He'll appear alongside Viggo Mortensen, Edward Norton, and Javier Bardem

More than 25,000 people have now signed a petition calling on NatureScot to stop licensing the controversial guga hunt. And pressure continues to mount on Scotland's nature agency.

The guga hunt - killing young gannets

Each autumn, a group of men from the Isle of Lewis travel to the remote uninhabited island of Sula Sgeir to capture and kill flightless gannet chicks ("guga") for food. The hunters use poles to dislodge the young birds from the cliffs and then batter them to death.

The activity is part of a historical tradition and takes place under authorisation from public body NatureScot. The agency decides whether to grant a licence each year there's an application, subject to conservation tests.

Protect the Wild created the petition. It argues that NatureScot is failing to meet evidential thresholds when issuing these licences and should not continue authorising the guga hunt.

Mounting public pressure recently prompted NatureScot to issue a public statement. It acknowledged the "strong feelings" about the guga hunt and confirmed that its board is considering people's concerns.

In its statement, NatureScot said:

We understand there are strong feelings about the guga hunt, and that some people will disagree with it taking place. The hunt is recognised in law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act…Our role is to make licensing decisions based on the most recent scientific evidence.

NatureScot confirmed that in 2025 it reduced the permitted take from 2,000 birds to 500 following survey data collected after avian flu outbreaks. And it said that it granted a licence on the condition that the hunters killed the birds "humanely".

Insufficient monitoring

But Protect the Wild says the Sula Sgeir gannet colony remains in decline and that allowing even a reduced guga hunt risks further damage. It also questions how NatureScot can guarantee the killing is humane when it does not directly monitor the process.

Devon Docherty, Scottish Campaigns Manager at Protect the Wild said:

Sula Sgeir is now the only Special Protection Area for gannets in Scotland that has fallen below its official citation level.

NatureScot continues to grant licences knowing the gannet colony is vulnerable, the hunt harms other breeding seabirds, and that they cannot verify whether the chicks are killed humanely - they simply take the hunters' word for it.

With tens of thousands of people now calling for it to stop, the continued licensing of the guga hunt is becoming increasingly difficult for NatureScot to justify.

NatureScot has stated that if a new licence application is received for 2026, it will be brought before its Board for decision.

Protect the Wild says it will continue urging NatureScot to reject future licence applications. And it's calling on the Scottish government to remove the legal exemption that allows the guga hunt to take place.

Featured image via John Ranson / the Canary

By The Canary

Two years after a war that left widespread destruction across the Gaza Strip, Ramadan returns amid an extremely complex humanitarian crisis. Feelings of joy at the arrival of the holy month are mixed with grief, displacement and the collapse of basic services.

The population welcomes Ramadan burdened by loss. Longstanding traditions have been replaced by tents and queues for aid.

Ramadan in Gaza — a pressing humanitarian situation

More than two million Palestinians are living in severe hardship. There are acute shortages of food and drinking water, and purchasing power has fallen to unprecedented levels amid widespread unemployment. A large segment of the population now relies on soup kitchens and relief aid to meet daily needs. Even then, supplies cover only a fraction of demand.

The health sector faces serious challenges. There are ongoing shortages of medicines, medical supplies and laboratory materials. These gaps threaten to increase health risks during the holy month, particularly for chronically ill patients, children and the elderly.

Medical authorities warn of the consequences of continued restrictions on humanitarian supplies. Ramadan is traditionally a season of solidarity and support, yet conditions remain dire.

Modest meals and absent rituals

Each evening, families gather for modest iftar meals. These are often limited to bread, vegetables and whatever relief supplies are available. Before the war, the holy month was marked by large family feasts. Extended families rarely gather now. Many have been scattered by displacement and the loss of their homes.

Street decorations and festive lanterns have largely disappeared. Children no longer roam markets buying Ramadan lights. Instead, small temporary lamps replace traditional decorations.

Some families craft handmade ornaments inside their tents. It is a small attempt to preserve the spirit of the month despite harsh conditions.

Mosques between destruction and temporary alternatives

Many mosques were damaged during the war. Some remain completely out of service, depriving residents of a central part of Ramadan.

In response, residents have set up temporary prayer spaces inside tents or damaged schools. Prayers are performed with whatever resources are available. Despite ongoing security concerns and tensions, many remain determined to perform Taraweeh prayers. For some, these rituals provide rare moments of peace amid instability.

Childhood in Gaza looks different this year. Children who have lost homes or family members play between rows of tents. They carry simple lanterns made from available materials.

They try to recreate the joy they associate with Ramadan, even while surrounded by rubble.

Parents strive to create moments of warmth within the family. They prepare simple meals together or organise small group prayers to maintain social bonds.

Between the 'yellow line' and the expanding buffer zone

Ramadan's arrival coincides with ongoing changes on the ground. These shifts have altered Gaza's demographic map.

A 9 February report by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory described what it called a "silent and slow genocide." It said this goes beyond bombardment to include structural changes. According to the report, the buffer zone is expanding along the so-called "yellow line," dividing the Strip into two areas. Israel controls land to the east, which the report says represents more than half of Gaza's territory.

The line, previously expected to remain fixed, has reportedly advanced around 1.5 kilometres into residential areas. Additional neighbourhoods have been annexed, forcing more families to flee.

Ramadan in Gaza, between loss and resilience

Ramadan in Gaza this year is not only a month of worship. It is also a test of resilience.

Homes have been destroyed, families dispersed and daily life remains under pressure. The holy month feels very different from before the war. Yet residents continue to observe Ramadan as best they can. They stress that its spirit lies in patience and solidarity rather than outward celebration.

Between forced hunger and religious fasting, Gazans are redefining Ramadan. Even amid devastation, many see it as a space for hope and quiet endurance.

Featured image via Aljazeera

By Alaa Shamali

Seven Kent County councillors and two North Northamptonshire County Councillors have joined Restore Britain. Reform UK previously expelled six of them.

Most of these were thrown out of Reform UK when @LeaderofKCC had her meltdown in the 'suck it up' cabinet meeting and the video was leaked. https://t.co/w5NmJN5AH8

— Reform Party UK Exposed

Serious UK prime ministers should be afraid to discipline special forces troops over war crimes because they are so popular with the public. That's according to Dr. Simon Anglim, who wrote a lengthy essay on the UK's new ranger and special operations units.

The essay makes a range of (in fairness, very interesting) points about shadowy deployments overseas — including to Ukraine. But the King's College War Studies lecturer — yes, it's the KCL War Studies people again — also warned that the current Haddon-Cave inquiry into war crimes in Afghanistan could have serious implications for the use of UK Special Forces (UKSF).

UKSF is distinct from the ranger units and remains heavily protected from even basic democratic scrutiny. The government refuses to comment on what they do — even in parliament.

