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.

Social media users are calling on Yvette Cooper to resign after the High Court ruled the ban on Palestine Action was unlawful.

Just heard on the radio that the then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's proscribing of Palestine action was illegal. She must resign immediately. All those wrongly arrested and charged must be exonerated. A total misuse of the police to mask complicity with Israel's genocide.

— candyman (@PeacheyGabriel) February 13, 2026

Yvette Cooper studied at both Oxford and Harvard - she is not unintelligent. She knew full well that in attempting to ban Palestine Action, she was attacking our right to peaceful protests - one of the cornerstones of our democracy.

Yvette Cooper must have fully understood that her unlawful proscription of Palestine Action was an attack on the fundamental freedoms of a democratic society. She did it anyway.

After today's High Court ruling, she should no longer remain as a minister.https://t.co/Uc7NX8ax0X

— Martin O'Neill (@martin_oneill) February 13, 2026

She can't jail nuns anymore - someone get her a therapist.

It's Friday. Palestine Action is now legal again. Shabana 'migrant hunter' Mahmood is crying into her Pret lunch. Yvette Cooper is beating her husband in apoplectic rage because she can't jail nuns anymore. Spring has returned.

— Alex Yousif (@LibMarx93) February 13, 2026

We already know she has no morals - or personality.

Palestine Action: If Yvette Cooper had one iota of morality she would resign!!

— Martin O'Neill (@DrNostromo) February 13, 2026

Yvette Cooper should resign - or even better, Starmer should fire her. But Starmer won't fire a guy like Mandelson until he's really left with no choice. So I can't see that happening.

I can't see how Yvette Cooper manages to remain in govt. post end of this Palestine Action quashed conviction. I expect the Govt. to loose its appeal as well. She equated that PA where the same as AQ, ISIS, Combat18 - making a mockery of how serious terrorism is. She has to go!

— CronusTitan (@CronusTitan2) February 13, 2026

Did Cooper's top-secret information about Palestine Action ever come to light? Or did that disappear along with Cooper's last shred of integrity?

Has secret info' about Palestine Action only Yvette Cooper knew about been revealed yet, or are they in fact just a figment of her imagination?

— James Mealey (@Jamesmealey10) February 13, 2026

There's probably some blank piece of paper sitting in a folder marked 'classified' somewhere in London.

There is no question that Cooper should resign - along with any other shady minister that backed the Proscription of Palestine Action - yes, Luke Akehurst, I'm talking directly to you.

Yvette Cooper should resign, say Palestine Action activists
Palestine Action activists have called for former home secretary Yvette Cooper, who made the decision to proscribe the group last year, to resign.

In a speech outside the high court this morning, activist Lisa Minerva… pic.twitter.com/JEJOoLZ6Qg

— Gareth Jones Society

The UK's water and sewerage industry weaponised Labour's Universal Credit deductions cap to lobby for higher bill hikes - all with the aid of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Documents the Canary obtained via Freedom of Information (FOI) request reveal how industry body Water UK and Yorkshire Water separately lobbied regulator Ofwat ahead of Labour implementing the 15% cap on Universal Credit deductions.

What's more, figures they relied on to call for raising bills majorly conflict with data the Canary previously acquired from the DWP. Notably, Water UK cited a figure for the industry's annual deductions that was over four times the amount shown by the official government data.

So the documents exposed that not only did the industry cynically exploit the new deductions cap - but it appears it also inflated figures to do so.

The Labour Party government first announced its so-called Fair Repayment Rate plans in the 2024 Autumn Budget.

In April 2025, the DWP brought the new cap into effect. It reduced the deductions the DWP can take on monthly payments for various debts to 15%.

However, as the Canary already highlighted, the half-assed measure amounted to little more than tinkering around at the edges of a vicious debt chasing mechanism. In effect, it merely extends claimants periods of indebtedness, instead of actually removing the debt. To make matters worse, built-in loopholes mean that for many, DWP deductions will still exceed the cap.

Nevertheless, in theory, it means that some claimants in debt will have more of their Universal Credit each month.

So of course, private sector corporations cashing in from the deductions regime weren't happy about this. Unsurprisingly, the water and sewage companies - sixth in line for deductions - was one such industry.

