Stuart Vevers wants the luxury brand to keep championing upcycled materials and reduce landfill waste

Stuart Vevers, the British designer of the American mass luxury brand Coach, is working to keep sustainability in the spotlight at New York fashion week. Not an easy task, when environmental concerns are slipping down the global agenda and fashion, perennially a mirror to the world we live in, has reverted to putting profits first.

"I'm an optimist, but it's not a blind optimism. There's a lot of tension in optimism, because the world is challenging and I am not ignoring that. My optimism comes from believing that the young people of today are going to make this world better," he said before Wednesday's show, held in the historic Cunard building in downtown New York.

As the pro-Israel lobby seeks to shape a set of congressional races in Illinois, national progressive groups are pushing to elect a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights outside of Chicago. 

The national progressive outfit Justice Democrats and the Peace, Accountability, and Leadership PAC, a new group that launched Wednesday to support candidates advocating for Palestine in the upcoming midterms, are endorsing activist Kat Abughazaleh for Congress in Illinois's 9th District. 

The endorsement comes as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has made its biggest investment so far this cycle in electing pro-Israel Democrats in and around deep-blue Chicago, which is home to one of the nation's largest populations of Palestinian residents. 

Abughazaleh is one of over a dozen candidates running in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Also running are state Sen. Laura Fine, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, local school board member and activist Bushra Amiwala, former hostage negotiator and agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Phil Andrew, and state Rep. Hoan Huynh. 

Related AIPAC Strategy Backfires as Progressive Underdog Wins Key House Race in New Jersey

Schakowsky was a longtime recipient of support from J-Street, a moderate pro-Israel group, and AIPAC appears to view the race as an opportunity to replace her with a more hardline supporter of Israel. The pro-Israel lobby has already taken one opportunity to go after a centrist who strayed from its party line, when it ran attack ads against former New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski — a strategy that appeared to backfire and ultimately help get the progressive in the race elected.

Now, pro-Palestine groups see an opening in Chicago amid mounting public criticism of the pro-Israel lobby.

Both groups said the endorsement was a reflection of a historic level of public support for Palestinian human rights and cutting U.S. funding to Israel. Abughazaleh is the 12th candidate Justice Democrats has endorsed this cycle as it looks to more aggressively counter the pro-Israel lobby and come back from major losses in 2024.

Abughazaleh told The Intercept she's running to hold Democrats to a higher standard. 

"There's been this idea of 'vote blue no matter who' for a long time that has gotten us to the moment that we're in, because we haven't held our Party accountable," she said. She added that she was the first candidate to launch her campaign in the race before Schakowsky announced her retirement. 

"I didn't wait in line or ask for permission," Abughazaleh said. "I think a big part of that is because I felt a sense of urgency that many establishment politicians just don't because they're not facing the consequences that we are."

"Kat has spent her career doing what so many voters are desperate to see the Democratic Party do right now: fight back against Republican extremism and fight for everyday people," Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi said in a statement to The Intercept. "At a time when so many career politicians in the Party have to be convinced to condemn genocide, we are proud to support a first-time candidate with the moral clarity to oppose bottomless budgets for Israel's ethnic cleansing, abolish ICE and fight for every person to afford the life they deserve."

While AIPAC hasn't officially endorsed in the race, its donors have made their pick clear. AIPAC donors have flooded Fine's campaign and sent fundraising emails on her behalf. AIPAC is also reportedly behind just under half a million dollars in ads launched last week for Fine by the Super PAC Elect Chicago Women. Fine has distanced herself from AIPAC and said she isn't seeking its support — despite fundraising with AIPAC's board president.

Related AIPAC Head Hosts Fundraiser for House Candidate Who Swears AIPAC Isn't Backing Her

Abughazaleh, a Palestinian American activist, has made her criticism of the genocide in Gaza and U.S. military support for Israel a central piece of her campaign. She's also facing a federal indictment on felony conspiracy charges stemming from protest actions against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She turned her congressional office into a mutual aid hub and is running on Medicare for All, fixing the affordable housing crisis, and fighting authoritarianism. 

"AIPAC is so toxic that they have been doing everything they can to pretend that they are not in our race when they very clearly are," Abughazaleh said. She said voters "understand the stakes, and they're sick of their tax dollars being used to commit crimes against humanity."

Abughazaleh said she's the only one of the top three Democratic candidates — counting herself, Fine, and Biss — who's never met with AIPAC. Biss previously met with local AIPAC representatives, but he said he did not share the group's "hardline views" and had never sought their support. 

Both Abughazaleh and Biss have been vocal in criticizing AIPAC's efforts to boost their opponent, Fine. During a candidate forum last week, Biss directly criticized Fine's support from AIPAC donors and said voters should be troubled by her support for unconditional U.S. military aid.

"That is deeply problematic," Biss said. "That is a right-wing policy that is bad for Palestinians, Jews, Israelis, America, and the world."

Meanwhile, United Democracy Project and AIPAC are spreading their resources around the state. UDP is also reportedly backing ads from a PAC that calls itself Affordable Chicago Now!, which is teaming up with Elect Chicago Women to back Fine, Melissa Bean in the 8th District, and Donna Miller in the 2nd District.

UDP is also planning to spend close to $3 million backing Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 7th District and bought its first $500,000 in ads for her on Tuesday. The move by the pro-Israel lobby has raised talk about what AIPAC donors who originally backed another candidate, real estate mogul Jason Friedman, will do now. 

The post AIPAC Is Flooding Illinois With Cash. Pro-Palestine Groups Are Backing Kat Abughazaleh appeared first on The Intercept.

I had the most intense time reading this book. Do you ever see the date of a famous event and notice that it is also the date of your birthday? When I do, my brain gets a fun jolt of recognition. This book is set perennially on the 18th of November - my birthday. My poor little brain was exhausted and satiated from the repeated mentions. A most curious experience.

It would be easy to dismiss this as "Groundhog Day" but French. Like the movie Palm Springs, it revitalises the "time loop" concept. Told through the diary of a woman trapped, we get an intimate sense of her claustrophobia and resentment.

The novel is quiet and contemplative. Much like "In Search of Lost Time", it revels in describing the mundane. Although the prose is much more captivating than Proust! It meanders in lovely an unhurried way as our protagonist attempts to first understand and then make peace with her predicament.

You could read it as a meditation on dementia - as her partner forgets every previous day. Or on divorce - as she attempts to hide in her own house. Perhaps it is an allegory for environmentalism as she tries to leave no mark on the world?

I got to the end stunned by the journey - and I completely understand why it has attracted such a passionate following. That said, it was so intense that I'm not sure I can handle reading the next six(!) in the series.

Hi r/collapse -- I recently spoke with David Wengrow on his best-selling book "The Dawn of Everything", co-authored with the late David Graeber. Our conversation spans a vast historical survey that highlights many instances of human societies voluntarily disbanding their hierarchical forms of sedentary agriculture; sites like Poverty Point or cereal farming at Stone Henge. In particular, we focus on the the expansion of empire during the early stages of globalization. The authors question the conventional wisdom of today's socioeconomic forms to open up new and unexplored pathways for human society.

