But first, kernel 6.19 is upon us, with many goodies

Penguin emperor Linus Torvalds has announced the next version of the Linux kernel will be version 7.0, a matter of some small interest, because it continues his convention of not using version numbers he can't count on his fingers and toes, and perhaps cements a numbering convention that sees kernel series end with version 19.…

Adventure and beautiful worlds await in the newest TV spot for Illumination's 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.'

Brandi Carlile and Coco Jones also performed ahead of the big game

After a vibes-heavy first look last year, fans might have expected the new 'Star Wars' movie to show up to the Super Bowl with something to tell. Alas!

They omitted their usual anti-MAGA lyrics from "Holiday" and "American Idiot"

Click here to book

 

Founded by John James Frost in 1790, Frost Brothers Ltd of 340/342 Commercial Rd was managed by his grandson - also John James Frost - in 1905, when these photographs were taken. In 1926, the company was amalgamated to become part of British Ropes and now only this modest publication on the shelf in the Bishopsgate Institute bears testimony to the long-lost industry of rope making and yarn spinning in the East End, from which Cable St takes its name.

First Prize London Cart Parade - Manila Hemp as we receive it from the Philippines

Hand Dressing

The Old-Fashioned Method of Hand Spinning

The First Process in Spinning Manila - The women are shown feeding Hemp up to the spreading machines, taken from the bales as they come from the Philippines. These three machines are capable of manipulating one hundred and twenty bales a day.

Manila-Finishing Drawing Machines

Russian & Italian Hemp Preparing Room

Manila Spinning

Binder Twine & Trawl Twine Spinning - This floor contains one hundred and fifty six spindles

Russian & Italian Hemp Spinning

Carding Room

Tow Drawing Room

Tow Spinning & Spun Yarn Twisting Room

Tarred Yarn Store - This contains one hundred and fifty tons of Yarn

Tarred Yarn Winding Room

Upper End of Main Rope Ground - There are six ground four hundred yards long, capable of making eighteen tons of rope per ten and a half hour day

Rope-Making Machines - This pair of large machines are capable of making rope up to forty-eight centimetres in circumference

House Machines - This view shows part of the Upper Rope Ground and a couple of small Rope-Making Machines

Number 4 House Machine Room

The middle section of a machine capable of making rope from  three inches up to seven inches in circumference, any length without a splice. It is thirty-two feet in height and driven by an electric motor.

Number 4 Rope Store

 

 

Boiler House

120 BHP. Sisson Engine Direct Coupled to Clarke-Chapman Dynamo

One of our Motors by Crompton 40 BHP - These Manila Ropes have been running eight years and are still in first class condition.

Engineers' Shop with Smiths' Shop adjoining

Carpenters' Store & Store for Spare Gear

Exhibit at Earl's Court Naval & Shipping Exhibition, 1905

View of the Factory before the Fire in 1860

View of the Factory as it is now in 1905 - extending from Commercial St

Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute

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At the Caslon Letter Foundry

Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor star in the latest alien film from iconic director Steven Spielberg, out June 12.

TL;DR: SwifDoo PDF Pro is $34.99 right now (reg. $129), and it's a solid all-in-one solution for editing, converting, OCR, and signing PDFs on Windows.

If you want a Windows PDF editor that can do the boring stuff fast, so you can get back to literally anything else, SwifDoo PDF Pro at $34.99 (reg. — Read the rest

The post If PDFs keep eating your day, SwifDoo PDF Pro for $34.99 is the best way to fight back appeared first on Boing Boing.

If we strip away the top 1% (billionaires and multi-millionaires) to see the "real" America in 2026, the traditional "Middle Class" has essentially split into distinct survival tiers.

Using Median Account Balances and Debt-to-Income ratios, here is how the classes actually look for the remaining 99%:

The "Invisible" Class (Bottom 15%)

• Median Bank Account: $0 - $100
• The Vibe: Deeply impoverished, often working "under the table" or relying entirely on government assistance (TANF/SNAP).
• Debt Status: "Defaulted." They are often Judgment Proof—meaning creditors don't even bother garnishing them because there's nothing to take.

• The Reality: They exist outside the traditional banking system.