Less than a month after Labour announced the new cap, Water UK CEO David Henderson wrote to head of Ofwat David Black. He laid out how it would cause the industry to lose out on £200m in deductions over the next five years.

Naturally, the industry body also couldn't help but play the victim even more where migration to Universal Credit was concerned. In particular, it noted how people moving from legacy benefits like Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) would "become eligible" for the new cap. It argued that this could "increase bad debt further" for water firms. The implication was that the industry wouldn't be able to rob as many claimants of their welfare.

Following this, Yorkshire Water lobbied the regulator on 26 November 2024. In a letter headed RE: Impact of October Budget, the water firm wrote:

With the cap lowered to 15%, water charge arrears, ranked low in priority, face reduced success rates.

In the last year, we received £11 million from DWP payments, which could decrease by 50%.

Although this doesn't directly translate into bad debt, mitigating the impact will require increased debt recovery efforts and promotion of social tariffs, resulting in higher costs.

Predictably, both demanded greater 'allowances' to account for this. In simple terms, this would mean Ofwat increasing what it allows companies to charge - ergo, bill hikes for customers.

Of course, the disparity between Water UK and Yorkshire Water's figures with the data the Canary obtained from the DWP also raises significant questions.

Water UK claimed industry deductions for 2024 sat at £100m. Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water suggested its slice of this alone came in at £11m.

By comparison, the DWP's data for a similar twelve-month period (March 2024 - February 2025) showed total deductions at £22m.

The first cause of the disparity could be because the department itself provided erroneous data.

However, the more plausible explanation is that Water UK and Yorkshire Water both inflated their figures to press for larger bill increases.

And notably, even Ofwat wasn't buying their calculations. Specifically, in its 'final determinations' for its 2024 price review of the industry, the regulator challenged the credibility of Water UK's claim that:

190,000 households were subject third-party deductions via Universal Credit in 2023-24, equivalent to around £100 million revenue.

Because, as it pointed out, on average this would work out at a £526 annual deduction per household. It commented how this:

seems very high relative to the average water bill.

This would be just shy of £44 a month. By contrast, the DWP's data showed that water company deductions were £20 a month on average.

Moreover, as Ofwat also highlighted:

Water UK also seem to assume that water companies can recover all the water bill through third party provision, which would be surprising given water companies are 6th in line behind other service providers (housing, accommodation, hostel, rent and service charges, gas and electricity).

Already, the DWP's data is also throwing cold water on its far-fetched claims. The idea that the cap would cause the industry to lose out on £40m in Universal Credit deductions is preposterous. This is obviously not least because, according to official government data, 12 months of deductions are barely just over half of this in total. Furthermore, even the 40% drop in deductions is implausible.

Crucially, we now have the first few months worth of data that shows the effect the new cap is having on deductions. June saw a decrease of 22% from £1.8m to £1.4m. For July and August, the decrease was around 28% from £1.8m to £1.3m in each month respectively.

At the end of the day, the industry's figures don't add up. However, what's clear is that it tried to use welfare claimants to hike customer bills. And it sure seems like it attempted to wilfully mislead Ofwat to do this.

Of course, for the shameless profiteers that are privatised water, exploiting the hardships of its poorest customers is all-too on-brand.

Featured image via author

By Hannah Sharland

Trump's personal fascist militia are pulling out of Minneapolis. But undoubtedly, this not be the last we will be seeing of them.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other US state thugs terrorised locals for months — even killing two — as they sought to bring the city under control where their presence is fiercely contested.

ICE and border patrol operations are being carried out under the guise enforcing migration laws. However, there are stirrings of a full assault on US democracy — with new leaks showing how agents are now spying on American citizens who oppose them.

Border Czar Tom Homan said on 11 February:

A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue through next week.

Bizarrely, he claimed that the move was driven by a drop in local opposition to ICE thuggery.

A small footprint of personnel will remain for a period of time to close out and transition full command control back to the field office, as well as to ensure agitator activity continues to decline and that state and local law enforcement continue to respond to ensure officer and community safety.

Homan has previously moaned that ICE were treated meanly. This time around, he's arguing that violent officers going around — dressed like special forces soldiers — are lawful, labelling them:

legitimate federal law enforcement agency. We're not out scouring the streets to disappear people or deny people their civil rights or due process.

