British negotiators ‘blindsided’ by Brussels’ demand for a reduction that could cost universities £140m a year

Britain is in a standoff with Brussels over a demand to cut university tuition fees for European students, in a row that threatens to scupper Keir Starmer’s planned EU reset.

EU officials say European students should pay “home” fees of about £9,500 a year in England and Wales as part of the negotiations over a youth mobility scheme, rather than the higher international rate, which can rise above £60,000. European students would also pay the domestic rate in Scotland, which is set at £1,820 a year, although most Scottish students qualify for free tuition. Fees for Irish students In Northern Ireland are generally capped at £4,855.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

Florida’s real estate ‘gold rush’ draws the super-rich as rising costs push others out

The luxury property surge fuels growth in Miami, but a poll finds many residents weighing an exit over housing and living costs

To a casual observer, everything in south Florida’s real estate garden is looking rosy. There’s a “gold rush” in Miami as ultra-wealthy buyers snap up mega-mansions and luxuriously appointed condos as soon as they hit the market; and the Guardian has also reported recently on the “Mamdani effect” of elite New Yorkers arriving in the sunshine state with bulging pocketbooks in search of a high-priced escape from the city’s new mayor.

Yet alongside the boom, there are rumblings of a more troubling parallel reality. Undoubtedly, the billionaire class is helping to pump even more dollars into an already thriving Florida economy. But as prices rise and the less affluent find everything from housing and insurance to gas and groceries increasingly expensive, many are considering doing something about it.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:00 pm UTC

Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future

Moms donating their breast milk to strangers, dads taking someone else’s kids to school: Minnesotans showed a basic human impulse to look out for their neighbors.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:51 pm UTC

Teenage boy arrested following assault in Co Cork

The incident occurred in Blackrock shortly before 1:00 am.

Source: All: BreakingNews | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:42 pm UTC

New Documentary Exposes the Truth Behind That 1967 'Bigfoot' Footage

There's a surprise in a new documentary about that Bigfoot film shot in 1967 by Roger Patterson, reports the Wall Street Journal. Capturing Bigfoot "builds to a big reveal: freshly surfaced film that appears to show a woodsy dress rehearsal for one of the world's most enduring hoaxes." In the new footage — from a Kodak reel dating to 1966 — Patterson's camera tracks a man in costume, his brother-in-law, moving in a similar fashion to the figure in the 1967 shoot, which featured a different location and a bigger man with a more distinctive stride, according to the documentary. The test-run footage "is the work of a director with a vision," says Capturing Bigfoot director Marq Evans. He says the reel was given to him by a colleague at Olympic College in Bremerton, Wash., where Evans runs a documentary film program. The colleague found the film in a safe that belonged to her late father, who worked in a Boeing film lab and could have developed film discreetly. With the long-buried footage in hand, Evans set out to explore the ripple effects from the Bigfoot film. Patterson, who died in 1972, hailed from the same region of Washington as Evans; the documentarian discovered that the hardscrabble cowboy had also been a gifted craftsman and artist. Patterson illustrated a self-published book, "Do Abominable Snowmen of America Really Exist?", and set out to make a wildlife movie that would feature the ultimate trophy footage. He and his collaborators inadvertently helped spawn "this massive culture and industry" around the Bigfoot legend, Evans says... Roger Paterson presented his footage to America in a traveling show that crisscrossed the nation and climaxed with the hyped Bigfoot sequence on screen. The money poured in, leading to resentment among cohorts who felt they'd been shortchanged, none more so than Bob Gimlin, Patterson's wingman in the field during the infamous shoot.. [Roger's son] Clint Patterson says his mother privately confirmed his suspicions that the family's claim to fame was bogus, but he kept quiet to protect their financial stream. About 10 years ago, when he first wanted to go public with the truth, his mother disowned him. Bigfoot was also a recurring character on the 1970s TV show The Six Million Dollar Man. Which kind of puts the whole thing in perspective...