Amazon is launching a feature that will add a new artificial intelligence layer to its writing tablets. "Send to Alexa+" is rolling out to the current generation of Kindle Scribe and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft devices. This concept was announced when Amazon first debuted the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft last fall, but the company said that the feature wouldn't be available until this year.

As the name implies, "Send to Alexa+" lets users share their notebooks and documents from their supported Kindle with the Alexa+ AI assistant, making their information accessible on other Amazon platforms, including Alexa.com and the Alexa app. Prime members and Alexa+ subscribers will also be able to reach their Kindle documents on Echo and Fire TV devices. Alexa+ will be able to perform additional tasks such as summarizing notes, creating to-do lists and adding either calendar items or reminders.

NVIDIA's cloud gaming service, GeForce Now, has expanded to another platform. Starting today, folks with select Amazon Fire TV sticks can install a native GeForce Now app. While it was already possible to access GeForce Now through the Fire TV platform, you won't necessarily need to sideload an Android app to do so anymore.

At the outset, the new app is compatible with the second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max (running Fire OS 8.1.6.0 and later). It also works with the original Fire TV Stick 4K Max if you're running Fire OS 7.7.1.1 or later. 

On the Fire TV platform, GeForce Now streaming quality tops out at a resolution of 1080p and a frame rate of 60 fps, with SDR visuals, H.264 video encoding and stereo audio. So you won't necessarily get the best GeForce Now experience here as the service has support for up to 5K resolution and up to 360 fps, along with HDR10 and 7.1 audio at the highest tier. But it's not a bad option if you already have the right hardware. You'll need a controller too, of course.

NVIDIA announced the GeForce Now app for Fire TV during CES last month. It joins other cloud gaming services on the Fire TV platform, including Xbox Cloud Gaming (PC Game Pass titles are available on GeForce Now as well) and Amazon's own Luna.

MasterClass is offering 50 percent off its annual memberships right now, cutting the cost of its plans in half for a limited time. That brings the Premium tier down to $10 per month when billed yearly, while the Plus and Standard plans are also discounted to $8 monthly and $5 monthly, respectively. Each tier unlocks the full catalog of classes, with the main differences coming down to how many devices can stream at once and whether offline viewing is included.

There are more than 200 classes on MasterClass now, and many are led by big names at the top of their fields. Depending on your interests, you might pick up cooking tips from Gordon Ramsay, learn storytelling from Margaret Atwood, explore business strategy with Richard Branson or get insights into performance and mindset from athletes and entertainers. The catalog spans everything from film and TV to wellness, music, science, leadership and photography, so it's easy to dip in and find something that holds your attention.

Over the years, MasterClass has expanded into a broad learning platform that feels like part streaming service and part educational library. The catalog spans categories like food, film, music, wellness, sports and entrepreneurship, with lessons designed to be short and easy to follow. Since every plan includes access to the full course library, the choice mostly comes down to convenience. The Standard tier supports one device and doesn't include offline mode, the Plus plan allows streaming on two devices with downloads, and the Premium tier increases that to six devices with offline access as well.

Classes are structured to be approachable whether you want to learn a new skill or just explore a topic out of curiosity. Lessons are broken into bite-sized segments, so it's easy to watch one or two at a time on a commute or in the evening. Members also get access to a global community, occasional newsletters and the ability to switch between video and audio listening on supported classes.

If you've been considering trying MasterClass, this deal makes it a more affordable way to see if it works for you. A subscription can also double as a thoughtful gift, which is one reason it has appeared in Engadget's roundup of the best subscription gifts to send to loved ones. With the current 50 percent discount applied across all tiers, it's a relatively low-cost way to get access to a large library of professionally produced courses that you can watch at your own pace throughout the year.

Apple's long-delayed AI-powered Siri redesign may not be rolling out this year, at least in the way the company had planned. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple found problems with its software upon testing, such as the virtual assistant taking too long to accomplish tasks or even not processing queries properly altogether. Siri's new version was also reportedly so sluggish during testing that its developers believed Apple would have to push back its launch by months. Instead of releasing the redesigned assistant in March as was previously reported, Gurman says Apple will roll out its capabilities piecemeal over future software updates.

The company originally unveiled the redesigned Siri back in 2024, promising an AI-powered assistant that can do tasks for you, such as finding specific photos or tracking details, adding information to contact cards, editing photos and sharing note summaries to be sent as emails. It was slated to make its way to iOS users in 2025, but Apple announced that year that it was going to be delayed. "It's going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year," the company said. Bloomberg reported back then that the new AI-infused Siri was going to be included in a planned iOS 26.4 update due in March instead. Based on this latest report, however, we might only get a portion of Siri's new capabilities next month. More capabilities could be released with iOS 26.5 in May and with iOS 27 later this year.

In January this year, Apple confirmed reports that Google's Gemini models will help power the new Siri. "After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google's Al technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and is excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for Apple users," the company said in a statement. The revamped assistant is expected to behave like an AI chatbot, similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT, when it does become available.

Amnesty International UK has labelled the government's immigration reforms as "cruel", "inefficient" and "costly".

The UK government published "A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A statement on earned settlement" in November 2025. It sets out proposals to change how our current immigration system works.

Effectively, it would change how migrants who are permitted to become permanent residents are able to do so.

The proposals include:

• Making permanent residency less available to people.
• Increasing the amount of time most people spend in the immigration system before they may apply for permanent residence.
• Reducing that if they have: a higher level of English proficiency, if they are high earners, if they hold senior positions in a public service, or if they have undertaken 'extensive' volunteering.
• Increasing that time for people who: arrive on a visitor visa, breach immigration rules, or have ever received public funds.
• Completely remove the option of permanent residency for anyone who has: ever received a criminal conviction, has outstanding litigation, or has NHS, tax, or other government debts.

Amnesty is warning that the proposals will cause many more children to be born in the UK without British citizenship. This is because their parents, although long-time UK residents, will not be British citizens or permanent residents.

Amnesty states:

While the children who grow up here will become entitled to that citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981, that right is not well understood and has over the last few decades become subject to several unjust barriers meaning many children who grow up here are at risk of losing their citizenship rights altogether.

Additionally, the proposals will "undermine integration". Immigration reforms will make the lives of many migrants far more uncertain, for far longer. This will have substantial financial implications, from having to pay more times for permission to stay, to having to pay the very high migrant health charge more often.

Amnesty adds:

At best, people will be made less welcome and more marginalised. At worst, people will be made more at risk of destitution, homelessness, ill-health, and exploitation.

Amnesty also states:

The proposals are likely to increase pressure on the European Convention on Human Rights by not satisfying those who are antagonistic to both that Convention and migrant rights, while increasing reliance on human rights laws by migrant people seeking to protect themselves against the proposals' worst consequences. If so, the impact - particularly given the Government is encouraging hostility to migrant people and their rights - is likely to further threaten commitment to the Convention.