If you say so, Tom. The mirage doesn't fool us.

Critics suggested the withdrawal was due to the optics of militarised, masked thugs swaggering about the streets and beating people up:

ICE is backing out of Minneapolis because they see how poorly this operation polls with American public. That's the only reason they're retreating - because of polls, not people's safety.

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) February 12, 2026

And on 12 February a judge ruled that the Trump administration was breaching the constitutional rights of detainees in Minnesota by blocking access to legal counsel inside "ill-equipped" and "overcrowded" facilities.

Homan was sent in to replace Border Patrol's fun-size fascist-themed boss Greg Bovino. This is the same guy who  lost his job after the street execution of local nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents.

ICE chief Todd Lyons was questioned by lawmakers on 12 February. He tried to quash rumours ICE would 'guard' US polling stations. The notion that Trump's boot-boys would do so is widely seen as an open attack on the democratic process.

Trump has floated the idea of nationalizing (federalising, in US terms) American elections — pivoting away from the traditional model in which states maintain substantial power over election processes. This is usually referred to part of 'state's rights'.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) tested Lyons at a session of the Homeland Security Committee:

You listen to what the president and his cabinet are saying, I have to ask about our 2026 elections.

She continued:

The president says we should federalize our elections, even though the U.S. Constitution was written by our founders to give that power to the states so that we would never have a president who took too much power and tried to become a king.

Lyons told Slotkin:

So, ma'am, we're civil, obviously we do civil enforcement and criminal law enforcement There's no reason for us to deploy to a polling facility.

Challenged again, Lyons maintained ICE would have no role in election security. Slotkin back referred to Trump's own comments:

I'm talking about something that I think would be extraordinary in American history, which is uniformed and massed ice agents encircling polling places.

And it's not fantasy, it's not made up. These are things that the president and his cabinet have suggested. They've suggested invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow active duty military to do the very same thing.

Lyons again denied the possibility. Slotkin told him:

Great. Well, I hope that in the privacy of that meeting, when that comes down, and the president feels like he's going to lose the midterm elections, that you don't buckle.

But democracy isn't just about elections. It is about the freedom to organise and express yourself. And the Feds are trying to stop that too.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) controls ICE. And DHS is spying on activists. US reporter Ken Klippenstein has seen leaked files telling us how:

The new program, called "masked engagement," allows homeland security officers to assume false identities and interact with users—friending them, joining closed groups, and gaining access to otherwise private postings, photographs, friend lists and more.

A senior DHS offical told Klippenstein:

that over 6,500 field agents and intelligence operatives can use the new tool, a significant increase explicitly linked to more intense monitoring of American citizens.

Masked engagement is a special category of surveillance. Unlike the more passive masked 'monitoring', 'engagement' operations give state security forces a licence to enter chats and groups to obtain intelligence.

The new practice of masked engagement allows for operations where a federal government employee or contractor uses fake identities or credentials that conceal their official affiliation.

ICE operate under the aegis of Trumpian anti-immigration policy. They are much more than that.

ICE are Trump's personal posse. The agency is there to discipline the US population — if necessary with lethal force. But, as Minnesotans have just shown us, ICE can be beaten on the streets.

We must take on board those lessons, and sustain the momentum.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

The UK High Court has decided that the interpretation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's (EHRC) interim guidance on a bathroom ban for trans people is incorrect.

However, as has always been the case with this deeply transphobic piece of legislation, it is extremely difficult to parse because it is, at its core, nonsensical.

The Good Law Project challenged the EHRC's interim guidance in the High Court. The EHRC interpreted the Supreme Court's ruling on Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs) as the basis for a blanket ban on trans people using single-sex facilities.

Instead, the Good Law Project explained:

The High Court has now said that this interpretation of the law is wrong. Service providers may lawfully allow trans women to use women's facilities without being forced to open them to cis men. And such facilities may simply be labelled for 'men' and 'women'.

Put simply:

The court has also made clear that it will likely be discriminatory to force trans people to use facilities based on their sex recorded at birth. In short, the law does not require a bathroom ban.

The new ruling states:

[1] In workplaces, it is compulsory to provide sufficient single-sex toilets, as well as sufficient single-sex changing and washing facilities where these facilities are needed.