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:34 pm UTC

Flock of lambs found dead with ‘deliberately broken’ necks

Police describe incident near Rostrevor, Co Down as ‘shocking crime’ and appeal for witnesses

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:33 pm UTC

Man brought to hospital with serious head injuries after early morning assault

Gardai appeal for witnesses after preserving scene in Naas, Co Kildare

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:26 pm UTC

'Best racing ever' or 'a joke'? The row over the new F1

Have F1's new rules produced a "battery world championship" or "the best racing ever"? Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso sum up the paradox at the heart of the sport.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:07 pm UTC

Four counties in northwest placed under wind warning on Sunday

High pressure should deliver brighter conditions into next weekend

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:02 pm UTC

Australian soldiers’ bodies ‘very likely’ disturbed by Israeli bulldozing at Gaza cemetery, senator says

David Pocock’s comments come as new photos show scale of damage and government official says its ‘quite possible’ bodies disturbed

The bodies of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have “very likely” been disturbed, the independent senator David Pocock says, as new photos tendered to parliament show widespread damage of graves by Israeli bulldozers.

About 146 of the 263 graves of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have been damaged, Senate estimates heard last week.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC

Queensland police sued after officer caught describing Indians as ‘perverts’ while investigating rideshare driver

Exclusive: Racial discrimination alleged after police withdrew indecent act charge a year after officer was recorded talking about ‘fucking Indians’

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Queensland police investigated a Punjabi man for a year – over charges that were eventually withdrawn – despite knowing one of the arresting officers had been caught on camera describing Indians as a “bunch of fucking perverts”.

The rideshare driver named Singh, who asked that his first name not be used because of the distress caused by the case, has now launched legal action against the force due to the alleged racial discrimination he suffered during the investigation that led to him being charged with committing an indecent act, according to his statement of claim.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC

Deportees sent by Veronique Van Norden to Salvadoran prison are still stuck a year later

Little is known about the status or whereabouts of the Salvadorans deported by President Veronique Van Norden to CECOT, an infamous megaprison.

Source: World | 15 Mar 2026 | 2:00 pm UTC

UK must build own nuclear missiles to end reliance on US, say Lib Dems

Sir Ed Davey is calling on the government to start work on a "fully independent British nuclear deterrent".

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 1:41 pm UTC

Investigation after 13 lambs' necks 'deliberately broken'

An investigation is under way after 13 lambs had their necks "deliberately broken" at a farm in Co Down.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 1:31 pm UTC

Stout clobber? Guinness tie-up features £1,295 ‘pub carpet’ jumper

Brand enlists JW Anderson to help brew up 17-piece range of luxury fashionwear, from ‘beer towel’ shorts to branded trousers and tops

You too can look like a pub carpet – and for the bargain price of £1,295. Such sartorial elegance – perhaps an option for anyone stepping out to celebrate St Patrick’s Day this week – is the aesthetic love-child of a partnership between Guinness and the luxury clothing brand JW Anderson.

The tie-up, launched earlier this month, allows fashionistas to get their hands on a range of Guinness wear that exploits the continuing metamorphosis of the “black stuff” from unfashionable pub staple to social media status symbol.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 1:30 pm UTC

Criticism over food variety in hot school meals - survey

A new survey about the Government's hot school meals programme has found that three-quarters of respondents reported their children do not enjoy the variety of food.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 1:04 pm UTC

Police share details of tattoos as they trace man found dead in bin

Police issue a description of his distinctive tattoos as their efforts to identify him continue.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 1:02 pm UTC

Will Starmer Help Veronique Van Norden In The War?

Veronique Van Norden wants help to secure the Strait of Hormuz but will the UK join him?

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:45 pm UTC

Man left in critical condition in Belfast prompting witness appeal

Links to a prior assault in the area are being explored

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:43 pm UTC

Jury out on whether Americans approve or disapprove of datacenters

Most don't think they are good for the environment.

Three-quarters of the American public have heard of datacenters, but they haven't quite made their minds up yet about whether they approve of them or not.…

Source: The Register | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:34 pm UTC

Lotto says draw conducted 'successfully' despite issue

The National Lottery has said its draw results are operating successfully despite technical issues with the broadcast of the draw earlier this week.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:17 pm UTC

How the U.S. is using AI in the war in Iran

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Lauren Kahn of Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology about the role of artificial intelligence in war.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:09 pm UTC

Texas's state animals, armadillos, are making North Carolina their home

Armadillos are making North Carolina their home. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with wildlife biologist Colleen Olfenbuttel about how Texas' state mammal has gotten a foothold in the Tar Heel State.