The proposals are highly likely to reward and fuel xenophobia and racism, which are a direct response to the government's hostility towards migrant people.

Of course, this is the exact opposite of what any responsible government should be doing. It risks encouraging even more demand for awful policies, which ultimately, only penalise and demonise migrants even further.

The government needs to take a long, hard look at itself—and ask if it wants to head towards a US-style system, full of fear and hatred, or one where migrants are recognised as being the backbone of any functioning society.

Feature image via UK Government

By HG

The 'Earthshot Prize' eco-charity set up by royal Prince William and David Attenborough has been reported to the Charity Commission for donations linked to serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein. The charity awards five prizes of £1m each to environmental projects each year.

Emirati billionaire Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem's logistics company DP World is an Earthshot 'founding partner'. Sulayem appears in the latest release of the Epstein records in the US, having apparently sent a 'torture video' to Epstein. The child rapist replied in 2009 and he had "loved the torture video". At the time, he was serving his first prison sentence at the time.

Sulayem's email address is illegally redacted in the publicly available files. However, US congresspeople who viewed the unredacted files subsequently named him as Epstein's correspondent. Sulayem also appears in the files emailing Epstein about the sex he had with another young woman.

Anti-monarchy group Republic lodged the complaint with the Charity Commission. The group's CEO Graham Smith told the commission that the situation involving Epstein had undermined public trust.

the seriousness of this matter requires a full and comprehensive investigation.

Smith said: Discussions regarding the links to Epstein should not be ignored.

William has lots of questions to answer about what he knew about Andrew and Epstein and now he must explain his relationship with Sulayem. It is not credible to believe the Foreign Office, security services or other advisors were not aware of Sulayem's character and would have been able to advise accordingly.

Earthshot has a duty to do due diligence, to ask questions about donors and where money is coming from. Did they do that here? If so, did William over rule their better judgement? In the context of this widening scandal we need answers.

William was also allowed to promote his project on a Government-funded visit to the UAE. Smith added: Due to the Epstein connection, there are serious concerns that must be addressed.

Earthshot is not a UK Government project, so why was he using visits to the Middle East to promote the charity?

The Windsors have faced repeated heckling in recent weeks for their inaction over the king's disgraced brother Andrew. William was also questioned yesterday, 11 February 2026, about the issue during a visit to Saudi Arabia. None of the royals have ever apologised to Epstein's victims for Andrew's part in the serial trafficking and exploitation.

For further details on the Epstein Files, please read the Canary's article on how the media circus around Epstein is erasing the experiences of victims and survivors.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Students, staff and trade unionists will rally at King's College London (KCL), Strand Campus, on Thursday 12 February at 2pm. It's part of the national workplace day of action for Palestine.

Organisers say the rally comes amid Israel's genocide in Gaza, the de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank, and the:

escalating repression of Palestine solidarity activism in the UK.

The protest will demand the immediate reinstatement of Usama Ghanem. He's an Egyptian KCL student who has been indefinitely suspended and had his student visa revoked. He now faces the threat of imminent deportation to Egypt, where his life is at risk.

Organisers say Usama's case is part of a broader crackdown targeting pro-Palestine staff and students, including disciplinary action and intimidation. At KCL, more than twenty students - primarily students of colour - have faced disciplinary procedures linked to Palestine activism. However, far-right and Zionist groups have repeatedly targeted demonstrators on campus.

The rally is organised by KCL student societies, KCL UCU, and University and College Workers for Palestine, and endorsed by the Stop the War Coalition.

A spokesperson for University and College Workers for Palestine said:

Repression in the UK is not separate from what is happening in Palestine. It is part of the same system of dispossession, apartheid and genocide. Universities are disciplining and deporting activists while Israel destroys Gaza's education system and annexes the West Bank.

A KCL staff member talked about the broader context of Usama's suspension. They noted that the college:

escalated disciplinary action against pro-Palestine students, closed down hard-won fora on divestment and the reconstruction of Gaza's education system, rejected all divestment demands, and unilaterally introduced new protest restrictions.

At the same time, it has failed to challenge Zionist and fascist groups like Stop the Hate and Betar, allowing them to intimidate and assault staff and students with impunity.

Thursday's rally will demand of KCL:

• Reinstate Usama Ghanem.
• Stop the repression and deportations of pro-Palestine activists.
• Fascists off campus.
• Divestment now.

London trade union branches with banners and delegations are due to attend at KCL. A major pledge campaign launched by supporters has already raised over £17,000 in under two weeks. It will support legal action connected to Usama's case.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

As we've reported, the recently released Epstein Files have shone an unflattering light on many powerful people. President Donald Trump is among those exposed, which is why it was unsurprising to see so many unnecessary (and illegal) redactions in the released documents.

Providing some additional transparency, members of congress have been given permission to view un-redacted files at a Department of Justice (DoJ) facility. Alarmingly, however, we've now discovered the following:

It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files. Bondi showed up today with a burn book that held a printed search history of exactly what emails I searched. That is outrageous and I intend to pursue this… https://t.co/nyZjmHoGUq

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) February 11, 2026

As we reported, the Epstein Files Transparency Act put it into law that the DoJ must publish all the documents related to the dead paedophile. The law allows for redactions to protect victims, but no one else. Despite this, the DoJ redacted the names of Epstein's associates and potential co-conspirators.

As a result of members of congress having access to the un-redacted Epstein Files, we've learned information such as the following:

BREAKING: Congressman Jamie Raskin says Trump's name shows up in the unredacted Epstein files 1 MILLION TIMES (it was 38,000 in the redacted files) - Axios

— Secular Talk (KyleKulinskiShow@bsky.social) (@KyleKulinski) February 10, 2026

The above would mean we only have access to 3.8% of the times that the files mention Donald Trump. Trump was not a victim of Epstein, and so his name should not have been redacted.

More has come out too, including the names of "powerful men" linked to Epstein:

BREAKING: RO KHANNA JUST UNVEILED THE NAMES OF 6 POWERFUL MEN WHO WERE REDACTED IN THE EPSTEIN FILES

Here they are:

• Salvatore Nuara
• Zurab Mikeladze
• Leonic Leonov
• Nicola Caputo
• Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem
• Leslie Wexner

Why did the Trump DOJ cover for them? pic.twitter.com/qIh6Xtn0dC

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) February 10, 2026

Others highlighted the improper redactions:

Hey ⁦@DAGToddBlanche⁩, I saw the unredacted version of this email, and there is no reason it should be redacted from the public.

Unless, of course, you are trying to protect your master @realdonaldtrump. pic.twitter.com/unEuN0GGRj

— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) February 11, 2026

Yesterday @RepRoKhanna and I found a list of names and photos in the Epstein files that DOJ had improperly redacted.