[2] It is not compulsory for services that are open to the public to be provided on single-sex basis or to have single-sex facilities such as toilets. These can be single-sex if it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim and they meet other conditions in the Act. However, it could be indirect sex discrimination against women if the only provision is mixed-sex.

Effectively, in workplaces, it is compulsory to provide single-sex spaces, but it is not compulsory in services that are open to the public.

Since the latest release of the Epstein files, a media circus has ensued over the political and business figures connected to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The giddy fervour from some corners has been evident as people work their way through a huge number of files featuring the most powerful and elite people we know.

In a world where sexual violence is much more commonplace than we might like to admit, it is unsurprising that Epstein and his cabal of violent predators are the focus, and not the people they tortured and abused. Academic Harsha Walia had a stark and insightful summary of the situation:

Sexual violence, especially of children, is not an otherwise perverse symptom of elite rule or empire - it is literally at the CENTER of how violence and domination is structured around the world. We cannot keep treating sexual violence as a "private" issue, or as "divisive" to movements, or weaponize it to settle other political scores.

It is how power reverberates and is reproduced.

Sexual violence - especially against children - is not an aberration in our societies. It is not exclusively the preserve of the elite or powerful. It is a function at the very core of neoliberal racial capitalism. Epstein was a well-documented white supremacist and Zionist, and that is at the heart of how he and his fellow paedophiles operated.

So why is it that leftists have spent considerable time and energy since the latest release of the files defending prominent fellow leftists who allied themselves with Epstein?

One of the most prominent leftist names mentioned in the files is that of the revered Noam Chomsky. His work has been crucial for leftists, but the academic has long known to have been friends with Epstein. Fellow academic Chris Knight has had pieces claiming to explain the reasons behind the friendship published in both CounterPunch and Novara Media.

The latter publication ran the story with the headline:

There Are Two Noam Chomskys. The One You Love, and the One That Was Friends With Jeffrey Epstein

Along with the tagline:

Not a straightforward guy.

The CounterPunch article and the one posted on Novara are similar versions of effectively the same piece.

In the version published a few days later on Novara, Knight admits:

Emails released last month by the US Department of Justice, however, now make it difficult to respect Chomsky's views on anything at all.

How generous. By Knight's own admission:

The emails even reveal that shortly before Epstein's arrest and death, in July and August 2019, Chomsky was still intending to be interviewed for a documentary that Epstein was making. It seems Chomsky remained loyal to his cherished "friend" right until the end.

Chomsky was a loyal and steadfast friend of Epstein. Epstein was a known serial child rapist, child trafficker, and overseer of one of the most brutal and extensive grooming gangs in modern times. The details of such horrific crimes were an open secret even before the release of the files. Now that the files have been released, Chomsky's wife has described their close friendship with the dead paedophile as part of "serious errors in judgement."

In both pieces, Knight muses on why Chomsky would have associated with Epstein. He makes it clear that Chomsky has a reputation for associating with people he should ostensibly have opposed - CIA directors, war hawks, and other reprehensible people. Knight maintains that:

Chomsky was at no point the perfectly principled radical intellectual admired by so many of his followers. If he had been, he would have resigned from MIT long ago. Yet, had he done so, he would never have come to know the US military establishment from the inside in a way that enabled him to become that establishment's most knowledgeable and assured critic.

Who needs Chomsky to be perfect? Perfection is a far cry from a close personal friendship with a notorious paedophile and sex trafficker. Chomsky didn't step down from MIT, or stop associating with rabid Zionists not as some kind of intellectual checkmate, but because he didn't want to.

Society is far too willing to dismiss the experiences of those living at the sharp end of racial capitalism as 'identity politics.' But, we're supposed to believe Chomsky needed to pal around with some of the most morally bankrupt people for research purposes? Please.

He knew exactly what he was doing. There is no duality or cognitive dissonance in Chomsky's behaviour. He knew exactly what was doing, and he did it for decades. How could one of the most pre-eminent researchers not know the extent of Epstein's crimes? Are we supposed to accept that he's a genius researcher who can't operate a simple Google search on the background of one of his best friends?

