A mangrove conservation project in Guanabara Bay has shown how a dying ecosystem can be transformed into a thriving sanctuary
With deep blue waters flanked by dramatic peaks, Guanabara Bay is the postcard view of Rio de Janeiro - but it is also one of Brazil's most polluted coastal environments. Raw sewage and solid waste flow into the bay from surrounding cities, home to more than 8 million people. Cargo ships and oil platforms chug in and out of commercial ports, while dozens of abandoned vessels lie rotting in the water.
But at the head of the bay, between the cities of Itaboraí and Magé, the environment feels different. The air is purer, the waters are empty but for small fishing canoes, and flocks of birds soar overhead.
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Related to collapse as the current political climate in the US is very detrimental to nuclear safety. The risks of someone doing something very idiotic leading to use of nukes is very much worse in a multipolar unregulated 'might makes right' world.
submitted by /u/RBZRBZRBZRBZ[link] [comments]
Microsoft has made OneDrive agents generally available, allowing users to query multiple documents simultaneously through Copilot instead of just one at a time.…
Clean, renewable energy is cost competitive with fossil fuels, and in some cases costs less. Factoring in all the costs, including climate change impacts and harm to human health from fossil fuels, clean renewables make even more sense. In some cases where remote communities need to be able to generate ... [continued]
The post Solar Power Provides Benefits To Northern Cheyenne & Kenyan Communities appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Alex Marquez fends off Bezzecchi as sun sets on Sepang Test. The 2025 GP winner is top but 'Bez' is hot on the chase as testing concludes in Malaysia.
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) remains top of the pile as action concludes at Sepang, with the #73 - who won the Grand Prix in Malaysia last year - having just enough in hand to edge out Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) in second after a late push. Completing the top three is Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) after three days of interesting testing, with plenty to talk about beyond one-lap pace.
Marc Marquez (93) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (49) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Dorna.
BK8 GRESINI RACING MOTOGP, DUCATI LENOVO TEAM, PERTAMINA ENDURO VR46 RACING TEAM:
The fastest Sprint simulation of the day went to 2025 silver medallist Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) who, upon completion of his 10-lap Sprint trial, had an average lap time of a 1'58.027. He ended the day fastest too with a 1'56.402; the #73 is very much in the groove at the track where he was victorious at last year.
Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) ran the 2025 front aero on both bikes during the morning and sampled elements of the 2026 aero package. However, the #93 suffered his first crash of the year at Turn 1 but was perfectly OK. For teammate Francesco Bagnaia, he stated he felt more comfortable than at any point throughout the Grand Prix weekend in October whilst also declaring which aero package he preferred. Interestingly, over a 10-lap Sprint simulation, the #63 had the upper-hand over his teammate, leaving food for thought within the factory Ducati squad. It's fourth for Marquez and sixth for Bagnaia across the three days, attention turns to Buriram's test.
Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was another Ducati rider who fell, crashing at Turn 14. The Italian's work focused mainly on adapting to the GP25 which he inherits for the new season and he ended the test in seventh across all days - with Diggia on the GP26 in that top three.
Marco Bezzecchi (72) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Dorna
APRILIA RACING & TRACKHOUSE MOTOGP TEAM:
Bezzecchi ends the test second and as top Aprilia after a busy few days, topping the final session of Thursday. We've seen new aero options for the seat unit - call it what you want but it is certainly innovative - and despite being a full-time rider down with Jorge Martin's (Aprilia Racing) absence, the Noale factory can leave buoyed by their breakthroughs. The final day saw the #72's Sprint simulation end in the high 1'58s but at a circuit they've historically struggled at, they can say they're back in BEZness.
In the Trackhouse camp, Raul Fernandez was their shining light as he finished seventh on the final day and P10 overall in what was a complete contrast to his 2025 testing struggles and subsequent day one crash. On the other side, Ai Ogura's incremental improvements saw him finish P12 overall with a focus shifting to the place where the Japanese rider got his best result of 2025: Buriram.
Joan Mir (36) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Dorna
HONDA HRC CASTROL & HONDA LCR:
After Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) topped Day 2's timesheets, the final day of testing in Sepang was a little trickier for HRC in general, with both the 2020 World Champion and teammate Luca Marini saying the lower grip conditions after Wednesday's rain caused them to run into a few more issues. Still, the vibes are positive and a stride forward has been made in all areas with the 2026 RC213V. And, importantly, they've found gains with the engine that needs to be homologated for the season now HRC are in Rank C of the concessions. At the end of the three days, Mir finished P5 overall after his 1:56.8 and Marini P13.
For Castrol Honda LCR's Johann Zarco and Pro Honda LCR's Diogo Moreira there was plenty to talk about too. Speaking at the end of six days of testing in Malaysia, including the three-day Shakedown, it's safe to say the Brazilian rookie was tired. However, the #11 was very happy with his progress. The braking area is somewhere Moreira is particularly pleased with, and the reigning Moto2 World Champion also mentioned that he and the team are happy with the base set up they've found.
On the other side of the box, Zarco - like the factory duo - has been feeding us positivity about the new package for the entire test. He was P16 overall on the standings.
Enea Bastianini (23) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Tech3 Racing
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING & RED BULL KTM TECH3:
It's just 0.010 between Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) on the combined timesheets from the whole test as they slot into P8 and P9. It's been a busy test and seemingly a positive one, with Viñales still saying that after trying out lots of different directions on Day 3, it's the first setup he tried that he'd want to stay with - and he'd be happy to roll out for the GP in Buriram with it. He crashed near the end of play but rider ok.
Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) ends the test in P11, less than half a second off Raul Fernandez ahead of him, who split him from Acosta and Viñales. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory) also said it was coming together and was P15 on the combined times, saying he didn't put a lap together at full push.
Alex Rins (42) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Dorna
MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP & PRIMA PRAMAC YAMAHA MOTOGP:
There was great news from the off on Day 3: yes, the Iwata marque were going to run. They sat out Day 2 until they could diagnose the cause - knowing, according to Technical Director Max Bartolini, what the issue was at least. Having got Japan on the task from Asian time on Day 2 joined by their base in Italy as Europe woke up later in the day by the time action began on Thursday.
Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was top Yamaha in P14 over all, Fabio Quartararo actually 17th on the timesheets from Day 1. Prima Pramac Racing's Jack Miller and rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu were a little further back in P18 and P19 overall.
For full results, click HERE - as that's a wrap on the Sepang Test. Swingarms, chassis, new aero front and rear… there's been a little of everything up and down pitlane and, lest we overlook, an entirely new bike at Yamaha in the YZR-M1. Now we're off into the city for the Season Launch in Kuala Lumpur and switch racing suits for a little black tie… but we'll be back on track soon as Buriram awaits in two weeks.
Then, it's time to get suited and booted for a record-breaking 22-GP calendar.
More from a press release issued by BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP:
Alex Marquez fastest over the three days in Sepang.
- DAY1:
FP1 - 1'57.487 - 31 laps
FP2 - 1'58.169 - 18 laps
- DAY2:
FP3 - 1'57.664 - 22 laps
FP4 - 1'58.094 - 5 laps
- DAY3:
FP5 - 1'56.404 - 31 Laps
FP6 - 1'57.295 - 14 Laps
Alex Marquez tops day 3 at Sepang. Photo courtesy BK8 Gresini Team
Alex Marquez (1'56.404s - 121 laps): "It's always good to finish the tests with the fastest time. The feeling is positive, and we also did some good things in the sprint simulation. We tried a lot and worked well, but it's still just a test. The important thing was to finish these three days in good physical shape, and we managed to do that. Now we'll have the Buriram tests to try other solutions and fine-tune everything ahead of the start of the Championship."
More from a press release issued bu Honda HRC Castrol:
Honda HRC Castrol content with first outing of 2026.
Ninth and 16th for Joan Mir and Luca Marini on the final day of the Sepang Test, both pleased with the progress made and keen to return to the track at the pending Buriram Test.