DOJ promptly unredacted the men's names as well as several women in the list that we didn't flag. The two redacted names are victims. https://t.co/fLLzGW9rR7 pic.twitter.com/DTfK30Kppk

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 10, 2026

We also learned the identity of a the man who sent an email referencing a "torture video":

Elon Musk has framed the recent exodus of talent from his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, as a necessary growing pain, saying the company's evolution "required parting ways with some people."…

Donald Trump has overseen more retirements of coal-fired power stations than any other US president, according to Carbon Brief analysis.

His administration's latest efforts to roll back US climate policy have been presented by interior secretary Doug Burgum as an opportunity to revive "clean, beautiful, American coal".

The administration is in the process of attempting to repeal the 2009 "endangerment" finding, which is the legal underpinning of many federal climate regulations.

On 11 February, the White House issued an executive order on "America's beautiful clean coal power generation fleet", calling for government contracts and subsidies to keep plants open.

On the same day, Trump was presented with a trophy by coal-mining executives declaring him to be the "undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal".

These words are in sharp contrast to Trump's record in office, with more coal-fired power plants having retired under his leadership than any other president, as shown in the figure below.

This is because coal plants have been uneconomic to operate compared with cheaper gas and renewables - and because most of the US coal fleet is extremely old.

In total, some 57 gigawatts (GW) of coal capacity has already been retired during Trump's first and second terms in office, compared with 48GW under Obama's two full terms and 41GW under Biden's single term.

Even in relative terms, the US has lost a larger proportion of its remaining coal fleet for each year of Trump's presidencies than for either of his recent predecessors.

Trump's record hints at the many practical and economic factors that have driven US coal closures, regardless of the preferences of the president of the day.

Indeed, Trump made variousefforts to prop up coal power during his first term in office. These were ultimatelyunsuccessful, as the figure below illustrates.

Coal plants have been retiring in large numbers over the past 20 years because they were uneconomic relative to cheaper sources of electricity, including renewables and gas.

These unfavourable market conditions, alongside air pollution regulations unrelated to climate change, have resulted in a steady parade of coal closures under successive presidents.

By 2024, wind and solar were generating more electricity in the US than coal.

More recently, analysis from the US Energy Information Administration shows that surging power prices have improved the economics of both coal and gas-fired power plants.

These rising prices have been driven by increasing demand, including from data centres, and by higher gas prices, due to increasing exports at liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.

These factors saw coal-power output increase by 13% year-on-year in 2025, only the second rise in a decade of steady decline for the fuel, according to the Rhodium Group.

Nevertheless, many utilities have still been looking to shutter their ageing coal-fired power plants.

The vast majority of US coal plants are nearing retirement. Three-quarters of US coal capacity is more than four decades old and only 14% is less than 20 years old, as shown in the figure below.

In response, the Trump administration has recently invoked legislation designed for wartime emergencies to force a number of uneconomic coal plants to remain open.

Despite Trump's efforts, clean energy made up 96% of the new electricity generation capacity added to the US grid in 2025. None of the new capacity came from coal power.

Analysis: Coal power drops in China and India for first time in 52 years after clean-energy records

China energy

13.01.26

IEA: Declining coal demand in China set to outweigh Trump's pro-coal policies

Coal

17.12.25

Guest post: China and India account for 87% of new coal-power capacity so far in 2025

China energy

27.08.25

Guest post: Why China is still building new coal - and when it might stop

China energy

12.08.25

The post Analysis: Trump has overseen more coal retirements than any other US president appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Nigel Farage has announced Reform UK's first policy pledge of the Welsh election campaign in May: to scrap the default urban speed limit of 20mph introduced by the Labour Welsh government in 2023.

Like the Welsh Conservatives, who are also committed to reversing the legislation, Reform UK have identified frustration with the 20mph limit in Wales as a widespread and emotive issue that it hopes will help to propel the party to seat gains in the election. It is currently second in the polls, behind the centre-left Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru.

Reform said it will scrap the "blanket approach" to the speed limit, but would still have it around schools and hospitals. Welsh Labour have also said that some roads will return to 30mph under its plans.

Meanwhile, the Wales Green party leader Anthony Slaughter suggested that the party could push for extensions to 20mph coverage in local government, speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme in January.

Polling by More in Common shows that the 20mph limit is the best known of the current Welsh government's policies, with 90% of respondents confirming awareness, but also the second most unpopular. Some 55% of people polled considered that the change reflected negatively on Welsh Labour, compared with 21% who viewed it positively.

Yet, for others the 20mph limit is a flagship achievement. Lee Walters, the former transport minister who introduced the legislation, has admitted mistakes in the way it was introduced, but told BBC Wales: "The data and evidence shows that it will save lives, and in time it will settle down."

The legislation reduced the default speed limit on so-called "restricted roads" in Wales (essentially roads in built-up areas) from 30mph to 20mph.

Part of the aim was to reduce the number of collisions and injuries from road collisions (as well as the cost to the National Health Service of treating these casualties), encouraging walking and cycling, and improving health and wellbeing.

As elsewhere in Britain, 20mph zones already existed in high-risk sites such as outside schools. Exceptions also applied to the 20mph default, with local authorities identifying roads where a 30mph limit would remain.

Overall, the 20mph limit currently applies to 37% of the road network in Wales. The policy featured in both the Labour and Plaid Cymru manifestos for the 2021 Senedd (Welsh parliament) election. It was also supported by the sole Liberal Democrat Senedd member, when introduced.

Conservative Senedd members voted against the legislation. The measure was controversial, with noisy opposition from sections of the public.

A petition to repeal the law attracted 469,571 signatures and new 20mph road signs were defaced in many parts of Wales.

There was widespread media coverage describing confusion over the speed limit and claiming negative effects on bus timetables, tourism and businesses.

A lack of consistent polling makes it difficult to track public opinion on the issue. Polls in October 2023 and July 2024 recorded 54% and 72% of Welsh voters opposed to the 20mph limit respectively, but no more recent poll has directly asked about the policy.

However, a softening of attitudes over time was identified by an analysis of posts on the social media platform X at implementation in September 2023 and six months later. Not only did comments become less negative towards the change, but the content also evolved. Right after implementation, tweets focused on politics, especially criticisms of Welsh government.

Six months later, discussion shifted toward everyday impact: improved safety around schools and residential streets, benefits for pedestrians and cyclists and urban mobility such as buses and traffic flow. Although political criticism remained, misinformation decreased and conversation became more grounded in lived experience, with safety, especially for children and communities, more prominent.

Psychologists refer to this movement as the Goodwin Curve: when behaviour people are anxious about doesn't materialise, their attitudes soften and they become more accepting of policy change.

Early reports on the impact of the 20mph speed limit were anecdotal. More than two years after implementation, however, there is a growing body of objective evidence on its effects, especially around speed and collision data. The most recent figures show that average speeds for road traffic in Wales have fallen by 3.3 mph.

Relatedly, there has been a marked reduction in both collisions and casualties on roads where the speed limit changed from 30mph to 20mph. In 2024, the first full year after the change, collisions on 20mph and 30mph roads combined were down 23.5% compared with 2022, and casualties were down by 25.8%.

