The video was shocking, and devoid of context, it appeared Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk was abducted off the street by masked men and hauled to a waiting van. In what turned out to be an immigration operation, the Trump administration arrested Öztürk in March 2025, jailed her in horrific conditions for 45 days, and sought to expel her from the country, claiming she supported terrorism, Hamas, antisemitism, or whatever jumbled combination of the three they lazily regurgitate whenever they target pro-Palestine speech. 

We now know that the sole basis for Öztürk's ordeal was an op-ed she co-authored in the Tufts Daily where she and three colleagues echoed opinions shared by millions of Americans about Israel's war on Gaza. It didn't mention Hamas, terrorism, or Jewish people. But it landed Öztürk, who was enrolled on an F-1 student visa, on the website of Canary Mission, a site that maintains a blacklist of activists, writers, and ordinary people who have voiced pro-Palestine views. The government has used the site to find people to deport for their constitutionally protected speech, according to court transcripts. 

This week, a judge finally dismissed the deportation case against Öztürk (although the government can still challenge that decision if it has the nerve to do so). This happened not because the legal system worked but because of the actions of courageous whistleblowers, whose disclosures discredited the administration's preposterous claims.

In April 2025, the Washington Post reported on leaked State Department memos from days before Öztürk's arrest. According to the Post, the first memo stated the administration "had not produced any evidence" linking Öztürk to terrorist organizations or antisemitic activities. A second memo recommended revoking her visa anyway on the grounds that she "engaged in anti-Israel activism in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023" by co-bylining the op-ed. These memos made clear that the administration deliberately decided to send masked ICE agents to abduct Öztürk near her Somerville, Massachusetts, apartment despite knowing full well it had no legitimate basis for its actions.

These were the early days of masked government goons kidnapping people off American streets, so the arrest got significant media attention. In the face of intense scrutiny, the administration continued to knowingly mislead the public, with the Department of Homeland Security claiming Öztürk "engaged in activities in support of Hamas" — without stating what those actions were. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also led the smear campaign against Öztürk, suggesting without evidence that she had been involved in activities "like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus" on campus, which he claimed would have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest." 

The government can't rely on operational security to cover up its own transgressions, and if revealing illegality impedes illegality, it's all the better.

Freedom of the Press Foundation, where I work, filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests with the State Department for the memos. The agency ignored us, forcing us to file a lawsuit. The agency continues to waste taxpayer dollars to stonewall us, even after a separate lawsuit won the release of one of the documents we requested. 

The State Department claims transparency would violate unspecified "privacy interests," presumably of the same person they quite publicly abducted, crammed into a very not-private jail cell, and slandered as a supporter of terrorism to the national media. The government has also claimed releasing the records would reveal law enforcement and investigative techniques and procedures. This reasoning is totally bunk: For one, the government publicly brags about its anti-speech immigration enforcement techniques — if you can call plucking people listed on a disreputable doxxing website a technique. And two, we're talking about procedures that result in completely innocent people being incarcerated over op-eds, which renders them ineffectual, unconstitutional, and illegal. The government can't rely on operational security to cover up its own transgressions, and if revealing illegality impedes illegality, it's all the better.    

Transparency doesn't just hinder the unconstitutional targeting of immigrants — it makes it harder for the government to trample on the rest of our rights. This administration doesn't value the First Amendment rights of citizens any more than those of noncitizens; immigrants are just the low-hanging fruit. 

When the government ignores and abuses laws designed to ensure transparency, it's no wonder that people of conscience decide to leak news to the press and public. This is why, at the same time it's persecuting the press and looking to expand ICE abuses, the government is demonizing whistleblowers. The Trump administration is certainly not the first to claim leaks are uniquely dangerous, but the escalation has been dramatic. Administration officials from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard have all called leakers national security threats. Their position — which they've also adopted in their attack on the right to film law enforcement — is that they're taking away our right to know for our own good.  

