Toyota's Mirai, a hydrogen-powered Fuel Cell EV initially heralded as the future of driving, has faced significant challenges due to inadequate hydrogen fueling infrastructure. As chronicled by InsideEVs, many owners have become disillusioned with the vehicle's high operational costs, unreliable refueling options, and significant depreciation, prompting lawsuits and calls for buybacks. Longtime Slashdot reader whoever57 writes: Toyota Mirai owners are fed up and disillusioned. Hydrogen fuel pumps are hard to find and, rather than new pumps opening, they are closing down. Owners feel misled about the costs and availability of hydrogen fuel stations. Even if a Mirai owner can find a fuel station, it may not be operating. Moreover, refueling is frequently a long and problematic process, with pumps taking over an hour to fill a tank and cars getting stuck to the fuel pump for hours. It would be quicker to charge a battery EV. Naturally, resale values of these cars are plummeting. Even without those problems, once the complimentary hydrogen fuel supply that Toyota gives new owners expires or runs out, the cost of hydrogen fuel becomes quite expensive. "Not in my wildest dreams or nightmares would I expect a purchase from a giant car company like Toyota would turn out to be such a terrible experience," said owner Shawn Hall. "The entire H2 vehicle experience is an experiment that is failing. I didn't expect to buy a vehicle from Toyota and feel duped, cheated, and misled."
Another user wrote on Reddit: "We all need to realize that we bought a vehicle that had, at best, a questionable future. Unfortunately in this instance, the gamble didn't pay off, and the technology of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles does not appear to be something the vehicle industry is invested in pursuing. Very similar to HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray, there was one clear winner and in our instance, the battery-powered EV won out over H2. Its sucks, but it is what it is."
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Close Russia-North Korea ties could embolden Pyongyang to take a more risky approach in the global arena, a senior US official says Read Full Article at RT.com
Close ties with Moscow have granted Pyongyang a “luster of legitimacy” that it should not have, Jung Pak has said
The recent rapprochement between Russia and North Korea could embolden Pyongyang to take a more risky approach in the global arena, a senior US diplomat has warned.
Deputy Assistant Secretary Jung Pak, who serves as the State Department’s senior official for North Korea, told Bloomberg on Monday that Moscow’s “complete embrace” of North Korea could mean that the country would be more inclined to threaten its southern neighbor, export weapons abroad, and defy Washington’s calls to return to denuclearization talks.
Pak claimed that the warming in the already-close ties between Moscow and Pyongyang had been spurred by North Korean arms shipments to Russia, which have allegedly been used in the Ukraine conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed reports of such deliveries, saying they are not based on any evidence. This stance has been echoed by North Korean officials.
According to the US official, Pyongyang has reaped numerous benefits from this cooperation, including economic assistance and high-profile meetings with Russian officials.
This could provide North Korea with a “luster of legitimacy that it does not deserve, and it should not have,” Pak said, adding that Washington was “concerned about what that might do to make Kim think that his leash is longer than it really is, and how that might figure into Kim’s risk calculus.”
Pak also claimed that North Korea had benefited from Russia’s decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution to extend the role of a panel of experts monitoring Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development last month. Peskov explained that the resolution was “no longer in our interests,” and that Moscow had objected to the “modalities” stipulated in the document.
The US official also voiced concern that North Korea’s newfound veneer of legitimacy could entice “other bad actors” across the globe to purchase its weapons. “North Korea has had a long history of proliferation in the Middle East, Africa, [and] elsewhere. And we don’t want that to start blossoming into other proliferation relationships,” she said.
While close ties between Russia and North Korea date back to the days of the Soviet Union, they recently picked up steam when President Vladimir Putin met with Kim Jong-un in Russia’s Far East last year to discuss bilateral relations and the international agenda.
In recent weeks, North Korea has carried out numerous missile tests and ratcheted up its rhetoric against the West, denouncing what it called “reckless” drills by the US and South Korea in the region.
The head of the Manhattan Project, General Groves was in permanent liaison with Oppenheimer. On Sept. 15, 1945 The War Department requested an estimate of the "number of bombs required to ensure our national security" against the USSR
Germany’s Knauf has announced it is exiting Russia as prosecutors launch a probe over its alleged engagement in rebuilding Mariupol Read Full Article at RT.com
A report has claimed Knauf was actively engaged in rebuilding the city which was heavily damaged in 2022
Building materials giant Knauf is under investigation following reports on its alleged involvement in the reconstruction of the city of Mariupol, the prosecutor’s office in the German city of Wurzburg told RIA Novosti.
Earlier this month, German outlet ARD claimed that German enterprises, particularly Knauf, were engaged in the rebuilding of the Russian Black Sea coastal city which was heavily damaged during a siege in 2022.
“It’s important to note that there is currently no initial suspicion of a crime required to initiate a pre-investigation check. Rather, it serves to clarify whether such an initial suspicion exists at all,” Tobias Kostuch, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office told RIA Novosti on Monday.
On the same day, Knauf announced it was exiting Russia in light of the “current developments” without providing a specific reason for the withdrawal.
Knauf, a global leader in plaster production, was one of the Western companies which refused to leave Russia after the Ukraine conflict started in 2022. Last November, Ukraine labeled the firm a “sponsor of war” calling Knauf the “largest German investor in the construction industry in Russia.” The company employs more than 35,000 people around the world and has annual revenue of over $11 billion, according to Forbes.