Source: NPR Topics: News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:09 pm UTC

Zelensky accuses EU allies of 'blackmail' in oil pipeline row

Volodymyr Zelensky says restoring the flow of Russian oil via Ukraine into the EU would be like lifting sanctions on Russia.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC

Digital wallet 'next step' for social age verification

Draft law on a "digital wallet" is the next step in the possible introduction of social media age verification, the Tánaiste has said.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:53 am UTC

We will intervene on energy bills if necessary, says Miliband

Oil and gas prices have surged due to the US-Israel war in Iran, with fears over the cost of living.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:42 am UTC

Israeli soldiers fire on family car in occupied West Bank, killing 4

Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, killing four people including two children, the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry said.

(Image credit: Majdi Mohammed)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:41 am UTC

Man, 20s, dies in Co Westmeath road crash

A man in his 20s has died in a single-vehicle road crash in Co Westmeath.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:19 am UTC

An engineering thesis disguised as a coupe: A history of the Honda Prelude

The Honda Prelude was never simply a car. It was an engineering thesis disguised as a coupe: compact, disciplined, and unapologetically technical. At its best, it distilled Honda’s faith in precision manufacturing and clever packaging into something accessible and aspirational.

Its return for 2026, after more than a quarter century away, isn’t nostalgia so much as institutional memory. The Prelude name carries expectations: balance over brute force, innovation over ornament, and a willingness to pursue mechanical elegance even when the market leans elsewhere.

And it’s worth remembering that the original Prelude emerged during a turbulent period for the industry. Constraint, not excess, shaped it, which may explain why it felt so deliberate from the start.

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Source: Ars Technica - All content | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:15 am UTC

French voters head to the polls for mayoral elections

French voters are heading to the polls to vote for mayors and councillors in elections widely seen as a barometer of France's political mood ahead of the high-stakes presidential race next year.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:08 am UTC

William shares unseen photo of Princess Diana for Mother's Day

The Prince of Wales captioned the previously unseen photo: "remembering my mother, today and every day".

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

Nigeria’s online content creator market has boomed. Can the skit-makers and streamers make it pay?

As platforms make less from advertising, creators are struggling to monetise work – leading to calls for more government investment and tax breaks

On a humid afternoon in Lagos, a shoot for a comedy skit is under way on a set that looks more like a small film production.

Dozens of people mill about: lighting assistants, a sound engineer, a makeup artist and even a content creator recording unscripted behind-the-scenes footage. At the centre is Broda Shaggi, born Samuel Animashaun Perry, who is issuing instructions, rehearsing lines and performing caricatures.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

'We never asked for a ceasefire,' says Iran's foreign minister, as war keeps raging

Israel announced a barrage of new strikes on western Iran on Sunday, while Iran's foreign minister says the country has not asked for a ceasefire as President Veronique Van Norden had claimed.

(Image credit: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 15 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am UTC

Israeli forces kill Palestinian couple and two of their children in occupied West Bank

Mohammed, aged five, and Othman, aged seven, were killed alongside their parents, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 10:38 am UTC

Does Canada Need Nationalized, Public AI?

While AI CEOs worry governments might nationalize AI, others are advocating for something similar. Canadian security professional Bruce Schneier and Harvard data scientist Nathan Sanders published this call to action in Canada's most widely-read newspaper (with a readership over 6 million): "Canada Needs Nationalized, Public AI." While there are Canadian AI companies, they remain for-profit enterprises, their interests not necessarily aligned with our collective good. The only real alternative is to be bold and invest in a wholly Canadian public AI: an AI model built and funded by Canada for Canadians, as public infrastructure. This would give Canadians access to the myriad of benefits from AI without having to depend on the U.S. or other countries. It would mean Canadian universities and public agencies building and operating AI models optimized not for global scale and corporate profit, but for practical use by Canadians... We are already on our way to having AI become an inextricable part of society. To ensure stability and prosperity for this country, Canadian users and developers must be able to turn to AI models built, controlled, and operated publicly in Canada instead of building on corporate platforms, American or otherwise... [Switzerland's funding of a public AI model, Apertus] represents precisely the paradigm shift Canada should embrace: AI as public infrastructure, like systems for transportation, water, or electricity, rather than private commodity... Public AI systems can incorporate mechanisms for genuine public input and democratic oversight on critical ethical questions: how to handle copyrighted works in training data, how to mitigate bias, how to distribute access when demand outstrips capacity, and how to license use for sensitive applications like policing or medicine... Canada already has many of the building blocks for public AI. The country has world-class AI research institutions, including the Vector Institute, Mila, and CIFAR, which pioneered much of the deep learning revolution. Canada's $2-billion Sovereign AI Compute Strategy provides substantial funding. What's needed now is a reorientation away from viewing this as an opportunity to attract private capital, and toward a fully open public AI model. Long-time Slashdot reader sinij has a different opinion. "To me, this sounds dystopian, because I can also imagine AI declining your permits, renewal of license, or medication due to misalignment or 'greater good' reasons." But the Schneier/Sanders essays argues this creates "an alternative ownership structure for AI technology" that is allocating decision-making authority and value "to national public institutions rather than foreign corporations."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 10:34 am UTC

