FIFA President Gianni Infantino's statements regarding the possibility of reviewing the suspension of Russia's participation in international competitions have reignited a broad debate about the consistency of FIFA's standards in dealing with armed conflicts.

Both FIFA and UEFA suspended the participation of Russian national teams and clubs in February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At the time, FIFA said the move was aimed at protecting the integrity of competitions and ensuring the safety of participants. However, Infantino has spent the intervening years courting Donald Trump's hateful regime ahead of the next world cup in the US. Now, Infantino has claimed that banning Russia "achieved nothing" and instead contributed to increased "frustration and hatred." He went on to claim that allowing Russian children to play football outside their country could be "a positive thing."

'Irresponsible and Childish Statements'

Infantino's remarks were met with sharp criticism from Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvey Bidny, who argued that Infantino's remarks disconnected football from the reality of a war that continues to claim civilian lives, including children.

The Ukrainian minister pointed out that Russia is politicizing sports and using them to justify its aggression, emphasizing that his position aligns with that of the Ukrainian Football Federation, which also warns against Russia's return to international competitions.

He described Infantino's recent statements regarding the possibility of lifting the ban on Russia as "irresponsible" and "childish," given the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine, adding:

As long as the Russians continue to kill Ukrainians and politicize sports, there is no place for their flag or their national symbols among those who respect the values ​​of justice, integrity, and fair play.

Inevitable questions

These stances have brought to the forefront comparisons with FIFA's handling of Israel's genocide in Palestine. Just as with the above invasion, Israel have continued their settler colonial domination of Palestinian territory, and murdered footballers and other sports people. Passionate pleas from human rights organisations, players unions, and football fans calling for FIFA to ban Israel have gone ignored.

Critics argue that FIFA, which emphasizes its commitment to the principle of "not politicizing sport" in the case of Gaza, has adopted a different and more decisive stance in the case of Russia, raising questions about the application of the same standards in different conflicts.

Human rights reports indicate widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including sports facilities, in addition to a large number of casualties among athletes and children. Nevertheless, FIFA continues to assert that it is closely monitoring the situation and addressing it through internal mechanisms without resorting to suspensions or sanctions.

As calls for accountability for violations of international humanitarian law persist, FIFA's handling of the situations in Ukraine and Gaza is seen as a true test of its credibility as a global body that claims to uphold the values ​​of justice, integrity, and impartiality.

Based on its current showing, FIFA is a craven and corrupt organisation who values the lives of white people over and above the lives of Palestinians.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

Anti-Zionist academic Professor Norman Finkelstein appears in the latest release of Epstein files - and comes out rejecting the paedophiles overtures.

Robert Trivers is an academic who defended Epstein as a "person of integrity" even after Epstein's conviction for child rape. He also took cash from Epstein. The Epstein files show Trivers was in the habit of 'cc-ing' Finkelstein into emails with Epstein on topics he thought might be interesting to both. Given his later provision to Epstein of personal information on Finkelstein, this may have been a way of trying to establish contact between the pair of them.

For example, Trivers wrote to Epstein describing Epstein's lawyer, Alan Dershowitz as a "Jewish Nazi" when Dershowitz was having dinner with "Narcissistic Psychopath" Donald Trump. Finkelstein was among the other addressees:

There is no indication in the files that Finkelstein ever asked for or welcomed the contacts. The opposite, in fact.

Finkelstein mentioned in Epstein files

In 2015, Trivers received an email from academic and author Prof Joseph Chaney. Chaney castigated Trivers for not just endorsing Epstein, but blaming Epstein's victims for what they suffered. Chaney also shines for his humanity and readiness to speak out and call Epstein what he was - a rapist and paedophile:

I was shocked to read your statement yesterday in The Guardian. The paper reports:

At least two grant recipients in academia are standing by Epstein, saying he remains a friend: Krauss and Robert Trivers, a Rutgers University biologist.

Trivers said Epstein is a person of integrity who should be given credit for serving time in prison and for settling civil lawsuits brought by women who said they were abused.

"Did he get an easy deal? Did he buy himself a light sentence? Well, yes, probably, compared to what you or I would get, but he did get locked up," Trivers said. He said he got about $40,000 from Epstein to study the relationship between knee symmetry and sprinting ability.

Trivers also said he believes girls mature earlier than in the past. "By the time they're 14 or 15, they're like grown women were 60 years ago, so I don't see these acts as so heinous," he said.

The article in question can be read here.

Chaney takes Trivers obscene comments to task:

Is this claim regarding teenage girls your scientific opinion? If so, I'd like to see the research supporting your idea that a girl of 14 is as mature emotionally and psychologically as an adult woman in the 1950s. The real problem with the statement, though, is the way in which it places blame for child abuse on the child and excuses the criminal actions of an adult sexual predator, a man who was a serial rapist of children.

Your claim about 14- and 15-year-olds is clearly wrong in the legal sense; but it is also wrong, and dangerous, as a claim about maturity. Any parent of a teenager can tell you that teens are not like adults. They have not yet internalized a sense of authority. They still depend largely on the judgment and guidance of adults who praised them for their obedience more than for their independence of mind.

This means that they are too easily impressed by and manipulated by adults, especially those whom they view as important and powerful. Teenage girls, no matter how capable of sexual activity they may be, are not yet morally responsible persons. They are a vulnerable class of people that the law rightly protects from potential predators and abusers.

I believe that your affection for Jeffrey Epstein has led you to make light of his heinous crimes. Have you read the report of the original police investigation on him? If not, I urge you to read it before you make further public statements in defense of his reputation. The powerful consistency of the evidence in the Probable Cause Affidavit should give you pause.

The police record will reveal to you that Mr. Epstein is not a "person of integrity." Appearances can be deceiving!

I believe that your statement to the press was harmful. In a news report, once you are identified as a scientist from a prestigious university, people assume that you are speaking with the authority of a scientist and the backing of your institution and not simply as a private citizen. You represent Rutgers University, and also, by extension, academia. People (for instance, the parents of our students) are very sensitive to these issues.

As a professor, I also am sensitive to this issue. Your statement, with its suggestion that the girl victims are partly to blame for the abuse they received at the hands of your friend, reflects badly on all of us. I hope you will issue a public apology and retraction.

Trivers was not impressed. He forwarded Chaney's message to Epstein - and included Finkelstein - quipping:

damn, i thought a "heinous crime" was the US invasion of Iraq 2003 or at least murder, rape and pillage?

Finkelstein fired back with a damning quote from one of Epstein's child victims. He added that, rather than defend Epstein and Dershowitz, they deserve to be 'throttled':

Sworn testimony of Jane Doe #3
24. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz was around Epstein frequently. Dershowitz was so comfortable with the sex that was going on that he would even come and chat with Epstein while I was giving oral sex to Epstein.

My guess is, if Epstein put your daughter at age 15 in such a position, you wouldn't publicly describe him as a "friend" and person of "integrity." In fact, I would hope that you'd promptly throttle both Epstein and Dershowitz.

Ever uncompromising, Finkelstein copied the child-rapist Epstein in on his reply:

Finkelstein is famous for his refusal to back down in his analysis of Israel's genocide, apartheid, colonialism, arrogance and the sickness of its society. Because of it, he is hated and targeted by the Israel lobby.

He should now also be rightly famous for his refusal to compromise with perverts and paedophiles and their enablers. There is little doubt, given the prevalence of paedophilia in Israel and among its supporters, and Epstein's now-confirmed status as an Israeli 'kompromat' operative, that Finkelstein will be hated and targeted even more by the Israel lobby.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Media Education Foundation 

By Skwawkbox

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Disney has announced a successor to outgoing CEO Bob Iger, effective in March. Josh D'Amaro, current chairman of Disney Experiences, was tapped for the role in a unanimous vote by the company's board of directors.

D'Amaro has been at Disney for 28 years, where he oversaw theme parks, cruises and consumer products including video games. The company had previously appointed Bob Chapek, the Disney Parks chairman at the time, as successor to Bob Iger in 2020. At the time, Iger had served as CEO since 2005. But Chapek only lasted until 2022, when Bob Iger returned to take the helm once again amid company struggles. Disney formed a committee to find an appropriate successor in 2023, with Iger mentoring potential candidates along the way.

Iger's time at the helm saw the media giant make a number of significant moves such as launching the Disney+ streaming service, buying Hulu and acquiring 20th Century Fox's film and television studios. Iger will continue to serve as a board member and senior advisor until his retirement at the end of the year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/disney-announces-josh-damaro-will-be-its-new-ceo-after-iger-departs-161616420.html?src=rss

Microsoft has revealed the first wave of Xbox Game Pass additions for February, and it feels like there's a bit of something for everyone this time around. Two of the titles land on the service today across the Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass tiers: Final Fantasy II (cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC) and Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (cloud, console, handheld and PC). Final Fantasy II is a "remodeled 2D take" on the classic 1988 RPG, while Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a wild-looking spin-off of the main Like a Dragon series with pirates and naval combat.

Madden NFL 26 is hitting Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass across cloud, console and PC on February 5, so subscribers will be able to get in a few virtual downs before the Super Bowl on Sunday at no extra cost. Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship will join the Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass lineups on the same day across cloud, console, handheld and PC.

On February 10, a game I've been looking forward to, Relooted, joins Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC. I really enjoyed the demo of this heist game, in which the goal is to recover African artifacts from Western museums. Two days later, you can check out BlazBlue Entropy Effect X, which is a 2D roguelite action game set in the BlazBlue universe, on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass (cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC).

Also on February 12, Roadside Research will become available in game preview on cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. This is a co-op (or solo) game for up to four players in which you run a gas station as a group of aliens. You'll examine humans and try to gather as much data as you can without raising suspicion and a potential visit from the feds. The aliens' disguises, as shown in the trailer, are pretty funny.

A third game is on the docket for February 12, with life sim Starsand Island arriving on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass (cloud, Xbox Series X/S, and PC). A day later, High on Life 2 lands on the same tiers and platforms with a whole new bunch of strange, talking weapons. That's a day-one addition to the line up. Also on February 13, Kingdom Come Deliverance will become delivered to Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass across cloud, console and PC. 

On February 17, you can embrace your inner Na'vi in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on cloud, Xbox Series X/S, handheld and PC on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. I quite enjoyed my initial hands-on with the game, but I haven't jumped into the full version as yet. 

Last, but not least, Avowed will join the lower Game Pass Premium tier on February 17 across cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It will do so almost exactly a year after its debut and on the same day it hits PlayStation 5 and a major update goes live. Avowed was one of our favorite games of 2025.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/februarys-xbox-game-pass-additions-include-high-on-life-2-madden-nfl-26-and-avatar-frontiers-of-pandora-160656985.html?src=rss

The Dyson PencilVac stick vacuum is finally available for purchase in the US after being revealed in the first half of last year. It costs $600. The company says this is the "world's slimmest vacuum cleaner." We haven't broken out any rulers to confirm that statement, but it's certainly a ridiculously thin stick vac.

It achieves this thinness by using a motor inspired by the company's Supersonic hair dryer. This is a small motor that can actually rest in the shaft, so there's not a noticeable bulge where the components have been placed. This stick vacuum is actually, well, a stick. Just take a look at it.

Dyson

It does come with attachments that increase the size a bit. For instance, the conical brush bar cleaner head makes it resemble a traditional stick vacuum. However, everything else is in the long cylinder. This includes the bin, filter and motor.

Other attachments include something called the "Fluffycones" cleaner head. This has four cones in two brush bars that rotate in opposite directions to "strip and eject even long hair, preventing hair tangling around the brush bar." There are also lights at both ends to help illuminate any lingering dust particles.