Its founder Nicholas Knauf, who served as an honorary Russian consul for over two decades, called the Western sanctions on Russia “terrible.” However, he told ARD that he opposes Moscow’s military operation, and that his company complies with EU restrictions, only using its Russian branch to provide goods “exclusively for the Russian market.”
The firm revealed it intends to “transfer the entire business in Russia, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, and sales to local management to preserve the jobs of more than 4,000 employees in the future.”
The move is pending approval by Russian authorities, who have already been informed of the plans, according to deputy Trade and Industry Minister Viktor Evtukhov. Commenting on the firm’s decision to “transfer” its assets the minister referred to this word as “not appropriate.”
“If for some reason a company leaves the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, then a sale takes place. Another thing is that you can sell an asset for any price, but not more than 50% of its market value,” Evtukhov said.
Under existing laws, firms leaving Russia are obligated to sell their Russian assets at a 50% discount and pay a mandatory contribution to the Russian budget, amounting to at least 10% of half the market value of the company’s assets in the country.
Germany’s Knauf has announced it is exiting Russia as prosecutors launch a probe over its alleged engagement in rebuilding Mariupol Read Full Article at RT.com
A report has claimed Knauf was actively engaged in rebuilding the city which was heavily damaged in 2022
Building materials giant Knauf is under investigation following reports on its alleged involvement in the reconstruction of the city of Mariupol, the prosecutor’s office in the German city of Wurzburg told RIA Novosti.
Earlier this month, German public outlet ARD claimed that some of the country's businesses, particularly Knauf, were engaged in the rebuilding of the Russian Black Sea coastal city which was heavily damaged during a siege in 2022.
“It’s important to note that there is currently no initial suspicion of a crime required to initiate a pre-investigation check. Rather, it serves to clarify whether such an initial suspicion exists at all,” Tobias Kostuch, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office told RIA Novosti on Monday.
On the same day, Knauf announced it was exiting Russia in light of the “current developments” without providing a specific reason for the withdrawal.
A global leader in plaster production, Knauf was one of the Western companies which refused to leave Russia after the Ukraine conflict started in 2022. Last November, Ukraine labeled the firm a “sponsor of war” calling it the “largest German investor in the construction industry in Russia.” The company employs more than 35,000 people around the world and has annual revenue of over $11 billion, according to Forbes.
Its founder Nicholas Knauf, who served as an honorary Russian consul for over two decades, called the Western sanctions on Russia “terrible.” However, he told ARD that he opposes Moscow’s military operation, and that his company complies with EU restrictions, only using its Russian branch to provide goods “exclusively for the Russian market.”
The firm revealed it intends to “transfer the entire business in Russia, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, and sales to local management to preserve the jobs of more than 4,000 employees in the future.”
The move is pending approval by Russian authorities, who have already been informed of the plans, according to deputy Trade and Industry Minister Viktor Evtukhov. Commenting on the firm’s decision to “transfer” its assets the minister referred to this word as “not appropriate.”
“If for some reason a company leaves the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, then a sale takes place. Another thing is that you can sell an asset for any price, but not more than 50% of its market value,” Evtukhov said.
Under existing laws, firms leaving Russia are obligated to sell their Russian assets at a 50% discount and pay a mandatory contribution to the Russian budget, amounting to at least 10% of half the market value of the company’s assets in the country.
NASA last week formally approved a $3.35 billion mission to explore Saturn's largest moon with a quadcopter drone. "Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad community interest, and we are excited to take the next steps on this mission," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA's science mission directorate. "Exploring Titan will push the boundaries of what we can do with rotorcraft outside of Earth." The mission has a launch date of July 2028. Ars Technica reports: After reaching Titan, the eight-bladed rotorcraft lander will soar from place to place on Saturn's hazy moon, exploring environments rich in organic molecules, the building blocks of life. Dragonfly will be the first mobile robot explorer to land on any other planetary body besides the Moon and Mars, and only the second flying drone to explore another planet. NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars was the first. Dragonfly will be more than 200 times as massive as Ingenuity and will operate six times farther from Earth.
Despite its distant position in the cold outer Solar System, Titan appears to be reminiscent of the ancient Earth. A shroud of orange haze envelops Saturn's largest moon, and Titan's surface is covered with sand dunes and methane lakes. Titan's frigid temperatures -- hovering near minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 179 degrees Celsius) -- mean water ice behaves like bedrock. NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which flew past Titan numerous times before its mission ended in 2017, discovered weather systems on the hazy moon. Observations from Cassini found evidence for hydrocarbon rains and winds that appear to generate waves in Titan's methane lakes. Clearly, Titan is an exotic world. Most of what scientists know about Titan comes from measurements collected by Cassini and the European Space Agency's Huygens probe, which Cassini released to land on Titan in 2005. Huygens returned the first pictures from Titan's surface, but it only transmitted data for 72 minutes.
Dragonfly will explore Titan for around three years, flying tens of kilometers about once per month to measure the prebiotic chemistry of Titan's surface, study its soupy atmosphere, and search for biosignatures that could be indications of life. The mission will visit more than 30 locations within Titan's equatorial region, according to a presentation by Elizabeth Turtle, Dragonfly's principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. "The Dragonfly mission is an incredible opportunity to explore an ocean world in a way that we have never done before," Turtle said in a statement. "The team is dedicated and enthusiastic about accomplishing this unprecedented investigation of the complex carbon chemistry that exists on the surface of Titan and the innovative technology bringing this first-of-its-kind space mission to life."