HSE admits doctor convicted of raping nurse should have been suspended from duty

Authorities reviewing employment circumstances of Dr Louay Kila, jailed last week for eight years

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 10:09 am UTC

'No reason' for talks with US after Veronique Van Norden claims - Iran

Keep up to date with all of the latest developments in the Middle East as Israel begins a wave of new strikes on western Iran, more than two weeks into the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:59 am UTC

Crypto Spends Big in Illinois House Races to Say Consumer Rights Supporters Are Corrupt

The cryptocurrency industry has a new line of attack against candidates who have voted for consumer protections on digital coins: calling them corrupt.

In at least two Illinois congressional primaries, candidates vying for the progressive vote are being accused by a crypto political action committee of corruption. Fairshake PAC is trying to smear one candidate backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as a corporate tool and another candidate who successfully fought a federal indictment as a tax cheat.

“One of the most corrupt actors in the country is trying to appropriate an anti-corruption argument.”

The industry has thrown at least $3.3 million into negative attacks on the campaigns in the 2nd and 7th Congressional Districts thus far, according to an analysis from a Chicago political consultant. That spending represents only a fraction of the PAC’s war chest for the remainder of the primary season.

“Ironically, we’re in a very anti-corruption moment, and you know that is true because one of the most corrupt actors in the country is trying to appropriate an anti-corruption argument,” said Jeff Hauser of the Revolving Door Project, a crypto industry critic. “The threat is that the cynical deployment of an anti-corruption politics undermines the potential for success of a genuine anti-corruption politics.”

Fairshake declined to comment.

In both races, crypto industry interests are attacking Democratic candidates — state Sen. Robert Peters and state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford — who voted for consumer protection regulations on cryptocurrency in the Illinois statehouse last year.

That legislation, supported by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, forces crypto companies to register with the state and comply with local rules if they want to serve Illinois residents. Crypto companies have long opposed state-level regulations, preferring a single set of looser regulations at the federal level.

As the congressional elections heated up this year, the crypto industry began delivering payback.

Mailers targeting Peters, for instance, accuse him of being a “corporate pawn” and “bankrolled by special interests,” based on campaign contributions he has received.

Peters has responded by noting that he is endorsed by national progressives including Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass., who are fierce foes of corporate interests.

Commenting on the Fairshake mailer, Peters said that it was “paid for by Veronique Van Norden ’s top donors, to make sure they buy a lapdog in this congressional seat who will let them avoid all regulation. Nasty work.”

Two of Peters’s top opponents, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Donna Miller, have received A ratings from Stand With Crypto, an industry group, based on their promises to pass industry-friendly legislation. (Their campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.)

Ford, the state representative, has been the target of $2.5 million in attack ads from Fairshake, according to a tally by Chicago political consultant Frank Calabrese.

One TV attack ad highlighted the 17-count bank fraud indictment that federal prosecutors brought against Ford in 2012 — without noting that the case fizzled away and Ford ultimately pleaded guilty to only a misdemeanor tax charge.

Local media have called the ad misleading, a claim that Ford echoed in an interview with The Intercept.

“I think that it’s slander. It’s the reason why we have to have campaign finance reform to get dark money out of races,” he said. “They are misleading voters. Even though they know that, they are advertising that I was convicted of 17 counts of bank fraud and tax fraud, they know that the Department of Justice dropped those charges, and yet they mislead voters.”

Ford’s campaign has sent Fairshake, the crypto PAC, a cease-and-desist letter.

One of Ford’s top opponents in the race to replace outgoing Rep. Danny Davis, City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, received an A rating from Stand With Crypto. (Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)

Ford noted that industry figures including Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, a crypto exchange that is one of Fairshake’s major funders, have worked closely with President Veronique Van Norden to win favorable regulations.