Dyson

It weighs nearly four pounds and features the same diameter throughout. This makes it easy to grip anywhere along the body, which can help with overhead cleaning. It ships with a swappable battery pack that lasts for around an hour and there's a magnetic charging dock to get things juiced up.

The vacuum works with the MyDyson app, which lets users check on battery life and adjust settings. Some of this information is also displayed on the LCD screen at the top of the handle.

We got a chance to try it out last year and came away impressed. The motor is plenty powerful, despite the diminished size, and the device was easy to maneuver. If you have $600 to spare and a dirty home, this could be a good purchase.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/the-dyson-pencilvac-is-finally-available-and-costs-600-160059016.html?src=rss

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ is a surprisingly powerful ultraportable held back by a clunky trackpad. It's a shame, really, because it's very well-designed and thanks to Intel's Panther Lake CPU, it can even run games like Arc Raiders without breaking a sweat. It also has more ports than most thin and light machines, its OLED screen is great for productivity work and at three pounds it's easy to carry around all day. But curse its mechanical trackpad — why does it even exist when Apple, Microsoft and others have been able to implement excellent haptic touchpads for years? Come on now.

Hardware

With its grey case, subdued design and somewhat chunky bezels, the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ doesn't exactly make a striking impression. From afar, you can tell it's certainly thin, and it's also clear that MSI made the most of its slim case by shoving in two USB-A ports, two USB-C connections, a single HDMI port and a headphone jack. It would have been nice to have some sort of SD card slot too, but at least the Prestige 14 can connect to older accessories, monitors and TVs without a USB-C hub. 

Once you pick it up, though, the Prestige 14's three-pound frame feels downright remarkable. It's just a tad heavier than the 2.7-pound MacBook Air, but its screen size directly competes with the 3.4- to 3.6-pound 14-inchMacBook Pro. The "Flip" in its name also means it's versatile, with the ability to rotate its screen into a tablet mode, or a variety of tent configurations.

What makes the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ truly interesting is its Intel Core Ultra X7 358H processor, which features 16 cores and a maximum speed of 4.8GHz. Specifically, it features four P-cores for speedy performance, eight efficient E-cores and four low-power E-cores. The Ultra X7 is also one of the new Panther Lake chips with gobs of graphics power in Intel's Arc B390 GPU, giving them far more gaming chops than previous ultraportable chips. The laptop also sports 32GB of RAM, which is the ideal amount for serious productivity work, and a roomy 1TB SSD. 

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

The Prestige 14's stylus-friendly 14-inch OLED screen helps to distract from its mundane case design, with the typical deep black levels and excellent contrast I appreciate from OLED, together with bold 100 percent DCI-P3 color coverage. It makes just about everything look great, though I wish MSI offered more than a 60Hz refresh rate — a 90Hz or 120Hz screen would make scrolling through web pages look far smoother. 

And speaking of the stylus, that's tucked away at the bottom of the Prestige 14. I didn't find it particularly useful for notetaking, but for those who do it's easy to stow away. It's just too thin for extended handwriting, and anyone doing serious notetaking or digital art would be better off with a larger stylus or dedicated drawing pad. 

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ in tent mode Devindra Hardawar for Engadget In-use: A stealth performer

After seeing a relatively slim Lenovo Panther Lake laptop reaching 190 fps in Battlefield 6, using only Intel's built-in Arc B390 GPU, I was eager to see how that new hardware would perform in the real world. Simply put, the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ didn't disappoint. It scored 10,169 points in PCMark 10, the highest score we've seen yet on a Windows PC. 

And yes, that includes plenty of powerful gaming systems like the Alienware 16 Area 51 (8,245 points) and the Razer Blade 18 (7,703), both of which were running Intel's last-gen Core Ultra 9 275HX chip. Of course, those systems have faster GPUs, like NVIDIA's RTX 5080, but PCMark 10 doesn't lean too heavily on graphics performance. The Prestige 14 edged close to the M5 MacBook Pro in Geekbench 6's multi-threaded CPU test, scoring 16,633 points compared to Apple's 18,003. But the MacBook Pro reigned supreme in the single-threaded test, scoring 4,310 points compared to the MSI's 2,864. 

Computer

PCMark 10

Geekbench 6

Geekbench 6 GPU

Cinebench 2024

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ (Intel Core Ultra X7 358H)

10,169

2,864/16,633

56,425

117/719

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5, 2025)

N/A

4,310/18,003

48,840

197/1,034 | GPU: 6,143

Dell 16 Premium (Core Ultra 7 255H, NVIDIA RTX 5070)

7,780

2,711/15,919

109,443

127/1,104

When it came to games, the Prestige 14 reached a surprisingly high 80-95 fps in Arc Raiders while playing in 1080p with medium graphics settings, as well as AMD's FSR3 upscaling and 2x frame generation. Without those AMD features, Arc Raiders ran at 45-50 fps, which is still respectable for an ultraportable. To my surprise, Intel's XeSS upscaling technology wasn't available in Arc Raiders during my testing, but there's a good chance that tool would eke out even more performance. (I've asked Intel about XeSS's omission, and will update when I hear back.)

In Cyberpunk 2077, The Prestige 14 hit 35 fps while playing in 1080p with default settings. Flipping on Intel's XeSS frame generation bumped that to 45 fps. If you're used to the 30 fps performance of consoles, those numbers are still vaguely playable, but they certainly fall short of the 60 fps PC players typically look for. It's best to think of the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ as a laptop where you can play games sometimes, perhaps while you're away from your gaming desktop. It's certainly not a replacement for a dedicated gaming laptop.

For more prosaic productivity tasks, like juggling dozens of browser tabs and editing large images, the Prestige 14 didn't break a sweat. Its healthy 32GB of RAM gave it plenty of breathing room for multi-tasking, and unlike other ultraportables, I didn't notice any serious performance dips while running on battery. On that note, the Prestige 14 also lasted a whopping 22 hours and 15 minutes in PCMark 10's battery benchmark. That's the highest figure we've ever seen from a laptop, and it's a promising sign of what we can expect from other Panther Lake systems. 

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ keyboard and trackpad Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

While there's clearly plenty to love about the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+, I was less impressed with its mechanical trackpad and keyboard. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the more responsive haptic trackpads from the competition, but the Prestige 14's old-school trackpad kept slowing me down with missed clicks and other annoyances. The laptop's keyboard felt similarly cheap, with a lack of depth and comfort that I've come to expect from other ultraportables in the $1,299 price range. Even after hours of testing, I had a hard time typing on the Prestige 14 at full speed without errors. It's a shame that MSI gets so much right, but is hindered by these weak components.

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ in tablet mode Devindra Hardawar for Engadget Should you buy the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+?

As one of the earliest Panther Lake laptops on the market, the $1,299 Prestige 14 Flip AI+ is a solid machine, if you're willing to overlook its touchpad flaws. More than anything though, the Prestige 14 makes me excited to see what other PC makers offer with Intel's new chips. It's taken a while, but now Intel finally has some decent competition against Apple's M-series hardware. The era of gaming with ultralight machines is finally here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/msi-prestige-14-flip-ai-review-an-ultraportable-for-arc-raiders-thanks-to-intels-panther-lake-160000606.html?src=rss

Managed Identity and virtual machine failures triggered knock-on problems throughout cloud platform

Microsoft has reported two Azure service wobbles in as many days, including a disruption affecting Virtual Machine management ops yesterday and a Managed Identity for Azure resources outage in East US and West US regions today.…

Robotics is forcing a fundamental rethink of AI compute, data, and systems design

Partner Content Physical AI and robotics are moving from the lab to the real world— and the cost of getting it wrong is no longer theoretical. With robots deployed in factories, warehouses, and public settings, large-scale simulation has become tightly coupled with real-world operations.…

A new gender neutral bathroom at Shawnee Mission East High School, on June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan.  Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP

With masked paramilitary forces grabbing nonwhite people from the streets and shooting civilians with impunity, it can be difficult to keep focus on all the other ways Republicans are entrenching a fascist status quo nationwide. For trans people, however, the legislative and policy assaults, which have been escalating red states for nearly a decade, are only getting worse — and, as ever, drawing all too little concern from Democratic leaders.

Just last week, the Kansas legislature passed some of the most far-reaching measures to push trans and gender-nonconforming people out of public life to date. Bathroom bans that bar trans people from restrooms aligned with their gender identity have become grimly common; over 20 states have such a law on the books. But Kansas's new anti-trans bathroom bill adds a dangerous twist: a bounty hunter provision.

The law would permit private citizens to sue and seek monetary reward based on claiming to encounter a trans person in the bathroom. That's on top of some of the harshest punishments of any existing bathroom bans, such as criminal charges, steep fines and even jail time.

As journalist and trans rights advocate Erin Reed first reported, the bill's vague language means that its reach could extend beyond public buildings — the remit of most bathroom bans around the country.

"As written, it would not only be the first bathroom bounty law to target transgender people directly, but also the first to extend a bathroom ban into private spaces," noted Reed, "effectively creating the nation's first private bathroom ban if enacted by empowering bounty hunters to search for trans people in bathrooms."

The language of the bill, while vague, says that any person who alleges to be "aggrieved" by the presence of a trans person they encounter in a restroom facility can file a civil suit against that individual for "damages" of at least $1,000.

Kansas Republicans rushed through the bathroom ban, skirting public comment by essentially sneaking the bill into another piece of legislation aimed at denying trans people correct government IDs. The ID legislation is in and of itself extreme: it would invalidate driver's licenses, government IDs, and even birth certificates that don't list a person's sex as assigned at birth.

The bill would require trans people to surrender their correctly identifying driver's license or risk a misdemeanor offense for driving with a invalid license. Trans Kansans would thus have to choose between carrying identification with their assigned sex at birth — inviting potentially further harassment and violence in public — or forgoing aspects of public life entirely. It's a policy in line with the Trump administration's move to stop issuing accurate passports to trans Americans.

The aim is to produce a climate of distrust and terror.

The bathroom bounty hunter ban was then layered on top of the ID law in a so-called "gut and go" maneuver.

The twin bills passed both the state House and Senate with over two-thirds of the vote, given the significant Republican majority — enough to override a veto from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

"Transgender people are already vulnerable to violence, especially in restrooms, and this bill layers prospective physical violence on top of the existing privacy violation of forced changes to identification documents," said Logan DeMond, director of policy and research at the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, in a statement.

Related The First "Wrongful Death" Case for Helping a Friend Get an Abortion

The fondness of Trumpian Republicans for bounty hunter laws comes as no surprise, recalling the dark legacies of Fugitive Slave Act laws and Jim Crow civilian surveillance. Now, whether criminalizing abortions, rounding up immigrants, or policing gender expression, far-right leaders and think tanks embrace vigilante violence as a key mechanism of enforcement. The aim is to produce a climate of distrust and terror.

Anti-trans zealots have been harassing people they believe to be trans — including multiple incidents involving cis women — even without the promise of financial payoff. The Kansas legislation only "turbocharges," as Reed put it, the violent policing of access to public life.

"I have sat here for five and a half hours and listened to this entire room debate my humanity and my ability to participate in the most basic functions of society," said Kansas Democratic state Rep. Abi Boatman, who is the only trans lawmaker in the state, when the new legislation was debated. "I hope none of you have to ever sit through something like that."

It should not need repeating that it is trans people who overwhelmingly face harassment and violence in bathroom facilities; the framing of bathroom bills as a question of cis women's safety has always been a bunk excuse to enforce gender conformism. It should also be obvious that any laws encouraging the surveillance and control of our bodies, particularly with women's bodies as the site of paranoiac anti-trans obsession, make all women less safe. And as with any such laws, it is always Black trans and cis women who face the worst scrutiny.