  The "Fragile" Class (Bottom 40%)

• Median Bank Account: $600 - $1,200

• Debt Status: "Underwater." Credit card debt often exceeds total liquid savings.

• The Reality: This group is one flat tire or one 25% garnishment away from homelessness. They are the 56% of Americans who cannot cover a $1,000 emergency.

• Primary Stress: Housing and food inflation.

The "Working Fragile" (The 51%-85%)

• Median Bank Account: $500 - $4,000
• The Vibe: The backbone of the service and labor economy.
• Debt Status: Revolving credit card debt and high-interest car loans.
• The Reality: This is the group where the 56% of Americans who can't find $1,000 live. They are currently being crushed by 2026 housing costs.

• Garnishment Impact: Lethal. This is the group most likely to be garnished for medical or credit card debt.

  The "Treading Water" Class (Next 40%)

• Median Bank Account: $5,000 - $9,000

• Debt Status: High "Lifestyle Debt" (Mortgages, Student Loans, Car Payments).

• The Reality: They look "Middle Class" on paper but have zero "real" wealth. Their account balance is a temporary pass-through for bills. If they lose their job, their "median" $8,000 in savings lasts exactly 5 to 7 weeks.

• Primary Stress: Job security and the cost of childcare or eldercare.

  The "Comfortable 19%" (Top of the 99%)

• Median Bank Account: $45,000 - $150,000

• Debt Status: Manageable or "Positive Net Worth."

• The Reality: These are the high-earning professionals (Doctors, Tech Leads, Dual-Income managers). They are the only group with a "Safety Net." They can survive a garnishment, though it would hurt their retirement plans.

• Primary Stress: Tax brackets and maintaining their Standard of Living.

• The "Safety Net" Class (Top 2%-10%)

Median Bank Account: $150,000 - $400,000 (Liquid)

• The Vibe: These are the "Rich, but not Wealthy." High-end specialists, corporate VPs, and successful small business owners.
• Debt Status: They have debt (luxury mortgages), but they have the assets to wipe it out if they had to.
• Garnishment Impact: Rare. They usually have the legal retainers to block it before it starts.

The "Math" of the Split

When you remove the billionaires, the "Average" U.S. wealth drops by trillions. You're left with a Dual Economy:

1. The Capital Owners (The 1%): They own the debt.
2. The Debt Payers (The 99%): They spend their high salaries paying interest to the 1%.

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This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is Stephen T. Stone with a comment about ICE and CBP stealing money from citizens at the Minneapolis airport:

Dear Democrats in leadership positions:

There is no reforming or retraining this level of institutional rot. Your centrist asses need to start demanding the abolishment of ICE (and DHS), and you need to start doing it now.

Sincerely, a concerned US citizen

In second place, it's Strawb with an answer to the question of why the CIA deleted its famous World Factbook resource:

Well, the easy answer is "Because a corrupt government's worst enemy is a well-informed population".

For editor's choice on the insightful side, we start out with Bloof offering another even broader answer to that question:

If something is useful and a product of government, that's all the reason republicans need to destroy it.

Next, it's dfbomb bringing more updates from Minneapolis:

They leave cars running from their victims in the road. We have to find tows and clear it.

They deploy tear gas taking people from parks. We have to clean up and help those hurt.

They harass and stalk schools, taking kids with impunity. They approach our school patrols pretending to be locals to get info.

They kill and are protected.

They do not care if the people they take are actually what they're told to look for, they just take brown people and those that piss them off.

They took Native-Americans and have not returned them.

This is ethnic cleansing and it is done at the behest of a white supremacist administration hunting brown people.

This has not stopped. There is no draw down.

Please stop arguing over the KIND of fascism this is and start rattling cages in DC to abolish this bullshit.

This is not a fucking drill.

Over on the funny side, our first place winner is terribly tired with a comment about a line in one of the federal rulings calling out the administration's immigration bullshit:

Holy old fuck, she pounds X is a wild-ass sentence to be reading in the real god damn world.

Couldn't have made it sound more like an addictive substance if I tried.

In second place, it's dfbomb again, this time with a comment on our post about news websites bringing back comment sections:

Is there irony in the urge for me to shitpost in the comments on this one?