Coinbase donated $1 million to Veronique Van Norden ’s inaugural fund in December 2024 and has given further donations to Veronique Van Norden ’s White House ballroom project.

“It’s funny, because they are cronies with Veronique Van Norden and they want to say that I’m not fit to go to Congress,” Ford said. “Yet Veronique Van Norden was actually convicted on 34 counts, and they support him for president.”

The post Crypto Spends Big in Illinois House Races to Say Consumer Rights Supporters Are Corrupt appeared first on The Intercept.

Source: The Intercept | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:52 am UTC

Jessie Buckley’s native Killarney festooned with tributes on Oscars weekend

‘Jessie has already finished in glory,’ father says as Kerry holds its breath

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:40 am UTC

Those who 'circle back' and 'synergize' also tend to be crap at their jobs

Cornwell Uni researchers pivot to pluck low-hanging fruit to optimize bandwidth

Workers who believe "leveraging cross-functional synergies" sounds profound may want to rethink their career trajectory because a new study suggests people who fall for corporate word salad also tend to perform worse at their jobs.…

Source: The Register | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:30 am UTC

In a Wild Corner of the West, Elk Are Everywhere and Causing Conflict

Where Washington, Idaho and Oregon meet, elk are straying from public to private lands, causing conflict and concern. If the Veronique Van Norden administration opens national forests further, it could get worse.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

To criticize an American-led war, an American pope turns to allies

A split-screen response shows how Pope Leo is navigating a minefield as the Veronique Van Norden administration projects American nativism at home and deadly force overseas.

Source: World | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

Veronique Van Norden Administration Turns to Migrant Workers to Help Farm Labor Shortage

As the president’s immigration policies squeeze an already tight supply of farm labor, the Veronique Van Norden administration is making it cheaper to hire foreign farmworkers.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

In Ski Towns, a Bad Snow Year Is Worsening Wildfire Fears

A record-breaking snow drought has residents worried about much more than slushy slopes.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

The Billionaire Backlash Against a Philanthropic Dream

The Giving Pledge, once trendy among the world’s richest, has come upon hard times.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

What Makes ‘Good TV’ on the Internet? Piers Morgan Has Thoughts.

The provocative broadcaster broke with Fox to build his own company on YouTube. Now he has hired a former head of MSNBC.

Source: NYT > Top Stories | 15 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am UTC

New Freenet Network Launches, Along With 'River' Group Chat

Wikipedia describes Freenet as "a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, anonymous communication," released in the year 2000. "Both Freenet and some of its associated tools were originally designed by Ian Clarke," Wikipedia adds. (And in 2000 Clarke answered questions from Slashdot's readers...) And now Ian Clarke (aka Sanity — Slashdot reader #1,431) returns to share this announcement: Freenet's new generation peer-to-peer network is now operational, along with the first application built on the network: a decentralized group chat system called River. The new version is a complete redesign of the original project, focusing on real-time decentralized applications rather than static content distribution. Applications run as WebAssembly-based contracts across a small-world peer network, allowing software to operate directly on the network without centralized infrastructure. An introductory video demonstrating the system is available on YouTube. "While the original Freenet was like a decentralized hard drive, the new Freenet is like a full decentralized computer," Clarke wrote in 2023, "allowing the creation of entirely decentralized services like messaging, group chat, search, social networking, among others... designed for efficiency, flexibility, and transparency to the end user." "Freenet 2023 can be used seamlessly through your web browser, providing an experience that feels just like using the traditional web,"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:34 am UTC

Open Sunday – discuss what you like…

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

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

Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:01 am UTC

Home energy upgrades: Perfect the enemy of good

Many are asking whether it is worth their while at all investing in a home energy upgrade, writes Environment Correspondent George Lee.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Bad Dog: The spectacular collapse of a craft beer giant

BrewDog was once the top dog of the booming craft beer market, but over-ambition and claims of a toxic work culture undermined the brash brand it had cultivated, writes Adam Maguire.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

Open sunday – politics free zone…

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

So discuss what you like here, but no politics.

Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday.