Thousands of German troops along with tanks and armored vehicles are taking part in military drills near the Russian border in Lithuania Read Full Article at RT.com
The Grand Quadriga 2024 exercise in Lithuania is part of NATO’s Steadfast Defender 24 war games
More than 3,000 German military personnel are taking part in the Grand Quadriga 2024 drills that kicked off in Lithuania on Tuesday. The maneuvers are part of the larger, months-long Steadfast Defender 24 series of NATO exercises that began in late January.
Lithuania shares a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as well as Moscow’s closest ally, Belarus. In a separate development earlier this month, Berlin deployed an advanced military team to the Baltic country as part of plans for a full-strength armor brigade permanently stationed there. Moscow has described the plans as a threat requiring “special measures” in response.
The Grand Quadriga 2024 exercise is scheduled to wrap up in late May, and will involve 200 pieces of German military hardware, including Leopard tanks as well as Puma and Boxer infantry fighting vehicles.
In a statement last Thursday, the Lithuanian military wrote that the “exercise is centered around moving two divisions from the Central European region to the Eastern.”
“Lithuanian units training side by side with the German participants will plan and execute operations,” the document read.
The Bundeswehr revealed that its armored division would be transported by boat, rail and road to Lithuania, where it would “practice defense and counter-offensive [exercises] on the allied territory.”
Several more military drills will also be taking place in Lithuania concurrently, including Saber Strike, Brave Griffin 2024/II and Thunder Strike – all of which are part of NATO’s Steadfast Defender 24.
Hailed as the largest exercises that NATO has held in decades, the maneuvers will feature some 90,000 troops from all 32 member states, according to Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Christopher Cavoli.
Some 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles, will be involved, as well as more than 50 naval vessels and 80 helicopters, drones and fighter jets.
In January, General Cavoli said the drills would simulate an “emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary,” covering thousands of kilometers all across Europe.
Commenting on NATO’s war games in early March, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said they were “undoubtedly increasing tensions and destabilizing the situation in the world.” He claimed that a “scenario of an armed confrontation with Russia is being rehearsed.”
Thousands of German troops along with tanks and armored vehicles are taking part in military drills near the Russian border in Lithuania Read Full Article at RT.com
The Grand Quadriga 2024 exercise in Lithuania is part of NATO’s Steadfast Defender 24 war games
More than 3,000 German military personnel are taking part in the Grand Quadriga 2024 drills that kicked off in Lithuania on Tuesday. The maneuvers are part of the larger, months-long Steadfast Defender 24 series of NATO exercises that began in late January.
Lithuania shares a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as well as Moscow’s closest ally, Belarus. In a separate development earlier this month, Berlin deployed an advanced military team to the Baltic country as part of plans for a full-strength armor brigade permanently stationed there. Moscow has described the plans as a threat requiring “special measures” in response.
The Grand Quadriga 2024 exercise is scheduled to wrap up in late May, and will involve 200 pieces of German military hardware, including Leopard tanks as well as Puma and Boxer infantry fighting vehicles.
In a statement last Thursday, the Lithuanian military wrote that the “exercise is centered around moving two divisions from the Central European region to the Eastern.”
“Lithuanian units training side by side with the German participants will plan and execute operations,” the document read.
The Bundeswehr revealed that its armored division would be transported by boat, rail and road to Lithuania, where it would “practice defense and counter-offensive [exercises] on the allied territory.”
Several more military drills will also be taking place in Lithuania concurrently, including Saber Strike, Brave Griffin 2024/II and Thunder Strike – all of which are part of NATO’s Steadfast Defender 24.
Hailed as the largest exercises that NATO has held in decades, the maneuvers will feature some 90,000 troops from all 32 member states, according to Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Christopher Cavoli.
Some 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles, will be involved, as well as more than 50 naval vessels and 80 helicopters, drones and fighter jets.
In January, General Cavoli said the drills would simulate an “emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary,” covering thousands of kilometers all across Europe.
Commenting on NATO’s war games in early March, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said they were “undoubtedly increasing tensions and destabilizing the situation in the world.” He claimed that a “scenario of an armed confrontation with Russia is being rehearsed.”
Multiple pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested during a demonstration at New York University Read Full Article at RT.com
Multiple demonstrators have been arrested outside NYU business school, authorities have said
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered at New York University, with the rally later broken up by police who made a number of arrests, according to local officials and media reports.
NYU spokesman John Beckman said the demonstration kicked off on Monday morning on Could Plaza in front of the Stern School of Business and some 50 people took part, adding that this happened “without authorization.”
The officials at the institution put barriers in place to prevent anyone else from joining in “because the protests were already considerably disruptive of classes and other operations in schools around the plaza,” Beckman said.
#NOW: NYPD arrests at least a dozen NYU faculty members in the ‘Liberated Zone’ at Gould Plaza
This is not the solution and this generation is aware and they will stand against wrong policies and will not stop. pic.twitter.com/cA7o9UEin4
Middle East conflict comes to the U.S. after funding bill passes Congress.
Mobs of protestors waving Palestinian flags in America have clashed with New York City police Monday night while protesting the U.S. funding of Israel in their genocide against Gaza.