Evidence of environmental and social impacts is less conclusive. Early monitoring shows no material change in air quality (NO₂, PM₁₀ or PM₂.₅) in pilot areas up to April 2024, and analysis of CO₂ emissions is still ongoing. Impacts on walking and cycling also remain unclear, as post-implementation active travel data has not yet been reported.

So, why are speed limits back on the election agenda? Reform and the Conservatives both cite the cost of the policy, estimated at £32 million. Yet, as journalist Will Hayward points out, this spend has already happened and returning to 30mph would also be expensive.

The significance of 20mph to Reform and the Conservatives is about setting the tone of the election. It is an issue that speaks to the continuing scepticism of some of the Welsh electorate towards devolution.

What's more, the issue encapsulates different visions for Welsh society. For the rightwing parties, opposition to the 20mph limit reflects a championing of individualism and "common sense" against the perceived intrusive paternalism of the left. As Farage told journalists in Newport: "It's an example of government saying we know what is best for you, and you must comply with us."

Reform UK has targeted car drivers as a potential voting base before. Reform-led councils in England have vowed to dismantle low-traffic neighbourhoods, for instance, even in areas that didn't actually have them.

For some leftwing politicians, on the other hand, the 20mph speed limit is emblematic of a devolved Welsh government taking bold, pioneering action for health and environmental wellbeing. Reductions both in collisions and in motor insurance premiums could be presented as evidence of delivering benefits to Welsh people.

Labour and Plaid Cymru are unlikely to want the 20mph speed limit to be a major topic in the election, and would prefer to focus on issues around jobs, education, health care and public transport. Whether they can achieve a swing to those issues as the primary topic of discussion will be down to the public's interest, and possibly media coverage.

Michael Woods receives funding from UKRI. He is a member of the Liberal Democrats.

Charles Musselwhite received funding from Health & Care Research Wales. Charles Musselwhite is currently Chair of the Transport Studies Research Group and a Vice Chair of the Transport and Health Science Group.

A pilot scheme in Brooklyn is giving businesses batteries to form an electricity storage network - part of a growing number of innovative DIY energy ideas around the world

In the back of Black Seed Bagels in northern Brooklyn is a giant catering kitchen filled with industrial-size condiments and freezers full of dough.

A tall, silver electric oven, named the Baconator, stands in a far corner, cooking thousands of pounds of meat every week to accompany Black Seed's hand-rolled, wood-fired bagels. The Baconator is connected to a battery the size of a carry-on suitcase, which is plugged into the wall.

More than 2000 Brits served in Israel's genocide in Gaza, new figures have shown. Declassified UK obtained the troubling information through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The number is vastly greater than previously reported figures.

The investigative outlet reported that:

The data outlines the number of people with dual and multiple nationalities who were IDF service members as of March 2025.

It shows how 1,686 British-Israelis and a further 383 people with British, Israeli, and another nationality served in the IDF amid the annihilation of Gaza.

Reporting by Declassified UK suggested this was also a global issue, with recruits from across the world joining the ranks of the IDF.

They were among over 50,000 IDF soldiers with Israeli and at least one other nationality.

The largest cohorts come from the US, Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany.

The figure previously known was just 54.

Paul Heron, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), said prosecutions should be pursued wherever possible:

There must be no impunity where credible evidence links British nationals to grave breaches of international law.

The UK has clear duties to prevent genocide and avoid assisting unlawful military action.

He added that investigations into events in Gaza are essential for justice.

Where dual nationals have served in units implicated in atrocities, the authorities must investigate promptly and, where the evidence meets the threshold, pursue arrest and prosecution like any other serious crime.

The figures seen by Declassified UK line up with claims by one IDF soldier that thousands of Brits had served in the Israeli military:

Londoner Sam Sank fought in Gaza between December 2023 and January 2024 and later told the Times:

based on the number of his friends in the IDF, which includes a Scot in his own small unit, [he] believes there are hundreds, if not thousands, more Britons fighting in Israel."

Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) and the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights submitted a war crimes dossier to the Foreign Office in 2025. The document detailed British citizens alleged involvement in alleged war crimes.

Heron said "No one is above the law":

In our report to the Metropolitan Police, we set out credible evidence that 10 British nationals served in the Israeli Defence Forces and were involved in war crimes and acts giving rise to genocide.

The British police have a war crimes investigation unit. When asked by Declassified in 2025 if they would be referring Gaza allegations for prosecutions they did not respond.

International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) told Declassified:

No one in the UK wants to live next door to a potential war criminal.

And yet, British people who fought in the IDF are allowed to return to this country and live freely amongst us, despite fighting for an army that is committing genocide.

UCJP said inaction was "inexcusable":

It is utterly inexcusable that the UK government is failing to take action to hold citizens accountable for potential violations of international and domestic law.

The British government and judiciary need to move on IDF war crimes allegations—and move fast. British citizens taking part in Israel war crimes should be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Both as a matter of principle and as a matter of pubic safety.

You can read the full Declassified UK report here.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

In recent days, Israeli media outlets revealed plans by prison authorities to inaugurate an execution facility—nicknamed the "Israeli Green Mile." These facilities will resemble death chambers, reserved for Palestinians accused of terrorism.

Their death sentences will reportedly be carried out within 90 days of the final judicial decision.

This step represents a new escalation of violence against Palestinian detainees. Israeli outlets are concerned—as they say—with the psychological burden on executioners, with no regard for the innocence of those wrongfully detained. Israeli agents of death, who participation will reportedly be 'voluntary,' will reportedly undergo psychological and operational training—murder dressed up as due process.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club has warned of the danger of transforming prisons into "legalised killing grounds". They contend that Israeli prisons are no longer detention sites, but have been transformed into spaces for torture, starvation and slow execution, as part of a retaliatory policy that legalises murder.

Prisons as tools for systematic killing

Since October 7, 2023, Palestinian detainees have endured horrific abuse at the hands of Israeli guards. Their treatment has reached new depths of depravity. Detainees are routinely denied medical care, deprived of sleep, shackled by their limbs, and subjected to sexual violence and a litany of sadistic torture methods. Collective humiliation is also part of the Israeli play book — forcing Palestinians to chant Zionist slogans, or kiss the Israeli flag.

Israeli Channel 13 quoted Israeli sources saying that the law will initially be applied to prisoners from elite battalions of the Islamic Resistance Movement—Hamas in other words—accused by Israel of carrying out the 7 October attack. It will later be rolled out in the occupied West Bank.

This escalation is based on a bill submitted by the Jewish Power party, led by the fascist national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. They proposed amending Article 301(a) of the Israeli Penal Code to allow the death penalty to be imposed on anyone accused of killing an Israeli for 'hostile or nationalistic' motives. This will be without the possibility of pardon.

The bill also grants military courts in the West Bank the authority to issue death sentences without unanimity and oversight.

Following the bill's approval in its first reading, Ben-Gvir said that:

the only sentence awaiting those who kill Israelis is execution.