Three days and some 265 laps later, the first test of the 2026 season has come and gone with Honda HRC Castrol collecting a wealth of data to analyse over the coming weeks. Hard work was rewarded with several moments of bright potential across the Sepang Test, Joan Mir and Luca Marini ultimately leaving satisfied with what they accomplished and motivated for what is to come.
Ending the ultimate day in ninth, Joan Mir concluded Thursday as the top Honda as all his competitors chased one off fast laps. Mir's 1'56.874 from Wednesday morning remains as his quickest lap of the weekend and places him in the top five overall. A confidence building test for the 2020 World Champion who is aiming to start 2026 as he ended the previous season and once again battle for the podium.
Luca Marini leaves Malaysia having progressed with all areas of the Honda RC213V and despite ending the final day in 16th, he remains confident in the changes made by engineers over the winter. Less the two seconds split the top 18 riders on the final day, just a few tenths making a big difference in the standings. The unique layout of the Buriram Circuit will give the #10 another opportunity to assess the 2026 package in different conditions and further improve his feeling.
Now both Mir and Marini will head to Kuala Lumpur city centre for the MotoGP Season Launch. After that, just the Buriram Test awaits before the year truly begins with the Thai GP.
Joan Mir (36) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Honda HRC
Joan Mir: "Today we were able to do a longer run, a bit more than a Sprint Race distance. Our pace was quite good, but today we saw the other riders make a step as well, so we need to remain focused and keep working. We've made a step over last year, but everyone else has been working hard as well. The position is not super important today, we had to adapt our plan and cut out our time attack, so it was not as impressive as yesterday. If tomorrow was a race, we can be there in the top five."
Luca Marini (10) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Honda HRC
Luca Marini: "We improved the bike with another step today, a satisfying end to the three days but like always - everyone else has made a step. The situation is similar to the GP last year in terms of the gap, so we have to work well in Thailand in a few weeks. We will have a couple of new things in Thailand as well, so there's still plenty to do before the first race. It's just the first test and people are always playing a bit, so we will wait to see what happens at the first race. Looking forward to it. Thanks to the team for their hard work of the winter and this test."
More from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Wrap Up Sepang Test Day 3 in P12 & P21st.
After sitting out Day 2 of the Malaysia MotoGP Official Test, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team were back in action on Day 3. Álex Rins and Augusto Fernández (replacing the injured Fabio Quartararo) wrapped up testing in 12th and 21st place respectively in the overall Day 3 rankings.
Following overnight investigations in Japan and Italy into the technical issue encountered on Day 1 of the Malaysia MotoGP Official Test, Yamaha returned to action on Day 3. Álex Rins and Augusto Fernández (replacing the injured Fabio Quartararo) completed a productive day on track, finishing 12th and 21st respectively in today's timesheets.
Rins posted a 1'57.580s best time in Session 1 on lap 11/26. As the majority of the rider field didn't improve their times in the afternoon, that lap was fast enough to earn him 12th position in today's classification, 1.178s from first. Completing 10 laps in Session 2 brought his Day-3 lap tally up to 36.
Fernández took on bike development duties for the injured Quartararo, making the test rider part of the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team for the day. Fernández only took part in the morning session. His best time, a 1'59.278s set on lap 19/20, had him place 21st in the Day 3 rankings and in the combined results, 2.876s from the top.
The team will now travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the MotoGP Launch event, held from 6-7 February. The team will be back in action on track on 21-22 February for the Thailand MotoGP Official Test in Buriram.
Alex Rins (42) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Monster Energy Yamaha
Alex Rins: "We have been able to test all the items that we had to try here in Sepang during the Shakedown Test and the IRTA Test and made a selection of items we like for Buriram. Unfortunately, because of a technical issue and safety precaution, we couldn't ride yesterday, losing some time on track. Luckily, today we were able to ride again, and we completed our plans. We will work more on settings in Buriram."
Massimo Meregalli: "It has been a productive test. We have been able to evaluate most of the items that we had scheduled to try here. We chose the main topics for this test, like chassis, rear arm, and aerodynamics, with which we will start the Buriram Test - and this was the priority. Even though we were forced to temporarily halt the test due to a technical issue that occurred on Day 1, we were able to understand the cause and could finish today's test thanks to the big effort of the engineers here in Malaysia as well as in Japan and Italy. What we didn't have time for was fine-tuning the set-ups, which we will, of course, move to the Buriram Test."
More from a press release issued by Prima Pramac Yamaha:
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Team finishes intense days of winter testing in Sepang.
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP concluded the three days of Official MotoGP Winter Testing at Sepang, completing an intense programme of evaluation and development. Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu faced a demanding learning curve with the new bike — and, for Razgatlıoğlu, a completely new environment — but collected positive feedback across a wide range of set-ups tested during the Sepang test.
Gino Borsoi - Team Director: "During the Shakedown, to be honest, things went quite well and we completed all the work we had planned. The three days here were not easy — especially for Toprak — with the conditions and the high temperatures in Malaysia, but they both managed the workload well and we brought home important information. Going into the Official Test, we honestly expected to do a little better. In the two days we were out on the track, we were able to run and continue evaluating the material Yamaha provided. Our goal was not to chase lap time, but to build stability in performance. On the final day we found some improvements and, from a chassis point of view, the bike is quite competitive and works very well. It's clear that we are still missing some top speed, but Yamaha is already working on this, so we're not concerned."
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (7) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Prima Pramac Yamaha
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: "It's still difficult for me and the learning curve is steep, but the feedback we're getting is positive and we're making progress. I'm trying to understand where I need to improve and also how much I need to adapt my riding style to this bike. Jack helped me a lot today — I followed him for a few laps to understand how to approach some corners that are still tricky for me. I was hoping to get into the 1'57s and even though I felt fast, the lap time didn't come yet. But I'm pushing every day to learn and improve, and I'm already looking forward to continuing this work at the next test in Buriram."
Jack Miller (43) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Prima Pramac Yamaha
Jack Miller: "It wasn't an easy day, but these things are part of the process. If you expect everything to run smoothly, you're being naïve — we're pushing the most high-performance machines in the world to their limits. Sometimes you need to pause, reassess what's needed and then get back to work. Of course I would have liked a bit more from this test, but I really believe the bike still has plenty of potential. The last few days were busy, with a lot of parts going on and off the bike, and the key is not just trying things, but properly analysing what works, what doesn't and where you can find a compromise for the future.
More from a press release issued by Pro Honda LCR:
Pro Honda LCR rider Diogo Moreira finished 19th on Thursday at the Sepang Test.
- Brazilian rider Diogo Moreira completed his first official test, which allowed him to continue getting to know the bike and learning.
- Today, Diogo completed a total of 46 laps, which, added to the 34 on Wednesday and the 39 on Tuesday, brings the total to 119 laps of hard work over three days.
- The rider admits that, after the Shakedown and the Sepang Test, he is pleased with the work done and motivated ahead of the next test in Buriram, as he has already felt improvements and gained important learnings at the beginning of his MotoGP journey.
Diogo Moreira (11) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Pro Honda LCR.
Diogo Moreira 19th - (1'58.476): "I'm happy but exhausted, these days have been intense! I've understood many things, we've done many laps, and the progress has been positive. My feeling on the bike improved day by day, and especially today, I felt good riding it. I believe we've found our base setup, and this is great. I still need to do more hours on the bike and improve, but everything will come. We are happy and motivated!"
More from a press release issued by Castrol Honda LCR:
Castrol Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco finished 15th on Thursday at the Sepang Test.
- French rider Johann Zarco and his crew ended the Sepang Test with consistent and positive feelings after some initial struggles.
- Today, Johann completed a total of 58 laps, which, added to the 33 on Wednesday and the 60 on Tuesday, brings the total to 151 laps of hard work over three days.
- The rider admits that the bike has improved and that, with a few adjustments, he is confident he will have a lot of fun, a positive sign heading into the Buriram Test.