It's a distinctly British practice. None of our major allies refuse point blank to comment on their special forces operations. Yet we do. As the now-defunct Remote Control project pointed out in a 2016 report:

this blanket opacity policy is not standard practice, and the UK is lagging behind its allies on transparency over its use of Special Operations Forces (SOF). The US, Australia, and Canada are all more transparent about their deployment of SOF than the UK.

The practice is also deeply undemocratic:

This leaves the British public, and the parliament that represents them, among the least-informed of their foreign allies about the government's current military activities in places like Syria and Libya stymying informed debate about the UK's role in some of the most important conflicts of our age.

So what's happening then?

Special Forces afraid of the light

Anglim said the threat of accountability over the Afghan allegations was "a shadow hanging over UKSF":

The ongoing Inquiry, presided over by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, investigating allegations that UKSF members committed unlawful killings in Afghanistan in 2010.

Ireland legacy allegations were also an issue. The SAS investigation:

runs concurrently with the Northern Ireland Coroner's ruling that soldiers of 22 SAS were 'not justified' in killing three members of the Irish Republican Army in an ambush at Clonoe in Northern Ireland in 1992, and the stream of further allegations of unlawful conduct it has set off.

As Anglim pointed out, the cases are sub judice — ongoing — currently. But he expressed a concern they:

could strengthen demands for UKSF to face greater Parliamentary scrutiny, possibly via a Select Committee similar to the one overseeing Intelligence.

Clearly, public scrutiny is a terrifying prospect.

Scrutiny and pressure

This, Anglim said, could result in political pressures which might limit the use of SF:

Given the potential for security breaches and increased hostile scrutiny, this may have a freezing effect on future UKSF deployments and could alter the relationship between the Directorate and its political masters.

Presumably by 'hostile scrutiny' he means from the press and public. Anglim suggested he might write about it more once the cases are resolved:

but it is worth noting that, given their high status with the British public, no serious Prime Minister would want to impose collective punishment on Britain's Special Forces and besides, they are too valuable as national assets to do this too severely if at all.

Anglim makes some very good points in his essay. He is also the definition of an establishment academic. He has worked with the US Department of Defence (currently ridiculously rebranded as the Department of War), the Sultanate of Oman, various establishment think-tanks and has given evidence on readiness to the defence committee.

Here he is talking about how Covid and Brexit affected the military:

But his warnings that some sort of basic accountability could reduce Britain's ability to conduct secret military operations are telling. As with all things the British establishment says you must turn them upside down to understand them.

Public and journalistic scrutiny are good, actually, because they are a threat to the British ruling class's hunger for war, war-profits — and for staying close to US imperial foreign policy whatever the cost and whoever is president. The more scrutiny, then, the better. And if 'serious' prime ministers would be afraid of the light of said scrutiny, let's hope for an 'unserious' one.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

Eighteen defendants from Palestine Action have now been acquitted of aggravated burglary. Earlier this month, a jury cleared six of the Filton24 of aggravated burglary, while leaving the charges of criminal damage and violent disorder undecided. These charges are in relation to direct-action taken targeting Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems in Bristol.

Middle East Eye reported that:

Following the decision to drop the charges, five of the defendants  - William Plastow, Ian Sanders, Madeline Norman, Julia Brigadirova and Aleksandra Herbich - were granted conditional bail.

Plastow, Sanders and Norman have been held on remand for the longest period of the 18- spending 18 months in prison. Birgadirova and Herbich has been imprisoned since November 2024.

Bail applications for another eight defendants will be held on Friday.

Palestine Action targeting

Today's announcement comes as the prosecution have "reconsidered the sufficiency of the evidence". This move appears to suggest it would be unlikely to achieve the guilty verdicts it is clearly aiming for. However, at this late a stage in a criminal case, the prosecution could not just drop the aggravated burglary charge against the remaining defendants. This left it no option but to concede defeat on that charge if it wished to change course.

Consequently, concerns have resurfaced that the prosecution and government could reconsider their strategy and pursue different charges with a stronger likelihood of conviction.

All of the Filton24 were acquitted of aggravated burglary. SAY IT. https://t.co/ohMIDuUYVb

— Huda Ammori (@HudaAmmori) February 18, 2026

Victory: for now

The Palestine Action defendants have received popular support amongst pro-Palestinian activists and groups. In fact, many pensioners across the country have been seen risking arrest for daring to show public support for then proscribed Palestine Action (PA). The direct-action group has protested against Israel's settler colonialism for many years, and its members have long sought to call attention to those arming the Zionist entity. The case against them refers to a break-in near Bristol of an Elbit Systems site known to be providing arms and supplies to Israel.

Citizens across the UK have taken to protests in every city since October 7th, 2023, making it clear that the majority of British people do not support the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Moreover, leading Holocaust scholars across the globe and the International Court of Justice in The Hague have identified this as a genocide, while the International Criminal Court has moved forward with arrest warrants at the direction of Prosecutor Karim Khan.

We wrote a few days ago on the court ruling that the proscription of Palestine Action, brought because of their acts of protest, was deemed disproportionate. Yet little has really changed, as Skwawkbox wrote:

The decision was made by a panel of judges who all have strong links to Israel, underscoring just how far the Starmer regime overstepped human rights legislation. It is almost certain to try to appeal, despite the exposed web of lies it created to try to justify the ban.

Nevertheless, people are rightfully celebrating this reprieve across social media:

Victory after victory … what an incredible start to Ramadan, the month of victory https://t.co/zrI9NkAiNi

— Fahad Ansari

Plants expected to begin operations as early as 2028 pending approval by state government

Datacenter power consumption has surged amid the AI boom, forcing builders to get creative in order to prevent their capex-heavy bit barns from running out of steam. But at least in some parts of the world, the answer to abundant clean energy may be hiding just a few thousand feet below the surface of the earth.…

Data Loss Prevention? Yeah, about that...

The bot couldn't keep its prying eyes away. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat has been summarizing emails labeled "confidential" even when data loss prevention policies were configured to prevent it.…

Yo dawg, we heard you like missiles, so we put some missiles in your missile so you can boom while you zoom

It's taken about five years, but DARPA's missile-launching missile has become the government's latest experimental X-plane and is advancing toward flight testing.…

The long-awaited cyberpunk platformer Replaced just got hit with a short delay. The pixel-art game was supposed to come out on March 12, but will now be released on April 14. That's just a month, which isn't that big of a deal considering this game has been on our radar for five years.

Why the delay? Developer Sad Cat Studios notes that the game is "technically finished" but the team needs a few more weeks for polish. The company says it wants the day-one release to be "polished, stable and true to the vision" of the original concept. This is something to be commended, in my opinion, given the sad state of many game launches in recent years.

pic.twitter.com/8BbiNxRqUb

— REPLACED (@REPLACEDGame) February 18, 2026

This is just the latest delay for the game. However, previous delays have been for a very good reason. The development team had to relocate from Belarus to Cyprus after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Replaced is an absolutely gorgeous-looking 2.5D platformer set in a dystopian alternative 1980s America. You play as an AI unwillingly trapped in a human body. There looks to be plenty of cinematic action, with a blurb promising a combination of "precise melee strikes with satisfying ranged attacks."