Footage shows torch-wielding demonstrators with face masks obscuring their identities marching toward NYPD headquarters.
Now the mob is marching to the NYPD Headquarters! Call in the National Guard! pic.twitter.com/r079Gk9ADz
Alex Jones interviewed a man who drank the 'Q-Laid'.
During his Monday show, Alex Jones interviewed a foreign man named Pascal Najadi who ended up parroting Q-style claims that many current public figures no longer exist while also claiming a former U.S. president who was born in 1917 and assassinated on-camera in 1963 is still alive, and is Q himself.
“That’s not Elon Musk, he’s gone,” Pascal said. “Do you see that rocket ship, that piece of metal, with traditional so-called rocket fuel, you want to go on a seven month voyage.”
The man went on to claim that President John Kennedy, who will turn 107-years-old next month, is not only alive, but is also Qanon.
“President Kennedy is alive, he’s Q actually,” Pascal said.
The foreigner also made the point that there was a solar eclipse over Dallas, the city Kennedy was assassinated in.
quonset writes: Just over two weeks ago, NASA figured out why its Voyager 1 spacecraft stopped sending useful data. They suspected corrupted memory in its flight data system (FDS) was the culprit. Today, for the first time since November, Voyager 1 is sending useful data about its health and the status of its onboard systems back to NASA. How did NASA accomplish this feat of long distance repair? They broke up the code into smaller pieces and redistributed them throughout the memory.
From NASA: "... So they devised a plan to divide the affected code into sections and store those sections in different places in the FDS. To make this plan work, they also needed to adjust those code sections to ensure, for example, that they all still function as a whole. Any references to the location of that code in other parts of the FDS memory needed to be updated as well. The team started by singling out the code responsible for packaging the spacecraft's engineering data. They sent it to its new location in the FDS memory on April 18. A radio signal takes about 22 1/2 hours to reach Voyager 1, which is over 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, and another 22 1/2 hours for a signal to come back to Earth. When the mission flight team heard back from the spacecraft on April 20, they saw that the modification worked: For the first time in five months, they have been able to check the health and status of the spacecraft. During the coming weeks, the team will relocate and adjust the other affected portions of the FDS software. These include the portions that will start returning science data.
"I knew that my 5-year-old son was sleeping next door and I was scared. The only fear I had was that my son might be harmed in some way."
An Afghan cab drive has been convicted of raping a 34-year-old psychology student after she spent a night out partying, with the man committing the act inside the woman’s house while her 5-year-old child slept in the other room.
The incident, which dates back to April 2022, saw the cab driver bring the intoxicated woman to her apartment. The woman, who Bild described as having “long blonde hair,” was unable to make it up to her apartment, when the cab driver, 28-year-old Mojib M., an Afghan refugee, brought her upstairs.
The 27-year-old babysitter, Julia A., who is from Brazil, was waiting for the woman. Julia A. thought that the man was a friend of the victim who had taken her home and did not know he was the cab driver. He laid the victim on the sofa, covered her up, and then Julia A. said goodbye and left.
However, that is when the horror began for the victim. The public prosecutor in the case, Thomas Franz, said that Mojib M., ripped off the woman’s dress and proceeded to rape her.
The woman remained conscious during the rape and told the court: “I had the urge to scream, but nothing came. I knew that my 5-year-old son was sleeping next door and I was scared. The only fear I had was that my son might be harmed in some way.”
The trial only lasted nine hours, after which the man was sentenced to a mere two years and nine months in prison for the brazen rape. He can still appeal the verdict and is unlikely to serve his full sentence. He had no criminal record before the verdict.
Judge Hermann Hopp-Schwab found the man’s version of events to be completely false and told the defendant:
“You are a cab driver, you are concerned about the health of the guest. Then, you shouldn’t get involved in sexual contact. The cab driver responded: “I lost my temper.”
The alleged motive for the rioting is the murder of an Afghan migrant by another Afghan migrant.
There were serious riots in the French capital over the weekend, in which several hundred Afghan immigrants were seen rampaging through the streets. A number of viral videos have been circulating on the internet, which show groups of Afghan men attacking passing cars, setting off smoke grenades, tossing garbage cans and tables, and shattering shop windows.
“No media broadcast the images, but Afghan rioters sowed chaos in the streets of Paris. It’s time for them to return home to Afghanistan!” wrote Marion Maréchal, a candidate for Reconquête.
Aucun média n’a diffusé les images, mais des émeutiers afghans ont semé le chaos dans les rues de Paris. Il est temps pour eux de retourner chez eux, en Afghanistan ! pic.twitter.com/cYHBlciDus
The background to the violent protests is said to be a murder case involving Afghan immigrants. According to reports in the daily newspaper Le Parisien, on April 7, a migrant shot two of his companions for unknown reasons and then tried to cover up the double murder by arson.
Apparently, he underestimated the rapid development of the fire and fell from the seventh floor during his escape, resulting in his death.
The Afghan community responded to this murder case by rioting in Paris. However, despite the dramatic scenes, they were not broadcast on the major French television networks, a point many conservatives criticized.
Dimanche après -midi à Paris : des afghans déclenchent des émeutes. Tout va bien. pic.twitter.com/xdDJsyF4UU
Several French politicians expressed their anger over the incident. The chairman of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, wrote on X: “Afghan demonstration that degenerates into a riot in Paris: I have had enough of our country having become the doormat of the world, the country where we can do anything with total impunity. Our primary commitment will be to put France back in order.”