Johann Zarco (5) at Sepang, day 3. Photo courtesy Castrol Honda LCR
Johann Zarco 15th - (1'57.601): "I finished this Sepang test on a positive note. We had an intense afternoon today; we rode non-stop, and the feeling was good. Overall, I struggled at the beginning of the test, but we managed to solve the issues and finish in a good way. Since yesterday, we've been more consistent, and that's important. We struggled a bit with tyre drop, but it was the same for everyone. The bike has improved, and now we're just trying to find the right balance. Let's keep working like this."
The post MotoGP: A.Marquez Puts Ducati on Top on Day 3 at Sepang appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.
The Bundeskartellamt, or the Federal Cartel Office of Germany, has prohibited Amazon from continuing its practice of using mechanisms to control the prices charged by sellers on its platform in the country. Germany's competition regulator explained that the company uses "various price control mechanisms" to review prices set by third-party Markerplace sellers. If the website deems a specific listing's pricing as too high, it allegedly removes the listing altogether or prevents it from being prominently displayed in the Buy Box section that lets you quickly purchase items. If those listings aren't removed completely, they're banished to less prominent sections like in the "See all buying options" and the "Other sellers on Amazon" lists. This reduced visibility could "lead to significant losses in sales" for sellers.
Amazon was found to have engaged in anti-competitive practices, because the company itself runs its own retail business and sells goods on the platform. That makes third-party sellers, which make up for 60 percent of the items sold on the website, direct competitors. Cartel Office president Andreas Mundt said Amazon must only be allowed to influence competitors' pricing "in the most exceptional cases," such as "in the event of excessive pricing." He didn't specify what the agency views as "excessive pricing," but he said allowing the company to continue its current practices will give it the power to "control the price level on the trading platform according to its own ideas." He also said that Amazon could use its mechanisms "to compete with the rest of the online retail sector outside"of its own website. Amazon's interference could lead to third-party sellers "no longer being able to cover their own costs, forcing them out of the Marketplace," he added.
Rocco Bräuniger, Amazon's country manager for Germany, told Bloomberg that the company will appeal the ruling and will continue operating as usual. "Amazon would be the only retailer in Germany forced to highlight non-competitive prices for customers," he said. "This makes no sense for customers, sales partners, or competition." He also asserted that the office's decision will throttle innovation in the European Union.
Amazon has been under scrutiny in Europe for years now. Back in 2022, it pledged not to use private sellers' data to compete with them in the Marketplace in the EU. It also promised to give sellers "equal treatment" when ranking them in the Buy Box section.
"The Bundeskartellamt considers this systematic interference in the Marketplace sellers' freedom to set their own prices to constitute an abuse under the special provisions for large digital companies (Section 19a(2) of the German Competition Act (GWB)) as well as a violation of the general abuse provisions under Section 19 GWB and Article 102 TFEU," the agency wrote. "…In these proceedings, the Bundeskartellamt has worked closely with the European Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the EU Regulation on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (Digital Markets Act)."
The agency is slapping Amazon with a fine due to those violations, but the $70 million penalty it's asking for is merely partial payment based on the economic benefits the company enjoyed from its alleged anti-competitive behaviors. According to the Bundeskartellamt, the identified antitrust violations are still ongoing, so Amazon may have to pay more.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-germany-fined-70-million-for-influencing-third-party-marketplace-pricing-140000588.html?src=rssLast week, a new social network was created and it's already gone very, very viral even though it's not meant for human users. I'm talking, of course, about Moltbook, a Reddit-like platform that's populated entirely by AI agents.
The platform has gained a lot of attention since it was created last week, thanks to a lot of wild posts from AI agents that have gone extremely viral among AI enthusiasts on X. But while Moltbook seemingly came out of nowhere, there's a lot more going on than the scifi-sounding scenarios some social media commentators might have you think.
What is Moltbook and where did it come from?Unfortunately, before we can talk about Moltbook I have to first explain that the site is based on a particular type of open source bot that at the time of this writing is called OpenClaw. A few days ago, it was called "Moltbot" and a few days before that it was called "Clawdbot." The name changes were prompted by Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, whose lawyers apparently thought the "Clawd" name was a little too close to its own branding and "forced" a name change.
ExpressVPN is launching a new cybersecurity suite consisting of four standalone products: a password manager called ExpressKeys, a masked email relay called ExpressMailGuard, an encrypted AI platform called ExpressAI and an app called Identity Defender that monitors public information for any threats to your identity. All four apps are being rolled into ExpressVPN's existing multi-tiered pricing structure.
ExpressKeys and ExpressMailGuard have officially launched and are now available to subscribers. Identity Defender launches for U.S. customers only on February 26. ExpressAI was originally planned to launch today, but ExpressVPN decided yesterday to hold it back in order to refine the experience. Its new launch date remains to be determined.
ExpressKeys and Identity Defender are based on existing products, but they're being relaunched for the new suite. ExpressKeys replaces ExpressVPN Keys, the password manager formerly controlled from the ExpressVPN app. By separating password management into its own app, ExpressVPN hopes to be able to update it more quickly without needing to ship a whole new version of the VPN. Everyone who currently has an Advanced or Pro subscription with ExpressVPN Keys will see it automatically replaced with ExpressKeys.
Identity Defender is only available in the United States, and so far only to users who created their accounts after October 28, 2024. Available for Advanced and Pro subscribers, Identity Defender consists of a data removal service, an identity theft insurance policy and a set of crawlers that scan for any suspicious activity around your personal information. Like ExpressKeys, it's transitioning from an integrated VPN feature to a standalone app.
ExpressMailGuard is a service for creating burner email addresses. If you're not comfortable handing over your real email address when creating a new account, you can use MailGuard to generate a fake address that forwards all email to your real inbox. If one of your aliases starts getting a lot of spam, you can cut off its access. It's managed through a separate dashboard that will be available to all ExpressVPN subscribers.
ExpressAI is an AI platform that saves all user-inputted data on strictly encrypted servers. It's apparently end-to-end encrypted, doesn't use your prompts to train its model and never saves uploads on persistent memory. It also has guardrails against processing harmful requests.
All these apps are in line with ExpressVPN's usual ethos. They're not innovations; all four can be easily compared to existing products. Instead, like the VPN itself — which rode this model to a spot on my best VPN list — they're focused on performing unsexy tasks well. The ability to bundle them with an ExpressVPN subscription should make them appealing to customers who are already fans of the core VPN product.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/expressvpn-launches-four-new-standalone-apps-140000686.html?src=rss
PC buyers can expect price hikes as chipmakers continue to prioritize AI production over all else, restricting the supply of key components across the tech industry.…
Rammed earth sourced from, or near, the grounds of a proposed building site is attracting attention as an eco-friendly construction material
From afar, the low-rise homestead perched in the Wiltshire countryside may look like any other rural outpost, but step closer and the texture of the walls reveal something distinct from the usual facade of cement, brick and steel.
The Rammed Earth House in the Cranborne Chase is one of the few projects in the UK that has been made by unstabilised rammed earth - a building material that consists entirely of compacted earth, and which has been used as far back as the Neolithic period.
Continue reading...On a recent trip to Lake Geneva in Switzerland, biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston witnessed the impact of one of the planet's most potent invasive species, the quagga mussel. In just a decade the mollusc, originally from the Ponto-Caspian region of the Black Sea, has caused irreversible change beneath the surface of the picturesque lake. While ecologists believe invasive species play a major role in more than 60% of plant and animal extinctions, stopping them in their tracks is almost impossible. Phoebe tells Madeleine Finlay how invasive species spread, how conservationists are trying combat them and why some think a radical new approach is needed.
'It's an open invasion': how millions of quagga mussels changed Lake Geneva for ever
Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod
Continue reading...
Sepang tests Day 2 update for our esteemed Oxley Bom #MotoGP podcast Patreon followers is a sound clash with the Paddock Pass podcast. It's all here, from the Yamaha disaster down…
Listen the podcast HERE.
The post Oxley Bom MotoGP Podcast: Wednesday From Sepang appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.