The game will be available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG and the Microsoft Store. It'll also be a day-one Xbox Game Pass release.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cyberpunk-platformer-replaced-has-once-again-been-delayed-190621246.html?src=rss

Donald Trump Jr. insists his father is "not involved."

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Complete race results from the 2026 AHRMA Roadracing Series presented by VIB-ISO event held February 14-15 at Roebling Road Raceway, Bloomingdale, GA.     AHRMA-2026-Roebling_RRW

The post AHRMA: Race Results from Roebling Road Raceway appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 18, 2026) - AMA Pro Racing is pleased to announce the appointment of seven-time AMA Grand National Champion Chris Carr as the Series Director of Progressive American Flat Track. Effective immediately, Carr will oversee all competition-related aspects of the series as it enters an exciting new chapter of growth and evolution.

 

"We're proud to welcome Chris Carr back to AMA Pro Racing," said Gene Crouch, CEO of AMA Pro Racing. "Chris understands this sport at the highest levels: as a champion, a leader, and a steward of its incredible history. He brings unmatched credibility, integrity, and competitive insight that will strengthen our riders, teams and manufacturer ecosystem while elevating the fan experience nationwide."

 

One of the most accomplished riders in the history of American motorcycle racing, Carr's career spans decades at the top of the sport. His championship success, institutional knowledge, and deep relationships across the industry uniquely position him to guide Progressive American Flat Track's competition strategy.

 

"I'm excited to return to AMA Pro Racing and take on the role of Series Director for Progressive American Flat Track," said Carr. "Flat track has defined my life. I look forward to working alongside riders, teams, manufacturers, and partners to ensure safe, fair, and fiercely competitive racing that honors our history and builds our future."

 

In his new role, Carr will manage season calendar development and event planning, event operations and safety protocols, rulebook evolution and technical regulations, rider and team relations, new rider evaluations and licensing, and strategic initiatives including the Road to AFT talent development program.

 

He will serve as the primary competition liaison among riders, teams, manufacturers, promoters and officials, with fairness, safety and integrity as the guiding principles that define his leadership and shape the championship's competitive standards.

 

Next Up

The 2026 Progressive American Flat Track season will kick off with the Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA doubleheader at the DAYTONA Flat Track during Daytona's Bike Week festivities. The twin short track races will take place at the "World Center of Racing" on Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6. To purchase tickets to the Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA I & II, please visit: https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack.

 

After the season opener, America's Original Extreme Sport will head north for the Yamaha Atlanta Short Track at Senoia Raceway on March 21. Tickets are available now at https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/2026-atlanta-short-track-165280

 

How to Watch

• FloRacing: 

For those that can't catch the live action at the track, FloRacing is the live streaming home of Progressive American Flat Track. Motorsports fans can subscribe to FloRacing to enjoy over 1,000 live motorsports events in 2026. FloSports is available by visiting https://flosports.link/aft or by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.

 

• FS1:

FOX Sports will provide in-depth coverage of the Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA doubleheader featuring rider features and thrilling onboard cameras. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement regarding premiere airdates on FS1 and re-airs on FS2. The full listing of American Flat Track's television premieres will be posted to the AFT website at https://www.americanflattrack.com/events-foxsports.

The post AFT: Chris Carr Returns to AMAPro Racing as Series Director appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

SeatGeek announced on Wednesday a new integration with Spotify, bringing a seamless ticket-buying experience for Spotify users.  Now, when Spotify users browse an artist's page or upcoming tour dates, they will see ticket links powered by SeatGeek for concerts at these participating venues, allowing for a streamlined purchase process. Currently, the integration is available for […]

In the long list of new technologies that might help reduce carbon emissions 'plug-in solar' sits towards the bottom. A small array of PV panels perched on the garage roof, or perhaps fixed to the railings of a balcony or laid on supports in the garden, and then directly connected into an ordinary plug in the wall, is never going to make a major difference to the course of climate change.

Source: Svea Solar, the supplier of balcony solar to IKEA in Germany

Nevertheless, the UK should encourage this form of power generation, joining all the major European countries bar Sweden in removing regulatory restrictions that block householders from connecting PV directly into the household electricity supply.

Today, all solar panels that have been installed on the roofs of UK houses are connected into the distribution panel with a separate fuse. The major difference introduced by plug-in solar is that the electricity is delivered directly into the home power network via an existing socket. This makes it possible for the homeowner or tenant to install a simple PV array without the use of an electrician and at very much lower cost than fixing panels on the roof of a house. When necessary, the panels can be moved to a different flat or switched to a different position in the home.

Plug-in solar dramatically widens the potential for installing solar panels, making cheaper electricity available to far more UK homes than the 1.6 million which benefit from the technology now. A well-designed system, along with an app for a mobile phone, can be put in place in under half an hour. Relatively few householders have balconies in the UK because more people live in single family houses than in Germany. But many homes have gardens, sheds or garage roofs on which the panels can be placed.

The UK government commissioned research into the safety of plug-in solar in mid 2025. This work appears to have been completed this month. We should now push for rapid deregulation of this way of reducing emissions and household electricity bills.

The German experience.

Plug-in solar is best developed in Germany as a result of deregulation in 2019. At the end of last year, just over 1.2 million households had registered PV panels that are fed directly into the house's electricity circuit. This figure had risen by over 430,000 in 2025 alone.[1]

The German regulator estimates that plug-in solar, or 'balcony solar' as it is usually called there, provides about 1.2 GW of capacity or just one per cent of total national PV installations.

However these plug-in solar figures are frequently said to be far too low by experts in the field. Many householders haven't bothered to fill in the forms at the German regulator and so aren't recorded in these estimates. I've seen figures for plug-in penetration as high as 4m homes, or over three times as much as officially recorded.

Even using the more substantial informal estimates, plug-in solar probably accounts for less than 2% of total German electricity production. (We can be confident that the typical productivity of a kilowatt of plug-in solar will be less than the equivalent amount of capacity in an open field and facing due south).

Despite the name, one estimate, albeit dating from 2022, was about only about 29% of 'balcony solar' units are actually placed on balconies. It is more usual to have the panels in the garden or on a garage roof, tilted towards the sun.

The typical size of a plug-in solar unit is about 1 kW, composed of two of three panels, an inverter that turns the DC output into AC and cabling that takes the output to a conventional socket in the wall. The panels are usually far lighter than conventional roof panels and

Depending on the region in which the panels are installed, a balcony solar unit of 1 kW might generate around 700-1000 kWh a year. This will vary according to whether the panels are facing south, the losses from shading and whether the unit is positioned vertically or at a more appropriate 35 degrees to the horizontal. (For comparison, the average household consumption in the UK is around 3,000 kWh).