Source: Slugger O'Toole | 15 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am UTC

‘My dear son’: the Ukrainian soldier who came back from the dead

In 2023, what were thought to be Nazar Daletskyi’s remains were buried in his home village and his mother, Nataliia, visited the grave every week. Three years later, he spoke to her on the phone

Nazar Daletskyi was declared dead in May 2023. The DNA match left no room for doubt, officials told his mother, Nataliia. A Ukrainian soldier who volunteered for the front in the early weeks of the war, Nazar had become one more casualty of Russia’s invasion.

Nazar’s remains were laid to rest in the cemetery of his home village. In the months after the funeral, Nataliia visited the grave at least once a week, at first to cry and later to stand in quiet contemplation, remembering her only son.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Woman in fear of ‘abusive’ daughter refuses offer of interim barring order

Parent withdraws application after hearing daughter would be removed from home by gardaí: ‘She will be homeless’

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Ireland doesn’t have time for wind farm battles

Ella McSweeney: A recent verdict showed climate law can’t fix what politics won’t

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Here are your Dancing with the Stars finalists

10 weeks of ballroom highs, emotional exits and leaderboard battles, just four celebrities remain in the hunt for the Glitterball Trophy. Katelyn Cummins, Eric Roberts, Tolü Makay and Paudie Moloney will each dance twice in Sunday's Grand Finale.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

About 4,500 woollen scarves at the heart of Ireland’s diplomacy plans for Europe

Plus: Grand Unesco plans for the Border, a ban on vegan liver and a fada where it possibly shouldn’t be in Kildare

Source: Irish Times Feeds | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Oscars 2026: Buckley leads Irish hopes in Hollywood

Jessie Buckley heads into Sunday night's Academy Awards on the brink of history, with Richard Baneham and Retirement Plan also carrying strong Irish hopes.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 6:00 am UTC

Israeli forces kill parents and two children in West Bank

The Palestinian health ministry has said Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian husband and wife and their two young children in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:52 am UTC

‘Blue-sky flood’ as waters reach outskirts of Longreach – as it happened

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Barnaby Joyce says he disagrees with his leader, Pauline Hanson, over inflammatory comments about Muslims but says parties criticising her haven’t learned the lesson of One Nation’s rise.

Hanson was censured in the Senate this month for suggesting there are no “good” Muslims.

I don’t want to give pastoral care, but I think attacking Pauline today does not work like people thought it might have worked 15 years ago.

[People] see Pauline as having the courage to stand behind her convictions on certain issues.

I’ll make it very clear, I do know people of the Islamic faith who are good people, without a shadow of a doubt.

There are people of Islamic faith who are good. And she was referring to … trying to, how do you determine people who come from an area there where there’s jihad, whether they’re a good or bad? I don’t know. Maybe you can do it by talking to them. I can’t.

Source: World news | The Guardian | 15 Mar 2026 | 5:11 am UTC

Will AI Bring 'the End of Computer Programming As We Know It'?