You will have to wait a bit longer before you can buy a Steam Machine — and you may have to pay more for one, too. Valve had intended to release the console-style SteamOS-powered device in early 2026, and AMD CEO Lisa Su just claimed that the company was on track to start shipping it soon. But in a new post detailing the latest updates for its upcoming Steam products, Valve has revealed that while it's still aiming to start selling the console in the first half of the year, it has yet to decide on concrete pricing and a launch date for it. The release of Valve's upcoming Steam Frame VR headset and controller will be delayed, as well.
Valve was hoping to be able to announce pricing and launch dates by now. The company cited industry-wide memory and storage shortages, which have grown since the Steam devices' announcement, as the culprit for the delay. It explained that it has to rethink their exact shipping schedules and pricing due to the limited availability and the rising prices of those components. "We will keep you updated as much as we can as we finalize those plans as soon as possible," Valve wrote. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, the artificial intelligence industry has been hoovering up manufacturers' available memory chips and hard drives for its infrastructure developments. That has led to shortages for other industries, like PCs and phones.
The Steam Machine is a compact cube-like PC for gaming powered by a semi-custom AMD CPU and GPU. Valve said during its announcement that it has "roughly six times the horsepower" of the Steam Deck and can support 4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR. In the new post, Valve said that majority of Steam titles played great at those settings during testing, though some required more upscaling than others and may fare better when played at a lower framerate to maintain a 1080p resolution. It also revealed that you will have easy access to the Machine's SSD and memory if you want to upgrade them. Meanwhile, the Steam Frame is a wireless, standalone VR headset that can play both PC and Android games.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/valve-pushes-back-steam-machine-launch-due-to-storage-and-memory-shortage-133000103.html?src=rssSony has now shipped 92.2 million PlayStation 5 consoles in total around the world, but sales were down sharply over the holiday season compared to last year. In its latest earnings report, the company said it shipped eight million PS5s during its key third quarter, 1.5 million (16 percent) lower than in the same period last year. The gaming division still made more profit, though, thanks to a boost in software sales and a low yen.
Sony's first two quarters this fiscal year saw an increase in PS5s sold, so the holiday decline is a bit surprising. That said, sales during the same period the previous year were an outlier at 9.5 million units sold, far and away its best period since the console went on sale in November 2020.
Software sales, however, were exceptional in Q3 this year. Sony sold 97.2 million games compared to 95.9 million the year before, and boosted digital sales to 76 percent, up 2 percent year-over-year. Sony said it also saw a record 132 million monthly active users on the PlayStation Network. New games on the horizon for PS5 include Resident Evil Requiem (February 27), Avowed (February 17) and Bungie's Marathon (March 5).
With PS5 sales down a bit, it does raise the question of when the company's next console is coming. The PS4 went seven years before being replaced, but given continued strong sales, high RAM prices and recent hardware updates, analysts figure that the PS5 is likely to have a longer life cycle. When the PS6 does arrive, however, it could offer triple the performance of the PS5.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sonys-holiday-ps5-sales-dropped-16-percent-compared-to-last-year-130000476.html?src=rss
Peace campaigners have held two days of protest to call attention to a controversial arms fair hosted by Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre (NEC).
There were no arrests outside the Specialist Defence and Security Convention (SDSC-UK) on 3-4 February. Although two protesters were carried off the site.
Actions by around 60 protesters included a mock drone attack 'die-in', street theatre from the Red Rebels, a silent vigil led by Quakers, interfaith prayers and drumming.
Arms fair 'not welcome'The Stop SDSC-UK campaign includes Quakers, Campaign Against Arms Trade and others. A spokesperson for the campaign said:
The SDSC-UK isn't just another exhibition, it's a showcase for companies that profit from war, human suffering, and corruption.
Weapons sold here end up being used against civilians in conflicts from Yemen to Gaza. This is not welcome in our city.
The SDSC-UK has faced protests in every community it has visited. Campaigners forced previous events out of the Three Counties Showground in 2023 and the Telford International Centre in 2025.
Notorious exhibitors at the arms fair have included:
- Thales, linked to arms used against civilians in West Papua and breaches of sanctions against Russia.
- BAE Systems, whose fighter-bombers have been used in Yemen and whose deals have been tied to massive bribery scandals.
- Qioptiq / Excelitas, providing military optics to regimes known for human rights abuses.
- L3 Harris, whose bomb racks have seen use in conflicts in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, and Libya.
- Elbit Systems, a key part of Israel's drone fleet involved in attacks condemned as potential genocide in Gaza.
An open letter to Paul Reeve, CEO of the NEC Group, signed by over 400 individuals and 30 organisations including Pax Christi and the Peace Pledge Union. Their Peace Dove mascot delivered it to the NEC on 21 January.
In their letter, the campaigners said hosting the arms fair goes against the NEC's stated commitment to honest, ethical business.
The UK arms industry alone emits over 1.4m tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. And it has links to nearly half of all international trade corruption cases.
The spokesperson added:
The NEC cannot claim to be a responsible, ethical venue while hosting an event that fuels oppression and destruction around the world.
Campaigners are calling on the NEC to refuse to host the next SDSC-UK.
Featured image via Hugh Warwick / Flickr
By The Canary
The 2026 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will air on NBC this Sunday, Feb. 8. The game will also stream on Peacock. If you don't have NBC over the air and don't subscribe to Peacock, there are still ways to watch Super Bowl LX — and Bad Bunny's history-making halftime show — for free. Here's how to tune in.
How to watch Super Bowl LX free:
Date: Sunday, Feb. 8
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
TV channel: NBC, Telemundo
Streaming: Peacock, DirecTV, NFL+ and more
2026 Super Bowl game channelSuper Bowl LX will air on NBC. A Spanish-language broadcast is available on Telemundo.
How to watch the 2026 Super Bowl for freeYou can stream NBC and Telemundo on platforms like DirecTV and Hulu + Live TV; both offer free trials and are among Engadget's choices for best streaming services for live TV. (Note that Fubo and NBC are currently in the midst of a contract dispute and NBC channels are not available on the platform.)
What time is the 2026 Super Bowl?
The 2026 Super Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, Feb. 8. Green Day will be performing a pre-game special starting at 6 p.m. ET.
Who is playing in the Super Bowl?The AFC champions, the New England Patriots, will play the NFC champions, the Seattle Seahawks.
Where is the 2026 Super Bowl being played?The 2026 Super Bowl will be held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Who is performing at the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show?Bad Bunny is headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance. You can expect that show to begin after the second quarter, likely between 8-8:30 p.m. ET. Green Day will perform a pre-game show starting at 6 p.m. ET. If you're tuning in before the game, singer Charlie Puth will perform the National Anthem, Brandi Carlile is scheduled to sing "America the Beautiful," and Grammy winner Coco Jones will perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
More ways to watch Super Bowl LX
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-stream-the-2026-super-bowl-for-free-patriots-vs-seahawks-time-where-to-watch-and-more-124512202.html?src=rss
Surfshark's One plan is heavily discounted right now, with an 87-percent discount on the two-year package, plus three extra months. The promo price comes out to $2.29 per month, or $62 for the first 27 months.
We've generally liked Surfshark as a straightforward, speedy service for everyday use, and it's one of the picks in our guide to the best VPNs. In our Surfshark review, we found it delivered excellent speeds overall and reliably unblocked Netflix across most of our test servers, which makes this long-term deal worth a look if you want a VPN deal that also includes extras like antivirus, breach alerts and private search.
In our Surfshark review, the VPN stood out for its excellent performance and approachable design, especially for people who want strong protection without constantly tweaking settings. During testing, it delivered some of the fastest speeds we've seen from a major VPN, with average download speeds dropping by just over five percent worldwide. Upload speeds also held up well, making it a solid option for streaming, browsing and everyday use. We gave Surfshark an overall score of 87 out of 100 and called it one of the best VPNs for casual users.