Not all the electricity produced will be used in the house or flat. On a sunny day in June a 1 kW installation will be generating far more than the property needs and the surplus will flow out into the local grid even if the householder is careful and runs major appliances only when the sun is shining. Most published estimates (and some seem to be little more than guesses because the number is difficult to measure accurately) suggest a typical saving of 10-15% of electricity bills in countries such as Germany.

The possible impact in the UK

In the UK, with its very high domestic electricity prices, a cut of 15% in bills might be worth £100 or more. Is this worthwhile? In terms of payback time, the answer is 'yes'. 800 Watt units on sale in Germany and elsewhere are priced at around €400, or about £350. (We recently bought a much smaller 440 Watt unit for a house in France for €299, or around £260).

Lightweight slim solar panels, plugged into a house socket and waiting to be attached to the wall of our house.

These prices imply a payback period of around 4 years and some protection against the likely future rises in electricity prices.

Perhaps more importantly, the anecdotal evidence from around Europe seems to be that 'balcony solar' is effective at improving support for renewables more generally. Owners become happier to support the energy transition..

Perhaps of particular note was a comment from our French supplier that it believed that the purchasers of its units were often aged over 60. This group is usually less well informed about climate change and less eager to back a renewables-based economy. So plug-in solar may be helpful in building wider support for increasing the speed of the transition. Also many of these older people are retired and have the time to schedule their electricity using activities such as turning the washing machine on at times when the sun is out. In my personal experience, this is exactly the sort of activity that provides enjoyment to the older types who have bought these solar kits.

So why is the UK almost the last country in Europe to allow balcony solar?

A domestic solar system pushing electricity back into the local network needs to disconnect immediately if the grid goes down. Otherwise someone working on repairing the network might receive an electric shock from the home solar. Each type of inverter that is given permission to be sold to domestic consumers needs to show that it will automatically shut down with a tiny number of milliseconds if the grid itself has ceased to operate. Other countries have all done this work and 25 out of 27 EU states allow plug-in solar. It is time the UK comes into line and also authorises sale and installation. Any other choice is just delaying the government's achievement of a carbon-free grid.

[1] German data on balcony solar can be found in these documents

https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2026/20260108_EEG.html

https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Fachthemen/ElektrizitaetundGas/ErneuerbareEnergien/EE-Statistik/DL/EEStatistikMaStR.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=46

We have yet to see a trailer for the Tom Holland Marvel sequel, but we now have an official synopsis.

Because actually making art is for suckers.

The Super Sonic Road Race School and affiliated MotoMini FIM Canadian National Championship Series will attend the Toronto Motorcycle and Powersport Show at the Enercare Centre at Ehsibition Place on the Lake Ontario waterfront, February 20-22.

The history of this annual event traces back to the "Cycle Canada" Show in the late 1970s on the same grounds.

This will be the fifth and final winter show for Super Sonic founder and Team Canada MotoMini Captain Toni Sharpless, who started January at the International Centre near Toronto's major Airport, then headed west for two shows affiliated with the Moto Canada industry group, formerly the M.M.I.C. - Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council.

Back from the most western of Canada's ten provinces, Sharpless was at the ExpoMoto Quebec Show in Quebec City last weekend, prior to wrapping up 2026 show duties with the major Moto Canada affiliated event in Toronto.

Sharpless, inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2012, developed her Mini program in association with the Canadian Motorcycle Association. The C.M.A. is the National representative of the F.I.M. - Federation Internationale de Motorclisme - and has sent Canadian representatives to Spain for the Motul World Finals each November since 2022.

At the World Finals, each invited competitor rides a supplied, identical, Pirelli slick shod Ohvale 160 single-cylinder racer against the top competitors from other National development programs.

The most recent Canadian to win the domestic Championship and represent Canada in Europe was Jager Stockill, the runner-up on the National tour behind Alberta's Lincoln Scott in 2024 and the overall National victor last year. Stockill, and his AIM Insurance-backed racer, will also be on hand at the Enercare Centre.

The MotoMini Series will also celebrate a new sponsor at the event, with helmet builder KYT Americas just signed on to support the Series and School Systems.

The first round of the 2026 FIM Motul MotoMini Canadian Championship is scheduled for the Go-Kart layout at Shannonville Motorsport Park on Friday and Saturday, June 19 and 20.

The deciding National event of the 2026 five race series will take place around the same venue on September 25-26, as part of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations for motorcycle competition at the legendary Belleville-area race track.

The post Super Sonic Roadrace School At Toronto Motorcycle Show appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

The iconic emo outfit's first new album since 2019 lands May 1

The Trump administration has been bombing boats in the Caribbean, killing over 140 people in what it calls a war on drug trafficking. At the same time, it pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez — convicted by a U.S. jury of helping export more than 400 tons of cocaine into the country — and gave him a chauffeured ride to a five-star hotel. — Read the rest

The post Trump pardoned a man convicted of trafficking 400 tons of cocaine, then gave him a ride to the Waldorf Astoria appeared first on Boing Boing.

Earbuds are tiny chemical delivery systems pressed against your skin. A new study by the ToxFREE LIFE for All project tested 81 pairs of headphones — both in-ear and over-ear — and found hazardous substances in every single pair, The Guardian reports. — Read the rest

The post Every pair of headphones tested contained hazardous chemicals appeared first on Boing Boing.

U.S. District Judge John Tharp dedicated 10 pages to resolving one of society's greatest problems: aren't boneless wings just chicken nuggets? His answer favored Buffalo Wild Wings, sued for marketing the latter as the former: sure they are, but it doesn't matter because the words mean nothing. — Read the rest

The post Judge: it's OK to advertise chicken nuggets as "boneless wings" appeared first on Boing Boing.

Amazon said Blue Jay's core tech will be used for other robotics projects and the employees who worked on it were moved to other projects.

For the last five years, we had to endure an endless, breathless parade of hyperbole regarding the so-called "censorship industrial complex." We were told, repeatedly and at high volume, that the Biden administration flagging content for review by social media companies constituted a tyrannical overthrow of the First Amendment.

In the Missouri v. Biden (later Murthy v. Missouri) case, Judge Terry Doughty—in a ruling that seemed to consist entirely of Twitter threads pasted into a judicial ruling—declared that the White House sending angry emails to Facebook "arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States' history."

Never mind that the Supreme Court later reviewed the evidence and found that the platforms frequently ignored those emails, showing a lack of coercion, leading them to reverse the lower courts for lack of standing. To the "Twitter Files" crowd and the self-anointed "free speech absolutists," the mere existence of government officials simply requesting private companies to look at terms of service violations was a sign of the end of the Republic.

So, surely, now that the Department of Homeland Security is issuing administrative subpoenas—legal demands that bypass judges entirely—to unmask the identities of anonymous political critics, these same warriors are storming the barricades, right?