We should not forget that just one decade ago, the Christian far-right groups that pushed the first round of model bathroom bills into statehouses largely failed. Politicians faced huge public backlash; the state of North Carolina faced massive boycotts in response to its 2016 bathroom bill. But conservative think tanks got to work, refocused manipulative messaging around children and women's sports, and astroturfed the issue to activate the right-wing base. In the following years, anti-trans legislation swept through statehouses.

All the while, far too many Democratic leaders, like the serpentine California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have been willing to throw trans people under the bus. While bathroom bills have been the preserve of Republican-led states, Democrats with national standing have roundly failed in supporting the sort of pressure campaigns that gave state lawmakers pause for thought 10 years ago. Bathroom bans now abound, and ​27 states have enacted laws or policies restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for trans youth.

Within such a context, there's little wonder that legislation is only becoming harsher and crueler. And while the attack on trans existence is part of a longer history of Christian right pro-natalism and attacks on bodily autonomy, it is not so long ago that public pressure made attacks on trans rights a political liability.

Related How to Keep Providing Gender-Affirming Care Despite Anti-Trans Attacks

It is our responsibility to make it so again — particularly for Democrats claiming to represent a united anti-fascist front. And, above all, to ensure we support community-based networks working in solidarity with trans adults and children around the country so that they can have health care, work, learn, socialize, and share in public life without scrutiny or challenge. These are the minimal conditions for freedom — apparently too much to ask for some Democrats.

The post An Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill With a Cruel New Twist appeared first on The Intercept.

Netflix is back with another livestream production guaranteed to excite K-POP fans worldwide. The streamer has announced that BTS will be performing live on Netflix. It marks the band's first performance after almost four years — the members took a hiatus to complete South Korea's mandatory military service. 

The live concert will air on Saturday, March 21, one day after BTS releases their new album Arirang and will be aptly titled BTS The Comeback Live | Arirang. The show will physically take place in Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square and stream live at 8PM KST/7 AM ET/4 AM ET. Yes, viewers in the US will have to choose between a really early Saturday or a very late Friday night. Alternatively, you can skip out on any potential livestream glitches and likely watch it later (or catch the K-Pop group on their upcoming world tour). 

Plus, come Friday, March 27, Netflix will be releasing BTS: The Return, a documentary all about the making of Arirang. As Netflix puts it: "The film offers rare behind-the-scenes access as the group comes back together and charts an unprecedented path forward together after a nearly four-year hiatus."

Netflix has leaned further into livestreaming over the last few years — though the BTS concert is arguably their biggest coup. Livestreams have included everything from reality shows to sports, with some serious infrastructure issues along the way. Here's hoping the BTS concert goes off without a hitch. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/the-first-bts-concert-in-over-three-years-will-stream-live-on-netflix-in-march-155428505.html?src=rss

If you look at the press releases and breathless commentary around the recent acquisition of xAI by SpaceX, you might think we're witnessing a tectonic shift in technological destiny.  A $1.25 trillion "mega-company" is born, poised to reshape artificial intelligence, space infrastructure, satellite internet, and possibly the fate of humanity itself. That narrative, enthusiastically repeated across headlines, serves a purpose: it frames a somewhat messy corporate consolidation as inevitable progress.  But let's take a closer look and separate actual substance from Silicon Valley myth-making. A mega-deal that's really an identity crisis At its core, this acquisition solves one problem: xAI needed…

This story continues at The Next Web

Or just read more coverage about: SpaceX

So for years we pointed out how the trend of news websites killing off their comment section (usually because they were too cheap or lazy to creatively manage them) was counterproductive.

One, it killed off a lot of local community value and engagement created within your own properties. Two, it outsourced anything vaguely resembling functional conversation with your community — and a lot of additional impressions and engagement — to generally shitty and badly run companies like Facebook.

That not only made public discourse worse, it ignored that the public comment section (and the correction and accountability for errors that sometimes appeared there) were helpful for the journalistic process and ultimately, the public interest.

Anyway, more than a decade later and Ben Whitelaw from Everything in Moderation (and Mike's co-host on the Ctrl-Alt-Speech podcast as well as a former editor at the Times of London in charge of the paper's user comment section) notes that many websites and editors have had second thoughts.

A growing number of websites, burned from an unhealthy relationship with Facebook (a company too large and incompetent to function), are restoring their online comment sections, looking to automation to help with moderation, and are trying to rekindle functional, online discourse.

He does a nice job pointing out many of the benefits of on-site public comment sections that were ignored by editors a decade ago as they rushed to relieve themselves of the responsibility of trying:

"Most journalists whose articles face criticism below the line may be surprised by the following statement: people who post a comment are more likely to return to the site and be loyal to the brand, even if the comment isn't glowing praise."

When editors, circa 2010-2015, announced they were killing their comment sections, it was usually accompanied with some form of gibberish about how the decision was made because they just really "valued conversation" or wanted to "build better relationships."

Sometimes newsroom managers would be slightly more candid in acknowledging they just didn't give enough of a shit to try very hard, in part because they felt news comments were just wild, untamable beasts, outside of the laws of physics and man, and irredeemable at best. Often, this assault on the comment section went hand in hand with editors hostile to the public generally (see: the New York Times' still criticized 2017 decision to eliminate the role of Public Editor.)

The rush to vilify and eliminate the comment section ignored, as Ben notes, that a subscription to news outlets doesn't just have to provide access to journalism, it can feature participation in journalism. As an online writer for decades, I've seen every insult known to man; at the same time I've routinely seen comment insight that either taught me something new or helped me correct errors in my reporting that both I and my editors missed.

The obliteration of the comment section threw that baby out with the bath water. Facebook comments are, if you haven't noticed, a homogenized shit hole full of bots, rage, and bile that undermines connection and any effort at real conversation. These sorts of badly run systems are also more easily gamed by bad actors (like, say, authoritarians using culture war agitprop to confuse the electorate and take power).

More localized on-site comments are, as Ben notes, potentially part of our path out of the modern information dark ages:

"Within the shifting environment that digital publishers have found themselves in, it's vital to reckon with the needs of news-consuming audiences beyond timely information. People are eager to connect and have real dialogue about topics that inform their lives. Comment sections need to change, but I think they can serve a vital role."

Of course, it's hard to repair ye olde comment section when modern journalism itself is suffering from so much institutional rot. But you've got to start somewhere. And rekindling a smaller, highly localized relationship with your regular visitors is as good of a place to start as any.

Last year, the creator of Notepad++ rolled out an update for the text and source code editor after security experts reported that bad actors were hijacking its update mechanism to redirect traffic to malicious servers. It led to users downloading compromised executables that could infect their devices. Now, Don Ho has revealed that multiple security experts investigated the breach and determined that the threat actor "is likely a Chinese state-sponsored group." He said it explained why experts observed highly selective targeting during the campaign and why only traffic from certain users were redirected so that they would download malicious files. It's not clear what kind of users were specifically targeted and what the files did to their devices.

The attackers started redirecting traffic from Notepad++ to their servers sometime in June 2025, and that went on until December 2. Their method involved compromising the system at the hosting provider level, though the exact technical mechanism that allowed them to intercept traffic remains under investigation. In addition to releasing a security patch, Notepad++ also migrated to a new hosting provider with much stronger security practices. Ho now encourages anyone who wants to install the app to download version 8.9.1, which comes with the security update, and running the installer manually.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/notepad-says-it-was-hijacked-by-chinese-state-sponsored-hackers-153000268.html?src=rss

Spain will join the growing list of countries banning access to social media for children, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced Tuesday. The law will apply to users under 16 years of age amidst a broader push to hold social media companies accountable for hate speech, social division and illegal content.

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Prime Minister Sanchez excoriated social media, calling it a "failed state" where "laws are ignored and crime is endured." He spoke to the importance of digital governance for these platforms, highlighting recent incidents like X's AI chatbot Grok generating sexualized images of children, Meta "spying" on Android users and the myriad election interference campaigns that have taken place on Facebook.

In light of what Sanchez called the "integral" role social media plays in the lives of young users, he said the best way to help them is to "take back control." Next week, his government will enact a slew of new regulations, with a ban on users under 16 years of age among them. Social media companies will be required to implement what he calls "effective age verification systems" and "not just checkboxes." A specific timeline on enforcement of the coming ban has not been announced.

Spain will also make "algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content" into a new criminal offense and Sanchez says tech CEOs will face criminal liability for hateful or illegal content on their platforms. The Prime Minister further announced that Spain has formed a coalition with five other unnamed European nations to enact stricter governance over social media platforms.

Sanchez said children have been "exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone," and that it's the government's job to intervene. He added social media has fallen from its promise to be a "tool for global understanding and cooperation."

Australia enacted an under-16s ban on social media last year, which has prompted many nations to follow suit. It is under active consideration in the UK, while Denmark and Malaysia have announced plans to enact similar bans.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/spain-set-to-ban-social-media-for-children-under-16-151546884.html?src=rss

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has appointed a 12-person steering group to the Timms Review and claims it has a range of lived experiences. However, the members are overwhelmingly southern, and the government has also included Jean-André Prager. Previously, and controversially, Prager called for the DWP to make PIP conditional for young people.

DWP: what is the Timms review?

The Timms Review is the review and consultation of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). It came about after the government failed to rush through cuts to PIP. This was because of pressure from disabled people, which caused MPs to rebel. It forced them to remove PIP entirely from the Universal Credit Bill.

This is despite overwhelming support for PIP staying exactly where it is, or even becoming more compassionate. Many responses pointed to the financial and mental health impacts of losing their PIP.

Lack of diversity

Now, the government has received only 340 applications to sit on the Timms Review Steering Group. Given that there are over 16 million disabled people in the UK, that number is embarrassing. It shows how little faith disabled people have in the process.

Additionally, the government has not disclosed which regions are represented in the steering group.

Previously, the DWP announced the members of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel (IDAP), including their locations. This included a severe lack of northern representation - leaving just one person to represent the whole of the North of England.

Quick LinkedIn searches for the newly appointed steering group members reveal that at least 7 of the 12 are based in London. Unsurprisingly, once again, there is only one in the north - in Newcastle.

This is despite the North East having the highest level of disability - 21.2% - and the second highest level of poverty - 25%.

Is there any wonder the government didn't publish this information? 

Here we go again

To make matters worse, the government has appointed Jean Andre-Prager to the steering group.

He was previously the Prime Minister's Special Adviser covering the DWP and is currently a Senior Fellow at the right-wing think tank, Policy Exchange.

Previously, he called for PIP to be made conditional for 16-30-year-olds. Of course, this bullshit and deeply flawed idea fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of the benefit - to aid with the extra costs of living with a disability. These do not magically appear when you hit 30. They are lifelong, and can drastically change the lives of young people.

A Policy Exchange report, which Andre-Prager led, stated:

Reform should also be based on the principles which underpinned the New Deal for Young People, first introduced in 1998, which compelled engagement via fulltime education, voluntary work or formal employment. The Government should refresh these concepts for the modern day.

This is a clear departure from the current purpose of PIP whose purpose is to meet some of the extra costs incurred by disabled people. However, given the rising claimant numbers - especially among young people with mental health challenges - we think this is a necessary step to encourage improved engagement with society. We suggest that DWP is still be able to opt individuals out of conditionality based on the severity of their condition. Coupled with this change, we would change the age where you can claim PIP to 18 (increasing it from 16) to better align with support provided.

It is ableist nonsense to even entertain the idea that young people with chronic illnesses and disabilities can just be cut out of vitally necessary support.

Disgraceful decision

Once again, we are seeing this government's latest trend of punching down at neurodivergent and mentally ill young people.

Given Andre-Prager's history of authoring this report, it makes sense that the DWP would appoint him. It's very likely that he'll bring these dangerous ideas to the steering group. But obviously, that suits Labour's already clear intent on hammering young people.