This deal focuses on the Surfshark One plan, which bundles the VPN with a suite of extra security tools. In addition to the VPN itself, you get Alternative ID for masking your email and personal details, antivirus protection, breach monitoring through Surfshark Alert and a private search engine. It also supports unlimited simultaneous device connections, so you can protect all of your devices with a single subscription.
Right now, the Surfshark One plan is discounted by 86 percent, bringing the price down to $67 total for two years plus three extra months. That works out to $2.49 per month for the first 27 months, billed upfront, with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind.
If you want to compare it against other top services before committing, you can also check out our full Surfshark VPN review and our best VPN guide to see how it stacks up. We'll be keeping our best VPN deals roundup updated regularly, too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/surfshark-vpn-deal-get-up-to-87-percent-off-two-year-plans-123000066.html?src=rss
Disclaimer: SS: Related to Collapse because it address the loss of biodiversity on the planet and overpopulation, with the link between the two.
Growth in human population increase demand for food, home and products, and how agriculture is unsustainable with modern methods, but without those methods the amount of food needed to sustain the poulation would not be enough.
Also human population will either have high consumption like on first world countries or enable overconsumption by working on third world factories to produce what is consumed on the first world.
submitted by /u/Toguro_Ototo_1[link] [comments]
Alex Marquez leaves the Sepang MotoGP test as the fastest rider over all three days. The Gresini Ducati rider put in a very fast time to beat the best time ever set at a Sepang test, though he was a few hundredths off Pecco Bagnaia's pole record from 2024.
David Emmett Thu, 05/Feb/2026 - 12:10Combined times from Day 3 of the Sepang Test:
David Emmett Thu, 05/Feb/2026 - 12:07
I have a love-hate relationship with Spotify that might just be leaning more towards love today. While I struggle with some of the company's choices about the type of content it allows on its platform, I have always had a soft spot for its Wrapped roundups and the monthly audiobook hours included with my Premium subscription. For those like me, Spotify's news today will likely enhance the appeal of its audiobook offerings. It's announcing a partnership with Bookshop.org — which lets indie bookstores sell their wares online through a unified platform — allowing users to buy physical books from within its app, and launching a new Page Match feature that helps sync your progress across the physical books you read and the audiobooks in Spotify's catalog. Also, the audiobook recap feature that summarizes the plot so far is expanding to Android this spring, following its iOS debut (in beta form) last fall.
Page Match is coming to all places where Spotify's audiobooks are available, starting with the English language titles in its 500,000-strong library. Meanwhile, you can access Bookshop within the Spotify app in the US and the UK, where Bookshop operates.
Though I'm thrilled that this will mean easier and greater support of independent bookstores in those areas, I'm more excited by the prospect of Page Match, which I previewed at a recent launch event in the company's offices in New York. I'm the sort of person who reads the same title in its ebook, physical and audio forms. (I often wish that a purchase of a physical book came with free ebook and audio versions, but that's besides the point.)
While Kindles currently do a decent job of getting you to your latest page read across various devices, switching between, say, Martha Wells' All Systems Red on Spotify and the paperback copy is not quite as easy. With Page Match, though, that should get a lot easier.
How does Spotify Page Match work?When you get access to the feature (which is rolling out today), you'll find the Page Match button under the title of each audiobook. You'll have to first look up the book on Spotify and tap into its full chapter list to find this, which means the book you want to use has to be one of the hundreds of thousands in the company's library. Then, tap the green "Scan to listen" button if you're looking to move over to the audio version or "Scan to read" below it if you're switching over to a hard copy instead.
Whichever you pick, you'll need to enable access to your device's camera and then scan the page of the book you're on. This should work on ereaders as well, and appears to be using some form of optical character recognition to match the part of the book to its audio counterpart.
If you're scanning to listen, the process is fairly straightforward. Once you've placed the page in the viewfinder, the app will quickly jump to that very spot in the chapter track. I'll note that it was hard for me to confirm whether this actually worked during my first demo, since I never felt like I found the words being spoken on the page I was looking at. In this case, it was Lights Out: An Into Darkness novel by Navessa Allen, and I mostly felt like the narration had simply gone past the page I was on, rather than a complete failure. Subsequent attempts with other books, like Stephen King's It, were more effective.
Things get a bit trickier when you're trying to move from audio book to the paper (or ereader). After pressing "Scan to read," you'll need to place a page in front of the camera and wait for it to tell you to move forward or backward. Ideally, you'd already know more or less where you were, so you won't have to flip too many pages.
In my demo, because we were a few chapters too far from where we paused in the early part of It, there was a lot more page-turning required to get to the right spot. What I found helpful was the progress bar at the bottom of the screen, which highlighted the correct location and how far away we were from it. The instructions "Move forward" and "Move back" were clear and came up in a timely manner. When we finally landed on the right page, the screen highlighted the specific lines on the page to start from, too.
I have to caveat this with the observation that there were a few starts and stops during my demo, which were resolved once I established a solid internet connection. And though "Scan to read" did eventually work as promised, there was a bit of flipping around that seemed to be part of the process, which might be tedious and not quite the magical experience some might expect.
The good news is that Spotify seems to already be working on even more features to make it easier to read physical books in tandem with listening to audiobooks. The company said it sees "the future of reading as one that's personalized, flexible, and built to move fluidly across formats and moments. Page Match is an early example of how Spotify is helping shape that future at scale. "
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/spotifys-page-match-seamlessly-swaps-between-real-books-and-audiobooks-120000819.html?src=rss
Rabid media coverage of the Epstein files has breathlessly focused on political gossip at the expense of centring victims and survivors. As such, public discussion of elite sexual abuse often gravitates towards spectacle: powerful men, hidden networks and institutional failure. Of course, coverage from mainstream media is complicit in upholding power structures that decide who counts as a victim - and who doesn't.
Instead, the newly released Epstein files point to an uncomfortable reality. It has been noted from FBI interview records and grand jury testimony that Epstein's "preference was short, little, white girls." Crucially, Epstein's operation did not rely on chance or opportunism. Instead, Epstein paid girls to recruit other minors and enforced his preferences through discipline and reward. When recruiters failed to comply, the system reprimanded them. In practice, race did not sit in the background. Rather, it structured how the trafficking itself operated.
When recruiters violated those expectations, Epstein reprimanded them. In one instance, he refused to allow a Black girl to massage him, telling the recruiter that he "was not interested in black girls." As a result, racial selection operated not as personal taste but as an enforced rule within the trafficking system.
This is not simply evidence of personal bias. It is evidence of racialised trafficking.
Epstein files: trafficking as selection, not chaosA 2019 prosecution memorandum from the Southern District of New York reinforces this pattern. Drawing on multiple victims' accounts, the memo describes how Epstein's operation recruited, paid, recycled, and excluded girls. Epstein "expressed displeasure" when certain girls were brought to him and "did not like dark-skinned girls".
This language confirms that race operated as a selection criterion within the abuse economy. The operation expected recruiters to internalise Epstein's preferences and adjust their behaviour accordingly. When recruiters failed, the system punished them through loss of payment, emotional reprimand, or exclusion from favour. Trafficking here did not operate opportunistically or chaotically. It functioned as a regulated system, with whiteness operating as currency and Blackness marking disposability.
Black women-led anti-trafficking advocates have long warned that sexual exploitation cannot be understood outside race. As survivor-leader Vednita Carter, founder of Breaking Free, has stated:
Prostitution is a racial justice issue..you can't just take race out of it.
The Epstein files bear this out.
Institutions frame misogynoir solely as hypersexualisation, with Black women and girls rendered excessively visible and exposed to violence. The Epstein material reveals a quieter but equally damaging mechanism. Black girls were not hypervisible. Institutions filtered them out. Their exclusion did not signal safety. It signalled erasure.
Exclusion from the pipeline meant exclusion from testimony, from media coverage, and from public memory. It also reinforced a persistent myth: that elite sexual exploitation primarily harms white girls.
Who counts as the "real" victim?This is how racialised sexual violence hides. Black girls are routinely denied access to the category of the "ideal victim": young, innocent, credible and deserving of sympathy. Research on adultification bias shows that Black girls are routinely denied the presumption of innocence and vulnerability afforded to white girls.