His remarks lay bare the retributive nature of the bill.

UN experts are calling on Israel to withdraw the bill, stressing that the application of the death penalty in the occupied territories violates international humanitarian law and that the Israeli military legal system lacks legitimacy under the rules of occupation.

However, the right-wing Israeli government continues to push the bill as part of a broader package led by Ben-Gvir. Under the false banner of 'strict deterrence' they intend on reinforcing policies of repression and collective punishment.

Pundits also view the bill and state-backed push for execution wards as a response to Israel's failure to achieve its military objectives in Gaza. As a direct consequence, Israel is desperately appealing to, and appeasing, the extreme right in Israel. Where will they draw the line?

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

Microsoft has abruptly announced the deprecation of Polyglot Notebooks with less than two months' notice, throwing the future of the .NET Interactive project into doubt.…

Fermin Aldeguer is to miss the final test of the 2026 MotoGP season at Buriram on February 21st and 22nd, as well as the first round of the season in Thailand to be held a week later, from February 27th to March 1st. Gresini Racing today announced that Spaniard is still recovering from breaking his femur in a training accident at the beginning of January. Aldeguer is to be replaced by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro at the first round of MotoGP.

It was widely expected that Aldeguer would not be fit for Buriram. It usually takes between 6 to 8 weeks before a femur fracture has healed sufficiently to carry your full weight. Returning to full fitness can take many months. The Buriram round of MotoGP starts 7 weeks after Aldeguer's crash, which is too early to have much strength in the leg. 

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In the introduction to her collection of writings on Tom Wilson, Anaïs Ngbanzo gives an overview of the influential producer's life

It was December 2004 and I was watching Bob Dylan get into heated conversations with journalists during his 1965 British tour in Dont Look Back. Halfway through DA Pennebaker's film, when Dylan sits at the piano and starts playing an early version of "I'll Keep It With Mine", the camera lingers on a man seated next to him, eyes closed, deeply listening. This was the first time I saw Tom Wilson. Over the following years it occurred to me that the photographs of Dylan's 1965 recording sessions, and those of Nico promoting Chelsea Girl at ABC studios, and the one of Frank Zappa standing in a bright studio during the recording of We're Only In It For The Money have one thing in common: Wilson is there. I started researching Wilson.

Thomas Blanchard Wilson, Jr was born in 1931. He grew up in Waco, Texas with a librarian mother and a father in the insurance business. He attended Moore High School, where he played saxophone in the school band. He later played trombone and took cello classes for a couple of years - the only formal musical training he ever had. His music-related childhood memories would involve his father conducting a choir at the Texas state centennial celebrations of 1936 and the jam sessions held on Saturday afternoons at his grandfather's carpet cleaning business. A year after enrolling at Fisk University in Nashville he had to take two years out getting tuberculosis treatment, but then, in 1951, he went further north to study economics at Harvard.

In Cambridge, Wilson became committed to university radio station WHRB - broadcasting classical and popular recordings. He later said: "I owe everything accomplished in the recording field to highly informal but inspirational training as a member of WHRB." The Harvard archives also show his membership in its most active political club: the Young Republicans. "For some, being a Young Republican was a full-time job, an exercise in wardheeling," explained an alumni report. "For others, the club was an easy-going, semi-social organisation, which provided interesting speakers and dances."

In early 1953, Wilson founded the Harvard New Jazz Society. The club was to create "an atmosphere here at Harvard that will foster an appreciation of the idiom," as he told the Harvard Crimson, extending an invitation to "all interested in jazz and its recognition as an indigenous art form." With its informal performance and lectures, the New Jazz Society received national publicity and established jazz among the more entrenched musical forms at Harvard. Wilson graduated in May 1954.

That summer he took a job at the Stop & Shop supermarket chain as assistant buyer, languishing at its South Boston headquarters for a few months. Although only 24 years old, he already had strong connections with gifted musicians of the Boston area jazz scenes and a plan to record them. In a 1956 interview for Metronome, Wilson recalled sitting in a friend's living room talking about trends in music when he said, "If I had a thousand dollars I'd prove something." The girlfriend (as yet unidentified) of fellow Harvard graduate Charles Henri La Munière, having command of an annuity, offered Wilson $940 that day to start cutting records. As a result he started his label Transition Records in Cambridge in March 1955. That same year he married Beverly J King; they would welcome their first child, Thomas Blanchard III, in 1956.

Herb Pomeroy's Jazz In A Stable is the first Transition record, and Donald Byrd was the first artist to be signed. Recordings were made in various locations - and through his lasting relationship with the university, Wilson was able to use WHRB's engineering staff and a completely renovated studio there known as "studio B." With the assistance of Harvard students and alumni A Ledyard Smith, Stephen A Greyser, Edward H Rathbun and Dean Gitter, Transition swiftly came to prominence in jazz recordings - collaborating with John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and Cecil Taylor. Yet it continued to operate from Wilson's living room and it was losing money: Wilson had to moonlight as membership secretary in the Waltham Boys' Club during 1957-58 to make ends meet. Transition Records folded in the summer of 1958. The Wilson family moved to New York shortly after the birth of their second child, Darien Wilson, that September.

Upon arrival in the city, Wilson started a career in A&R (artists and repertoire) for indie and major labels, taking a job at United Artists until February 1960. Later that year he founded Communicating Arts Corporation, which produced jazz radio programmes on the New York metropolitan area classical station WNCN-FM, while doubling as jazz A&R director at Savoy Records and as executive assistant to Malcolm E Peabody, Jr, director of the New York State Commission for Human Rights. In 1962 he joined Audio Fidelity Records as associate recording director.

A pivotal encounter occurred in mid 1962: Goddard Lieberson, a former A&R man now heading CBS-Columbia Group, heard Wilson speak before a meeting of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Lieberson, under whose leadership the CBS music division had become the world's leading recording company, was impressed enough to hire him on the spot. Wilson's role as staff producer at Columbia from 1963 to 1965 would be a significant moment of his career - getting press attention as "the man who produced some of Dylan's hits" and who made a success out of Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound Of Silence."

In November 1965 he joined MGM Records as East Coast recording director, recording The Animals and signing The Velvet Underground, Nico, and The Mothers Of Invention. The vice president of the label, a Wilson admirer, entrusted him with a radio interview program called The Music Factory, sponsored by Verve/MGM and syndicated to college stations across the country.

This was the last role Wilson took at a record company before creating the Wilson Organisation in 1968 with a handful of partners, leasing its services to Motown Records. Subsidiary firms included Terrible Tunes and Maudlin Melodies (publishing), Reluctant Management (talent direction), and Rasputin, Gunga Din, and Lamumba Productions (independent recording production). "You know why I went independent?" he told writer Ann Geracimos in 1968 for a New York Times cover story. "Because I got tired of making money for a millionaire who didn't even bother to send me a Christmas card. I discovered if you are honest, you get a lot further. A guy's not going to respect you if you don't fight for what you think you are worth.