His presence is perhaps the biggest indicator of what the review is actually there to do. As the Canary has repeatedly warned, the Timms review is a foregone conclusion. It exists only to support the DWP's preconceived desire to cut PIP. The review clearly isn't for listening to disabled people or groups. It's to further stigmatise people who need support to survive.

Alarm bells should be ringing because this review does not have disabled people's best interests at heart, and it never did.

Featured image via the Canary

By HG

Ridiculous US federal officers say they have identified a key leader of 'antifa'. But the guy they are accusing seems to be a local protestor who lets other protestors use his bathroom. Hardly the second coming of Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh is it, you absolute buffoons?

If it needs saying at all, Antifa does not exist in the sense meant by US officials. It's a vaguely defined political tendency. It cuts across socialist, anarchist, communist and even liberal groups who, erm, don't like fascism. It sort of says so in the name: antifa = antifascist.

Antifa war is bullshit

To be clear, US president Donald Trump's war on 'antifa' is a war on the left. It is one strand of his nativist plans for an America in which he cannot be challenged. It had nothing to do with terrorism or extremism - except his own.

Independent US reporter Ken Klippenstein's work on Trump-era authoritarianism has been groundbreaking. On 3 February he published a new story. He'd seen internal documents which referred to the individual:

Twenty-nine year old Chandler Patey has been regularly protesting outside his local ICE facility in South Portland for months, offering up his apartment to fellow protesters to use the bathroom or wash off pepper spray, according to local news.

On the face if it Patey sounds like a normal guy. One of millions of Americans opposed to Trump's so-called war on immigration.

However:

To the Department of Homeland Security, "he is the leader of Antifa in Portland, OR."

Klippenstein explains:

That phrase appears in an internal report produced by DHS, the largest law enforcement agency in the country. As they see it, Patey—a young man accused of no crime and who looks like a random protester plucked off the streets of Minneapolis—is a domestic terrorist.

He noted that Fox News anchors had even discussed Patey's home as being a antifa 'safe house':

This kind of idiocy is hardly unprecedented by the standards of cable news, of course; but the federal government is buying into the hysteria, too. Documents leaked to me show Patey and countless other American protesters have been branded as domestic terrorists. As a result, their private information is now being collected and stored in a DHS intelligence system.

American fascism

American fascism, embodied partly in the endless raids and beatings - and street executions - by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers, is thriving.

Klippenstein previously challenged the department's claim that no database of 'domestic terrorists' existed. He asked them again in relation to Patey and got no answer.

Incredible work, guys. It would be funny, but as Klippenstein points out this kind of half-cocked intelligence gathering has consequences:

This bureaucratic imperative to find terrorists among protesters is what got Renee Good and Alex Pretti killed.

DHS shot dead Good and Pretti in January. Neither was engaged in any kind of behavior which would merit being shot. Video evidence from multiple angles shows that they presented no threat to federal officers.

The evidence suggests that like them Patey presents no danger whatsoever. Except maybe in one narrow sense and it is that basic human solidarity is a severe threat to the far-right and their vision of a cowed and obedient population which cowers while armed thugs cart away their neighbours.

Featured image via Unsplash/Julian Schneiderath

By Joe Glenton

Defence minister Luke Pollard just reiterated in the House of Commons what UK defence policy is all about these days. It's about massively expensive drones, nukes that aren't ours, and a sniveling attitude to the US. Rule Britannia etc.

Pollard was answering questions from MPs on a range of military matters on 2 February. Tory Mark Francois (remember him!?) wondered if the UK would gift its Watchkeeper drones to Ukraine. Pollard said no:

The UK and partners will continue to ensure we equip Ukraine as best we can to defend its sovereign territory and ensure it is in a position of strength for any peace negotiations.

He went on:

Since Watchkeeper Mk1 entered service in 2010, drone technology has evolved at remarkable pace, driven by the extensive use of unmanned systems in the war in Ukraine. The Department has therefore prioritised this effort on more cost-effective drones that deliver comparable capability and can operate in the most demanding environments.

Supposedly, the search for Watchkeeper's replacement - AKA, the Corvus program - will cost £130mn. This seems very optimistic. Based on the Israeli Hermes drone, Watchkeeper was ten years late late and cost £1bn. That's according to Drone Wars UK. The NGO also said Watchkeeper flew only 14 hours in Afghanistan in 2014 because combat operations had effectively ended by the time it was usable.

Drone War said:

Since then, apart from one short deployment in the UK, the 50 plus Watchkeeper drones have either flown on training flight, mostly in the UK or Cyprus (despite being marketed as an all-weather system, it performs poorly in 'adverse' weather) or simply kept in storage.

The drone, which is unarmed, was then used to monitor refugees coming over the channel:

The UK deployment was to support Border Force operations to curb refugees crossings the channel. According to responses to our FoI requests at the time, a total of 21 flights were conducted in September and October 2022.

Very cost effective indeed.

Special relationship with who?

Also on 2 February Pollard was questioned about US-UK defence relations. Independent MP Ayoub Khan asked:

Whether he is taking steps to increase the UK's level of military independence from the US.

Pollard said:

The US remains the UK's principal defence and security partner, and our co-operation on defence, nuclear capability and intelligence remains as close and effective as any anywhere in the world, keeping Britain safe in an increasingly dangerous environment.

No change there then, despite Donald Trump's increasingly erratic warmongering. Pollard added:

As close friends, we are not afraid to have difficult conversations when we need to. Friends turn up for each other, as we did for the US in Afghanistan, and friends are also honest with each other, as the Prime Minister has set out.

Trump recently disparaged the NATO contribution to the disastrous Afghan war, causing immense public butthurt to British MPs. Trump eventually walked back his comments, lauding British soldiers for their efforts in that pointless, failed occupation.

Cheers, Don.

Independent nukes?

Khan had another question, however. He asked if the government would consider dropping military programs which did nothing to protect the country:

Our nuclear deterrent now consumes nearly a third of the defence budget through Trident, a system that cannot be launched without US approval. In pursuing nuclear deterrence and mutually assured destruction, we have drained funding from conventional forces and neglected the diplomacy and development that actually prevents conflicts.

He asked:

Does the Minister believe that prioritising nuclear defence over reducing tensions, ending conflicts and promoting peace genuinely delivers security for our people, and if so, can he explain why?

Pollard reiterated that the House of Commons is populated largely by sycophants divorced from public outlooks:

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question; it comes from a point of view that is different from that of many people in this House and in the wider public.

Then he leant into the usual inaccurate stock answer

Our nuclear deterrent is operationally independent; the only person who can authorise its firing is the Prime Minister. It is a part of our security apparatus, which keeps us safe every single day, and has done for decades.

Adding:

As a Government, we are continuing to invest in our nuclear deterrent, just as we are investing in jobs and skills right across the country that keep us safe every single day. Our relationship with the United States is a key part of that, but we will also continue to invest in our relationships with our other allies, especially around Europe.

In reality, as the US publication National Interest explained on 5 March 2025:

the Trident missiles are not even owned by Britain, but are instead leased by the British military from the Americans.

They expanded:

British nuclear deterrent relies exclusively on American ballistic missile technology, the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) known as the Trident II D5, built by the U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

So, not independent then. The UK has lashed its future security to the whims of US leaders - whoever is in charge at a given time. Donald Trump's first year back in power has rocked alliances like NATO. It seems like exactly the time to start thinking about what a serious, independent defence and foreign policy would look like. Pollard and Starmer, however, remain committed to a dying consensus which serves nobody but the US.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

Louis Theroux, Mark Rylance, Zawe Ashton, Jonathan Pryce, and Glen Matlock were among cultural figures attending the Health Workers 4 Palestine Gala to raise vital funds for the charity's Gaza Medics Solidarity Fund.

Health Workers 4 Palestine fundraiser

In the first 24 hours of the fundraiser, it has raised over £300,000. And it's now appealing to the public with hopes to raise £1m. Every donation will help rebuild maternity wards, fund mobile clinics, and pay stipends to doctors in Gaza.

You can donate here.

Brian Eno and Antony Gormley donated art to the event. Motaz Malhees appeared fresh from global acclaim for his performance in The Voice of Hind Rajab.

Also in attendance were BBC Springwatch presenter Megan McCubbin, actors Juliet Stevenson, Khalid Abdalla and Denise Gough, comedian Jen Brister and Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos.

Health Workers 4 Palestine is an organisation of medical professionals from over 70 cities around the world. It advocates for Gaza medics and the protection of Palestinian healthcare.

Dr Omar Abdel-Mannan founded the group in 2023. In July 2025 he flew with the first Gaza child evacuated to the UK for medical aid from Cairo to London.

As over 1,700 health workers lose their lives in Gaza, and this month 37 international aid groups including Save the Children are blocked from entering, this fundraiser couldn't be more urgent. A recent study has found that the population of Gaza has declined by over 250,000 people since 7 October 2003.

The Health Workers 4 Palestine Solidarity Fund is administered by local NGOs, getting emergency support to the medics and patients who need it most.

Actor Zawe Ashton said:

I'm here tonight to encourage people to donate to Health Workers 4 Palestine because I believe as an artist it's the moment to advocate and use your voice for people whose voice is being distorted and silenced. The dismantling of healthcare in Gaza is one of the most dangerous and sickening parts of the genocide we're seeing unfold.

Dr Abdel-Mannan said:

Tonight shows what is possible when culture refuses to stay silent. We are standing in solidarity with the over 1,700 health workers who have been killed in Gaza, and those who continue to save lives against the odds working under unimaginable conditions. Together, we are fundraising to support Gaza medics and the rebuilding of Palestinian healthcare.

The gala took place at The Savoy, London on 1 February 2026. To donate to the Solidarity Fund, go here.

Featured image via Ali Khadr / Health Workers 4 Palestine

By The Canary

Continuing his laudable approach of taking smear campaigns head-on and taking no prisoners, Green party leader Zack Polanski has shredded Labour's feeble attempts to smear him. Other politicians might hide, deflect, or deny. Polanski posted to his social media that Labour is attacking him to try to distract from their own chronic problems with paedophiles and corruption.

His post points out:

• Starmer's decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as a senior adviser and UK ambassador to the US knowing Mandelson was a fan-boy and close friend of serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson has now also been exposed insider-trading and leaking government information to Epstein.
• Starmerite MP Dan Norris's second arrest for rape and sexual assault. Norris was also arrested for alleged paedophilia - just the latest in a long line of Labour Zionists.
• Starmer's former front-bencher Tulip Siddiq's prison sentence in Bangladesh for corruption.

He also includes a composite image of Labour's smears to leave no doubt just how feeble Starmer's party has become:

Questions about Mandelson, his heinous crimes and how much Starmer knew.Dan Norris, elected as Lab MP, arrested - 2 counts of rape.Tulip Siddiq sentenced to 4 years.I wonder why Labour have made 3 attack videos about me in the last 24 hours?They're done. Finished. Toast.

— Zack Polanski (@zackpolanski.bsky.social) 2026-02-02T21:12:30.478Z

Unlike Polanski, Starmer has an appalling record

And Starmer's personal record is appalling, from his time as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) through to what passes for his leadership of the Labour party.

Starmer was an awful DPP, according to staff who worked under him. But his awfulness went beyond merely being a bad boss. He relentlessly pursued Wikileaks founder Julian Assange over what turned out to be spurious allegations ultimately dropped by Swedish prosecutors. The CPS then destroyed the records of Starmer's involvement, but he flew to the US to discuss Assange's extradition with US officials.

Starmer also notoriously failed to prosecute serial rapist Jimmy Savile. Those around him have issued 'non-denial denials' that Starmer was personally involved in the decision not to prosecute. However, it stretches belief to think that a serial rape case against Britain's then-most famous entertainer would not have crossed the boss's desk. Regardless, as boss the buck ultimately stopped with him anyway.