That category was never built to include them. When Black girls are missing from abuse narratives, it is not because they were protected, but because institutions are structured to look past them.
This omission is not politically neutral. Silence here is not an oversight. It is an organising strategy. When Black girls are written out of sexual abuse narratives, institutions are spared the obligation to protect them, fund services for them or confront the racialised nature of exploitation.
How institutions fail Black survivorsThe National Black Women's Justice Institute has noted that Black women and girls face "intersecting challenges rooted in racism, sexism and systemic oppression", which not only heighten vulnerability to trafficking but also create barriers to recognition, justice, and healing once harm occurs.
Elite abuse narratives often rely on a narrow feminist crime that centres white girlhood as the default site of innocence. This framing does not merely overlook Black girls. It depends on their absence. It allows institutions to perform concern while leaving intact the racial hierarchies that decide whose suffering is legible.
Eugenics as context, not spectacleIt is within this framework that Epstein's documented interests in eugenics becomes relevant. As the Canary has previously reported, Epstein repeatedly expressed "Nazi-like" eugenic obsessions around intelligence, breeding, and hierarchy. These views are disturbing, but they are not the story on their own.
What matters is how this ideology aligns with the trafficking practices documented in the files.
Eugenics did not create Epstein's abuse, but it helped rationalise the sorting, ranking, and exclusion that defined it. Belief systems rooted in hierarchy sustain racialised trafficking by framing inequality as natural and exclusion as reasonable.
In that sense, Epstein's eugenic thinking functions as context rather than cause. It helps explain how institutions normalised racial selection, enforced it through practice, and largely refused to interrogate it.
Misogynoir as subtractionUnderstanding misogynoir only through sexualisation misses how it operates in elite abuse systems. Here, misogynoir functions through subtraction. Black girls disappear twice: first from protection, then memory -trafficking organisations working with Black survivors have warned that this has material consequences. This leads to gaps in accountability, long-term support, and prevention. Absence from the record becomes absence from remedy.
When abuse narratives centre those only deemed recognisable victims, accountability remains partial. Power survives by narrowing the field of concern.
The Epstein files show how institutions produce that acknowledgement: through recruitment rules, racialised preferences, reprimand, reward, and silence.
Why this matters nowPublic outrage around sexual exploitation often peaks around individual villains, then dissipates. Structural analysis demands more and offers less comfort. Without it, the same hierarchies persist.
Institutions continue to under-identify Black girls as victims of sexual violence, under-protect them, and write them out of high-profile cases. When commentators read that absence as evidence of safety rather than exclusion, misogynoir does its quiet work.
The Epstein files do not simply expose an individual abuser. They show how systems of power decide whose suffering they record in the first place. As long as racialised trafficking remains peripheral to how institutions understand sexual exploitation, they will continue to frame abuse as exceptional rather than structural.
This is not a failure of evidence. It is a failure of political will.
Featured image via the Canary
Academic Shaiel Ben-Ephraim describes himself as a "Jew from occupied Palestine". He has posted what he describes as "probably the most important Hebrew tweet I've ever seen". Ben-Ephraim introduces and translates the Hebrew words of Israeli general Moshe 'Bogie' Ya'alon, one of Israel's most senior military and establishment figures.
Ben-Ephraim's words - and the explosive words of Ya'alon - need little elaboration, except to flag to readers that Ya'alon describes Israel as ethno-supremacist "Judeo-Nazis" for their crimes against Palestinian people. And he mocks the common Zionist tactic of complaining that we must never compare Israel to the Nazis. Read in full below - emphases added:
This is probably the most important Hebrew Tweet I've ever seen. Moshe Ya'alon is a former chief of staff and defense minister. The absolute cream of the Israeli defense establishment. In this text he admits that the Israeli government and settlers have become Judeo-Nazis and their policy is based on Jewish supremacy. Here is a full translation:
"On the last Tuesday evening, I attended an event marking the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. When I got home, I received a message about Jewish pogromists attacking Palestinians in the south of Hebron, stealing their livestock, and burning their property. "We can't compare!…"
After ambulances, which tried to reach the scene, were delayed by the Jewish terrorists, three Palestinians were evacuated to the hospital, one of them with skull fractures. "No event can ever compare to the Holocaust, which we endured!" …
I turned, of course, immediately to the security authorities in the area, and I was assured that the incident was being handled by the IDF. To this day not a single Jewish terrorist has been stopped (as in many other cases), because … the Israel Police is controlled by a convicted criminal, a fascist racist Nazi, the Shin Bet is controlled by a representative of "Jewish supremacy" from the schools of the rabbis Tao, Lior, Ginzburg, and Zini (Dodo), the defense minister prevents administrative detentions of Jewish terrorists, and the other minister in the Ministry of Defense encourages illegal outposts and equips them with off-road vehicles, to torment the lives of Palestinians, to evict them from their land, and to settle the land with Jews (you'll ask again why I blamed the government for "ethnic cleansing"!?). The ideology of "Jewish supremacy," which has become dominant in the Israeli government, resembles Nazi racial theory, "but we must not compare!" …
When I commanded the Jerusalem and Samaria Division, the Central Command, and the IDF, I was acquainted with the warnings of Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz, regarding the process of dehumanization to the point of turning us into "Judeo-Nazis" (as he put it), under our control of another people. I did my best, even as defense minister, "so that we may know how to defeat terrorism and remain human."
I never deceived myself into thinking that only through concessions would we achieve "peace now," and I also understood the danger of "Jewish supremacy" over our future and our existence. Therefore I advocated separation according to the proto-programmatic speech of Yitzhak Rabin of October 5, 1995, and therefore I named my book is "A Long Short Way." As of now, Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz was right and I was wrong.
The task of the next Israeli government is to prove that Professor Leibowitz was wrong, and not to bring ruin upon our state. The government of "Jewish Supremacy" — the government of lies and betrayal — the government of messianism, the traitors and the corrupt — must be replaced before ruin."
Israelis of conscience see that it is adopting the policies of Judeo-Nazism and Jewish supremacy. They have known it for a long time. But most do not have the courage to say so. This is an earthquake.
Unsurprisingly, the silence of 'mainstream' media and pro-Israel groups on Ya'alon's words is deafening.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
Keir Starmer is perhaps the most unpopular prime minister we've ever had, and he's embroiled himself in what may be the most disgusting scandal. Can this loathed public figure survive this self-inflicted catastrophe?
Almost certainly not.
And one person who's ahead of the curve on this is Zack Polanski:
Time to goImportant discussion this evening on Palantir.
Keir Starmer having meetings in Washington - and then the US spy tech company receive £260m.
The largest defence contract in British history - through Peter Mandelsons lobbying company. https://t.co/i9lDjfEx22
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 4, 2026
As we've reported, Starmer appointed Peter Mandelson to be ambassador to the US despite knowing he maintained a friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction. The media presented it as some great revelation when Starmer admitted to this in parliament yesterday, but it was never a secret; the media just failed to interrogate Starmer when he returned Mandelson to public office.
We reported on Mandelson maintaining his ties with Epstein way back in 2023.
It wasn't a secret.
Starmer knew.
The media knew.
This is all just a grim pantomime.
In the clip above, Polanski describes hiring Mandelson as "the most catastrophic lapse in judgement you can imagine". In our opinion, the "lapse of judgement" is that Starmer thought the media would ignore this obvious scandal forever. It's not that he hired a notorious sleazeball, because he clearly doesn't care about that; after all, he's part of a movement which is entirely comprised of such people:
Peter Mandelson is not some random outlier.
He was one of the founders and central pillars of the New Labour project.
He was a central player in the Starmer project - including as mentor to the chief of staff.
He is the very core of the Labour Right! https://t.co/lypJOfU8hz
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) February 4, 2026
Polanski also said:
Step downI think it's clear the Prime Minister should do the right thing and step down, because actually the rut runs right throughout the Labour government.