Manifestation afghane qui dégénère en émeute à Paris : j’en ai assez que notre pays soit devenu le paillasson du monde, le pays où l’on peut tout se permettre dans l’impunité la plus totale.
A commentator on the television channel CNews, Véronique Jacquier, spoke in connection with the images of the rioters displaying a “logic of street conquest.” The events were a sign of a “completely failing and weak state.”
Riots are commonplace in France, with foreigners spreading chaos and violence on a periodic basis, all the way from sporting events to protests over perceived injustices.
The Jordanian man refuses to be represented by a woman.
A Jordanian citizen on trial for a series of rapes and sexual assaults has begun in Munich, Germany, but the case has already made headlines for the defendant’s wild antics and threats in court.
The 40-year-old rejected asylum seeker, Fadi M., has disrupted the trial several times with outbursts, and during the reading of the indictment, he threatened the public prosecutor by making a throat-cutting gesture in his direction.
The man has been living in an asylum home with his wife since 2019 and is also furious that his defense attorney is a woman, saying: “I would rather be killed than go through this torture here,” and that “the reason for the torture is my lawyer.”
Fadi M. said he refused to be represented by a woman, telling the judge: “I ask you to pass judgment immediately. I admit everything without having said a word so that the court and the lawyers can have their peace.”
As a result, Fadi M.’s family has also hired a man to defend him at the same time, according to German newspaper Bild.
The Jordanian migrant is accused of threatening and sexually assaulting women in the Lake Tegernsee region in Bavaria.
The first incident was in spring 2021, where he grabbed a woman’s breast in his asylum home, but the woman managed to push him off. A year and a half later, he held down another 18-year–old Iranian woman, groped her, and kissed her. When the mother of the woman confronted Fadi M., he threatened her with a knife. In August 2023, he found the same 18-year-old woman, pushed her to the ground, and forced his finger inside her vagina and then forced her to give him oral sex.
The 18-year-old victim testified over video about the incident.
The defendant admitted that he already served five years in prison back in Jordan for sexual offenses and violence.
Flights to the African nation can commence within 12 weeks, the Home Office has said.
The British Parliament passed the Safety of Rwanda Bill on Monday, allowing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to deport thousands of asylum seekers to the East African nation. The legislation, which faced strong opposition in the House of Lords and Commons over human rights concerns, will now become law, the UK government has confirmed.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Home Office said the parliamentary approval marked a “major step forward” for Britain’s efforts to “stop the boats and tackle illegal migration.”
“The Bill’s passing means the government can enter the final phase of operational planning to get flights off the ground to Rwanda, pioneering a new response to the global challenge of illegal migration,” it said.
Britain reached a five-year agreement with Rwanda in April 2022 for illegal immigrants to be sent to the landlocked nation. However, no flights have happened since the first one was canceled in June of the same year following intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The scheme has also been declared unlawful by the UK’s highest court, which has deemed Rwanda unsafe for deportees.
Late last year, Sunak’s government introduced the Safety of Rwanda Bill to promote the country as a safe haven for refugees and to block further court challenges to the plan. Conservative MPs had called for it to be amended to override laws that challenge the swift removal of illegal migrants crossing the English Channel. However, the UN and the British Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights declared the draft law illegal, claiming it would cause irreparable harm to the UK’s reputation. The House of Lords has previously supported a motion urging parliament not to ratify it.
In response to the approval on Tuesday, the Home Office said the “landmark” legislation makes it “unambiguously clear that UK Parliament is sovereign and the validity of any Act of Parliament is unaffected by international law.” It also means that Rwanda will now be considered a “safe country for the purposes of relocating people, including in UK courts and tribunals,” it added.
According to the statement, “robust operational plans” have been put in place to deliver the first flight to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks, followed by multiple flights.
The Home Office reportedly has a reduced list of 350 migrants who are believed to pose the least risk of submitting successful legal challenges against their deportation.
Lawyers cited by The Guardian said they would file legal challenges on behalf of individual asylum seekers on a case-by-case basis, possibly removing them from a flight list.
The situation is more accurately described as more people exiting certain blue states – for example New York and California – and heading to other states in general, may they be red or blue.
In the last couple of years, large U.S. states where a majority of voters support Democrats – so-called blue states – have been losing population, while some large red states, where there is majority support for Republicans, have gained residents.
An analysis of Census Bureau data shows that there are in fact some big movements of people from states currently defined as blue to those currently defined as red.
However, as Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, the situation is more accurately described as more people exiting certain blue states – for example New York and California – and heading to other states in general, may they be red or blue.
In 2005 and 2022 alike, those moving from blue states have been almost equally splitting up between blue and red states.
Only their total number has been increasing, from 3.7 million or 2.4 percent of blue states’ population to 4.6 million or 2.7 percent of population in the given years, boosting migration to both red and other blue states.
At the same time, migration from red states has not changed as much – increasing only from 3.3 million in 2005 to 3.6 million in 2022. As in blue states, the split of destinations has stayed almost exactly constant over the years, with red staters choosing other red states 61-62 percent of the time and blue states only 38-39 percent of times.
This means that compared with the mid-2000s, blue states now transfer more than 500,000 more residents towards red states annually (and about as many within blue states). Inflows from red states to blue states have only increased by a little more than 100,000 per year in this time frame.