Knight's passionate defence of Epstein is an obscene rehabilitation, a loving re-casting of Chomsky as somehow duped, tricked, or seduced. Knight concludes that:

It would be foolish to stop learning from his writings. It would be equally foolish to gloss over his mistakes. Instead of deciding whether to cancel or exalt him as an individual, I suggest we prioritise developing what he advocates, however hypocritically: a revolutionary politics for our times.

Since the latest release of the Epstein files, who exactly has demanded we "stop learning" from Chomsky? In fact, what is actually happening is that people are parsing through a release of files that deliberately exposes and intimidates victims and survivors of Epstein.

The choice is not whether to accept or reject Chomsky, whether to rehabilitate or castigate him. Instead, the choice facing us is a moral one: do we infantilise and clean up Chomsky's actions, or do we accept that he repeatedly and knowingly chose to not only associate with, but loved a renowned pedophile and sex trafficker?

It is no choice at all.

I was raped as a child. Like many others who have been sexually abused, every time rape is discussed in the media, there are many all too willing to degrade the horror of abuse and defend those around the abusers. As such, the many attempts at rehabilitation of those implicated alongside Epstein in any way, whether Chomsky or anyone else, feel like an attempt to defend the rape that so many of us have had to come to terms with.

Knight - or someone from his team - offered a version of his above articles to the Canary. We immediately recognised that to publish such a thing would not only violate all of our values, it would also denigrate the experiences of victims and survivors. Shame on CounterPunch and Novara for giving a platform to the reprehensible attempt to clean up Chomsky's image or work.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

The aftermath of a battle or execution from around the 9th century AD has been discovered by Cambridge University archaeologists and students conducting a training dig as part of the University's undergraduate degree in archaeology.

The burial pit, found on the outskirts of Cambridge, may date from a time when the area was a "frontier zone" in the conflict between the Saxon-run kingdom of Mercia and the kingdom of East Anglia, which was conquered by the Vikings in around 870 AD (CE).

Unearthed during spring and summer last year, the pit contained the remains of ten individuals based on the number of skulls, including at least one decapitation and a man well over six foot in stature - extremely tall for the time - with a trepanned head.

Unusually, the mass grave held a mix of complete and dismembered remains, including a cluster of skulls without clear accompanying bodies and a "stack of legs", as well as four complete skeletons, some in positions suggesting they were tied up.

All appear to have been relatively young men flung into the pit without care, leading archaeologists to believe they found the wake of a skirmish or battle, or perhaps a mass execution - or a combination of both. The discovery is showcased in an episode of the BBC's 'Digging for Britain'.

The excavation, led by Dr Oscar Aldred from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU), took place at Wandlebury Country Park, famous for its "ringwork": a series of banks and ditches that mark an Iron Age hillfort constructed a millennium before the Viking era.1

Archaeologists say the Iron Age features at Wandlebury - a popular destination for school trips and family days out, located three miles south of Cambridge - would have made it a renowned meeting place in the early medieval period just as it is now.  

The University's Department of Archaeology and CAU have worked with local charity Cambridge Past, Present and Future, who own Wandlebury, to conduct student training digs on the site for several years, but this is their most significant and grisly find on the site to date.

"Before we uncovered the first remains, our best find was a 1960s Smarties lid," said Olivia Courtney, an archaeology undergraduate from Bath, now in her third year at Cambridge University.

"I had never encountered human remains on a dig, and I was struck by how close yet distant these people felt. We were separated by only a few years in age, but over a thousand years in time."

These are the first human remains found at Wandlebury since 1976, when a storm uprooted a tree close to the recent dig site, and a cache of five skeletons also dating to the same time were uncovered.  

Among the most intriguing aspects of the latest find are the complete remains of a man aged between 17 and 24, flung face down into the pit, who would have stood at around 6 foot 5 inches tall.2

His height may be down to a growth condition, according to archaeologists, who say he would have towered over others at a time when the average male height was around 5 foot 6 inches.

The man has a large oval hole in his skull, 3cm in diameter, suggesting he underwent trepanation: an ancient surgical procedure in which a hole is bored through a living human's skull. The hole in the back left side of his skull has signs of healing.

Trepanned skulls have been found the world over, including in ancient Greek and Roman remains. Trepanning was thought to relieve symptoms of conditions such as migraines and seizures, along with disorders we now know to be psychological.