It's been proven false every time, including when Bondi reversed a Biden-era policy protecting journalist-source confidentiality, blamed leakers for the change, and said whistleblowers "undermine President Trump's policies, victimize government agencies, and cause harm to the American people." Bondi also called leaks "illegal and wrong." 

She focused her feigned outrage on the New York Times and the Washington Post reporting an intelligence community memo that completely undercut the Trump administration's legal rationale for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans — reporting that another one of our FOIAs corroborated. The policy change came the same month the Post reported on the leaked Öztürk memos. 

The leaks didn't stop last April, despite Bondi's efforts. As FPF's Caitlin Vogus noted, in recent months, leaks about immigration enforcement have revealed everything from ICE's alarming instruction that officers can enter homes without a warrant signed by a judge to its taking a page out of Canary Mission's book to label people exercising their well-established right to protest the administration's immigration enforcement as "domestic terrorists." 

None of these revelations hurt legitimate national security or law enforcement operations. Instead, they reveal the operations' illegitimacy and embarrass the administration. The way for the press to win the administration's war against leaks is to publish more of them, and connect the dots when they're proven correct, like in Öztürk's case. That way, the administration's alarmist narratives about leaks don't get more press than when its narratives inevitably collapse.

The post Leakers Helped Destroy the Deportation Case Against Tufts Student appeared first on The Intercept.

Congressperson Jamie Raskin (D-MD) paid the ICE facility in Baltimore a surprise visit. What he found was "disgraceful. "

Raskin found 60 men packed into a single room, with only one toilet and no showers. The inhuman conditions also involved sleeping with a simple aluminum foil survival blanket. — Read the rest

The post 60 Men, one toilet: Lawmaker describes conditions inside ICE facility appeared first on Boing Boing.

Ignore patches at your own risk. According to Uncle Sam, a SQL injection flaw in Microsoft Configuration Manager patched in October 2024 is now being actively exploited, exposing unpatched businesses and government agencies to attack.…

The Trump administration has outlined the first 26 goals for its project to inject AI into the government's scientific research, and everything from securing critical minerals to discovering a unified theory of physics is on the table. …

Intel continues to lose market share to rival AMD across server, desktop, and mobile processors, and this has been noticeable in PCs thanks to supply constraints on Chipzilla's processors.…

Images confirm xAI is continuing to defy EPA regulations in Mississippi to power its flagship datacenters

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its datacenters with unpermitted gas turbines, an investigation by the Floodlight newsroom shows. Thermal footage captured by Floodlight via drone shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Mississippi, despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state permit in advance.

State regulators in Mississippi maintain that since the turbines are parked on tractor trailers, they don't require permits. However, the EPA has long required that such pollution sources be permitted under the Clean Air Act.

As I wrote about KTM, it is sometimes hard to see what has changed for some parts and on some bikes. This is especially true for Honda, where the riders told us they have tested a lot of parts to improve the bike. Yet comparing pictures I took at Sepang (in hindsight, woefully few) with the photos from the Valencia test and the Portimão round, it is hard to see much difference.

On the one hand, that is not surprising, given that the one thing that we know the Honda riders were focused on was on ensuring the engine was right. Honda moves from Category D last year to Category C in 2026, which means they have to homologate an engine design at Buriram and then use that design for the rest of the season. So a lot of the work done at Sepang was about validating the engine, checking power delivery and engine character, and making sure it will remain in one piece throughout the season.

• Read more about Sepang MotoGP Test Analysis, Part 4: A Photo Essay Deep Dive Into Honda - Closing In On The Top
• Log in or register to post comments

The City of Los Angeles lost a court case over the improper seizure and disposal of property from unhoused people without it ever going to trial. Forensic analysis showed the city had "modified or fabricated" 90% of the reports filed over 144 "cleanups." — Read the rest

The post Los Angeles caught covering up huge rights violations appeared first on Boing Boing.