Starmer was also DPP when, according to departing Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in 2024, Welby informed Starmer's CPS about the child abuse committed by paedophile church barrister John Smyth. Welby said that he:

believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.

It never did. Smyth was never prosecuted and, just as with Savile, the scandal only broke after his death. Now to Starmer's blighted tenure as Labour 'leader'.

Not much better as Labour leader

Starmer welcomed London MP Neil Coyle back under the Labour whip despite Coyle being found by Parliament to have sexually harassed a staffer, as well as racially abusing a Chinese-British man - and when-Chester MP Chris Matheson was under investigation by Parliament for sexual harassment, neither Starmer nor the party machine suspended him pending the outcome of the investigation, as would be usual practice to protect the women around him.

Matheson resigned only after he was found guilty by the parliamentary panel of 'threatening' sexual misconduct. Starmer also protected at least two further alleged sex pests on his front bench, despite ongoing investigations.

And while Starmer's cronies were deselecting or blocking potential left-wing parliamentary candidates on any pretext it could find, they were ignoring legal advice to let their mates stand. Labour's National Executive ignored the advice of its barrister that it needed to thoroughly investigate allegations of 'serious' sexual assault brought against then-Redbridge council leader and slum landlord Jas Athwal. Athwal is a right-wing Labour figure close to Starmer's Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Instead, the NEC dropped the case and reinstated Athwal, who is now a Labour MP after a questionable vote to select him as the party's candidate in Ilford South.

Rotten

Perhaps most seriously, Starmer and his then-sidekick David Evans covered up Jewish whistleblower Elaina Cohen's allegations of serial abuse of women by a party staffer.

Cohen repeatedly warned Starmer and Evans that a staffer working for then-Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood - and allegedly Mahmood's lover - was engaged in 'sadistic' and 'criminal' abuse of vulnerable Muslim women. The victims were fleeing domestic violence, through the now-defunct domestic violence 'charity' that she ran.

Warned time and again, Starmer and Evans did nothing. Mahmood remained on Starmer's front bench as long as he chose to be there. Cohen was sacked from her role as a parliamentary aide.

One of the victims gave evidence, at Cohen's successful wrongful dismissal tribunal, of the abuse she and others had suffered. This included blackmail and sexual exploitation. Her evidence was not challenged by Mahmood or his lawyers. Mahmood admitted under oath to the tribunal that he had also personally made sure that Starmer was fully aware of Cohen's allegations.

Despite the abundance of evidence, this mountain of vileness has been almost entirely ignored by 'mainstream' media. It's time for that to end.

Go on, Zack Polanski. Go to town.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Never a party to miss a vapid appeal to populism, Reform UK have announced plans to cut beer duty by 10%. Except, how do they plan to fund such a feat? Well, by reintroducing the two-child benefit cap, of course.

Under Reform's new commitment, the party would gradually phase out business rates altogether for UK pubs. Incidentally, they'd also plunge around 350,000 children back into poverty, and 700,000 into deep poverty.

The fact that a mainstream political party can suggest something like this without being spat on immediately by everyone in range indicates that something is deeply wrong with our country. I just don't have a better way to say that.

Facts about taxes, as if that's the problem here and not Reform

In Rachel Reeves' autumn budget, the chancellor unveiled plans to hike business rates for pubs by 76%. This would boil down to additional costs of around £4,300 a year, after the current freeze ends.

However, on 27 January Labour announced that it would reverse course. Starting in April, pubs will now receive a 15% cut to new business rates bills, along with a two-year real-terms freeze.

Reform MP, and general shithouse, Lee Anderson stated that:

The loss of one pub is not just the loss of livelihood for a landlord, or the loss of a local employment hub. The loss of one pub is a loss to all of us as inheritors of a tradition dating back to Roman rule.

He went on:

Yet the Conservatives, and now Labour, have facilitated the closure of thousands of pubs over the last decade. Any contrition they show is false.

As things stand, beer duty - i.e., tax - averages out at around 49p a pint, although that varies according to the drink's strength. Reform's plan would knock 10% from that figure by taking the money directly from struggling children and families.

Likewise, the far-right party would also cut VAT from 20% to 10% for the hospitality sector. Reform said that the fact supermarkets don't pay VAT on food sales gives them an unfair advantage over pubs, as if the party has any concept of what fairness is.

The entire plan would carry a cost of £2.29bn in the first year, rising to £2.9bn by the fourth year. For contrast, estimates suggest that scrapping the two-child benefit cap will cost £3.6bn a year once it's fully implemented.

There's something wrong with all of us

There are too many things to say about this, I don't really know where to start.

As recently as May 2025, Reform was all for scrapping the two-child cap. Then, they flipped to saying it should only be lifted for two-parent full-time-working households, and finally to opposing the removal of the cap altogether. This pointless contrarianism was motivated purely by Labour getting behind scrapping the cap.

This plan is yet another monstering of people who receive benefits - this time pitting them against local pubs, of all things. These two causes are completely unrelated to one another, but Reform has very deliberately chosen to pair them off.

Given Reform's projected image as champion's of 'British culture', pubs make sense as their chosen cause to champion - but that's not a compliment. The UK has massive problems with alcoholism and binge drinking, and has even topped world alcohol consumption charts in recent years.

And finally, this is children we're talking about. Reform are proposing to take money directly from the very poorest children in the UK, and to then give it to pub landlords. If the landlords chose to pass that saving on to customers, a pint might be 5p cheaper, at the cost of making life harder for 100,000 kids.

When did we get to this point, as a society? How can a mainstream political party can suggest something like this without it immediately sinking them? Why are the right-wing papers reporting this like it's a normal idea?

This job sometimes involves reading, seeing, and reporting on heinous things. Many of them are objectively more awful than this. But this is just such a banal, calculated, cynical evil, it's turned something in my stomach. There is something deeply wrong with us all. None of this is OK.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

Governments and businesses respond to Trump pressures by upping spending in domestically controlled infrastructure

US tariffs may be squeezing Europe's trade balance, but they are also pushing governments and businesses to spend big on keeping tech closer to home.…

Amazon is running a sale on two of its newest devices. First, there's the Echo Show 8, which is down to $150 from $180 — a 17 percent discount. Next up is the Echo Show 11, which is more or less the same device, just bigger. This model has dropped 18 percent to $180 from $220. Both deals bring the Echo Shows down to new all-time low prices. 

The Echo Show 8 and 11 came out in mid-November with the main difference being screen size. The Echo Show 8 has an 8.7-inch HD screen that Amazon claims is 15 percent larger than its predecessor. Meanwhile, the Echo Show 11 is, you guessed it, an 11-inch Full-HD display that has 60 percent more viewing area than the Echo Show 8. 

Both of the devices come with an AZ23 Pro chip and Omnisense technology, which Amazon describes as "our custom sensor platform designed for ambient AI." They also have Prime Video and Netflix apps, while other streamers can be reached through the browser. Each comes with spatial audio, dual full-range drivers and a 2.8-inch woofer. Plus, they have a 13MP camera with auto-framing. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazons-echo-show-8-and-11-are-down-to-new-all-time-lows-150021328.html?src=rss

New Mario sports games typically only come around once in a generation. So to get a fresh installment of tennis featuring a deep roster of characters this early in the Switch 2's lifecycle is rather exciting. And after getting a chance to play Mario Tennis Fever prior to its official release on February 12, the best entry to the franchise yet might only be a couple of weeks away.

Once again, Mario Tennis Fever relies on the series' familiar mix of topspin, slice and flat (power) shots used in previous games. The big new mechanic for this title is that instead of Zone Shots from Mario Tennis Aces, you can equip each character with a different racket, similar to how you can choose between a range of vehicles in Mario Kart. Every racket features a different special ability that you can charge up by rallying back and forth. When the gauge is full, you can unleash a Fever Shot to potentially devastating results. 

The Fever Shot is just one of the special abilities from the 30 different rackets available in Mario Tennis Fever.Sam Rutherford for Engadget

For example, the Fire Racket turns the ball into a fireball that leaves multiple embers on the court. If your opponent gets burned, they will slowly lose health, which will make them move slower or knock them out (but only temporarily) if you're playing doubles. Alternatively, the Pokey Racket can summon the giant cactus monster it's named after onto the court, which not only blocks your view but gets in the way as you chase down shots. And just like the game's large stable of characters (38 in total), there are almost just as many different Fever Rackets (30) to choose from. 

The thing I like most is that compared to special shots in previous titles, Fever Shots have built-in counterplay. Zone Shots from Mario Tennis Aces sometimes made it feel like you were playing a fighting game as people battled to conserve meter, while signature moves in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash often turned into automatic points. If someone sends a Fever Shot at you, you can send it back simply by returning the ball before it bounces. This naturally sets up some frenetic sequences as characters try to volley back and forth without letting the ball hit the ground in order to prevent the Fever Shot from taking effect on their side of the court. This is exactly the kind of chaos that makes Mario Tennis so fun — it just feels a bit more balanced now. 

Pokey is here to be a thorn on your court. Nintendo

That said, if you prefer a different kind of mayhem, there are also new Wonder Court Matches, which borrow the titular blue flower seeds from Mario's most recent 2D platformer. This game mode nixes Fever Rackets in favor of changing up the rules of the sport on the fly in weird and unexpected ways. Don't be surprised when you have a hard time hitting seeds with your shots to activate wondrous effects while spike balls get tossed at you or a parade of piranha decides to have a party on top of the net. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to play Mario Tennis Fever's Adventure mode, which is a bit of a shame as I've heard that it's deeper and more fleshed out. This is a welcome upgrade from the somewhat thin single-player campaign from Aces. Thankfully, the game still supports motion controls for younger players or anyone who'd rather swing a virtual racket instead of mashing buttons. I also appreciate that Nintendo is making it easy to get into multiplayer matches, as the game supports both online matches (ranked and unranked) and local wireless connectivity (LAN). For the latter, you can also use the Switch 2's Game Share feature to send the title to other nearby systems so people can try out Mario Tennis Fever for themselves, even if they don't own a copy. 

Wonder Court Matches are another new way to upend the rules of Mario Tennis. Nintendo

So if you're like me and you've always preferred sports games that are more bombastic instead of realistic, Mario Tennis Fever ($70) is shaping up to be a real grand slam. Pre-orders are live now ahead of the title's official release on February 12. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/mario-tennis-fever-preview-a-racket-smashing-blast-140000408.html?src=rss

Even in 2026, VR still feels like tech that isn't quite ready for prime time. When Nintendo released the original Virtual Boy way back in 1995, it was hard for my 10-year-old brain to comprehend a 3D console with a bipod, a facemask and a monochrome red display. Then, when you factor in weak sales that led to the system being discontinued after only a year, you end up with a gadget that felt more like a mythical creature than something you could actually buy. But that's changing later this month when the Virtual Boy returns as an add-on for the Switch 2. After getting an early demo of Nintendo's new accessory, I can confirm that this thing feels just as weird and quirky as it did when it first came out more than 30 years ago. 

The biggest difference on the new model is that it uses the Switch 2's screen as its main display and processor. Sam Rutherford for Engadget

The most impressive thing about the revamped Virtual Boy is how much it looks and feels like the original. It still features that classic red and black color scheme along with a stand for propping it up. The biggest difference is that instead of having a built-in display, there's a slot where you can slide in a Switch 2 (with its Joy-Con detached). This brings several advantages: Since the Switch 2 has its own battery, there's no need for cords anymore. It also means you don't have to worry about swapping in individual game carts, as software can be downloaded directly from Nintendo's online store. Graphics also look much sharper than I remember, though I admit that could just be me getting old. Finally, instead of reviving the Virtual Boy's archaic gamepad, Nintendo smartly opted to let us use the Switch 2's current lineup of controllers. The end result is a design that's faithful to the original but doesn't suffer from many of the pitfalls that plagued so many 90s gadgets — like tangled wires, awkward controls and fuzzy displays. 