Things are still pretty slow on the funny side (for reasons that continue to be obvious), so we'll stick to just one editor's choice — a very simple answer to the question of why the CIA shut down the Factbook, this time from an anonymous commenter:

Oh, that's easy. They shut it down because it has facts in it.

That's all for this week, folks!

The longtime punk musician also played with Debbie Harry in an early iteration of Blondie

Keir Starmer's appalling chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has quit. According to 'mainstream' media, Starmer hopes this will ease the pressure that he has been under from the ongoing Mandelson scandal. If he really thinks this, he's more hopeless than we thought - and that's a tough bar to cross.

McSweeney: a horror

McSweeney is a horror. Undeclared donations from the Israel lobby, spying on journalists, covert campaigns to destroy media that highlight his boss's crimes, deep connections with genocidal Israel and a coordinated sabotage campaign to prevent Labour winning the 2019 general election. His fingerprints are on all of it.

McSweeney's success in the 2019 general election saw hundreds of thousands die under Boris Johnson's 'pile the bodies high' decision to let covid run rampant. His success in the 2020 Labour leadership election led to UK collaboration in Israel's Gaza genocide. Not only that, but a war on Britain's children, its poor and the rights of its people.

But in none of that was Starmer innocent. If he's weak enough to be led by the nose by such a horror - and who would be surprised? - he's unfit for office. If he were proactively involved in those decisions, he's unfit for office. Either way, he's unfit for office. Either way, he belongs in the dock and then in prison.

Either way, he's hated by the public and in the end the buck stops with him. Advisers advise, (prime) ministers decide.

The most hated PM ever?

McSweeney's departure only moves Starmer a big step closer to the exit door and a place in history as the most hated PM ever. Even more than Thatcher, and that's saying something - because he's hated on the left and right alike. Starmer is a dead man walking - but who is there in his party to replace him who's any better? None, at least none with any intention of standing - the party is too stuffed with brylcreem-a-likes and mini-hims for a change at the top to help it.

Starmer will be lucky to last until the Gorton and Denton by-election later this month. If he clings on, the almost certain third place - at best - his NHS-privatiser candidate will manage will see him gone.

As the saying goes, "For God's sake man, just go!" And take your rotted corpse of a party with you.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

PLUS: OpenClaw teams with VirusTotal; Crypto kidnappings in France; Critical vulns at SmarterMail; And more

Infosec In Brief So-hot-right-now AI assistant OpenClaw, which is very much not secure right now, has teamed up with security scanning service VirusTotal.…

After a better-than-expected opening weekend in theaters, box office for Amazon's "Melania"fell 67%.

Super. Bowles a strike. Against ChatGPT.

This is brilliant.

Here's a bonus post from the reliably contrary Gary Marcus.

Amazon MGM just released the final trailer for its upcoming film starring Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Mary, and it provides our first good look at his five-legged alien co-star, Rocky. The movie adapts a 2021 Andy Weir (The Martian) novel of the same name, and follows Dr. Ryland Grace, a scientist who wakes up on a spacecraft far from Earth with no recollection of how he got there or why, only to discover he's on a seemingly impossible mission to stop an extinction event. 

If you've read the book, you already know we're in for an emotional rollercoaster with this one, and the latest trailer aptly tugs at our heartstrings with a glimpse of the friendship that grows between Grace and an alien he meets after waking up — and the incredibly high stakes they're facing. The movie will be released nationwide on March 20, but Amazon announced alongside this trailer that it'll be offering tickets for early screenings in premium formats including IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX and 70MM to Prime members. Those screenings will begin on March 16, and tickets go on sale February 20 through Fandango. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-final-trailer-for-project-hail-mary-is-here-and-its-an-emotional-ride-213444765.html?src=rss

If you loved 'A Cure for Wellness,' Verbinski's take on 'BioShock' might've been exactly your kind of movie had it actually gotten made.

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Motorcycles, adventure, nostalgia, and impeccable taste—these are the hallmarks of Malle London. Run by Robert Nightingale and Jonny Cazzola, the British company not only produces stylish moto gear, but also runs myriad events and rallies to put that gear through its paces. So every piece they make ...