People with the richest intellectual lives didn't develop Alzheimer's until age 94, on average. Those with the least enrichment got it at 88. That six-year gap stems from a study of 1,939 people, published in the journal Neurology, which followed participants for roughly eight years and measured what "enrichment" entailed across three stages of life. — Read the rest

The post A lifetime of reading may delay Alzheimer's by six years appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 2008, someone stole an entire beach in Jamaica. Five hundred truckloads of white sand vanished from Coral Springs, Trelawny, derailing a $110 million resort development. Charges were eventually dropped after death threats against the key witness. Nobody was ever convicted. — Read the rest

The post Sand thieves stole an entire Jamaican beach and got away with it in 2008 appeared first on Boing Boing.

For 24 years, Suzanne McArthur sold an odd little utensil from Martha Washington's coffee shop in Sydney — a single piece of cutlery that could scoop soup, spear a prawn, and cut a piece of chicken. Her husband William had patented it in 1943 after seeing a magazine photo of women at a Roman buffet dinner, struggling to balance plates, glasses, and full sets of silverware on their knees. — Read the rest

The post Meet the Splayd, the spork's sharper Australian cousin appeared first on Boing Boing.

Goldman Sachs chief legal officer Kathryn Ruemmler announced her resignation Thursday night, the latest career to fall apart because of the Epstein files. She'd received luxury handbags and a fur coat from Epstein after his 2008 sex crimes conviction and offered him advice on managing his reputation. — Read the rest

The post JPMorgan flagged $1 billion in suspicious Epstein transactions and kept banking him appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Headies. From left: Grant Robinson - keyboards and vocals, Todd Purse - drums, Danny Robinson - vocals and guitar, Billy Frolic - guitar and vocal and Justin Vavala - bass guitar. Yes, it's the same Todd Purse who is the 'Tales of Illuminatus' artist. 

Danny Robinson, who made a soundtrack album for Tales of Illuminatus No. 2 as "Danny and the Darlings," now has a Patreon. As Bobby Campbell says, he's "he's sharing demos, shop talk, lyric sheets, background lore, and vegetarian recipes as he endeavors to get his forthcoming album pressed on vinyl!"

Here is more information on the soundtrack album; you can read my interview with him and you can read up on his new punk rock opera. 

The forthcoming Nintendo Virtual Boy accessory for Switch and Switch 2 can play VR-supported games, as reported by Video Games Chronicle. There are four available games to play, including Super Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

These aren't new VR builds of the games, rather they are the versions previously released for the Nintendo Labo VR set. This was a kit for the original Switch that allowed users to build a cardboard VR headset, among other items.

However, this is very good news for Switch 2 owners as Labo creations generally don't work with Nintendo's shiny new console. So this is the only way to experience the VR versions of the aforementioned four games. It's also worth noting that the Switch 2 upgrade for Breath of the Wild still includes the VR mode.

There are some caveats. The Virtual Boy accessory is available to purchase as a hardware unit or in cardboard. The cardboard version is much cheaper, at $25, and is actually the preferred method for playing these games in VR.

That's because the hardware version sits on a stand, like the original Virtual Boy, making it harder to move one's head around. The cardboard headset is free from those constraints. The hardware also includes red filters over the lenses, to better mimic the original experience, but these can be removed.

However, the hardware version is better for playing actual Virtual Boy games, as they were designed for a static headset resting on a table. You'll have to decide if that trade-off is worth $100. It's also worth noting that Virtual Boy games will not work with the original Labo VR headset, which is a bummer for OG Switch fans.

Both versions of the Virtual Boy accessories will be available on February 17, which is the same day several of the retro console's games head to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription service. They can be purchased at the My Nintendo Store. We got a chance to try the headset and came away fairly impressed, though noted that the revamped accessory is "just as eccentric and ungainly as the original was three decades ago."

For those wondering what all the fuss is about, the Virtual Boy was an actual console released by Nintendo all the way back in 1995. It was one of the first mass-market VR devices and, as such, was decades ahead of the curve. It was cumbersome, the games were only in red and there was nothing by way of motion control. Americans only got 14 games before the console was discontinued.