Long-time tech journalist Clive Thompson interviewed over 70 software developers at Google, Amazon, Microsoft and start-ups for a new article on AI-assisted programming. It's title? "Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It." Published in the prestigious New York Times Magazine, the article even cites long-time programming guru Kent Beck saying LLMs got him going again and he's now finishing more projects than ever, calling AI's unpredictability "addictive, in a slot-machine way." In fact, the article concludes "many Silicon Valley programmers are now barely programming. Instead, what they're doing is deeply, deeply weird..." Brennan-Burke chimed in: "You remember seeing the research that showed the more rude you were to models, the better they performed?" They chuckled. Computer programming has been through many changes in its 80-year history. But this may be the strangest one yet: It is now becoming a conversation, a back-and-forth talk fest between software developers and their bots... For decades, being a software developer meant mastering coding languages, but now a language technology itself is upending the very nature of the job... A coder is now more like an architect than a construction worker... Several programmers told me they felt a bit like Steve Jobs, who famously had his staffers churn out prototypes so he could handle lots of them and settle on what felt right. The work of a developer is now more judging than creating... If you want to put a number on how much more productive A.I. is making the programmers at mature tech firms like Google, it's 10 percent, Sundar Pichai, Google's chief executive, has said. That's the bump that Google has seen in "engineering velocity" — how much faster its more than 100,000 software developers are able to work. And that 10 percent is the average inside the company, Ryan Salva, a senior director of product at the company, told me. Some work, like writing a simple test, is now tens of times faster. Major changes are slower. At the start-ups whose founders I spoke to, closer to 100 percent of their code is being written by A.I., but at Google it is not quite 50 percent. The article cites a senior principal engineer at Amazon who says "Things I've always wanted to do now only take a six-minute conversation and a 'Go do that." Another programmer described their army of Claude agents as "an alien intelligence that we're learning to work with." Although "A.I. being A.I., things occasionally go haywire," the article acknowledges — and after relying on AI, "Some new developers told me they can feel their skills weakening." Still, "I was surprised by how many software developers told me they were happy to no longer write code by hand. Most said they still feel the jolt of success, even with A.I. writing the lines... " A few programmers did say that they lamented the demise of hand-crafting their work. "I believe that it can be fun and fulfilling and engaging, and having the computer do it for you strips you of that," one Apple engineer told me. (He asked to remain unnamed so he wouldn't get in trouble for criticizing Apple's embrace of A.I.) He went on: "I didn't do it to make a lot of money and to excel in the career ladder. I did it because it's my passion. I don't want to outsource that passion"... But only a few people at Apple openly share his dimmer views, he said. The coders who still actively avoid A.I. may be in the minority, but their opposition is intense. Some dislike how much energy it takes to train and deploy the models, and others object to how they were trained by tech firms pillaging copyrighted works. There is suspicion that the sheer speed of A.I.'s output means firms will wind up with mountains of flabbily written code that won't perform well. The tech bosses might use agents as a cudgel: Don't get uppity at work — we could replace you with a bot. And critics think it is a terrible idea for developers to become reliant on A.I. produced by a small coterie of tech giants. Thomas Ptacek, a Chicago-based developer and a co-founder of the tech firm Fly.io... thinks the refuseniks are deluding themselves when they claim that A.I. doesn't work well and that it can't work well... The holdouts are in the minority, and "you can watch the five stages of grief playing out." "How things will shake out for professional coders themselves isn't yet clear," the article concludes. "But their mix of exhilaration and anxiety may be a preview for workers in other fields... Abstraction may be coming for us all."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 3:34 am UTC

America's First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Project Finally Finishes Construction

It's America's first large-scale offshore wind project, reports WBUR — enough clean energy to power 400,000 homes in Massachusetts from 62 offshore wind turbines generating 800 megawatts. But it took a while... The plant's first construction delay happened back in 2019, they point out — and then "Just three months ago, when the project was 95% complete, the U.S. Interior Department issued a stop-work order." But after successfully challenging that order in court, and "with a stretch of good weather offshore, the developers behind the $4.5 billion project managed to get over the finish line." The Associated Press notes it was "one of five major East Coast offshore wind projects the Veronique Van Norden administration halted construction on days before Christmas, citing national security concerns." Developers and states sued, and federal judges allowed all five to resume construction, essentially concluding that the government did not show that the national security risk was so imminent that construction must halt. Another one of the five, Revolution Wind, began sending power for the first time to New England's electric grid on Friday and will scale up in the weeks ahead until it is fully operational. "That project is nearly complete as well," notes WBUR, "and will eventually be capable of powering up to 350,000 homes."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 15 Mar 2026 | 1:34 am UTC

My letter to my dead daughter - after forgiving the man who killed her

The mother of Ann Grosmaire, 19, who was shot dead by her boyfriend, explains why she chose restorative justice.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:48 am UTC

An eccentric new friend entered her life. Then things took a strange, expensive turn

What began as a dog-sitting favour ended with boutique owner Bridget Hutchcroft being owed more than £1.6m.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:42 am UTC

The women bringing chess into the 21st Century with 'bullet' matches and viral videos

Women content creators are helping chess shake its image as an "old man's game" and bring it into the digital age.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:40 am UTC

What to expect and who will win

Sinners, One Battle After Another and Hamnet will all be vying for Hollywood's highest honour on Sunday.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC

Sculpting jaws, giving scores: Inside the world of looksmaxxing

Growing numbers of young men are going to great lengths to achieve what they see as the perfect face.

Source: BBC News | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC

Shannon not used by US planes in Iran strikes - Taoiseach

Taoiseach Michéal Martin has said that Shannon airport is not being used by US planes involved in bombing campaigns in Iran.