Official documents released by the US Department of Justice show that prosecutors prepared their announcement of Jeffrey Epstein's death a day before it happened.

As Skwawkbox has already covered, the same file release proves that an anonymous message board post, sent before the 'death' was made public by someone who claimed to be a prison officer guarding Epstein, was indeed posted by one of the prison guards on duty that night. The guard said that Epstein had been secretly removed from his cell — alive — and taken away in an ambulance whose arrival had not been pre-booked or recorded afterward.

Epstein — another plot twist

Now, another official file in the release (archived here) shows the draft announcement on Epstein's death prepared by US Attorney's Office in southern New York. Except that the draft is dated 9 August 2019 — a day before Epstein's 'death':

This is not a mere typo, and not just because a bad typist would have had to hit two digits for '10' instead of one for '9'. The draft's day of the week is also wrong — Friday instead of Saturday. Epstein's body was not discovered until 6.30am on 10 August. It seems vanishingly unlikely that someone drafting the announcement would have forgotten what day of the week it was.

The draft was dated Saturday 10 August when it was eventually released. Epstein's 'death' was officially ruled a suicide by hanging despite the prison's failure to produce a noose or ligature. The body examined by independent doctors also had a fracture to the hyoid bone of the body, a sign of manual strangulation rather than hanging. However, many have observed apparent differences in the facial features of the body compared to Epstein, particularly in the nose and, where it would be very hard to hide, in the ears. The government was also found to have heavily edited prison CCTV footage of the area around Epstein's cell.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

China's aluminum manufacturing CO2 emissions likely peaked in 2024, not because production collapsed or because a single policy suddenly bit, but because the structure of where aluminum is made and how it is made changed in ways that compound over time. Aluminum is a useful material to examine because it ... [continued]

The post Why China's Aluminum Industry May Have Reached Peak CO2 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

It might be near impossible to be a kid these days without a smartphone, but AT&T wants to offer parents a decent compromise. The wireless carrier launched its AmiGO Jr. Phone, which combines Samsung hardware and AT&T's app, to offer kids a smartphone that has parental controls baked right in.

The AmiGO Jr. Phone is just a Samsung Galaxy A16, which still remains a solid budget smartphone pick with a 50-megapixel main camera, a 6.7-inch display and reliable battery life. However, AT&T tweaked the Samsung hardware into its kid-friendly smartphone by including features like live location tracking, safe zones and screentime restrictions that can be controlled via the AmiGO app. It's not the first time we've seen a smartphone with parental controls, since competitors like Bark and Pinwheel have been on the market for a couple of years now, but it's the first time a major mobile carrier is offering its own standalone product.

As for the AmiGO Jr. Phone, it's now available on AT&T's website for $3 a month, but you'll have to commit to a 36-month contract that provides bill credits. You still have to pay for your monthly service charges as an AT&T customer, but it'll be cheaper than buying a Galaxy A16 outright for $200. For even more security, AT&T also launched its AmiGO Jr. Watch 2 to expand its ecosystem that already includes a tablet designed for kids.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/atts-budget-friendly-phone-for-kids-was-designed-with-parental-controls-in-mind-202200139.html?src=rss

The purchase rewrites the domain record books -- not that the crypto industry has ever been accused of restraint when it comes to spending.

At least 15 governments on the continent are planning social media bans inspired by Australia.

Ryan Gosling stars in 'Project Hail Mary,' the latest film from directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, out March 20.

But this is still a bad idea.

Get ready to fall in love with Alex Ross' art all over again in the upcoming story, 'Marvel Dimensions.'

It's about that time. Apple is gearing up for a slew of hardware announcements that will include upgrades for the entry-level iPad, iPad Air, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, according to Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter. In line with what we've seen in recent years, Gurman reports, "A product launch is currently slated for as early as the week of March 2."

Apple unveiled the M5 MacBook Pro in October, bringing the chip first to the 14-inch model. With the coming announcements, we should see the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips finally arrive. Gurman notes that new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are on the way, along with a new MacBook Air. We're also likely to see new iPads soon. A new entry-level iPad will be able to support Apple Intelligence thanks to the inclusion of the A18 chip, and the iPad Air will be getting the M4, according to Gurman. 