So while it might be true that a high cost of living and a (perceived) low quality of life is driving people away from certain blue states, this is not driving them towards red states more than in the past, relatively speaking.
Migration from abroad is also boosting U.S. populations.
In 2022, around 1 million more people immigrated into the United States than left the country. International migrants had traditionally chosen larger cities in both red and blue states, but this type of migration has diversified over the past decades.
While this leaves both states like Texas and New York with fewer (official) international arrivals, it has had a more detrimental effect in blue states that already suffer from domestic out-migration.
For the sake of this analysis, states are assigned the designation blue or red based on their vote in the last three presidential elections. For comparability, the definition of red states and blue states was not changed for 2005. Colorado, Virginia and Nevada – where domestic immigration has boomed recently – would technically be defined as red states, not blue, in 2005. However, patterns of migrations for these states are consistent between 2005 and 2022 instead of changing upon their reorientation, also supporting the hypothesis that U.S. migration flows are relatively constant and dependent on factors like location and proximity rather than politics.
The human offense against the robotic takeover begins.
A viral video on X shows a person going full ‘Donkey Kong’ on an autonomous Waymo vehicle in the crime-ridden downtown area of San Francisco over the weekend. This plays into a much larger trend of people lashing out against self-driving cars.
Local media outlet KRON4 said the fully autonomous Jaguar I-Pace was near Market and Dolores streets when a person jumped on the hood and started “stomping the front windshield in an attempt to break it open.”
This isn’t the first time driverless vehicles have been targeted. A video from earlier this year shows a crowd in Chinatown torching a Waymo Jaguar on Jackson Street, between Stockton and Grant.
BREAKING: An autonomous Waymo vehicle is intentionally set on fire in Chinatown, according to SF Fire. Firefighters said they got reports around 10 people were involved.
Waymo said “a crowd surrounded and vandalized the vehicle, breaking the window and throwing a firework … pic.twitter.com/6QN2jTppRu
Two Malaysian Navy helicopters collided during a rehearsal for next month’s anniversary celebration airshow, killing all ten crew Read Full Article at RT.com
Ten crew members were killed in the incident, the Malaysian Navy has confirmed
Two helicopters of the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) collided during a rehearsal for next month’s 90th anniversary celebration show on Tuesday.
The two aircraft collided and crashed at the Lumut TLDM naval base at 9:32 in the morning local time while carrying out a flyby rehearsal, the Navy said in a statement.
“All victims were confirmed dead on site and the remains were sent to TLDM Military Hospital for identification process,” the Navy confirmed in a statement, adding an investigative body will be formed to find out the cause of the incident.
The two helicopters involved were an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter and a lighter Eurocopter Fennec. One helicopter had seven crew on board, while the other had three.
BREAKING: 2 military helicopters crash after mid-air collision in Malaysia, killing all 10 people on board pic.twitter.com/4afNggr0x9
The AW139 crashed onto the steps of Lumut base’s stadium while the Fennec went down at the pool of the base’s sports complex, according to local newspaper Malaymail.
The Navy has called on the public to refrain from sharing videos and photos of the deceased to protect the sensitivity of the victims’ families.
Nahas helikopter di Lumut: TLDM sahkan semua 10 mangsa maut
Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) mengesahkan sebuah Helikopter Operasi Maritim (HOM-AW139) TLDM dan sebuah helikopter FENNEC TLDM telah terhempas semasa raptai Perbarisan Hari TLDM ke-90 di Pangkalan TLDM Lumut pada… pic.twitter.com/ITIXiwQBq7
Two Malaysian Navy helicopters collided during a rehearsal for next month’s anniversary celebration airshow, killing all ten crew Read Full Article at RT.com
The Malaysian Navy has confirmed that all on those board the two aircraft were killed
Ten crew members from the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) have died after their helicopters collided during a parade rehearsal on Tuesday morning.
The two aircraft crashed at the Lumut TLDM naval base while carrying out a flyby rehearsal for a 90th anniversary celebration, the navy said in a statement.
“All victims were confirmed dead on site and the remains were sent to TLDM Military Hospital for identification process,” the statement read, adding that an investigation had been launched into the cause of the incident.
The two helicopters involved were an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter and a lighter Eurocopter Fennec. One copter had seven crew on board, while the other had three.
BREAKING: 2 military helicopters crash after mid-air collision in Malaysia, killing all 10 people on board pic.twitter.com/4afNggr0x9
The AW139 crashed onto the steps of a stadium while the Fennec went down at the pool of the base’s sports complex, according to local newspaper Malaymail.
The navy has called on the public to refrain from sharing videos and photos of the deceased to protect the sensitivity of the victims’ families.
Nahas helikopter di Lumut: TLDM sahkan semua 10 mangsa maut
Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) mengesahkan sebuah Helikopter Operasi Maritim (HOM-AW139) TLDM dan sebuah helikopter FENNEC TLDM telah terhempas semasa raptai Perbarisan Hari TLDM ke-90 di Pangkalan TLDM Lumut pada… pic.twitter.com/ITIXiwQBq7
Two Malaysian Navy helicopters collided during a rehearsal for next month’s anniversary celebration airshow, killing all ten crew Read Full Article at RT.com
The Malaysian Navy has confirmed that all on those board the two aircraft were killed
Ten crew members from the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) have died after their helicopters collided during a parade rehearsal on Tuesday morning.