This is a man in Keir Starmer who knew that Peter Mandelson was friends with one of the most known paedophiles in the world, was still staying in his apartment, and he brought him into the heart of government solely because, I imagine, he thought he could whisper in Trump's ear.
Polanski is absolutely correct that the "right thing" for Starmer to do would be to "step down". Given that this is the guy who hired Mandelson, however, there's no reason to expect him to do the right thing.
Featured image via Zack Polanski
By Willem Moore
In a 3 February debate, nationalist and unaligned Northern Ireland Assembly members (MLAs) pilloried the selective education system used on 11 year olds in the region. MLAs described their own experiences of feeling "like a failure" after not passing the test, which determines whether pupils will go on to a selective grammar school via success in the test. Those who get a lower one of the six bands in the Schools' Entrance Assessment Group (SEAG) exam will typically attend a non-selective school.
Cara Hunter, Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA for East Derry, described the stress young children are subjected to. She recalled from her childhood:
…breathing exercises in a circle [and] relaxing music before going to sit the exam.
If schools are deploying on 11 year olds techniques more common to a trauma counselling session, it's fair to say you've failed to produce a humane education system. Danny Baker of Sinn Féin recalled speaking to parents of a child who didn't leave his room for three days after failing the test.
The politicians made their points during a debate on a motion that called on:
Northern Ireland unusually focused on tormenting 11 year olds with academic selection…the Minister of Education to produce a time-bound plan to end academic selection and transfer tests in post-primary admissions and to develop and implement a fair, inclusive and non-selective system of primary education that ensures equality of opportunity for all children…
The non-binding motion passed by a margin of 48-30. Voting was split between nationalist and unionist camps, with all 'no' votes coming from the latter bloc. No unionist MLA voted for the motion. Nowhere in Britain maintains a system where academic selection features to such an extent. In England, only around 5% of state secondary are grammars. In the North of Ireland, that figure is over 40%. Scotland and Wales have entirely comprehensive (i.e. non-selective) systems.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLA David Brooks was the most staunch defender of the current approach. He declared that he "absolutely believes in academic selection". Describing his own upwards trajectory as a working class pupil who passed the old '11 plus' test and went to a grammar school he said:
…a generation of children from working class families - many without an academic tradition at home - have used grammar school as a ladder of opportunity.
This is a little like the fobbing-off exercise deployed by private schools when they grant scholarships to a handful of less affluent students. 'Ignore all those people drowning,' they effectively say. 'Just keep focusing on the few we've granted a lifeboat.'
The man at the centre of the debate, education minister and rabid Zionist Paul Givan, said MLAs were failing children by labelling them failures for children not passing the selection process. This dishonestly misrepresented what was actually being said - that children were made to feel like failures by a system that pressured and graded them at such an early stage in life.
Nick Mathison from Alliance criticised the test itself, saying it doesn't offer any "objective measures of ability". The current format focuses on evaluating ability in English and Maths, which is indeed a limited spectrum of human capacities. It ignores social, musical, physical and empathic qualities, along with many others, in favour of a narrow definition of what we ought to value.
He also decried the missed opportunity for "deep learning", saying:
Only ending inequality can fix education gapFrom P5 [around age 9], certainly from P6-7, almost all focus is on exclusively teaching to the SEAG test, an exclusive focus on numeracy and literacy.
Baker denounced the pressure the transfer test puts on the "same schools doing all the heavy lifting". These schools take on a disproportionate number of children with additional support needs and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, leaving fewer resources to dedicate to teaching. Qualifying for free school meals is a strong indicator of poverty. Around 16% of children at selective schools have this entitlement, against roughly 39% in non-selective ones.
In what was a largely intelligent and civilised debate, only leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the insufferable Jon Burrows, sought to inject inanity into proceedings. He made a nonsensical point about selection providing choice, and followed up with a smear on how this preference would be "ideologically inconsistent" for Sinn Féin MLAs to back, given their apparent support for Marxism.
A) A society drawing on the best of Marx's thought would likely be considerably more democratic and choice-rich than our current system of fake free markets; and B) It'll be a fine day when the targets of his ire are even one quarter as Marxist as his fevered imaginings.
His unionist fellows Brooks and Givan did make one valid point - the observation that no school system, be it selective or otherwise, can ever be truly free from existing inequalities. Affluent parents will always have the option of buying tuition for their children, or moving house to within the catchment area of the best schools.
Like so many societal ills, the underlying cause is an economic system - capitalism - that distributes resources so unequally and gives some children unfair advantages from the moment of birth. The true solution is to fix this shoddy foundation which everything else is built upon.
Featured image via the Canary
Zarah Sultana has thrown her support behind the Green Party's Gorton and Denton candidate, Hannah Spencer. In doing so, she's demonstrated exactly how solidarity on the left should work. In a statement, Sultana said:
The candidate list is now published and it is clear that Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and trade unionist, is the strongest challenger to Labour and Reform. I am, therefore, giving my personal critical support to her and the Green Party in this by-election, and I urge others to do the same.
I have always been clear that the left is strongest when it is united. Our real opponents are not one another. They are Reform and the far-right.
However, Sultana's comments are unfortunately at odds with a statement from the Grassroots Left slate for Your Party - who she backs.
Zarah Sultana at odds with the Grassroots LeftYour Party (YP) had already issued a statement outlining that after deliberation with local members, it had decided that a YP candidacy would not serve their 'collective goals' of defeating Reform. But, the Grassroots Left (GL) slate subsequently stated that:
Grassroots Left will not lend unconditional support to the Green Party candidate, because the Greens are a pro-capitalist, pro-Nato party and have been enforcing cuts in councils all over the country.
Many people from across the leftist spectrum have, rightly, been pointing out this is an immature and short-sighted approach in the face of rising fascism.
Zarah Sultana's statement came after the GL left one, and is interesting for outlining exactly why, on that statement, GL got it wrong:
My statement on the Gorton & Denton by-election: pic.twitter.com/HSrgDf70h2
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 3, 2026
In particular, it's worth looking at one passage from Sultana:
As a young Muslim woman, I understand viscerally what it would mean for the far-right to gain power in this country. This is not an abstract debate for me, nor the millions of people across the country whose safety would be directly affected.
Ultimately, this is what the Gorton and Denton by-election has turned into: a testing ground that is an opportunity for the Green party to show that people are coming together to reject the fascism of Reform. And, Sultana's comments show exactly what happens when a socialist who has lived experience of racism can do when understanding the very real cost of parties like Reform. This isn't an abstract political debate for many people in this country.
It is a reality that has material consequences. In choosing to focus on other policy issues, rather than the much more immediate threat of Reform, GL have shown naive judgement that is disappointing to see.
No more 'whip': Pluralism strengthens movements - it doesn't weaken themHowever, this rather public disagreement is not a dramatic sign of a 'rift.' Instead, it is another sign that Sultana is well practiced at productive disagreements that make the movement stronger. Unity does not require uniformity. Leftists are not required to agree on every single point. Instead, we must be able to unite when necessary to resist racism and fascism.
In what many onlookers will probably view with understandable frustration, a heated battle of the factions will soon be underway with the Central Executive Elections (CEC) of Your Party due to take place on the 26th February. Apparent differences in mission have driven a divergence among members, signaling an existential moment for the movement. Namely, Jeremy Corbyn has endorsed the For the Many slate, while Sultana has endorsed the Grassroots Left slate.
Unity does not mean complianceIt is worth noting, the GL statement has faced pushback from within the group itself, with some members expressing dissatisfaction with the tone it adopted.