In 1976 Wilson told writer Michael Watts for Melody Maker that he and his business partner Larry Fallon had written a rhythm and blues opera, Mind Flyers Of Gondwana, that wove together Plato's allegory of Atlantis with African American history. The idea was that Johnny Nash would play the lead; other names mentioned were Gladys Knight (as a queen), Labelle, Gil Scott-Heron, Melba Moore and Minnie Riperton. The Righteous Brothers were to play Mason and Dixon, and it was hoped that Bob Marley would record a reggae soundtrack. They were trying to get Stanley Kubrick interested in a film version. But the project never saw the light. Wilson, who had a history of heart trouble, died at home in Los Angeles, California on 6 September 1978. He was 47 years old.

Working on this book, the first devoted to Wilson, I wondered what he would have made of it. Geracimos writes in her article, "A Record Producer Is A Psychoanalyst With Rhythm", that:

"Although extreme frankness is one of his strong characteristics, he is reluctant to talk about some of his extra-curricular activities (any drug-taking experiences, for example), because of what people back in Waco might think. 'Just don't say anything that might hurt my family,' he says. [...] The pressures of the profession evidently lead him to seek diversion in a number of unorthodox ways. Rock 'n' roll music, of course, is not all sound. It refers to a certain style as well, which Wilson, in trying to court extremes and the happy middle simultaneously, represents perfectly. The public side of Wilson is responsible and pragmatic."

This is an edited extract from the introduction of Everybody's Head Is Open To Sound: Writings On Tom Wilson, edited by Anaïs Ngbanzo and published by Éditions 1989.

You can read Francis Gooding's review of the book in The Wire 505. Pick up a copy of the magazine in our online shop. Subscribers can also read the review and the entire issue online via the digital library.

Apple patched a zero-day vulnerability affecting every iOS version since 1.0, used in what the company calls an "extremely sophisticated attack" against targeted individuals.…

Exploding memory prices are pushing corporate buyers to fast-track PC purchases before costs climb further.…

Capitalism cares about our species' prospects as much as a wolf cares about a lamb's. But democratise our economy and a better world is within our grasp

We have an urgent responsibility. Our existing economic system is incapable of addressing the social and ecological crises we face in the 21st century. When we look around we see an extraordinary paradox. On the one hand, we have access to remarkable new technologies and a collective capacity to produce more food, more stuff than we need or that the planet can afford. Yet at the same time, millions of people suffer in conditions of severe deprivation.

What explains this paradox? Capitalism. By capitalism we do not mean markets, trade and entrepreneurship, which have been around for thousands of years before the rise of capitalism. By capitalism we mean something very odd and very specific: an economic system that boils down to a dictatorship run by the tiny minority who control capital - the big banks, the major corporations and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets. Even if we live in a democracy and have a choice in our political system, our choices never seem to change the economic system. Capitalists are the ones who determine what to produce, how to use our labour and who gets to benefit. The rest of us - the people who are actually doing the production - do not get a say.

NASA has ended most science operations on its Swift observatory to keep the spacecraft in orbit a little longer.…

If you're old enough, you'll remember the British press constantly moaned about the 'nanny state' in the New Labour years. This is the term for when the government interferes in people's every day business to an unhealthy degree. And as we've seen this week, Nigel Farage is going to be the nanny state personified if he becomes PM.

First he was going after work-from-home; now he wants to tell you what you can and can't call oat milk:

When I first made this TikTok video in 2024 you all laughed at me.

Well, today the Supreme Court has ruled that 'oat milk' can no longer be called milk.

You're not laughing now are you! pic.twitter.com/WFQaEgNulO

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) February 11, 2026

How about minding your business, feller?

Farage is referring to the Supreme Court ruling which decided you can't call oat milk 'milk' anymore. We have two thoughts on this:

• We're really spending time and money on this?
• We'll continue to call it oat milk out of habit, but we don't care either way - we have more important things to worry about.

In the video above, Farage says:

So I'm in a smart hotel in London; I've got a cup, I want some milk. Let's have a look. We've got semi-skimmed, I don't like that. Oat milk? What on Earth's that when it's at home. Almond milk. All I want's proper bloody milk, not left-wing options - proper milk. What's wrong with me asking for that?

You are an old man in a public breakfast room shouting at the coffee table; this isn't normal.

We're going to print this in big, bold letters so that it gets through:

IF THE THOUGHT OF OAT MILK UPSETS YOU, YOU ARE TOO EASILY UPSET.

This is absolute snowflake behaviour.

It's possibly the most snowflake anyone has ever been since Lee Anderson celebrated the conviction of his heckler.

And going further, there is nothing 'left-wing' about oat milk. Almond milk did not feature in the Communist Manifesto. Organised labour have never gone on strike to secure the right to coconut milk. Cashew milk is not a key tenet of Xi Jinping Thought.

Farage is doing two things here:

• Thinking that anything which wasn't common in his childhood is wrong by default because his brain is decaying.
• Thinking that anything he doesn't personally enjoy is 'left wing' because he's right wing.

As we mentioned, Mr Nanny is also telling people where they can and can't work. HG reported for the Canary:

Nigel Farage is going after work-from-home, in a hypocritical attempt to make it look like he's ever worked a day in his life.

Of course, Nigey isn't telling us that he previously employed his wife to work from home.

To make matters more infuriating, Reform UK also happens to employ people who work from home.

These people are going to be all up in your business while telling you to mind yours.

As is obvious from Farage's tweet, he's spent the past two years stewing on this. Do we really want this petty, small-minded dweeb in charge of the country?

Because let's be real - at this point, he's gonna want revenge for a lot more than just his opinions about milk.

Featured image via Trademark Room

By Willem Moore

Opposition parties and housing activists have denounced a new housing bill passed in the Dáil. People Before Profit (PBP) TD Paul Murphy described it as a "landlord's charter written by a landlord's government".

On the face of it, the housing bill seems to introduce a series of useful new protections for tenants. These include:

• No-fault evictions only allowed in very limited circumstances—for landlords with four tenancies or fewer who face certain forms of hardship such as financial difficulties or separation from a partner.
• A new minimum tenancy of six years that operates on a rolling basis.
• The whole of Ireland is treated as a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ). This means that rents on tenants in-situ can only be raised by a maximum of 2% each year.

However, the right of landlords to raise rents for new tenancies or every six years is likely to still mean tenants pay extortionate sums, the key existing problem of the Irish housing crisis.

This was the thrust of Murphy's stance when he said:

This is a bill for rip-off rents. That's the purpose of it. It's not an accidental outcome of it, that's the purpose. The government strategy explicitly is to get rents to rise higher in order to attract more investment.

The government is indeed clear about this, with the minister for housing, local government and heritage James Browne saying:

I want to grow the supply of rental homes available - attract more landlords and retain existing landlords in the market. Providing the policy conditions for a sustained increase in supply is essential because it will help ease price pressures across the rental market, and will widen the pool of available rental properties, thereby facilitating greater choice for individuals and families.