The two aircraft crashed at the Lumut TLDM naval base while carrying out a flyby ahead of a 90th anniversary celebration, the navy said in a statement.
“All victims were confirmed dead on site and the remains were sent to TLDM Military Hospital for identification process,” the statement read, adding that an investigation had been launched into the cause of the incident.
The two helicopters involved were an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter and a lighter Eurocopter Fennec. One copter had seven crew on board, while the other had three.
The AW139 crashed onto the steps of a stadium while the Fennec went down at the pool of the base’s sports complex, according to local newspaper Malaymail.
The navy has called on the public to refrain from sharing videos and photos of the deceased to protect the sensitivity of the victims’ families.
Nahas helikopter di Lumut: TLDM sahkan semua 10 mangsa maut
Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) mengesahkan sebuah Helikopter Operasi Maritim (HOM-AW139) TLDM dan sebuah helikopter FENNEC TLDM telah terhempas semasa raptai Perbarisan Hari TLDM ke-90 di Pangkalan TLDM Lumut pada… pic.twitter.com/ITIXiwQBq7
Pyongyang carried out a series of launches simulating a nuclear counterattack in a hypothetical maximum crisis alarm scenario Read Full Article at RT.com
Pyongyang has held a large-scale combined “nuclear counterattack” drill
Pyongyang has carried out a drill designed to test the nuclear forces’ coordination system in a counterattack scenario, the state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally observed several super-large multiple rocket launchers firing a salvo of missiles towards an island in the Sea of Japan.
The exercise was held on Monday and came just days after the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) tested a new “super-large warhead” cruise missile and a new type of anti-aircraft missile, amid ongoing joint US and South Korean air force exercises on the peninsula.
The drill’s main purpose was to test for the first time the country’s so-called “nuclear trigger” command and control system, as well as strengthen “prompt counterattack capacity of the state nuclear force”, KCNA wrote. The military units involved in the drill honed the procedures and the order of operations in a hypothetical scenario when North Korea’s highest level nuclear crisis alarm is issued in response to an attack.
The salvo of missiles with simulated nuclear warheads “accurately” hit the island target some 352 kilometers away, KCNA stated, adding that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed “great satisfaction” with the results of the exercise.
The US, South Korea and Japan all condemned the launches as a threat to regional and international peace and security. The issue will be “on the agenda” when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Beijing this week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told the press on Monday.
Pyongyang has meanwhile dubbed the drills a “clear warning signal” to its “enemies,” accusing them of running a “military confrontation racket” operation. The joint US and South Korean air force exercises, set to run until April 26, have run a hundred sorties per day on average, while not even trying to conceal its “extremely provocative and aggressive nature,” KCNA claimed.
Pyongyang has carried out a series of launches simulating a nuclear counterattack in a hypothetical ‘maximum crisis alarm’ scenario Read Full Article at RT.com
Pyongyang has held a large-scale “counterattack” drill
North Korea has carried out drills that simulate a nuclear counterattack against enemy targets, state media reported on Tuesday. Leader Kim Jong-un personally observed several “super-large” multiple rocket launchers firing a salvo of missiles towards an island in the Sea of Japan.
The drills were held on Monday and came just days after Pyongyang tested a new “super-large warhead” cruise missile and a new type of anti-aircraft missile. The US and South Korean air forces also continue to hold joint exercises on the peninsula.
The main purpose of Pyongyang’s exercise was to test for the first time the country’s so-called “nuclear trigger” command and control system, as well as strengthen “[the] prompt counterattack capacity of the state nuclear force,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) wrote. Military units honed the procedures and the order of operations in a hypothetical scenario in which North Korea’s highest level nuclear crisis alarm is issued in response to an attack.
The salvo of missiles with simulated nuclear warheads “accurately” hit the island target some 352km away, KCNA stated. North Korean leader Kim expressed “great satisfaction” with the results of the exercise, it added.
The US, South Korea, and Japan have all condemned the launches as a threat to regional and international peace and security. The issue will be “on the agenda” when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to China this week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told the press on Monday.
Pyongyang has dubbed the drills a “clear warning signal” to its “enemies,” accusing them of running a “military confrontation racket.” Joint US and South Korean air force exercises, set to continue until April 26, have run a hundred sorties per day on average, while not even trying to conceal their “extremely provocative and aggressive nature,” KCNA claimed.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Washington Post: In sunny California, solar panels are everywhere. They sit in dry, desert landscapes in the Central Valley and are scattered over rooftops in Los Angeles's urban center. By last count, the state had nearly 47 gigawatts of solar power installed -- enough to power 13.9 million homes and provide over a quarter of the Golden State's electricity. But now, the state and its grid operator are grappling with a strange reality: There is so much solar on the grid that, on sunny spring days when there's not as much demand, electricity prices go negative. Gigawatts of solar are "curtailed" -- essentially, thrown away. In response, California has cut back incentives for rooftop solar and slowed the pace of installing panels. But the diminishing economic returns may slow the development of solar in a state that has tried to move to renewable energy. And as other states build more and more solar plants of their own, they may soon face the same problems.