"The individual may have had a tumour that affected their pituitary gland and caused an excess of growth hormones," said Dr Trish Biers, curator of the Duckworth Collections at the University of Cambridge, where these remains have been taken for further analysis.

"We can see this in the unique characteristics in the long shafts of their limb bones and elsewhere on the skeleton." 

"Such a condition in the brain would have led to increased pressure in the skull, causing headaches that the trepanning may have been an attempt to alleviate. Not uncommon with head trauma today," Biers said.

The inclusion of dismembered remains alongside fully articulated bodies is highly unusual even for a mass grave, and has puzzled archaeologists.

While one man was clearly beheaded - evident from chop marks on the jaw - and a few others have traces of trauma consistent with combat, there isn't enough to suggest those buried at Wandlebury were victims of a battle, say archaeologists.

However, to have severed heads, limbs and other remains - from ribs to pelvises - tossed in a pit, with body parts of the same type stacked together in some cases, piled on top of four dead men, at least one apparently bound, suggests terrible violence and perhaps an execution, according to CAU's Dr Oscar Aldred.

"Those buried could have been recipients of corporal punishment, and that may be connected to Wandlebury as a sacred or well-known meeting place."

"It may be that some of the disarticulated body parts had previously been displayed as trophies, and were then gathered up and interred with the executed or otherwise slaughtered individuals," Aldred said.

"We don't see much evidence for the deliberate chopping up of some of these body parts, so they may have been in a state of decomposition and literally falling apart when they went into the pit."

Cambridge in the late 8th century was under the control of Offa, ruler of the kingdom of Mercia, but in the late 9th century (around 874-5 AD), half of the Viking Great Army set up camp close to Cambridge, and sacked the town.    

Cambridgeshire was then incorporated into the Viking kingdom of East Anglia, and stayed under Viking control up to the early 10th century as part of the Danelaw agreement.

Initial radiocarbon work dates some bones to around this time, but with no associated grave materials more research is required to establish if these are Saxons or Vikings.

"Cambridgeshire was a frontier zone between Mercia and East Anglia, and the continual wars between Saxons and Vikings as they clashed over territory across many decades," said Aldred. "We suspect the pit may relate to these conflicts."

Historic England, who are supporting the excavation, and monitor and manage archaeology on protected Scheduled Monuments such as Wandlebury, have commissioned a new geophysical survey of the area that archaeologists hope will reveal more about the site surrounding the burial pit.

Tony Calladine, East of England Regional Director, Historic England, said: "Wandlebury is an important natural and historic resource for the people of Cambridgeshire. The extraordinary discovery there speaks to the story of our nation and the lives of ordinary people living during turbulent times."

Future work from the Cambridge team will include bone analysis including ancient DNA and isotopic work to investigate health, kinship and ancestral links, which will help to establish if these are Viking remains.

The archaeologists will also attempt "refitting" to see if any dismembered remains can be reconstructed to determine how many people were thrown into the pit.

"I would never have expected to find something like this on a student training dig. It was a shocking contrast to the peaceful site of Wandlebury," added Grace Grandfield, a Cambridge undergraduate from York who took part in the dig.

"Several of the individuals we uncovered were a similar age to me, and it was a sobering experience to identify ever more disarticulated bones and realise the extent of the suffering that had taken place."

1. The pit, measuring four metres by one metre, was unearthed just outside the hillfort ringwork to the south. ↩︎
2. Initial radiocarbon work dates this skeleton to between 772 - 891 AD with 85% probability, and further work will be undertaken to help narrow this date.  ↩︎

This article from the University of Cambridge is republished under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC 4.0). Read the original here.

With a thematic issue on a vital topic - the rise child poverty, ending on a hopeful note. You will find sharp analyses on the effect of poverty on children's lives, with a spotlight on the communities that are on the front line of deprivation, with personal stories and shared solutions. Click on the image to gain access to it, or find us on Substack.

Journalism by the people, for the people.

The post Cambridge students unearth Viking-era 'execution pit' first appeared on East Anglia Bylines.