Chloe Walker, CEC Northwest candidate standing on the Grassroots Left slate shared her views on the difference in views amongst members in the community-grounded movement. She told the Canary:
Personally as I've stated previously, I think that the most prevalent sentiment amongst local members is correct - it would have been nice to back a candidate, Tony Wilson, but the party's not in a place to be able to fight a campaign like this at present, because of how slow and disempowering the founding process has been. I don't think we should be going out of our way to criticise the Greens or their candidate in this instance - she's a strong candidate in any case and I'd obviously rather see them than Labour or Reform win here. But we don't have to come out and back the Greens to the hilt, either. Individual YP members might choose to help out with their campaign, and that's their prerogative. But we shouldn't use party infrastructure to support them; we have to retain some independence while we try to carve out a political identity that is visibly distinct from that of GPEW. Our intervention should be limited to criticising the Labour and Reform candidates, if we feel inclined to make any statement on an election we're not involved with.
Walker added:
specific views towards this by-election do vary amongst GL candidates, reflecting our commitment to a pluralistic and open party where members have the autonomy and mutual respect to disagree while still remaining committed to broader shared political goals.
Ashley Walker, a Grassroots Left member from Stockport also stated:
No more top-down control: Left unity in actionDespite what some people think the Grassroots Left does not belong to any one person alone, it belongs to every member of every group who is a part of it. And if we win this election the CEC we form, and the party it will help build, will belong not to us but to every member of this party. Because without true democracy there will never be socialism.
We published a piece on Monday on Palestinian journalist Ahmed Alnaouq's plea to factions on the left to unite against the billionaire-funded fascist threats facing all of us. Alnaouq pleaded:
My friends, fascism is not at the doorsteps in the UK. It is here. And unless we join forces with each other, unless we hold hands, we will not be able to defeat it. And we don't have the luxury for trial and waiting. We do not have time. We have to act. My friends, we have the numbers. We have the resources. We have the support of the people. What we don't have is organisation. We need to learn how to work with each other in order to defeat fascism, in order to defeat far-right, in order to defeat Zionism. And we must never shy away from calling ourselves anti-Zionists because we are anti-Zionists.
Sultana has shown that unity does not require spoon-feeding members the statements they are permitted to make. Grassroots Left has demonstrated that it will not submit to control by powerful figures and will instead maintain autonomy over its messaging. They have also worked collaboratively and supportively with independent candidates to advance a shared mission for a transparent, democratic, and accountable political party.
While work remains to build robust democratic processes that ensure such statements genuinely reflect the will of its membership, a powerful movement is clearly emerging: one that challenges the dominance of privileged public figures and meaningfully empowers its members.
Featured image via the Canary
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Some of the largest banks in the nation for years have eschewed the business of private prison giants like GEO Group and CoreCivic, the two firms that operate more than half the private carceral facilities in the country, including many U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.
The moves to "debank" the companies, which have been dogged by reports of rights abuses, came after the banks' reviews of their environmental, social, and governance policies, which included site visits and meeting with civil rights leaders. According to a nonprofit report, the moves by banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, cost the prison companies billions in potential financing.
"Private prisons profit purely from locking people up, but the market is not immune to public accountability."
Now, the private prison firms are fighting back, spending millions on lobbying Congress to pass a law to require that the banks can't deny their business.
The two prison giants spent millions lobbying for legislation known as the Fair Access to Banking Act, a pending bill that seeks to prevent banks from denying access to institutions or people including those involved in "politically unpopular businesses but that are lawful under Federal law." A press release marking the bill's introduction last year said, "The legislation requires that lending and services decisions must be based on impartial, risk-based analysis, not political or reputational favoritism."
Civil liberties advocates have criticized the legislation.
"Private prisons profit purely from locking people up, but the market is not immune to public accountability," said Eunice H. Cho, a senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project who has represented immigration detainees housed in privately operated ICE facilities. "Consumer advocacy is a very important part of the democratic process, including economic boycott and protest against corporations. Banks are sensitive to understanding the risks of doing business with harmful industries."
"We value the relationships we have with our financial partners," Ryan Gustin, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, said in a statement. "We also believe all lawful businesses should be treated fairly under the banking system."
GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment.
Millions in LobbyingLast year, GEO Group spent $3.3 million in lobbying various departments and agencies of the federal government, of which $1.37 million was spent in lobbying the House and the Senate on issues that included the Fair Access to Banking Act, according to federal lobbying disclosures.
Meanwhile, in 2025, CoreCivic spent $3.5 million total on lobbying, of which $2 million went toward pushing for the legislation, according to the disclosures.
Despite hiring high-profile D.C. firms for their lobbying activities, both prison companies utilized their in-house government relations experts when it came to advocating for the banking legislation, which is moving through the Senate and the House.
In its fourth-quarter lobbying report, GEO Group mentions "S. 401 and H.R. 987, Fair Access to Banking Act; Issues related to the availability of banking services for federal contractors" as one of its lobbying issues. CoreCivic's lobbying issues in the same quarter also mentioned "Issues pertaining to financial industry practices; H.R. 987/S. 401 - Fair Access to Banking Act."
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GEO Group and CoreCivic have long faced criticisms and lawsuits from rights groups for poor prison conditions, undermining medical needs of detainees, and not doing enough to prevent deaths in their facilities.
In December and January alone, for instance, five of the 11 people who died in ICE custody were housed in detention centers owned and operated by one of the firms, ICE's press statements show. At least four people died while detained in a GEO Group facility, and one other individual died while detained in a CoreCivic center.
In 2019, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, SunTrust, BNP Paribas, Fifth Third Bancorp, PNC Bank, and Bank of America said that they would no longer provide any new financing to the private prison industry. At the time, the banks reportedly constituted more than 70 percent of the total financing available to the two companies, with many of them having loaned money to either one or both firms.
Many of these Wall Street banks took similar action against gun manufacturers, oil and gas companies, and porn sites, among other industries, in what came to be known as debanking.
The impact was considerable. CoreCivic reportedly had to scramble for finances abroad.
If the new legislation passes, however, the two companies will have access to fresh lines of credit that could help them build new facilities at a faster pace and cash in on a higher demand for ICE detention facilities.
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Last July, the federal government approved funding of $45 billion to build new immigration detention centers as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
In its third-quarter earnings report, GEO Group said it had secured four ICE contracts for four new ICE detention facilities totaling about 6,000 beds. CoreCivic also reported receiving contracts for four facilities with over 7,000 beds. Financial statements suggest that the new contracts have boosted the revenue figures of both the companies, who rely heavily on federal contracts to support their bottom lines.
An Ally in TrumpThe concerted effort put into lobbying by GEO and CoreCivic has already reaped some success.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last August that empowered federal banking regulators, such as the Small Business Administration, to monitor financial institutions that denied services to clients based on "politicized or unlawful debanking action." Last month, Trump announced he would sue JPMorgan Chase for debanking him over the January 6 riots.
In December, the Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a report that scrutinized nine banks and listed private prisons as being among the sectors affected by debanking. The bureau said that it intends to "hold these banks accountable for any unlawful debanking activities, including by making referrals to the Attorney General."
In June, even before Trump's order, Bank of America, which had cut ties with private prisons, reinstated CoreCivic as its client, according to Semafor. A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson said the bank hasn't changed its policy of freezing out private prisons. Meanwhile, most other banks have been quiet about whether they will change course on financing private prisons. (None of the banks responded to The Intercept's requests for comment.)
If the Fair Access to Banking Act passes Congress, the banks may not have a choice.
"It has been the worst year for immigration detainees in decades," said Cho, the ACLU lawyer. "Private prisons have an astronomical amount of funds available to them, and it's unsurprising they are also looking to protect ways to expand those funds with extra lines of credits available. But for detainees, this can have serious implications."
The post ICE's Private Prison Contractors Spent Millions Lobbying to Force Banks to Give Them Loans appeared first on The Intercept.
Charity praises effort to stop Ramsgate's Pie Factory Music closing but calls for more youth services in coastal towns
The last remaining youth centre in one of England's most deprived coastal places has been saved from being sold after a long campaign by the charity that has for 13 years called it home.
In November the Guardian revealed how the centre in Ramsgate on the Kent coast was facing being auctioned off by Kent county council, despite an independent report that estimated the centre was saving the council more than £500,000 a year in costs, including for services in mental health, youth justice and social care.
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