One thing Nintendo didn't change is Virtual Boy's monochrome red visuals. Sam Rutherford for Engadget

However, even with a fair bit of modernization, it's hard to prepare your mind for the journey back in time that happens when you actually use it. Unlike every other contemporary VR headset, you still don't strap the new Virtual Boy onto your face. Instead, you have to adjust its bipod so that its facemask is level with your face and then you kind of just lean in to immerse yourself in a world where red is the only color. It's definitely a bit awkward, but it works. Nintendo even included a way to adjust IPD, so visuals look just as crisp (if not moreso) as they did on the original.

That said, the clunkiest thing about the Virtual Boy is its games. While Nintendo updated its exterior and internals, the company didn't really mess with its software — for better and worse. This means you get a relatively unadulterated look at where people thought VR was headed 30 years ago, which becomes immediately evident as soon as you boot into one of the console's first seven games. Galactic Pinball is slow and trying to time when to hit the flippers to prevent the ball from getting past you is an exercise in frustration. Meanwhile, Red Alarm feels like a cheap port of Battlezone, just with a vaguely Arwing-shaped plane instead of a tank. And once again, the pacing on this aerial shooter is glacial. Then there's 3D Tetris, which just kind of hurts your head as you try to drop pieces from a top-down perspective while the entire stage pivots around and never stops moving. The only title that really stands out is Virtual Boy Wario Land, which was and still is the best game on the entire platform. 

There's no getting around it, the Virtual Boy's bipod is just kind of awkward.Sam Rutherford for Engadget

After playing with the revamped Virtual Boy for just under half an hour, it's just as eccentric and ungainly as the original was three decades ago. But you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way because this thing is just as much of a time capsule as it is a nostalgic revival of a forgotten system. And if you want to experience a hazy concept of what people thought the future was going to be, there still isn't anything like the Virtual Boy. 

The Virtual Boy add-on for the Switch 2 officially goes on sale on February 17 for $100, with the caveat that buyers will need an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion pack membership. Also, in addition to the seven games available at launch, Nintendo is planning to add nine more throughout the year including Mario's Tennis and previously unreleased titles such as Zero Racers and D-Hopper.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-switch-2s-virtual-boy-is-a-tribute-to-nintendos-wackiest-console-140000003.html?src=rss

NASA started making the final preparations for the Artemis 2 mission in early January, with the hopes of opening its launch window as soon as February 6. After issues showed up during the mission's wet dress rehearsal in the early hours of February 3, however, the agency had to push back its earliest launch opportunity to March.

"With more than three years between SLS launches, we fully anticipated encountering challenges. That is precisely why we conduct a wet dress rehearsal. These tests are designed to surface issues before flight and set up launch day with the highest probability of success," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said on X.

During a wet dress rehearsal, the spacecraft to be used for a mission is loaded with propellants to simulate the actual preparations and countdown to liftoff. NASA explained that Artemis 2's Space Launch System, which was already on the launch pad, suffered from a liquid hydrogen leak that its engineers spent hours troubleshooting. They were ultimately able to fill all the rocket's tanks and started the countdown to launch. But with approximately five minutes left in the countdown, the ground launch sequencer automatically stopped due to a spike in the spacecraft's liquid hydrogen leak rate.

The agency admits that it has other issues to fix, based on what happened during the rehearsal. It has to make sure that the cold weather doesn't affect the mission's equipment during the actual launch in the same way it did in testing . The Orion crew module's hatch pressurization process took longer than expected, and that should must not happen on launch day. NASA also has to troubleshoot the audio communication channels for its ground teams after they dropped several times during the rehearsal. Artemis' ground crew will review data from the wet dress rehearsal and address the aforementioned problems. NASA then has to conduct another test to confirm that they were taken care of before announcing the mission's launch window.

NASA completed a wet dress rehearsal for the Artemis II mission in the early morning hours on Feb. 3. To allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal, NASA will now target March as the the earliest possible launch opportunity for the Artemis II mission.… pic.twitter.com/jSnCUPLQb6

— NASA (@NASA) February 3, 2026

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-moves-artemis-2-launch-to-march-after-hydrogen-leak-during-testing-140000351.html?src=rss

Multimillion-dollar tenure could have bought a couple of crates of toner

Longtime HP CEO Enrique Lores is decamping for a top job at PayPal, handing the reins to an interim chief while the business hunts for a permanent successor.…

If you've been inside all winter gaming then it might be time to upgrade your gear. Right now, the 8Bitdo Pro 3 Bluetooth Controller is available for just over $48, down from $70. The 31 percent discount is the lowest price we've seen yet for the controller. Notably, the sale is only available on the Gray model.

The new 8Bitdo Pro 3 came out in August and offers TMR Joysticks with a 12-bit ADC sampling chip. It also has a Trigger Mode Switch, 2 Pro paddle buttons and swappable magnetic ABXY buttons for moving between the Switch and Xbox layouts. Plus, it has an integrated charging dock. 

This 8Bitdo controller is compatible with Apple, SteamOS, Android devices, PC, Switch, and Switch 2 devices. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-8bitdo-pro-3-bluetooth-controller-is-down-to-a-new-all-time-low-143036684.html?src=rss

Algorithmic bias probe continues, CEO and former boss summoned to defend the platform's corner

French police raided Elon Musk's X offices in Paris this morning as part of a criminal investigation into alleged algorithmic manipulation by foreign powers.…

French judges have issued 'arrest summonses' for two French-Israeli women who travelled to Israel to block aid to Gaza.

Nili Kupfer-Naouri founded and runs the 'charity' 'Israel Is Forever'. The group says it exists to foster the "mobilisation of French-speaking Zionist forces". Another women, known so far only as 'Rachel T', acts as spokesperson for the far-right extremist 'Tsav9' group, which regularly attacks aid trucks at the Gaza border. Even the US has sanctioned it. The 'charity' called for volunteers to support Tsav9's blockade. Both women were born in France but now live in Israel.

Israel is manufacturing famine in Gaza

Israel has repeatedly used settler groups and other civilians as a human shield to distance itself from accusations of directly blocking aid. However, the mobs enjoy access to military-only roads and occupation forces supposedly 'escorting' aid trucks do nothing to prevent the attacks.

Kupfer-Naouri confirmed that a summons had been issued for her in an interview with a pro-Israel 'news' site. She complained that it meant she wouldn't be able to visit France any more because she doesn't want to go to prison:

The risk is that I won't be able to set foot in France anymore because I have no intention of going to French jail, whether in police custody or otherwise.

She described the arrest orders as "antisemitic madness" and said that three other members of her 'charity' had been interrogated by French police. And, she also complained that the summonses would mean French occupation war criminals would be unable to visit family in France:

What's serious is that it would set an unfortunate precedent for all our Franco-Israeli soldiers who participated in the 'war of redemption' [extremist language for the Gaza genocide] and who want to visit their families in France.

Yes, that's what's 'serious'.

More whining

'Rachel T' whined that the judges had acted for "radical pro-Palestinian" complainants than for the demand of Zionist groups for an apology from left-wing MPs from the La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, which has vocally opposed Israel's genocide in Gaza:

I note that French justice is quicker to deal with a complaint filed by a radical pro-Palestinian organization than with those filed by Avocats Sans Frontières and the OJE [European Jewish Organization] against apologies for terrorism made by LFI [La France Insoumise, radical left] MPs.

'Avocats Sans Frontières' translates as 'lawyers without borders', but the French group is unconnected to the international human rights group Lawyers without Borders. The French group sent a delegation to Israel in December and told French media that Israel is not an apartheid country.

The summonses were issued after formal complaints were filed by a number of pro-Palestine and anti-genocide groups. While arrest warrants have to be approved by the French 'National Anti-terrorism Prosecutor', 'investigating judges' can issue arrest summonses directly. Unlike warrants, they do not automatically mean provisional detention of the suspect. In principle, these summonses apply throughout the EU.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

On 26 January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wrestled nurse Alex Pretti to the ground and shot him multiple times in the back. The killing was caught on camera by several bystanders, providing various angles. The Trump regime initially defended the use of lethal force, with key advisor Stephen Miller describing Pretti as an "assassin". Trump and others around him would later backtrack following massive public backlash.

Now, it looks like the ICE agents involved could potentially face consequences:

The doc, obtained by TMZ, lists "multiple gunshot wounds" as the cause of death … and under the section "how injury occurred" medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker wrote, "Shot by law enforcement officer(s)." pic.twitter.com/E4pPflJ2Zf

— TMZ (@TMZ) February 2, 2026

ICE: prosecution for the shooters?

The shooting is now officially classed as a homicide. The medical examiner has listed the cause of death as "multiple gunshot wounds". Under the section "how injury occurred", Dr. Andrew Baker stated "shot by law enforcement officer(s)".

Pretti was shot by ICE on 26 January 2026, only 11 days after another altercation with ICE in which he suffered a broken rib, with the Canary previously reporting:

about a week before his death, he suffered a broken rib when a group of federal officers tackled him while he was protesting their attempt to detain other individuals.

The conclusion by medical examiners now leaves the door open for prosecution of the agents involved in the killing. This could set a new precedent for further scrutiny of ICE's activities:

Sounds like the federal agents that killed him should go to jail for 25+ years https://t.co/8qnYKeKBci

— Polling USA (@USA_Polling) February 2, 2026

Featured image via France24

By Antifabot

According to doorstep polling from the Green Party, Reform are currently in the lead in Gorton & Denton. While this obviously wouldn't be the desirable outcome, they're also saying Labour are a distant third. And this could mean the Greens will benefit from any tactical voting which takes place:

The Green Party have shared doorstep data with me from across Gorton and Denton.

They say it shows:

Reform - 39%

Greens - 34%

Labour - 21%

Their data shows Reform 5 points ahead and Labour in a poor third place.

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) February 2, 2026

Polling

As Owen Jones highlighted, Reform also have Labour in third place:

The Reform Party's own data has the Greens in second place right now:https://t.co/A2Jqo9jSC3

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) February 2, 2026

It's important to remember these things can shift massively in response to a good campaign, with the key example being the 2017 election (the biggest vote share swing in Labour's history).

While the polling we have currently suggests Reform will win, the bookies think the Greens have it:

The bookies currently have the Greens as the strong favourite to win the by-election.

But that'll only pan out if the Greens can convince voters that it's voting Labour which risks a Reform victory. pic.twitter.com/44R7uWR45x

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) February 2, 2026

Polling is a snapshot of the moment; bookies have to to predict the future lest they lose money (not that they always get it right).

Given the polling, the Greens are saying they're the only realistic option for people who want to keep Reform out:

It's all to play for but it's clear Labour have blown it.

Only the Greens can stop Reform. https://t.co/IZ2E8zIqnM

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 2, 2026

This is especially true as both Your Party and the Workers Party have pulled out of the race:

Proton VPN is running a solid deal right now, dropping its two-year Proton VPN Plus plan to $2.99 per month. That works out to $72 billed upfront for the first 24 months, which represents a 70 percent discount compared to its regular pricing. 

We've rated Proton VPN highly thanks to its strong privacy credentials, transparent nonprofit backing and consistently fast performance. It's one of the services we recommend in our guide to the best VPNs, and this deal also shows up alongside other standout offers in our ongoing roundup of the best VPN deals. It's a good option if you're looking to lock in long-term protection at a lower monthly cost.