Updates to the Mac Studio and Studio Display are expected to follow, as well as a Mac mini refresh down the line this year. As Gurman previously reported, Apple is also said to be releasing its first "low-cost MacBook" sometime in the very near future.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/we-may-see-apples-new-ipads-and-macbooks-in-only-a-matter-of-weeks-192953977.html?src=rss

Steam is adding a little more transparency when it comes to Early Access games. Announced in a blog post, Steam introduced a new feature for game developers to add the exact date of when their game would leave Early Access and see a version 1.0 launch. According to Steam, this feature stems from developers who requested a way to display an official launch date.

While games still in Early Access give eager players a way to experience the early stages of a title and contribute towards the development, some games have been stalled in this phase for years. With this new feature, players can see a precise launch date displayed on the game's store page just underneath the Early Access Game note. However, game devs can choose a specific date or a more vague timeframe, including displaying only the year of the expected release.

Steam

In the blog post, Steam noted that this feature was optional for developers, adding, "just because this feature exists, does not mean you should or must use it." Steam also said that game devs should only offer their player base a concrete date if there's a "very high degree of confidence."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/steam-now-lets-developers-display-the-exact-date-of-when-their-game-leaves-early-access-190413701.html?src=rss

Gaza is dying every day. Its hospitals are collapsing, its doctors are overwhelmed, and the world remains largely silent.

Children are dying for lack of medicine. Patients are left untreated. Doctors are forced to decide who might live and who must be left to die. All of this is happening in full view of the United Nations and powerful states that respond with words instead of action.

This silence is not neutral. It is a profound moral failure.

Healthcare in Gaza has been reduced to survival triage. Hospitals have become places of delayed death. Essential medicines are running out. Electricity is repeatedly cut. Medical staff work under siege, exhaustion, and constant threat. Civilians are trapped between occupation on one side and international neglect on the other.

World is silent on Gaza

Why does the world remain silent? Because political alliances and economic interests are prioritised over civilian lives. Because Gaza is treated as a distant crisis rather than a humanitarian emergency unfolding in real time.

Every day without intervention becomes another day of systematic death. Doctors in Gaza face impossible conditions. They work through destruction, shortages, and trauma, while international support is delayed or blocked. Pressure on the occupying power remains minimal or symbolic.

This silence is not just political weakness. It is an insult to the idea of a global conscience.

The collapse of Gaza's healthcare system is not a natural disaster. It is a political and humanitarian crime carried out in plain sight. Every hour without medical supplies costs lives. Every day without action deepens impunity.

Gaza is not just a besieged enclave. It is a mirror held up to the world.

It asks a simple question of those who claim to defend human rights: why is the mass suffering of civilians tolerated while the world looks away?

The blood of Gaza is already answering. History will not measure morality by statements or sympathy, but by action. Every delay is another failure. Every silence is another verdict on humanity itself.

Featured image via AFP

By Alaa Shamali

Since 7 October 2023, reports indicate a dangerous shift in Israel's tactics in Gaza. Rather than relying solely on direct military force, Israel has increasingly used local collaborating militias.

These groups operate covertly within Palestinian society. Their roles include intelligence gathering, luring resistance members, and carrying out targeted assassinations under direct Israeli intelligence supervision.

The starting point: filmed confessions

An Al Jazeera investigation, broadcast on What Lies Beneath, marked a turning point. It featured filmed confessions from an agent arrested after an assassination operation in Gaza. The agent said he received direct orders from an Israeli intelligence officer. He was instructed to wear a hidden camera to document the killing.

The operation took place on 14 December 2025. The victim was an internal security officer reportedly responsible for monitoring collaborators.

Footage showed real-time communication between the agent and his handler. Instructions continued until the moment of execution, involving silenced weapons and electric bicycles.

Gaza — why militias instead of soldiers

Experts say Israel's reliance on militias reflects operational difficulty inside Gaza. Dense population and social cohesion make undercover Israeli units costly and risky.

Using local agents allows Israel to minimise losses. These agents are expendable if exposed, unlike regular soldiers.