So rather than proper public investment in housing, the government continues to trust in the private sector to solve a problem it has thus far totally failed at.

Tenants union CATU emphasised this, with organiser Helen Moynihan saying:

We have a really precarious housing setup that already overly relies on the private market, and now we're looking at legislation that will make that even more precarious. So we're especially concerned about the fact that landlords can raise [rent] to market [rate].

It's just it's really important not to get confused about this word supply. Houses that are not affordable for ordinary everyday workers do not increase supply. And this is the increase of the kind of properties we're going to see. They're not affordable for us. They're not supply for your everyday worker.

Housing charity Threshold pointed out how those moving home will be unfairly penalised:

Threshold is concerned that the option for landlords to set market rents between tenancies may result in an unintended consequence whereby renters, particularly those who need to move home, end up paying high rents within three to four years and see their overall rental security undermined.

We are not aware of any modelling done to determine the impact this change could have on market rent levels. The recent Threshold and Housing Rights NI all-island survey of renters shows that approximately 25% of renters in the Republic of Ireland left their last rental tenancy voluntarily. Market trends already show tenants who move home pay higher rents, this will only be exacerbated by the proposed legislation.

Protesters rallied outside the Dáil as the housing bill was 'debated', though in reality only:

…nine of 69 amendments that had been put forward by opposition parties were discussed.

The government accepted none of these, and Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin described the ramming through of the bill as a:

…truly appalling way to make legislation.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the spectre of Irish people once again fleeing abroad as so many previous generations have, saying:

Seven thousand Irish medical professionals were registered to work in Australia last year. If your bill goes through, we will lose many many more. Because the rent hikes will be off the charts.

Predictably, landlords were unhappy at even the limited concessions being made to tenants. The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) said:

At the Irish Property Owners Association, we're concerned that, as it stands, the Bill could unintentionally push more private landlords out of the market and reduce rental supply even further.

They continued:

Tenants need security and certainty, and that matters. But landlords also need clarity, fair treatment and confidence that they can manage or sell their properties when circumstances change. If too many landlords feel boxed in, the reality is they may sell up - leaving fewer homes, less choice and more pressure on renters.

In other words, won't someone think of the poor landlords, the people who typically own multiple properties? They may have a point, though—if landlords get fed up, supply may indeed evaporate. That's not an argument for giving in to their demands. It's a reason to scrap a system that treats housing as a commodity, and relies  heavily on the whims of those looking to turn a profit from something that should be a basic human right.

Featured image via Unsplash/the Canary

By Robert Freeman

In war, death is usually a number. Not every casualty in Gaza has been identified however. The graves of women, children, and men lay empty and the burning question is not how they died but where they are? Where are their remains?

A documentary by Al Jazeera Arabic — The Rest of the Story — names the phenomenon 'evaporation.' They document 2,842 cases of Palestinians who have disappeared since October 2023. The victims have received no burials. With no bodies found, there have been no funerals either. Members of the Gaza Civil Defence who feature in the documentary underline Israel's use of lethal thermal and thermo-pressurised munitions. This is used to account for the missing.

According to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defence, these latest figures are the result of intricate fieldwork.

Recovery specialists have been matching the number of people inside the building that were targeted with the number of bodies recovered.

For example, when a family reports that five people were in the house, but only three bodies are found after extensive searches, the remaining two cases are recorded as missing persons.

Military experts have highlighted differences between thermo-pressurised weapons from conventional explosives. They reportedly scatter a cloud of fuel that ignites. This creates a fireball and a powerful shock wave within enclosed spaces. The result is multiplying the effects of heat, suffocation, and detonation compounded into a single moment.

It also refers to the use of explosive materials containing a mixture of TNT and aluminium powder, which raises the temperature of the explosion to very high levels within seconds. According to health officials in Gaza, featured in the documentary, exposure to extreme heat and pressure can lead to rapid tissue decomposition. This happens especially in enclosed spaces, where the effect of the heat wave is magnified.

The report named specific types of bombs, including MK-84, BLU-109 and GBU-39, noting their technical characteristics. This applies both in terms of their ability to penetrate buildings before detonation and to generate intense internal shockwaves. It also reported finding metal remnants at some sites attributed to these munitions.

Legal experts who spoke to Al Jazeera Arabic condemned the use of weapons that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. This, if proven, would constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law.

The issue of the responsibility of arms-exporting countries was also raised, given the continued flow of ammunition during the war. This comes in parallel with provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice. It opens up the issue of accountability beyond the battlefield.

But behind the numbers, the story is one of despair and indignity, as families continue to search for their loves ones — or least what remains of them.

A mother waiting for her son's body to bury him. A father carrying a small bag of remains said to belong to his children. And hundreds of homes that have found nothing to say goodbye to.

In Gaza, loss is no longer a scene of mourning. Sometimes loss is a complete void, a heavy silence, a question hanging in the air — how can a person disappear without a trace?

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

Cybercriminals are turning supply chain attacks into an industrial-scale operation, linking breaches, credential theft, and ransomware into a "self-reinforcing" ecosystem, researchers say.…

Know Your Acids There are four main powdered acids used in cocktails.

Citric Acid
Citric acid occurs naturally in lemons and limes, so it's an obvious choice when boosting, or approximating, citrus flavor. 

Malic Acid
Malic acid, which is found in berries, grapes and stone fruit, is sour, yet milder than citric acid, often described as crisp, and offers the tang of a Granny Smith apple.

Lactic Acid
Lactic acid is formed through fermentation and is the compound that gives yogurt its tanginess. Mixing with this acid brings a creaminess to drinks and makes them feel rounder and fuller.

Tartaric Acid
Tartaric acid, similar to the cream of tartar used in culinary applications, occurs naturally but also forms in the winemaking process. In cocktails, it can add brightness without the flavor of citrus.

In recent years, acid-adjusting—the method of adding powdered acids to cocktails—has followed in the footsteps of clarification and fat-washing: It's not just for the most high-tech bars, and it's everywhere now. Though powdered citric, malic, lactic and tartaric acids are not exactly pantry staples, they can be easily acquired online and take a lot of the prep out of home bartending. With a few in your arsenal, you can make a Daiquiri pop, easily brighten a batched drink or impart a rounder, silkier texture to sweeteners. To get started, here are three ways to use them in your home bar, and the recipes to try them in.

Acid-Adjusted Juice
While acids can stand in for lemon or lime in a pinch, some bartenders feel that replacing them altogether in citrusy drinks yields a cocktail that feels too thin. Instead, to achieve the right viscosity, combine powdered acids with less-tart juices to make them pop in a drink. For example, to make the Multiverse, a revamped take on the Universe from the 1970s, Shannan Lynch calls on acid-adjusted pineapple and orange juices to up their tanginess, while Garret Richard's Daiquiri-inspired Isle Delfino adjusts bittersweet grapefruit juice with citric acid. The technique can work for noncitrus juices, too, like cherry, watermelon, or lychee to balance fruit-forward recipes.