Right? Riiiiight?

According to a disturbing new report from the New York Times, DHS is aggressively expanding its use of administrative subpoenas to demand the names, addresses, and phone numbers of social media users who simply criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In recent months, Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas from the Department of Homeland Security, according to four government officials and tech employees privy to the requests. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Google, Meta and Reddit complied with some of the requests, the government officials said. In the subpoenas, the department asked the companies for identifying details of accounts that do not have a real person's name attached and that have criticized ICE or pointed to the locations of ICE agents. The New York Times saw two subpoenas that were sent to Meta over the last six months.

This is not a White House staffer emailing a company to say, "Hey, this post seems to violate your COVID misinformation policy, can you check it?" This is the federal government using the force of law—specifically a tool designed to bypass judicial review—to strip the anonymity from domestic political critics.

If Judge Doughty thought ignored emails were the "most massive attack on free speech in history," I am curious what he would call the weaponization of the surveillance state to dox critics of law enforcement. Or… would he think it's fine, because it's coming from his team?

As the Times reveals, this is really all about intimidation.

Mr. Loney of the A.C.L.U. said avoiding a judge's ruling was important for the department to keep issuing the subpoenas without a legal order to stop. "The pressure is on the end user, the private individual, to go to court," he said.

The DHS claims this is about "officer safety," but documenting the public actions of law enforcement officers in public spaces is a foundational First Amendment right. The moment these subpoenas are actually challenged in court by competent lawyers, the DHS cuts and runs.

The account owner alerted the A.C.L.U., which filed a motion on Oct. 16 to quash the government's request. In a hearing on Jan. 14 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the A.C.L.U. argued that the government was using administrative subpoenas to target people whose speech it did not agree with.

[….]

Two days later, the subpoena was withdrawn.

This is the government effectively admitting that its demands are legally baseless. They are relying on the high cost of litigation to intimidate both the companies and the individuals. It is a bluff backed by the seal of the Department of Homeland Security.

And this brings us to the most glaring hypocrisy of the current moment: the absolute silence of Elon Musk and X.

Years ago, the "old" Twitter—the one Musk falsely derided as a haven for censorship—was the gold standard for fighting these exact types of demands. In 2017, Twitter famously sued the federal government to stop an administrative subpoena that sought to unmask an anonymous account critical of the Trump administration. Twitter argued, correctly, that unmasking a critic violated the First Amendment. They won. The government withdrew the subpoena.

Twitter (the old company, not the new monstrosity known as X) has a long history of this. In 2012, they challenged a court ruling that said users had no standing to protect their data. In 2014, they sued the DOJ for the right to be transparent about surveillance requests.

Contrast that with today. The Times report notes that Google, Meta, and Reddit have received these subpoenas. It mentions that Twitter previously fought them. But there is zero indication that Elon Musk's X—the platform ostensibly dedicated to "free speech absolutism"—is lifting a finger to stop this.

While Musk is busy personally promoting racist ahistorical nonsense, the actual surveillance state is knocking on the door, demanding the identities of political critics. And we've yet to see anything suggesting Elon is even remotely willing to push back on his friends in the administration he helped get elected, and then gleefully was a part of for a few months.

And where are the scribes of the "Twitter Files"? Where is the outrage from the people who told us that the FBI warning platforms about foreign influence operations was a crime against humanity?

Matt Taibbi, who has spent the last few years on the confused idea that platform moderation is state censorship, offered a tepid, hedging response on X, saying "if true" this is terrible, before immediately pivoting to a strange whataboutism regarding investigations into actual proven Russian attempts at election interference.

It is true, Matt. The New York Times saw the subpoenas. The ACLU is fighting them in court. This isn't a vague "if." This is the government using administrative power to bypass the Fourth Amendment to violate the First Amendment.

It seems like we actually found that "censorship industrial complex," huh?

Meanwhile, Michael Shellenberger and Bari Weiss seem to have nothing to say. Weiss now runs CBS News, which has its own problems with government pressure on speech—the network just pulled a Colbert interview with a Democratic politician after Brendan Carr threatened consequences for talk shows that don't coddle Republicans. As far as I can tell, neither CBS News nor Weiss's Free Press has mentioned the DHS subpoena story. The Free Press is instead running think pieces on how we may "regret" the release of the Epstein files.

Really speaking truth to power there.

This is what so many of us kept pointing out throughout the "Twitter Files" hysteria: the "free speech" grift was never about protecting individuals from the state. It was about protecting a specific type of speaker from the social consequences of their speech. The framework was always selectively deployed—outrage when a platform enforces its own rules against their allies, silence when the surveillance state comes for their critics.

The Trump administration is betting on that asymmetry. They're betting that Google, Meta, Reddit, and Discord will quietly comply rather than spend millions in litigation over users who aren't famous enough to generate headlines. They're betting that the "free speech absolutists" will look the other way because the targets are the wrong kind of dissident.

Right now, the only institution consistently fighting these subpoenas is the ACLU. The platforms are folding. The "Twitter Files" journalists are hedging. And the man who bought a social media company specifically to be a "free speech" champion is busy posting memes.

Turns out we found the censorship industrial complex. And everyone who spent years warning us about it just shrugged.

'First time we have detected a crime using this method,' cops say

Spanish police arrested a hacker who allegedly manipulated a hotel booking website, allowing him to pay one cent for luxury hotel stays. He also raided the mini-bars and didn't settle some of those tabs, police say.…

Nevada is taking action against the rapidly growing Wild West of prediction markets. The state's gambling regulators and attorney general sued Kalshi on Tuesday. They accuse the company of bypassing Nevada law by operating a sports gambling market without proper licenses. In addition, they say Kalshi provides services to individuals under 21, which violates state law.

The lawsuit follows a federal appeals court's rejection of Kalshi's request to prevent the state from pursuing legal action. And it comes a day after the Trump administration claimed that only the federal government has the right to enforce the industry.

Prediction markets, which allow users to bet on events such as sports, political outcomes and wars, have exploded in popularity. Business Insider reports that Kalshi did 27 times as much business during this year's Super Bowl as last year's. Some of that growth has been at the expense of regulated gambling; Nevada's gambling operations did less business during this year's game.

"Kalshi has continued to dramatically expand its business, rather than attempting to maintain any kind of status quo," Nevada regulators wrote in a letter this month.

Kalshi and rival Polymarket insist that their businesses are "event contracts" and should be regulated as financial investments rather than gambling. The Trump administration, rife with conflicts of interest in this area, agrees. The Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed an amicus brief on Tuesday, claiming that it alone has the authority to enforce the prediction market.