Security data suggest many militia members were recruited from individuals with criminal backgrounds. During the war, they engaged in looting before being absorbed into intelligence operations.

In exchange, they were granted freedom of movement, protection, and tolerance for aid theft. Their personal interests were deliberately tied to organised violence.

"Yellow zones" and calculated chaos

Militia activity increasingly centres on so-called "yellow zones." There, they intimidate civilians and disrupt internal security.

Sources describe this as a strategy to exhaust Gaza's social fabric without direct military presence. Some groups now function as a de facto "shadow authority" for the occupation. These developments indicate a broader strategy of proxy warfare. Israel is shifting toward covert control, infiltration, and internal destabilisation.

This approach aims to fracture society itself, transforming daily life into a battleground of suspicion and fear.

Evidence shows these militias are now central to Israel's strategy in Gaza. Their continued use increases risks to civilian safety and social cohesion. Exposing and dismantling this system is urgent. It represents one of the most destructive aspects of the hidden war unfolding inside the Strip.

Featured image via WSJ

By Alaa Shamali

Authorities believe the would-be alleged thieves were being extorted by mysterious figures named "Red" and "8" who communicated with them over signal.

well shit.

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Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has enforced an unprecedented media blockade. Foreign journalists and international media outlets have been barred from entering the Strip.

This policy has become one of the longest media blackouts in a modern conflict. It raises urgent questions about Israel's motives and objectives.

Gaza — controlling the narrative and obscuring the truth

The ban on foreign journalists does not appear to be a temporary security measure. Instead, it functions as a systematic policy aimed at controlling the narrative of events in Gaza. Without independent international reporting, official Israeli accounts circulate with little scrutiny. This limits accountability and obscures the scale of destruction and civilian suffering.

In a war that has killed and wounded tens of thousands, the absence of international media has distorted global understanding and weakened factual reporting.

An intentional media vacuum

The ban on foreign journalists coincides with the direct targeting of Palestinian reporters inside Gaza. Together, these actions create a deliberate media vacuum. This severely limits source diversity and restricts reporting to a narrow range of perspectives. It prevents independent investigations based on eyewitness testimony and on-the-ground verification.

Observers argue this vacuum is deliberate, designed to reduce coverage and limit international accountability.

Obstructing documentation and legal accountability

Human rights and press freedom organisations warn that blocking media access hinders documentation of violations against civilians.

Without international journalists present, collecting the visual and forensic evidence needed for legal cases becomes far more difficult. This weakens prospects for accountability in international courts.

The media blackout is therefore seen as a tool to delay justice and entrench impunity. Israel cites security concerns to justify the ban. However, international press organisations—including the Foreign Press Association—say no credible security rationale exists.

The controversy has deepened due to the Israeli Supreme Court repeatedly postponing rulings on petitions demanding media access. These delays rely on classified evidence that cannot be challenged.

Journalists view this as a continuation of the ban under a legal veneer.

Gaza — a clear violation of press freedom

Press unions and human rights groups say the ban violates Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Both guarantee freedom of expression and the right to receive and impart information without restriction.

Media experts warn that normalising such bans sets a dangerous precedent for future conflicts. With Gaza still closed to foreign journalists, the conflict extends beyond military force into media, legal, and ethical realms. The blackout is not incidental. It is a central mechanism to conceal the war's consequences and keep cameras away from one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times.

As more than 2.4 million Palestinians remain trapped in Gaza, calls are growing to break the blockade. Allowing journalists in is now seen as a moral and professional imperative—to ensure the world sees Gaza without filters or omission.

featured image via EBU

By Alaa Shamali

At a moment when the ceasefire was meant to open a path back to normal life in the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation forces continue to impose military control over more than half of the territory. This policy has emptied the declared truce of substance, kept civilians under constant threat, and prevented hundreds of thousands of people from returning to their homes.

Field data indicate that large areas of Gaza have effectively been turned into no-go zones. These lie between the so-called yellow line and zones of direct fire control.

In these areas, repeated shooting and constant intimidation persist, making them unfit for safe living despite the announcement of a ceasefire.