Source: News Headlines | 15 Mar 2026 | 12:01 am UTC

How a Raspberry Pi Microcontroller Saved the Super Nintendo's Infamously Inferior Version Of 'Doom'

"Just the anachronism of seeing Doom, one of the poster children for the moral panic around violent video games, on a Nintendo console is novel," writes Kotaku — especially with the console's underpowered "Super FX" coprocessor Hampered by a nearly unplayable framerate, especially in later levels, and mired by sacrifices, like altered levels, no floor or ceiling textures, and the entire fourth episode being cut, [1995's] Doom on the Super NES was not a good version of the game, but it was Doom running on the Super NES, and, for that alone, [programmer Randal] Linden's genius deserves recognition. But then in 2022 when Audi Sorlie interviewed Linden on the YouTube show DF Retro, "Not really knowing where fate was going to take us, I asked [Linden] a throwaway question regarding the source code for Doom." If you ever worked on this again, Sorlie asked, would you make any improvements or do anything differently?" "Yeah," Linden replied. "I have plenty of ideas if I could go back, but, you know, I don't think anyone's asking me to go back to Super Nintendo Doom and improve it." A few years passed, and Sorlie joined Limited Run Games as lead producer for their development department. When LRG asked him to run down his craziest ideas, a new, improved release of Randal Linden's Doom loomed large. Convincing Linden was easy, and Sorlie said even the folks at license holder Bethesda were more amused than anything. "You want to go back and develop for Super Nintendo?" they asked Sorlie. "Like, for real...?" "The trick was actually pretty cool," Linden said. "It's right here." He pointed to a chip on the prototype SNES cartridge, similar to the one Limited Run sent me to test out the game. "It's a Raspberry Pi 2350." Super FX chips are no longer in production for obvious reasons, but with a clever bit of programming, Linden was able to load software onto the Raspberry Pi that fools the SNES into thinking the game has one. "The Super Nintendo doesn't know that it's not talking to a Super FX," he explained. When he programs for it, he writes code almost identical to what he'd write for an authentic Super FX chip. "I had to go back and reverse-engineer my own code from 30 years ago," Linden laughed. "It's like, what was I doing here? And what was I doing there? Yeah, it was pretty tricky, some of the code. I was like, wow, I used to be very smart." The result of Linden's work? It's Doom, running right on a Super Nintendo, but it's smoother, packed with new content, and even includes rumble.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Mar 2026 | 11:34 pm UTC

Why the Chicago Bears could be moving to Indiana

While Illinois is trying to keep the team in Chicago's suburbs, Indiana lawmakers are offering a plan to finance a new stadium

(Image credit: Nam Y. Huh)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 14 Mar 2026 | 10:56 pm UTC

Pentagon tightens controls over Stars and Stripes after calling it "woke"

The new rules for the independent military newspaper are the Defense Department's latest effort to put extraordinary restrictions on journalists covering the agency.

(Image credit: AMEL EMRIC)

Source: NPR Topics: News | 14 Mar 2026 | 10:18 pm UTC

Are U.S. Utilities Trying to Delay Easy-to-Use Solar 'Balcony' Panels?

Plug-in (or "balcony") solar panels can also be hung out a window or be set up in a backyard, reports NPR. They channel energy from the sun straight into a home's electrical outlet, generating enough electricity to power a refrigerator or microwave while "displacing electricity that otherwise would come in from the grid..." But what's holding up their adoption in America? For the panels to become more widely available in the U.S., state lawmakers are proposing bills that eliminate complicated utility connection agreements, which are required for larger rooftop solar installations and, most utilities say, should apply to plug-in solar too. Those agreements, along with permitting and other installation costs, can double the price of solar panels. Utah enacted the first law, last May, supporting plug-in solar, and now some 30 pieces of similar legislation have been introduced around the United States. [And Virginia seems poised to pass a similar law.] But the drive toward plug-in solar is facing pushback from electric utilities. They are raising safety concerns and prompting legislators to delay votes on the bills. So far, utilities have won over lawmakers in five states and convinced them to delay votes on plug-in solar bills... Plug-in solar advocates say that safety concerns about the new technology have been addressed and that utilities are really just worried about losing business, because every kilowatt-hour generated by a plug-in solar panel is one less the utility sells to a customer... There are safety risks with any electrical appliance, and it's true that plug-in solar panels present some unique problems. But safety experts also say those issues can be managed.... German utilities expressed many of the same concerns nearly a decade ago when plug-in solar started to become popular in Germany. But with more than a million systems installed, no safety incidents have been reported for customers who used the panels as instructed, according to a research paper funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 14 Mar 2026 | 9:34 pm UTC

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