"The CFTC will no longer sit idly by while overzealous state governments undermine the agency's exclusive jurisdiction over these markets by seeking to establish statewide prohibitions on these exciting products," CFTC Chair Michael Selig wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Donald Trump Jr. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images

Not coincidentally, prediction markets are a growing part of the Trump family business. Donald Trump Jr. is a paid adviser to Kalshi. He's also an investor in and unpaid adviser to Polymarket. In January, his family's social media business said it would launch its own prediction market platform.

Prediction markets have the potential to be a hotbed of insider trading. According to blockchain analyst DeFi Oasis, fewer than 0.04 percent of Polymarket accounts have captured over 70 percent of the platform's total profits, totaling over $3.7 billion.

Last month, The Guardian highlighted the case of a Polymarket user who bet tens of thousands of dollars on "yes" to the question, "Israel's military action against Iran by Friday?" Within 24 hours, Israel bombed Iran, leaving hundreds dead. The user made $128,000 on that bet. The Guardian traced the blockchain data to a wallet associated with an X account. Its location on the social platform was set to Beit Ha'shita, a northern Israeli settlement. The user later transferred their bets to two other accounts, apparently to avoid detection. In January, the accounts held 10 live bets on Israeli military strategy.

Another anonymous user made over $400,000 by betting that Nicolás Maduro would be ousted by the end of January. The bets were placed in the hours and days leading up to the US strikes on Venezuela. In another case, eight jointly owned accounts collectively generated over $161,000 by betting on the country's María Corina Machado Parisca winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The accounts' handles used names such as "fmaduro," "madurowilllose," "striketheboats" and "trumpdeservesit".

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/nevada-sues-kalshi-for-operating-a-sports-gambling-market-without-a-license-175721982.html?src=rss

Apple has scheduled a product launch event, dubbed an "Apple Experience", for March 4 at 9AM ET. The company is reportedly holding this event in NYC, London and Shanghai.

Everyone loves shiny new products, so what can we expect to see at Apple's first launch event of 2026? We don't know anything for certain, but we have plenty of educated guesses that have been sourced from industry reports and speculation from analysts.

Budget-Friendly MacBook

There have been rumors swirling that Apple is preparing to launch a cheaper alternative to the MacBook Air. Bloomberg reported on this all the way back in November. Industry rumors indicate that Apple will be stuffing this laptop with an iPhone processor, the A18 Pro, to keep the price down.

Worth pointing out the three colors from the invite are light green, blue and yellow -- which just so happen to be the colors Apple has tested the low-cost MacBook with, as I wrote yesterday. Coincidence? We shall see. https://t.co/1FFVkfw9JZ pic.twitter.com/ssKDDzdJsw

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) February 16, 2026

It's also been suggested that this laptop will only include 8GB of RAM, which kind of flies against the company's recent stance to outfit all Macs with at least 16GB of RAM. However, that would certainly help with the cost. You might have heard about a little thing called AI that chomp chomps on all RAM it can find.

TechRadar has reported that this could be Apple's biggest laptop launch in years, with potential initial shipments hitting 8 million units. The price is likely to be somewhere in the $699 to $799 range, which is pretty nifty. However, I'd still go for an Air at $999. They are absolute workhorses.

MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and Max chips

It's likely that Apple will release more powerful MacBook Pro models this year and the timing seems to match up. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has suggested a March launch and the event is on March 4.

The company has already released a MacBook Pro with an M5 chip, but both the M5 Pro and Max are likely on the horizon. We could be getting new laptops outfitted with these chips in various display sizes.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

There have also been reports that both of the higher-end M5 chips are getting a redesign to help improve heat dissipation and reduce defective chip rates. Additionally, the new chiplet design would allow the M5 Pro and Max to raise the total number of CPU and GPU cores. The Max is expected to have more cores than the Pro.

This idea is helped along by the fact that MacBook Pro M4 Max orders are currently delayed. This is typically the case with an outgoing model as stock dries up to make room for new releases. Also, the Pro and Max variants typically get announced in the Fall, so we are due. 

New iPads

Rumors have been circulating that we are about to get new iPads, including an update to the base model and the Air. The standard model, which would be the 12th-gen release, is expected to upgrade the A16 chip to an A18. This should also allow for the integration of Apple Intelligence tools, if that's your bag.

Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

As for that iPad Air, rumors suggest an upgrade to the M4 chip from the M3. An extremely light tablet with an M4 would be fairly notable in my estimation, as only the newest iPad Pro has that chip.

iPhone 17e

It was almost exactly a year ago that Apple announced the iPhone 16e, so you know what that means. It's time for a refresh. Recent reports have suggested that an announcement regarding the iPhone 17e is imminent, so this launch event seems like as good a place as any to reveal the latest "budget-friendly" smartphone.

As for specs, Mark Gurman has suggested that it'll be getting an upgrade to the A19 chip, which is nice. Also, it could be getting MagSafe support. That sounds like an iterative upgrade, but the price is expected to remain steady at $599.

Other Possibilities

The following stuff is less likely, though certainly possible. There have been rumors that Apple is currently preparing a revamped Studio Display and Mac Studio desktop. The reports suggest a release sometime in the first half of the year, and March is right in the middle of that timeframe.

It's also possible that the company will reveal an upgrade to the MacBook Air with the M5 chip. Reports indicate that this is unlikely to happen during this event, but it is worth noting that the M4 Air came out in March of last year. In other words, it's a toss up.

The inclusion of Shanghai essentially rules out Siri, as expected, given the delays. https://t.co/mgNLR4qCYy

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) February 16, 2026

What's not a toss up? You shouldn't expect anything regarding the long-anticipated Siri refresh. This looks to be a hardware event, so any software updates will likely have to wait until WWDC this summer. In any event, Engadget will be on hand to report on all of Apple's new products. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/heres-what-to-expect-at-apples-product-launch-event-on-march-4-173612772.html?src=rss

Mastodon is looking to grow its open source, decentralized social network with new features aimed at creators.

The Figure data breach allowed hackers to steal customer names, dates of birth, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

NadyGinzburg/Shutterstock

Climate change is usually assessed in scientific terms - rising temperatures, sea levels and carbon emissions. But increasingly, it can also be measured in household bills - higher insurance premiums, steeper energy charges and growing costs to protect homes, travel and health. So when US President Donald Trump said recently that abandoning a key government ruling on greenhouse gases would make cars cheaper for Americans, he was focusing on a tiny piece of a huge picture.

That is because climate change is not a local problem that hits one place at a time. It is increasingly a widespread financial risk, pushing on several parts of household finances at once. When risks become systemic, people cannot simply "insure it away" or plan around it.

When Trump announced he was revoking the US's 2009 "endangerment finding", which set out how greenhouse gas buildup harms human health and wellbeing, he said the move would save Americans "trillions of dollars".

But climate change shows up directly in household budgets as pressures converge. These pressures could include insurance becoming unaffordable or even unavailable, which can then have knock-on effects on property values. On top of that, utility costs can creep up, wages may become less reliable, and retirement savings are exposed to climate-driven shocks.