Areas of life under military control

The areas under Israeli control include some of the most vulnerable parts of Gaza. They contain the Strip's primary agricultural lands, which many families rely on for food. They also include most of the main water wells and the central water network supplying the territory. Control over these areas has become a tool of collective pressure, affecting access to both food and water.

As a result, agricultural activity has almost completely ground to a halt. Livelihoods have been destroyed at a time when hunger and thirst are rapidly increasing and the humanitarian crisis is deepening.

Gaza — a ceasefire with no humanitarian impact

Despite the announcement of a ceasefire, conditions on the ground show that humanitarian obligations are not being met.

Shooting continues, and access to residential and agricultural areas remains blocked. Around one million Palestinians are unable to return to their homes. Tens of thousands of families remain forcibly displaced within the Strip, stranded without safety or stability.

The truce has become a formality, as a new reality is imposed through military control, forced displacement, and the prevention of return. This approach is reshaping Gaza's demographic and geographic landscape.

Systematic policy of displacement and starvation

The so-called yellow zone is used as a launch point for continuous fire into residential areas.

This forms part of a broader policy aimed at forcing displacement, preventing reconstruction or resettlement, and using starvation by denying access to food and water as a means of pressure. Humanitarian indicators warn that continuing this policy risks a large-scale disaster. Its effects may extend beyond Gaza, given the near-total collapse of basic living conditions and the worsening situation of displaced civilians.

Gaza — Calls for urgent international action

Against this backdrop, calls are growing for effective international intervention. Advocates are demanding genuine enforcement of the ceasefire, an end to military control by fire, and guarantees for civilian protection.

They are also calling for the right of displaced people to return safely to their homes and for the restoration of the minimum conditions required for life and human dignity.

Featured image via Xinhua News Agency

By Alaa Shamali

Cook and Trump seem to have a difference of opinion on immigration.

Apple is keeping the entry level for iPhones at $599, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest Power On report, Gurman said that the iPhone 17e is "due imminently" and will keep the same price as its predecessor.

Considering we're about a year away from the iPhone 16e's announcement, we're due for a successor to Apple's more affordable smartphone. According to Gurman, Apple upgraded the new budget-friendly iPhone with MagSafe charging and the A19 chip that's seen in the iPhone 17 base model. The iPhone 17e will also get Apple's latest in-house cellular and wireless chips, Gurman reported. 

In our review of the iPhone 16e, we weren't particularly sold because of its limited camera capabilities, particularly when compared to the iPhone 17's release a few months later. However, for the same $599 price, Apple's iPhone 17e is getting a few notable upgrades and will compete with Google's Pixel 10a. More specifically, Gurman expects Apple to target the emerging economies and enterprise demographics with the iPhone 17e. While Apple faces a lot more competition in overseas markets, iPhone sales have been experiencing a resurgence in China. Apple is even forecasting strong sales for iPhones across Asia, especially in China and India.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-iphone-17e-will-reportedly-bring-some-key-upgrades-without-raising-the-price-174154577.html?src=rss

Hedgehogs, those prickly mammals with a pointed nose, are popular, especially in fiction. There's Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Beatrix Potter's industrious washerwoman with kind and twinkling eyes; hedgehogs formed the croquet balls in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; and perhaps most famously, they star in the Japanese video game, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Hedgehog Walk Logo ©2026 Aardman Animations Ltd used with permission

Yet in real life hedgehogs are disappearing fast - in fact they are vulnerable to extinction in the UK. The Wildlife Trusts report that there are now thought to be fewer than 1 million left. 

To raise awareness, the Hedgehog Walk is returning from 30 March to 30 April. The aim is to fundraise to create more safe spaces for hedgehogs to thrive. The challenge set by the Wildlife Trusts is to walk or wheel 3km - the same distance a hedgehog roams in a night.

Impressive travellers

Three kilometres is approximately equal to 4,000 human steps. A hedgehog is typically only 15-25cm long, so I'll leave you to calculate how many hedgehog steps that is. Nevertheless, it is a very impressive nightly workout. In fact the sheer distance they may cover may be as much as 10-20 hectares - equivalent to around 14 to 28 football pitches in size. So in suburban areas, this means hedgehogs may range over entire housing estates and neighbourhoods.