In our Proton VPN review, the service impressed us with consistently fast performance and strong privacy protections. We measured average download speeds at 88 percent of our unprotected connection and upload speeds at 98 percent, which is more than enough for 4K streaming, gaming and torrenting. It also unblocked Netflix in every region we tested, and while its Mac and iOS apps aren't quite as polished as the Windows and Android versions, the service is still easy to install and largely set-it-and-forget-it across platforms. We gave Proton VPN a score of 90 out of 100.

Proton VPN Plus is the company's premium tier and includes access to its full server network, which now spans more than 15,000 servers across 120-plus countries. A single subscription covers up to 10 devices at once and unlocks features like NetShield ad and malware blocking, Secure Core "double hop" connections, split tunneling, custom DNS controls and priority customer support. Proton VPN Plus also supports fast P2P traffic on nearly all paid servers and includes VPN Accelerator, which helps maintain high speeds over long-distance connections.

Right now, Proton VPN Plus is discounted to $2.99 per month when you commit to two years, billed as $72 upfront for the first 24 months. After that, the plan renews annually at $83.88. That's a 70 percent discount compared to the standard monthly rate. As with Proton's other paid plans, the subscription comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free if you're not ready to lock in long term.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/proton-vpn-two-year-subscriptions-are-70-percent-off-right-now-123000972.html?src=rss

Like some sort of corporate Russian doll, SpaceX has announced its acquisition of xAI. The merger will "form the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth," according to, well, owner Elon Musk. 

The AI company, arguably best known for its ongoing CSAM-generating chatbot controversy, might seem like a strange fit for a rocket company. But SpaceX is apparently key to Musk's latest scheme to build AI data centers in space. There might be an argument for moving the resource-intensive operations to space — but Musk continued.

He also claimed space-based data centers will eventually enable further advances in space travel. "The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centers a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the Moon, an entire civilization on Mars and ultimately expansion to the Universe."

Back on Earth, xAI and X (formerly Twitter) merged last year, which means SpaceX now owns the social network Musk bought in 2022. 

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

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• TikTok says it's 'back to normal' after winter storm-related outages

Sony A7 V camera review

Awesome speed and photo quality.

TMAEngadget

The Sony A7 V is an imaging powerhouse that brings the speed and precision of its high-end siblings to the enthusiast tier. Thanks to a new 33MP partially stacked sensor, image quality is where it truly pulls ahead, offering best-in-class dynamic range and low-light performance that outclasses 24MP rivals despite the higher resolution. If your primary goal is capturing the perfect still, the combination of accurate AI autofocus and improved color science makes this arguably the best all-around Sony shooter yet.

However, if you're a video-first creator, the A7 V might feel like it's a little behind. While the 10-bit 4K footage is sharp and benefits from impressive AI auto-framing and stabilization, it lacks internal RAW recording, which competitors like the Canon R6 III and Panasonic S1 II now offer. Make sure you check out the full review.

Continue reading.

Apple acquires Q.ai for a reported $2 billion

After Beats, it's the company's second-biggest ever purchase.

It's the time of AI acquisitions, it seems. Even Apple's doing it. Apple has acquired Israel-based startup Q.ai. Although Apple has not disclosed the terms of the deal, The Financial Times reports the arrangement is valued at nearly $2 billion. 

Apple hasn't shared specifics on how it plans to leverage the startup, but patents filed by Q.ai focus on integrating its technology into headphones or even glasses, using "facial skin micro movements" to communicate without talking.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-elon-musks-spacex-is-buying-his-ai-company-xai-121500751.html?src=rss

Azure Storage now requires version 1.2 or newer for encrypted connections

Today is the day Azure Storage stops supporting versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Transport Layer Security (TLS). TLS 1.2 is the new minimum.…

DDoSer of 'strategically important' websites admitted to most charges

Polish authorities have cuffed a 20-year-old man on suspicion of carrying out DDoS attacks.…

Keir Starmer notoriously made Peter Mandelson the ambassador to the US. We say 'notoriously' because at the point when Starmer hired Mandelson, he knew he'd maintained a friendship with Jeffrey Epstein after the late paedophile was convicted for sex crimes. As many predicted, this scandal eventually exploded, and in recent days has gone nuclear.

Now, Starmer's MPs are starting to talk about mutiny. As one unnamed MP said to Sky News's Alexandra Rogers:

Consistent failures by Morgan McSweeney have damaged our media operation and left the public unaware of much of what we've achieved in government.

The Mandelson saga has only made things worse, and if Keir doesn't make changes soon, the PLP will.

We've had enough.

Mandelson's creature

Morgan McSweeney is Keir Starmer's chief of staff. As Paul Holden wrote in his book about Starmer's rise to power (The Fraud):

McSweeney is a long-time protégé of Peter Mandelson, the architect of New Labour who, in February 2017, publicly bragged that he was "working every day" to bring down Corbyn's elected leadership.

Holden also reported:

McSweeney joined Labour in the mid-1990s as a receptionist and then a member of the party's media operations. During the 2001 election he was given the task of feeding data into Peter Mandelson's famed Excalibur computer that stored information to be used by the party's rebuttal unit.

This is what Mandelson - the "best pal" of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein - said about McSweeney:

I don't know who and how and when he was invented, but whoever it was . . . they will find their place in heaven.

As Holden detailed, McSweeney used all manner of underhanded tactics to ensure Jeremy Corbyn lost in 2019, and that a malleable alternative took his place. That man was Keir Starmer, and this is what the public think of McSweeney's vision:

Contrary to popular belief, Labour is not struggling in the polls because they're losing votes to Reform. Even if they recovered all the votes lost to Reform they'd still be on just 21%, down double digits since GE2024.

Instead, the bulk of votes lost have been to the LEFT.

— Stats for Lefties

Journalist Don Lemon was arrested as he reported on a gathering protesting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit in Minnesota. The Associated Press reported that:

The charges stem from Lemon's actions while covering a protest, raising concerns among press freedom advocates about the criminalisation of journalistic activity.

Let's be clear. Don Lemon did not call for unrest. He did not incite violence, organise mass resistance, or step outside the bounds of liberal democratic debate. Instead, his arrest while reporting on a protest exposes a far more uncomfortable reality: power has grown brittle and it now reaches for punishment when scrutiny feels too close.

This moment reveals the authoritarian drift of the Trump administration and, more pointedly, who bears the cost when the states legitimacy comes under pressure.

Don Lemon: when liberal positions become liabilities

As a former CNN anchor, Lemon is smack bang in the centre of the political spectrum. Historically, his positions would have registered as unremarkable. Opposition to unaccountable force, scepticism towards militarised policing, and concern over immigration enforcement once formed the backbone of liberal democratic critique. These views alighted with constitutional restrain, not rebellion.

However, something has shifted.

Today, the state increasingly treats scrutiny itself - however mild -  as a provocation. As executive power expands and surveillance becomes normalised, even mild dissent now attracts suspicion. Consequently, journalism that merely documents authority - not necessarily agitates against it - is shut down with considerable force.

Crucially, when a Black journalist raises that challenge, institutions rarely interpret it as professional distance. Instead they read it as intent to agitate.

Surveillance disguised as neutrality

Editorial scrutiny often presents itself as neutral concern: questions about tone, warnings about objectivity and accusations of advocacy. In practice, however, this scrutiny operates as institutional suspicion.

Neutrality, it seems, remains intact only when journalism aligns with power. When reporting destabilises official narratives, neutrality becomes negotiable. As a result, white journalists benefit from an assumption of detachment, while Black journalists must reportedly demonstrate it.

Because of this imbalance, identical actions generate unequal consequences. The determining factor is not behaviour, but who performs it and what their presence exposes.

Lemon's reporting remained measured, legible, and recognisably liberal. Ironically, that restraint made it more threatening, not less. The state does not fear incoherent outrage. It fears critique that cannot be dismissed as extremism.

The free speech contradiction

At the same time, those in power insist they value free speech. They repeatedly frame dissent as welcome, provided it remains responsible and measured.

Lemon's met those criteria. Nevertheless, coercion followed.

This contradiction matters. A system that claims to prize reason while punishing those who test it does not defend free speech. Instead, it manages it. Calls for civil discourse function less as invitation and more as constraints, allowing speech only when it reassures power rather than interrogates it.

Ultimately, the response exposes fragility, not confidence. A secure system answers criticism. A brittle one suppresses it.

Another consideration of Lemon's arrest is the spatial context. The fact that his arrest took place around a church, a site the state traditionally treats as morally insulated and symbolically untouchable. Religious spaces have long been leveraged by authority to legitimise control, casting state action as protection rather than coercion. When power cloaks itself in religious sanction, scrutiny becomes easier to criminalise.

This is not about faith. It is about how religious symbolism is mobilised to discipline dissent. By framing the site as sacred and the journalist as disruptive, the state redraws space itself as a boundary of obedience. In doing so, it turns moral authority into territorial control, narrowing where journalism is allowed to exist at all.

From scrutiny to criminalisation

In response to Don Lemon's arrest, the Freedom of the Press Foundation said:

Arresting journalists for doing their jobs sets a dangerous precedent and threatens the public's right to know.

Authoritarianism rarely announces itself. Instead it advances through procedure. Laws stretch beyond their original purpose. Reporting blurs into obstruction. Monitoring quietly replaces protection.

When authorities detain or arrest journalists under the language of public order or interference, the message becomes unmistakable: scrutiny itself now constitutes a risk.

This shift intensifies during moments of political anxiety. As legitimacy thins, power prioritises containment over accountability. Accordingly, journalism survives only when it remains predictable, deferential, and safely non-disruptive.

The most serious danger, then, is not radicalisation. Rather, it is anticipatory obedience, the slow internalisation of limits imposed not for accuracy, but for the safety of power.

Lemon has rejected the suggestion that his reporting crossed a line, framing the case as a threat to press freedom:

I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now. In fact there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.

Race as structure, not sentiment

Importantly, this is not an argument about identity politics.

Black journalists operate within a historical framework that has long cast Black presence as disruption in public space, political discourse, and intellectual authority. That history does not disappear inside courtrooms or newsrooms. Instead, it reasserts itself through surveillance, suspicion and unequal enforcement.

As a result, the same behaviour produces different interpretations. Surveillance follows the bodies power has always keened to regulate.

A warning, not an exception

It would be tempting to treat this case as an aberration, a mistake that institutions can quietly correct. That interpretation would miss the point.

This moment signals a narrowing of legitimate journalism itself. When liberal dissent becomes suspect and calm scrutiny triggers coercion, democratic accountability has already begun to erode.

A free press does not exist to reassure authority. It exists to unsettle it. If that function no longer enjoys protection, particularly for those already over surveilled, then free speech becomes a slogan rather than a practice.

The real question, therefore, is not whether Don Lemon crossed a line.

Instead, it is how narrow the space for journalism has become, if measured critique now invites punishment.

When mild opposition registers as a threat, authoritarianism is no longer approaching. It is already operational.

Featured image via the Canary

By Vannessa Viljoen

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is investigating the potential deployment of Live Facial Recognition Technology (LFRT or LFR) in the Northern Ireland. According to a report in The Irish Times:

The force has set up a Facial Recognition Governance Board which is monitoring programmes elsewhere in the UK and engaging directly with industry providers, though it insists no decision has been taken over whether to deploy the controversial technology.

The PSNI haven't exactly been transparent about such plans up to this point, with no public references to the Facial Recognition Governance Board available online prior to today's revelation. LFRT involves the use of cameras combined with automated facial recognition software to scan and identify faces. The system then matches the results against a police watchlist of wanted persons.

The PSNI say they don't currently use the technology, meaning officers manually operate cameras and examine footage collected. However, they say they are:

…monitoring national LFR programmes, including those implemented by the Metropolitan Police, South Wales Police and, most recently, British Transport Police.