Summer Worden falsely claimed that her astronaut wife, Ann McClain, illegally accessed her bank account from the International Space Station. This technically implausible story suffered rapid unscheduled dissassembly and she's off to jail for three months, having pleaded guilty to making false statements to NASA and the authorities. — Read the rest

The post Three months' prison for woman who claimed her astronaut wife accessed bank account from space appeared first on Boing Boing.

Welcome to your Friday issue of the Best of Bylines Network newsletter, bringing you a standout article from one of our 10 UK national and regional publications.

This time, we hear from Nazish Saad, a writer for Bylines Scotland with a strong focus on sustainability and minority rights, and who responds to the news that Suella Braverman has defected to Reform. A post on Bluesky, accompanied by a photograph of Braverman resting her head on Nigel Farage's chest, wide smiles on both faces, did not incite Nazish's anger or disdain. Instead, it triggered something deeper, heavier - a particularly nauseating pain of betrayal.

I found myself asking, as a brown woman, why this felt so much more hurtful: a gut punch spiked with the bitterness of treason and the emptiness of abandonment.

I know that one should not hold anyone to a higher moral standard because of their ethnicity or their gender. And I agree that representation is neither a monolith nor should it impose virtue, and that everyone - irrespective of their origins or backgrounds - has the right to choose the ideology that best aligns with their beliefs.

Parties like Reform thrive on hate-filled narratives targeting minorities, migrants, and any other category of people deemed a convenient scapegoat for their own failed policies of austerity. While, in theory, I should separate identity from political loyalty, in actual fact, it is impossible for me to be neutral and ignore it. I cannot help viewing current events through my own lens, those of a brown woman living in a world where the struggle to belong, to be accepted, is constant.

I did not feel like I ever had the luxury of not being 'political' and activism felt necessary for survival. I have never existed in a space where my rights and my belonging could not be questioned at any moment - often by those who could never conceive of ever being questioned themselves.

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The traditional ruling class, entrenched in the denial of its history of slavery and colonialism, has long been incapable - or unwilling - to recognise how this dark past continues to shape injustices in the present. In this context, political representation by those who looked like me once felt like a hope - a connection rooted in shared experience promising greater inclusion and empathy.

Perhaps this is why this moment feels personal.

The symbolism of a brown woman embracing an ideology of discrimination and exclusion normalises this discourse. It sends a message - whether intended or not - that the racism or misogyny, which many endure daily, is acceptable. It becomes a powerful tool of gaslighting. It reminds me of the many times I was silenced about the abuse I faced, told to not make it about race or gender. Of how sometimes it feels like my existence is a balancing act between two worlds: like walking on eggshells, expected to endure systemic discrimination, yet rarely allowed to name it.

Suella Braverman has the right to make her own choices, and neither her gender nor the colour of her skin obliges her to an ideology. Yet Suella and her loved ones must have had some experience of difficulties and mistreatment because of their identity in their lives. What hurts is that she knows exactly what this choice represents - and the impact of pulling the ladder up behind her for so many who share her background.

What hurts is that, knowing this, she chose it anyway.

Bylines Network gives a platform to over 2,500 citizens to report on the topics that matter, investigate local and global stories, and speak truth to power. Every month, we publish 400 articles in our 10 UK national and regional publications and engage 100,000s of readers. But that's not the full story.

The UK media continues to be dominated by white men who went to private schools. It is increasingly owned by corporations disconnected from our communities, and by billionaires with political agendas. Without networks championing unheard voices, writers like Nazish would be silenced. Without everyday citizens volunteering as writers, editors, proofreaders and uploaders, none of our journalism would see the light of day.

We're proudly independent, our websites are free to read, and we don't take corporate advertising income. But it costs at least £150,000 a year to run our network. Much more when we carry out deeper investigations, or work with communities who don't normally have the opportunity to tell stories. Without the financial support of our readers and followers, we couldn't run our publications, and the costs are rising all the time.

This year, there are hugely significant elections to the Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament, and across the English regions. We want to make sure the voices of citizens are heard loudly by those asking for our votes, in their own words, without fear or favour. You can help.

Upgrade to a monthly paid subscription here on Substack or become a Friend of Bylines Network by completing the form on this page. For as little as £3.50 a month, you'll get behind-the-scenes insights, chances to engage with our editorial teams, access to special events and merchandise. For £10 a month, you get a little more involvement in how we run. For £30, you can do even more.