Hedgehog foraging. (c) Nick Upton. Used with permission

Hedgehogs may be found in gardens, hedgerows, woodlands, grasslands, parks, railway land, wasteland and cemeteries. Increasingly, public and private gardens are becoming important habitats for hedgehogs as numbers fall in the countryside - that is, as long as they are joined up to create hedgehog highways.

"The best thing people can do for hedgehogs in gardens is to create wild spaces for them," says conservation biologist Dr Rebecca Thomas of Royal Holloway, University of London. These are areas where they can over-winter, mate, travel and live safely. Common man-made hazards include poisonous slug pellets, garden strimmers near nest sites, tennis and garden netting which cause entanglement and eventual starvation, and water features and swimming pools that lack several gently sloping slipways resulting in the hedgehog drowning.

"We can help hedgehogs to roam by leaving a small gap under our gates, or a hole in a fence or hedge." says Lea Ellis, Engagement Manager at Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. "This enables them to move more freely between our gardens and green spaces, supports their populations and cuts down the risk of road incidents."

Some facts

A hedgehog's lifespan can be from 2 to 5 years. They have been known to live as long as 10 years. An adult has between 5,000 and 7,000 spines, which are really modified hairs, and a hedgehog has a small tail.

Hedgehog in its nest image by W.Carter. CC BY-SA 4.0

They are nocturnal, tending to hibernate between November and March. Leaving wild areas with a stack of leaves or branches will help attract a hedgehog to your garden. They like to nest under sheds, hedges and brushwood - which is why there is always advice about checking under bonfire piles before setting alight.

Hedgehogs sometimes give birth to hoglets late in the year. In such cases there may not be enough time to build up sufficient fat reserves to survive hibernation. Excepting pregnant females or nursing mothers which may occasionally appear, typically a hedgehog that is out in the daytime or looking drunk, lethargic or is covered in flies is in need of help.

Should you choose to feed hedgehogs, meaty cat or dog food or dry cat biscuits is advised. The only drink that should be offered is water - especially in dry weather and when offering dry food.

Timmy and Apricot Timmy and Apricot. ©2026 Aardman Animations Ltd. Used with permission

The Wildlife Trusts have joined forces with Aardman Animations Ltd, who produce Timmy Time to encourage children to learn about hedgehogs and become the "next generation of eco leaders, wildlife champions, and environmental changemakers". The titular character, Timmy, is the smallest sheep, and friend Apricot is a very quiet and skittish hoglet who rolls up into a ball when startled or frightened.

Children (and adults) who sign up for the Hedgehog Walk will receive a downloadable Timmy Time-themed activity pack with engaging resources, including posters, activity sheets, fact sheets and tracking timelines to help mark their 3km milestone.

As the Hedgehog Walk challenge takes place during the same time hedgehogs start to come out of hibernation, the Wildlife Trusts hope that taking part will help make a difference, really raise awareness of the hedgehogs' plight and stop their decline.

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More from East Anglia Bylines Environment Plans for new wildlife hospital rejected despite urgent need byEast Anglia Bylinesand1 others 15 January 2026 Climate From green to grey: why 'growth at all costs' is threatening British wildlife byDavid Jobbins 22 January 2026 Activism How to help nature thrive in your neighbourhood byGlyn Evans 18 November 2025 Environment The magic of planting your garden for wildlife byMichelle Walkling 13 November 2024

 

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Compounding this bogus sense of popularity, video content creators and streamers can deploy bots to inflate their numbers. Indeed, the 'dead internet theory' posits that most of the internet's users are bots unknowingly interacting with other bots, not real people. Only recently, a rap-battle-worn Drake was accused of helping to promote an illegal gambling operation and funnelling the proceeds "to a third party, in Australia, to invest in bot farms that illegally boost Drake's streaming numbers". Bot farms are cheap and scalable. Other techniques propagandists can make use of are coordinated posting schedules where they pay loads of people to post about something at the same time. Such mercenary posters and bots can then practise comment flooding to boost the engagement velocity, artificially convincing people to believe something is a trending topic. A campaign that uses all the aforementioned techniques to create consensus is known as 'astroturfing', which creates the illusion of a grassroots movement.

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