London-based deep tech startup Stanhope AI has closed a €6.7 million ($8 million) Seed funding round to advance what it calls a new class of adaptive artificial intelligence designed to power autonomous systems in the physical world. The round was led by Frontline Ventures, with participation from Paladin Capital Group, Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, UCL […]

Anthropic has just closed a $30 billion Series G funding round, pushing its valuation to $380 billion and catapulting it into the rarefied ranks of the most valuable private tech companies in the world. The financing was led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and investment firm Coatue, with backing from a long list of […]

If you opened a tech newsletter or even the internet in early 2026 and thought you'd stepped into a dystopian screenplay, or you are the main character in one of Isaac Asimov's writings, you wouldn't be alone. Headlines trumpet layoffs, companies blame "AI transformation," and somewhere in the background, billionaires cheer hot-off-the-press artificial intelligence strategies. […]

Have you ever asked Alexa to remind you to send a WhatsApp message at a determined hour? And then you just wonder, 'Why can't Alexa just send the message herself? Or the incredible frustration when you use an app to plan a trip, only to have to jump to your calendar/booking website/tour/bank account instead of […]

Imagine the moment you bring a new dog or cat into your life. That mix of excitement and responsibility. Vet visits, vaccines, learning what food suits them, managing check-ups, and always wondering how to keep them healthy as they grow. Most pet insurance only steps in after a costly accident or illness. It doesn't help […]

In a technology M&A deal, whether you are acquiring or selling a tech or software business, valuation rarely hinges on a single dimension. Financial performance, growth efficiency, and cash flow durability remain the backbone of any transaction. In practical terms, this means metrics such as revenue and ARR, retention as a proxy for revenue quality, […]

For families living with neurodegenerative disease, the hardest part is not always the diagnosis. It is the slow erosion that follows: memory fading, personality shifting, independence shrinking. It unfolds quietly. First, forgotten appointments. Then repeated questions. Then moments when a familiar face no longer feels familiar. The illness does not isolate itself to one body. […]

We stand at one of history's most exhilarating crossroads. Artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of work, business, and human potential at breathtaking speed. The very capabilities that make us most human, our creativity, our imagination, our ability to dream up what doesn't yet exist, are becoming our most valuable assets. This is not a […]

Paris-headquartered Naboo has raised a $70m in Series B as it accelerates its ambition to become the operating layer for how large companies plan, book, and control corporate events. The round is led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, the same investor that backed Mistral AI in 2023, and lands just a year after Naboo closed a […]

Databricks is having one of those years that most enterprise software companies would quietly envy. The data and AI platform says it has reached a $5.4bn annual revenue run rate, growing 65% year over year, at a time when growth across the sector has cooled noticeably. For a private company, that pace is rare. And […]

A federal grand jury on Tuesday unanimously rejected the DOJ's attempt to indict six Democratic lawmakers who posted a 90-second video reminding military personnel they can refuse unlawful orders. Trump had responded to the video on social media by writing, "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" — Read the rest

The post Grand jury unanimously refuses to indict six lawmakers Trump wanted executed for telling troops to follow the law appeared first on Boing Boing.

Someone found Jeffrey Epstein's YouTube handle and a Fortnite account linked to his name, and from this concluded that the dead sex trafficker is alive and playing video games in Israel. That's the caliber of theorizing now swirling around the DOJ's release of over 3 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images from the Epstein investigation, reports The New York Times. — Read the rest

The post Epstein's Fortnite account discovered, theorists decide he's alive appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Trump administration paid Palau — a Pacific island nation of 18,000 people — between $4.7 million and $7.5 million to accept deportees. So far, it has sent zero.

That's one detail from a Senate Foreign Relations Committee report, which tallied at least $40 million in spending on shipping roughly 300 migrants to countries other than their own, according to the AP. — Read the rest

The post Trump's third-country deportations cost $133K per person appeared first on Boing Boing.