For many families, their home is their largest financial asset. But climate risk is increasingly being priced into property markets. Research suggests that in the United States, homes exposed to flood risk may be overvalued by between US$121 billion and US$237 billion (£89 billion and £174 billion). The First Street Foundation, an independent climate risk research organisation, estimates that climate risk could wipe out as much as US$1.47 trillion in US home values by 2055.

In the UK, evidence shows that house prices in English postcodes affected by inland flooding fell by an average of 25% compared with similar non-flooded areas. Coastal flooding in England has been associated with price reductions of roughly 21%. The Environment Agency estimates that one in four homes in England could be at risk of flooding by the middle of the century.

Insurance is expensive - or unavailable

Many governments have tried to prevent climate risk from pricing people out of insurance by creating schemes of last resort. These government-backed initiatives keep policies available when the market would otherwise withdraw. But this safety net is now under growing financial strain.

In the US, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has accumulated more than US$22 billion in debt to the US Treasury after repeated borrowing to cover claims.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Flood Re was designed to buy time for adaptation while keeping flood insurance affordable. Yet rising claims have driven up reinsurance costs by around £100 million for 2025/26. France also had to increase the mandatory surcharge on its national "Cat Nat" natural catastrophe scheme from 12% to 20% from January 2025 to maintain financial stability.

Climate change affects households even if they do not own property. As utilities invest in stronger, more resilient infrastructure, those costs are usually recovered through higher standing charges and tariffs. In other words, the price of adaptation is quietly passed on through monthly bills. In California, for example, wildfire-related grid upgrades added 7% to nearly 13% to household energy bills in 2023.

The same logic applies to cars. Rolling back US vehicle emissions rules is being sold to American consumers as cutting US$2,400 off the price of a new car. But that sum isn't a cheque to ordinary Americans. Carmakers are not required to pass the saving on, petrol drivers can end up paying more at the pump, and EVs still come with a high upfront price tag.

In reality, the figure is best understood as an estimated reduction in manufacturers' compliance costs, not a guaranteed discount at the dealership.

Climate change doesn't only put pressure on household budgets. It also threatens the thing many families rely on most: a steady pay cheque. Large parts of the economy worldwide still depend on work that happens outdoors from agriculture and construction to tourism, deliveries and logistics. The 2022 California drought cost farming around US$1.7 billion in revenue and nearly 12,000 job losses.

There are also direct health costs. The International Labour Organization warns that climate hazards expose workers to a "cocktail" of risks, including heat stress, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation and physical injury.

It estimates that 2.4 billion workers around the world could be exposed to climate-related health hazards. Excessive heat already affects about 70% of the global workforce, contributing to 18,970 work-related deaths and roughly 23 million workplace injuries each year.

Climate change is increasingly seen by regulators and investors as a systemic risk that can undermine the pensions people rely on in retirement. Risk management technology firm Ortec Finance warns that failing to transition to a low-carbon global economy could reduce pension fund returns worldwide by around 33% by 2050.

Physical risks (floods, heatwaves and storms) can damage assets and disrupt productivity. Transition risks (policy shifts and sudden repricing of carbon-intensive assets) can hit valuations. Together, they weaken the performance of equities, property and infrastructure.

When climate risk is systemic, there's no bargain to be made: short-term "savings" don't reduce household costs, they are repaid soon through higher bills. Rather than driving up the cost of living, climate policy helps to stop climate shocks from raising prices even faster.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Musical instrument digital interface protocol leaves preview for bright lights of General Availability

Microsoft has finally ushered in the era of MIDI 2.0 for Windows 11, more than a year after first teasing the functionality for Windows Insiders.…

One of many

This is one reason why I'm still staying away from OpenClaw.

Smart glasses bans are reasonable, important, and damn near impossible.

Whirling nunchaku-wielding dervishes of destruction represent startling progress for China's robotics industry.

Horrormaster James Wan produces this new take on one of the classic Universal Monsters.

In two large-scale trials, Compass Pathways' proprietary form of psilocybin improved people's depression symptoms better than controls.

Try telling the difference yourself before going all Nelson Muntz, though.

Probably not very collapsy but also very collapsy

submitted by /u/B_L_E_Worldwide
[link] [comments]

The smartphone is available for preorder now with shipments starting March 5.  It comes in Lavender, Berry, Fog, and Obsidian.

Mount Faloria rises above Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the host towns for the 2026 Winter Olympics. kallerna / Wikimedia, CC BY

Italy's 2026 Winter Olympics have been described as the most regionally distributed Winter Games ever staged. Events are spread across more than 22,000 km², taking in Milan, as well as the towns of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Valtellina, Val di Fiemme and Livigno in the Alps.

Geographical dispersion is not entirely new. In 1956, the equestrian events of the Melbourne summer Olympics were actually held 15,500 km away, in Stockholm, Sweden, five months before the rest of the games. This was due to Australia's quarantine rules. More recently, surfing during Paris 2024 was done in Tahiti, 15,727km from the French capital. The competition was duly labelled "most distant Olympic event ever".

As a sports management specialist with a human geography background, my research looks at how new spatial solutions and distribution of sport activities and events across a territory increases their sustainability and long-term viability. What distinguishes Milano-Cortina is the way it has been organised across the regions of Lombardy, Veneto and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano. This represents a strategic shift towards what geographers would term a "dispersed, multinodal model". More than 90% of the venues being used already existed or are temporary. The goal is to reduce construction, minimise environmental impact and reduce any long-term maintenance burdens. In other words, the games have adapted to the territory rather than reshaping it.

Learning from past Games

The approach adopted for this year's games indicates that national organising committees, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), are willing to adapt. Research shows such a shift is long overdue.

Olympic planning has long involved sustainability rhetoric. Recent reforms emphasise reduced environmental footprints and the use of existing facilities. Yet, events including the Paris 2024 summer games, have been accused of greenwashing.

Italy's own experience, during the Torino 2006 winter games, highlighted the risks of overbuilding in fragile mountain environments. Many of those purpose-built facilities faced long-term operational and ecological challenges.

Organisers are getting much better at designing flexible venues that can be adapted by the host city for use after the event. In Paris, 95% of the venues were either pre-existing or temporary. The games notably transformed the river Seine into a venue for the opening ceremony and aquatic events. It was expensive to pull off, but as a demonstration of public space reuse and long-term urban ecological investment, it was symbolically powerful. The Place de la Concorde was also converted into a temporary street-sport hub. This showcased how urban environments can host dynamic youth events that blend competition with city life.

Winter games, of course, face different constraints. Where summer hosts can absorb scale, winter hosts rely on natural landscapes that are already under severe climatic pressure. This increases both the stakes and the complexity of sustainable design.

On one hand, spreading events across regions makes them more accessible to multiple communities. It involves more municipalities and regional bodies in planning, implementation, and legacy building, which in turn can foster stronger local engagement and a more distributed sense of ownership.