At this stage, we are engaging with these programmes and their industry providers solely in order to assess operational feasibility.

PSNI turn to 'Israeli' surveillance tech already in use by British police

A crucial question is whether any of those "industry providers" include Corsight AI, an 'Israeli' firm whose LFRT program has been adopted by British police. This is already a breach of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement's guidelines. They stipulate no economic dealings with the Zionist entity, or even non-'Israeli' companies which support the terrorist land theft project.

Purchasing Zionist tech is one of the worst imaginable cases of this, as it gives a direct boost to the military-surveillance sector of 'Israel's' economy. Further use of Corsight's product provides funding to, and refinement of, a system used to violate Palestinian rights.

The British government is planning to roll out LFRT systems further, moving from 10 vans to 50 that have the technology installed. Al Jazeera outline how even "Israeli intelligence operatives" have "concerns about its accuracy". This appears to be another case of much heralded AI ending up like the fictional Robocop prototypes shooting themselves in the head.

Big Brother Watch have flagged the unreliability of the dodgy tech, saying it:

…discriminates against women and people of colour. 80% of people misidentified by facial recognition in London in 2025 were Black.

This sort of bias is a commonly recognised flaw of AI platforms.

Misidentification is a crucial flaw which would result in potentially illegal surveillance. If a system incorrectly identifies someone as a suspect on a watchlist, it could result in their data being stored in the system. This would be a breach of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which outlawed the storage of data like DNA and fingerprints from people not convicted of a crime.

A chilling effect on basic rights

Beyond that, use of LFRT in a public space is inherently indiscriminate and likely breaches other laws, such as those relating to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Its use at protests will discourage attendance, especially from minoritised communities. Lancashire police are known to have shared footage of disabled people with the Department of Work and Pensions in an attempt to have their benefits stripped.

The above issues have been cited in a challenge to the Met Police's use of facial scanning which has just been heard in the High Court. Big Brother Watch argued that its use amounted to "stop and search on steroids". They cited the case of a man detained for 20 minutes by the cops, despite providing ID to show he'd been falsely identified.

The Met's justification is that London's scale makes tracking suspects too hard:

Locating these individuals within a vast, bustling metropolis is akin to looking for stray needles in an enormous, exceptionally dense haystack.

Though it may currently make mistakes, AI is steadily improving. Its increasing capacity to sift through enormous amounts of data and make sense of it is amounts to a power too excessive to grant to increasingly authoritarian states. When Edward Snowden revealed the extent of the US surveillance apparatus in 2013, he didn't just criticise its immorality. He also lambasted it as ineffective, due to excessive data collection simply adding more hay to the haystack.

In the age of AI, a giant haystack becomes less of an issue. What would previously have required hours of human intervention to interpret can now be churned through and summarised by AI in seconds. Such a power seems too much in the hands of even an accountable state, nevermind an undemocratic and abusive one arresting thousands of innocent people for opposing genocide.

PSNI can't be trusted with mass surveillance power

The PSNI has played a role in that. In the last week alone it has been shown to have behaved in a discriminatory manner. Internment and collusion are grim historic examples of what happens when police are granted excessive powers.

We could achieve zero crime, but it would require total surveillance and ensure zero freedom. Mass face scanning is a step too far towards the latter, and the PSNI's secretive Facial Recognition Governance Board should rule out its use.

Featured image via the Canary

By Robert Freeman

Documents in the latest Epstein file release show Keir Starmer's disgraced senior adviser Peter Mandelson engaging repeatedly in likely 'insider trading' with Epstein, who was closely and corruptly linked to big banking and big business. At least, that's according to finance expert and investigative journalist Dan Neidle.

A number of commentators have pointed out that the files show Mandelson boasting of persuading Gordon Brown to resign as prime minister, including the Times's Gabriel Pogrund. But, as Neidle pointed out in response, they show far more than that.

Instead, they show Mandelson providing financially sensitive - and potentially highly profitable - insider information to a Wall Street trader:

Gabriel understates what happened here. We can tell from this version of the same email chain that Mandelson's last email was sent 16:02:52 BST

Brown's resignation was public 19:19 BST.

Implies Mandelson leaked price-sensitive information to a Wall Street insider. https://t.co/bWCjLpaAku pic.twitter.com/nYNLWnENMR

— Dan Neidle (@DanNeidle) February 2, 2026

Mandelson's sickening power

Knowing that Brown was about to resign - with its likely 'blip' in UK stock market prices - would have given Epstein and anyone else he informed the opportunity to 'sell short'. Short selling involves selling shares a trader doesn't own yet, in the expectation of buying them for a lower price later because of news that shocks the market.

This is not theoretical. In another grossly anti-semitic email thread, Epstein boasts to another Jewish contact that "the Jew make money" by "selling short" while the gentiles - "goyim" - "deal in the real world":

Grim links

The Times's political editor Steven Swinford and Novara's Aaron Bastani picked up on another email showing Mandelson tipping off Epstein about a coming $500bn bail-out "to save the euro" - and "threatening" then-chancellor Alistair Darling on behalf of a huge bank to reduce a planned tax on bankers' bonuses:

Mandelson was seemingly involved in insider trading, while helping Epstein, and by extension Jamie Dimon, intimidate his colleague, Alistair Darling, over a tax on bankers bonuses.

We've genuinely never seen anything like this in British politics before (on this scale).… https://t.co/nyDCgycEtj

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) February 2, 2026

The bail-out tip-off would have given Epstein and his coterie the opportunity to buy shares - the opposite of selling short - at the existing price, knowing that news of such a huge bailout would push prices up and create an immediate profit.

Neidle added that the threatening of Darling directly benefited Epstein as well as his banking sponsor:

New Epstein emails show Peter Mandelson secretly advising JPMorgan's CEO on how to fight Labour's 2009 bankers' bonus tax - even suggesting he "mildly threaten" the Chancellor.

Mandelson was Business Secretary at the time.

A year later, he was seeking work with JPM. pic.twitter.com/Nz8o5pN7b4

— Dan Neidle (@DanNeidle) February 1, 2026

Both the short-selling and the bail-out tip-off fall under the category of 'insider trading'. Insider trading is a serious criminal offence. At the time Mandelson was providing this information to Epstein, the criminal penalty was an unlimited fine and up to seven years in prison. The potential prison time has since increased to ten years, but only for offences committed from 2021. The Mandelson emails were in 2009 and 2010.

Police are 'investigating' whether Mandelson's actions are prosecutable. There can be no excuses for failing to charge him.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

South Yorkshire becomes ground zero for nationwide experiment with £500K seed funding

AI-pocalypse Barnsley, a town in South Yorkshire, England, best known for coal mining and glassmaking, is being thrust into the limelight as the country's first "Tech Town" - shoehorning AI into everything from local businesses to public services.…

Paris prosecutors announced that a search was underway at offices belong to Elon Musk's X platform as part of an ongoing investigation first launched in January 2025. The raid is being conducted by Paris and national cybercrime units, with support from Interpol, according to post from Paris prosecutors on X. Officials from X have yet to comment on the matter.

At the same time, Paris prosecutors issued summonses to Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino for "voluntary interviews" on April 20, 2026 in Paris. The prosecutors also announced they would no longer use X and would only communicate on LinkedIn and Instagram going forward.

The searches are part of an investigation that has been ongoing for nearly a year over the functioning of X's algorithms that are "likely to have distorted the operation of an automated data processing system," investigators said at the time. Those changes reportedly gave greater prominence to certain political content (especially from Musk) without user knowledge — something that could be a crime under French laws.

An investigation was officially launched in July, with Paris prosecutors adding an additional charge: "Fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system by an organized group." More recently, it also includes "complicity in the possession of images of minors representing a pedo-pornographic character," due to images created by Grok between December 25, 2025 and January 1, 2026.

In July, X said in a statement that the probe "egregiously undermines X's fundamental right to due process and threatens our users' rights to privacy and free speech. [French officials have] accused X of manipulating its algorithm for 'foreign interference' purposes, an allegation which is completely false."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/xs-paris-hq-raided-by-french-prosecutors-110411170.html?src=rss

OpenAI has given software developers a new desktop toy, and judging by the early reactions, it might feel like someone finally handed coders the Swiss Army knife they've been dreaming about or the kind of gadget that makes them wonder if they're working with a robot coworker now.  The company rolled out the Codex app for macOS, a focused interface for managing AI coding agents, designed to let developers do more than just "generate a few lines of code." Instead, Codex can juggle multiple tasks in parallel, run background workflows, and act on instructions that span hours or even days. …

This story continues at The Next Web

Users can disable every generative feature in one click - not everyone wants a chatbot bolted to their tabs

Mozilla has decided that if AI is going to live in your browser, you should at least be able to kill it when it gets annoying.…

This is starting to sound oddly familiar

NASA has concluded a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) for Artemis II, but recurring liquid hydrogen leaks forced the test to be halted short of completion, prompting the agency to delay the mission's launch to at least March 2026.…

Your own personal Jarvis. A bot to hear your prayers. A bot that cares. Just not about keeping you safe

OpenClaw, the AI-powered personal assistant users interact with via messaging apps and sometimes entrust with their credentials to various online services, has prompted a wave of malware and is delivering some shocking bills.…

Finding the best iPhone 17 case or the best iPhone 17 Pro cases is about more than basic drop protection. The best iPhone cases add useful features like MagSafe compatibility, grippy finishes and protection for camera lenses, all without adding unnecessary bulk to your new iPhone.

Whether you prefer slim, scratch resistant designs, matte finishes or leather cases that feel a bit more premium, there are plenty of strong top picks to choose from. We've rounded up the best picks for both the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro, so you don't have to waste time scrolling through endless listings.

Best iPhone 17 cases for 2026

Best iPhone 17 case FAQs What is the most protective brand of phone cases?

There is no one "most protective" brand of phone cases, but rather there are many that tout extra security for your handset. Some of the most protective phone cases we've tried come from Otterbox; most of the brand's cases have a bit more protection than your standard phone case, even the ones that are designed to be on the slim side. Otterbox also makes a wide variety of phone cases, so there's a good chance you'll find one that suits your style and provides the level of protection you're looking for. Otterbox's Defender series is one of the best you can get if you care first and foremost about making sure your phone survives all kinds of accidents (save for a dunk in a pool).

Silicone vs hard case: Which one is better?

Neither silicone nor hard cases are better than the other. Silicone cases tend to be thinner and feel soft to the touch, and they're often easier to put on and take off of phones. Hard cases can be on the thicker side, but they provide a bit more drop protection than silicone cases. Which type of case is best for you depends on the type of experience you want from your phone. It's also worth nothing that both silicone cases and hard cases come in a variety of colors, designs and styles, so you have plenty of choose from to match your personality on both sides.

Does an iPhone 17 need a screen protector?

The iPhone 17 features Apple's tough Ceramic Shield 2 front, which is definitely more durable than standard glass — but it's not invincible. If you want to avoid scratches from keys, drops onto pavement or just the wear and tear of daily use, a screen protector is still a smart move. It adds an extra layer of defense without getting in the way of touch sensitivity or Face ID. So, while it's not absolutely essential, using one is a good idea if you want to keep your screen looking flawless for the long haul.

Is the iPhone 17 drop-proof?

The iPhone 17 is built to be tough, with Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and a sturdy aluminum or titanium frame (depending on the model), but it's not completely drop-proof. It can handle the occasional bump or short fall, especially if it lands on a flat surface — but drops on concrete or at awkward angles can still cause cracks or damage. If you're prone to butterfingers, pairing your iPhone 17 with a durable case and maybe even a screen protector is the best way to play it safe.

Georgie Peru contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-iphone-cases-153035988.html?src=rss