Rideence Africa Limited, a subsidiary of the Garden Real Group, is an integrated electric mobility solutions provider in Kenya. Rideence currently operates one of the largest electric ride-hailing fleet in Kenya. Rideence is also developing a nationwide charging network. The next big step as part of Rideence's strategy is now ... [continued]

The post Rideence To Start Local Assembly Of Electric Vehicles At AVA Plant In Mombasa, Kenya appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Doyne Farmer believes the world of economics has too many mathematicians and too few physicists, leading to inaccurate predictions.

The post Doyne Farmer Wants To Drag Economics Into The 21st Century appeared first on CleanTechnica.

We seem to be in a period of questionable energy practices here in the US with the continued usage of old and aging coal power plants, despite the fact that overreliance on coal is bad for climate change and coal combustion generates toxic air pollution that harms people. One alternative ... [continued]

The post 175 MW Energy Storage Project Launched In Maine appeared first on CleanTechnica.

We reported earlier today on the High Court's decision taken this morning, in which the Judge declared the government's proscription on Palestine Action was 'disproportionate'.

The judge even went as far to point out that the ban infringes on the human rights of people in the UK.

The government's choice to proscribe Palestine Action has been met by widespread public condemnation both at home and abroad. It has been viewed as an attempt to shut down solidarity that British people have shown with Palestinians through their legal right to protest.

Israel's ongoing, horrific genocide against Palestine has been met with absolute impunity by Western leaders, resulting in mass protest and civil disobedience across the UK since October 2023. This proscription of direct-action group Palestine Action in the UK has widely been declared as an authoritarian and draconian overreach into the hard-fought civil liberties of British citizens.

Today's ruling marks a positive step in the right direction. Nevertheless, as our own Skwawkbox pointed out:

However, the 'proscription' remains in place for at least another week while the government has a chance to prepare submissions on the court's finding. It remains a criminal offence, for the time being, to express support for Palestine Action. Police should, of course, weigh whether it's worth arresting people when no prosecutions are likely, but their record suggests they won't.

Court rules Palestine Action ban 'disproportionate' - but still banned for now…https://t.co/Frv3cct00j

— SKWAWKBOX (@skwawkbox) February 13, 2026

We wrote recently about the fate of 2,787 people arrested on terrorism charges for holding up paper signs saying 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.' Notably, acts of protest which are in line with our legal duty as citizens in response to the widely recognised genocide of Palestinians. As we wrote:

Evidence of UK complicity in crimes against genocide continues to mount. In October 2025 the UN issued its draft report Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime detailing the complicity of states including the UK in the destruction of Gaza. Amongst other things, the UK continued to supply arms including components for F-35 stealth bombers, undertook daily surveillance flights over Gaza for Israel, maintained normal trade relations, and allowed Israel to undertake international crimes with impunity.

In December Declassified UK released its film Britain's Gaza Spy Flight Scandal, investigating the hundreds of RAF intelligence flights conducted on behalf of Israel.

MP Zarah Sultana has welcomed the court's decision, rightfully calling out how the government has abused its power to silence valid dissent from its own people:

The High Court has confirmed what we all knew: proscribing Palestine Action was unlawful.

The state must stop using "counter-terror" powers to criminalise solidarity and intimidate working-class people out of protest.

The Labour government must lift the proscription now and…

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 13, 2026

Sultana's statement in full:

The High Court has confirmed what we all knew: proscribing Palestine Action was unlawful.

The state must stop using "counter-terror" powers to criminalise solidarity and intimidate working-class people out of protest.

The Labour government must lift the proscription now and drop every case NOW.

We will not stop until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea

We have all had to sit by whilst we learn more seemingly every day that make clear our own leaders cannot distinguish right from wrong. Whether it's supporting mass murder in Gaza or working alongside crooks who have willingly mixed with convicted paedophiles, a corrupt and sinister pattern speaks for itself.