On the other hand, the model requires robust coordination between diverse actors. It also poses the risk of a fragmented Olympic identity. And it makes media coverage more complex. While this drives innovation in terms of hybrid reporting tools and local storytelling, it can lead to platforms prioritising some events over others.

The transport challenge

The most significant sustainability challenge remains transport. A dispersed model inherently requires athletes, officials, media and spectators to travel more between places. According to the IOC, Milano-Cortina 2026 relies heavily on trains and shuttle systems to minimise private car use, with the goal of reducing car use by 20%, compared to Torino 2006.

Overall travel demand is, however, more complex. A 2022 study on preparations for Milan-Cortina, showed that the larger the host territory, the more complex its mobility planning. Participants still have to get to events and the people who live there, meanwhile, "still expect to inherit benefits from any investments made". Infrastructure upgrades, from rail modernisation to enhanced alpine transit, are duly central to the 2026 games' legacy strategy.

Long-distance spectator travel, in particular, remains a huge factor in the games' carbon footprint, whether the event is geographically concentrated or dispersed. Research published by the French government showed that international travel accounted for almost 50% of the Paris 2024 summer games's carbon footprint.

In sum, from a resource, climate and environmental perspective, Olympic winter games are not justifiable. They inevitably intrude into the natural landscape and despite all sustainability-led reforms, implementation on the ground is spotty. Milano-Cortina 2026 has included some infrastructure projects which reportedly lack environmental assessments or long‑term utility. To what extent this will be offset by the benefits of its geographical dispersion model remains to be determined.

But the public loves them. The Milano-Cortina 2026 approach signals a vital willingness to adapt. As snowpacks retreat, temperatures rise and young people scrutinise what leaders are doing to the environment with ever greater acuity, this might well be the only thing keeping this event alive.

Karin Book does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

State disputes the company's claim that its routers are made in Vietnam

TP-Link is facing legal action from the state of Texas for allegedly misleading consumers with "Made in Vietnam" claims despite China-dominated manufacturing and supply chains, and for marketing its devices as secure despite reported firmware vulnerabilities exploited by Chinese state-sponsored actors.…

Our former colleague, Jeff Frew, has died aged 68. A community worker, political advisor and activist, musician and mountaineer, Jeff spent six years of his varied working life at Cycling UK. Suzanne Forup and her colleagues remember Jeff as a passionate advocate for cycling that will be remembered for his empathy, humour and fabulous storytelling

We may not have to wait on Apple anymore.

Local environmentalists warn that the island's marine ecosystem could be placed at great risk.

During the heyday of the big box bookstores -- I still miss the Borders chain -- I would always browse the science fiction and fantasy section. And I could usually count on spotting a copy of Illuminatus! in the section.

While the days of a bookstore in every big shopping center in the U.S. appear to be gone, Barnes and Noble has been making a comeback lately and is opening about 60 new stores this year.   One of them has just opened in Strongsville, on the west side of Cleveland, and my wife and I visited it yesterday. I did my usual SF browse. The section as a bit confusing, as there were two separate A-Z sections, but I spotted a copy of Illuminatus!, as you can see. It was good to see it was there. 

The science fiction section was pretty large and has a good balance of classic authors and newer ones.

Rancho Cucamonga, CA — Dunlop Tires is proud to announce the 2026 Team Dunlop Road Race Elite roster, continuing the brand's commitment to developing the next generation of American road racing talent. Designed to support young riders competing at the highest amateur and junior professional levels, the Road Race Elite program provides a proven pathway toward national and international competition.

The 2026 roster features a diverse and highly accomplished group of 10 riders competing across MotoAmerica Mini Cup, Talent Cup, FIM MiniGP, World Finals, and international development series. Representing the depth and reach of the program are Christian Berlowitz, Connor Raymond, Gabe Datis, Zaal Farhand, Cruise Texter, Cooper Jazikoff, Chase Jazikoff, Jase Dill, Maverick Johnson, and Kensei Matsudaira.

The 2025 Mission MotoAmerica Mini Cup Champions show off their No. 1 plates. (From left to right) Bodie Paige, Cruise Texter, Kensei Matsudaira, Zaal Farhand, and Chase Jazikoff. Photo by Larry Lawrence

Among the standout athletes, Connor Raymond enters his second year on Team Dunlop after finishing second overall in the MotoAmerica 190cc Championship, while Kensei Matsudaira continues his progression on a global stage with experience in the MotoAmerica Talent Cup, FIM MiniGP World Series, Asia Talent Cup, and JuniorGP European Talent Cup. Chase Jazikoff returns as a back-to-back MotoAmerica Mini Cup National Champion, joined by younger brother Cooper Jazikoff, who continues to build momentum across multiple MiniGP platforms. Riders such as Christian Berlowitz, Gabe Datis, Zaal Farhand, and Jase Dill bring championship-winning resumes from MotoAmerica, FIM MiniGP, and international competition, while Maverick Johnson enters his first year with Dunlop following a rapid rise through national ranks and upcoming international opportunities. Cruise Texter, already a proven multi-discipline racer, continues to showcase Dunlop performance across road race and beyond.

 

 

The Team Dunlop Road Race Elite program mirrors the structure and philosophy of Dunlop's established Elite initiatives, providing select riders with technical support, product access, and brand partnership both on and off the track. With an increasing number of Elite alumni advancing into professional competition, Dunlop's road racing development efforts continue to play a critical role in shaping the future of the sport.

"We're excited to continue growing the Team Dunlop Road Race Elite program in 2026," said Cori Maynard, Dunlop Coordinator of Motorsports Logistics. "This group represents the next wave of road racing talent, and it's rewarding to see how quickly these riders progress when given the right support and opportunities. The depth of this roster speaks to the strength of the program and the future of American road racing."

Kensei Matsudaira made his MotoAmerica Talent Cup debut in September 2025 at Circuit of the Americas, and finished on the podium. Photo by Karen E. Ott Photography.

Fans and industry members can look for these Team Dunlop Road Race Elite riders competing throughout the 2026 MotoAmerica Mini Cup season, where many will continue to showcase their development and racecraft at some of the most competitive youth road racing events in the country. The Mini Cup series remains a key proving ground for emerging talent, and Dunlop looks forward to supporting these riders as they continue to progress on the national stage.

Team Roberts 2026 MotoAmerica Talent Cup rider Kensei Matsudaira will also race in the 2026 FIM Moto4 Latin Cup. Photo by Karen E. Ott Photography.

About Dunlop Motorcycle Tires:

Dunlop is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in North America. For more information, visit www.DunlopMotorcycleTires.com. Follow @RideDunlop on Instagram, Facebook, and X for the latest Dunlop news. Use #RideDunlop and #RaceDunlop to share your Dunlop moments.

The post Dunlop Announces 2026 Team Dunlop Road Race Elite Roster appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.