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One month is just that — one month. Tesla has been known to rebound from slow starts to quarters in the past. However, most of the hype around low Tesla sales in the first months of quarters in the past has been a misunderstanding — or misrepresentation — of how ... [continued]

The post Is Tesla Really In Trouble This Time? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

"I loved the torture video," read the subject line of an email sent to Jeffrey Epstein. The sender was identified by a U.S. lawmaker as Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the 71-year-old chairman of DP World, one of the planet's largest port and logistics companies. — Read the rest

The post DP World ousts Trump-connnected Sultan after Epstein files reveal "torture video" email appeared first on Boing Boing.

According to a study comprising 43 years of data on over 130,000 patients, drinking caffeinated coffee was associated with a lower risk of dementia. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that drinking two to three cups of coffee or one to two cups of tea—approximately 300mg of caffeine—reduced dementia risk by 18% and 14%, respectively. — Read the rest

The post Caffeinated coffee may stave off dementia appeared first on Boing Boing.

There is a Match Museum in Jönköping, Sweden, dedicated to matchsticks and matchboxes. It's one of only a handful of match museums worldwide.

I love looking at vintage matchbox art, and this museum sounds like a great place to see some. — Read the rest

The post Sweden's match museum celebrates the lost art of matchbox design appeared first on Boing Boing.

Rays of light beam from a mass of dust, glancing off banks of cloud 1,000 light years from Earth. The nebula glows not because its gases ionize but because the sun-like star at its center is nearing the end of its life. — Read the rest

The post Hubble captures death of a sun-like star appeared first on Boing Boing.

This painting by Louis Wain depicts a wonderfully playful scene of cats sledding down a hill. Some look thrilled, while others look absolutely terrified. A few have even gone flying off their sleds and landed upside down in the snow. I need to find a print of this for my wall. — Read the rest

The post This delightfully chaotic Louis Wain painting shows cats sledding downhill with pure joy and terror appeared first on Boing Boing.

This hypnotic timelapse shows a sand dollar trundling in circles on the ocean floor, leaving a precise circular trail in the sand — its very own sand art.

Sand dollars may look like simple beach treasures, but they're living sea urchins with a surprisingly elegant design. — Read the rest

The post Watch a living sand dollar spin like a tiny Roomba, etching circular sand art appeared first on Boing Boing.

A special exhibition, "Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition," will open on February 14 at The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia's museum of science and technology. The exhibition celebrates and explains the technology and artistry behind the Universal theme parks. It is planned to be in Philadelphia until September, and then go on a national tour of science museums for five years. — Read the rest

The post Program an animatronic, design a coaster at this new Philly exhibit appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Windows 11 Pro for Microsoft is available for $12.97 (reg. $199), offering upgraded security, multitasking tools, and built-in Copilot features for compatible PCs, through March 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

If your PC is still rocking that 2016 energy, it's time for an upgrade that won't cause existential dread. — Read the rest

The post Windows 11 Pro is $12.97 and your aging PC might thank you appeared first on Boing Boing.

~ THE SLOPPY JOE COCKTAIL ~

40ml light rum (I used Bacárdi)
20ml French vermouth (I used Noilly Prat)
20ml lime juice
10ml orange curacao (Pierre Ferrand)
5-10ml grenadine (homemade)

Now, darling, I want you to put your prettiest cocktail glass in the freezer. Can you do that for me? Wonderful. Now, carefully measure all of the above ingredients into your shaker. Swirl and taste. OK? Add a decent handful of ice, bang on the lid and now you're gonna shake shake shake shake shake shake it up. Phew. Fine-strain into the pre-frozen glass — through a fine-mesh, that's it — and drink immediately. Happy Valentine's day, baby.

As we've reported, the Reform candidate in Gorton & Denton is the academic and establishment-insider Matt Goodwin. Goodwin is now attracting controversy because he wants to tell young women when to breed:

Reform by-election candidate calls for 'young girls' to be given 'biological reality' check

Matt Goodwin argued 'young girls' should be explained 'the biological reality' that 'many women in Britain are having children much too late in life'https://t.co/bz0y5apGEA

— Reform Party UK Exposed