In fact, our own Skwawkbox reported on how Starmer's apology for working with a paedo came armed with a propaganda-like attack at pro-Palestine protesters. All of this reinforces one point: the challenges we face are linked, bound together by a system of elite power and control.

Skwawkbox wrote:

Starmer said he was sorry for believing Mandelson's lies — 'Peter' was never added as Starmer tried desperately to distance himself. Distance himself from the man he took on as his senior adviser when Mandelson's closeness to child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein was already well known. From the man he then appointed as ambassador to the US, despite knowing the same.

Then added:

And then, out of nowhere, Starmer began attacking the hundreds of thousands of people who march against Israel's genocide. He repeated the Israel lobby's lie that marching against genocide makes UK Jews scared. Nonsense. UK Jews are front and centre of every march and rally — so much so, that the BBC and others have to hide them. Leaving them in would expose that lie and the lie that all Jews support Israel, you see.

Those with power clearly have a real problem deciphering their moral compass. On the other hand, protesters have shown unwavering moral clarity, refusing to cower in the face of police intimidation and draconian penalties as they speak out over the tens of thousands of babies and children killed by Israel.

However, the fate of those nearly 3,000 protesters is still confusing. This follows the government being granted the right to appeal today's High Court decision. As a result, there is an arguably deliberate grey area now as to whether support for the 'unlawfully' proscribed group would still result in police arrest.

Q: Does this mean I won't get arrested if I say 'I support Palestine Action."

A: Technically arrests can continue because the government granted an appeal in a week.

But police told protesters outside the court they've been instructed from on high not to conduct arrests. https://t.co/rAjSzgs9bJ

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) February 13, 2026

Human rights lawyer Shoaib Khan broke down the absurdities of the case against Palestine Action:

Court: Even discounting Pal Action's non-peaceful activities, proscription resulted in very significant interference with rights of free speech & assembly. Since Home Sec's policy was not properly applied, interference did not meet requirement that it must be prescribed by law.

— Shoaib M Khan (@ShoaibMKhan) February 13, 2026

Since the High Court handed down its judgment, supporters have flooded in with reactions to its legal stance:

Massive victory as court rules that Palestine Action proscription ruled disproportionate and resulted in a very significant interference in the right to freedom of speech and assembly. BUT proscription remains in force until hearing on 20th! pic.twitter.com/Kxjrc1P4DM

— Campaign Against Arms Trade (@CAATuk) February 13, 2026

Now Palestine Action's ban has been ruled to be unlawful, this seems like a good time to get this petition moving.

Let's get Israeli influence out of our Government for good. https://t.co/f1bW3X7482 https://t.co/Fby6z8ZHwe

— Wolfie.

Ex-Inter, Man City and Italy player Mario Balotelli says he was racially abused by fans in UAE. Balotelli currently plays for Saudi team Al-Ittifaq.

The player said:

This kind of behaviour cannot be normalised, excused, or ignored. I'm speaking out to bring awareness - not just for myself, but for every player who has been subjected to this. Enough is enough.

He added:

I've always condemned all acts of racism, but I didn't expect it here. I hope serious measures are taken to prevent this from happening again.

The Independent said neither Al-Ittifaq nor their UAE opponents on the day have commented. Balotelli played for Inter and AC Milan, Man City, Liverpool and other clubs before joining the Saudi team.

Football writer Valerio Moggia said racism was common in the Saudi league. In a July 2025 blog, he wrote about racism experienced by Brazilian winger Malcolm:

Malcom was seen having a confrontation with some fans at the stadium, at the end of the match. Videos of this argument circulated online, causing critics for the Brazilian's behaviour towards fans: the player's Instagram account was stormed by angry people, and some of them have resorted to racist epithets, calling him "monkey".

Moggia said:

Gulf countries are not usually linked to racial discrimination's episodes, seen as a mostly Western issue. But a closer look to Saudi society reveal that ethnic and religious biases are very common, even between Saudi citizens.

His excellent study of racism in Saudi soccer can be read here.