Curtailing solar isn't technically difficult -- according to Paul Denholm, senior research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, it's equivalent to flipping a switch for grid operators. But throwing away free power raises electricity prices. It has also undercut the benefits of installing rooftop solar. Since the 1990s, California has been paying owners of rooftop solar panels when they export their energy to the grid. That meant that rooftop solar owners got $0.20 to $0.30 for each kilowatt-hour of electricity that they dispatched. But a year ago, the state changed this system, known as "net-metering," and now only compensates new solar panel owners for how much their power is worth to the grid. In the spring, when the duck curve is deepest, that number can dip close to zero. Customers can get more money back if they install batteries and provide power to the grid in the early evening or morning.
The change has sparked a huge backlash from Californians and rooftop solar companies, which say that their businesses are flagging. Indeed, Wood Mackenzie predicts that California residential solar installations in 2024 will fall by around 40 percent. Some state politicians are now trying to reverse the rule. "Under the CPUC's leadership California is responsible for the largest loss of solar jobs in our nation's history," Bernadette del Chiaro, the executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association, said in a statement referring to California's public utility commission. But experts say that it reflects how the economics of solar are changing in a state that has gone all-in on the technology. [...] To cope, [California's grid operator, known as CAISO] is selling some excess power to nearby states; California is also planning to install additional storage and batteries to hold solar power until later in the afternoon. Transmission lines that can carry electricity to nearby regions will also help -- some of the lost power comes from regions where there simply aren't enough power lines to carry a sudden burst of solar. Denholm says the state is starting to take the steps needed to deal with the glut. "There are fundamental limits to how much solar we can put on the grid before you start needing a lot of storage," Denholm said. "You can't just sit around and do nothing." Further reading: The Energy Institute discusses this problem in a recent blog post.
Since 2020, the residential electricity rates in California have risen by as much as 40% after adjusting for inflation. While there's been "a lot of finger-pointing about the cause of these increases," the authors note that the impact on rates is multiplied when customers install their own generation and buy fewer kilowatts-hours from the grid because those households "contribute less towards all the fixed costs in the system." These fixed costs include: vegetation management, grid hardening, distribution line undergrounding, EV charging stations, subsidies for low income customers, energy efficiency programs, and the poles and wires that we all rely on whether we are taking electricity off the grid or putting it onto the grid from our rooftop PV systems.
"Since those fixed costs still need to be paid, rates go up, shifting costs onto the kWhs still being bought from the grid."
Data scientist Antoine Mayerowitz, PhD, applied Vilfredo Pareto's (the early 20th-century Italian economist) theories to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to determine the best racer combinations. "When you break down the build options (including driver stats and various vehicle details) in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there are over 700,000 possible combinations," notes Engadget. "But once you eliminate duplicates that differ only in appearance, you can narrow it down to 'only' 25,704 possibilities." From the report: Pareto's theories, most notably the Pareto front, help us navigate the complexities of choice. They can pinpoint the solutions with the most balanced strengths and the fewest trade-offs. Pareto's work is about efficiency and effectiveness. [...] Mayerowitz's Pareto front analysis lets you narrow your possibilities down to the 14 most efficient. And it turns out the game's top players were onto something: One of the combinations with the most ideal balance of speed, acceleration and mini-turbo is Cat Peach driving the Teddy Buggy, roller tires and cloud glider -- one already favored among Mario Kart 8 competitors.
Of course, if that combination isn't your cup of tea, there are others that allow you to stay within the Pareto front's optimal range. As Eurogamer points out, Donkey Kong, Wario (my old standby, mostly because he makes me laugh) and Princess Peach are often highlighted as drivers, and you can use Mayerowitz's data fields to find the best matching vehicles. Keep in mind that others have identical stats, so racers like Villager (female), Inkling Girl and Diddy Kong are separated only by appearances.
To find your ideal racer, you can head over to Mayerowitz's website. There, you can enter your most prized stats and view the combos that give you the best balance (those highlighted in yellow), according to Pareto's theories.
UK tees up £500 million in additional military aid to help Kiev’s war effort against Russia, including long-range Storm Shadow missiles Read Full Article at RT.com
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promises more long-range missiles, dozens of boats and hundreds of armored vehicles
London has jumped on the Ukraine aid bandwagon, revealing plans to provide the largest package of British military assistance, as Washington inches closer to approving some $61 billion in new funding for Kiev.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will officially announce the new aid plan when he travels to Warsaw on Tuesday for talks with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk. The package is valued at £500 million ($617 million) and will include more than 400 vehicles, 60 boats and an undisclosed number of long-range Storm Shadow missiles, Sunak’s office said in a statement, calling it the “largest-ever provision of vital munitions.”
“Defending Ukraine against Russia’s brutal ambitions is vital for our security and for all of Europe,” Sunak claimed. “If Putin is allowed to succeed in this war of aggression, he will not stop at the Polish border.”
The latest round of weaponry will bring London’s military aid to Kiev to £3 billion this year alone. It will also include 1,600 strike and air defense missiles and nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition.
“Today’s package will help ensure Ukraine has what they need to take the fight to Russia,” Sunak said. “The United Kingdom will always play its part at the forefront of European security, defending our national interest and standing by our NATO allies.”
The statement comes two days after the US House of Representatives approved a long-stalled emergency spending bill that includes $61 billion in additional Ukraine aid. US President Joe Biden pledged on Monday to quickly ramp up weapons shipments to Kiev once the spending legislation is approved by the Senate, which could happen as soon as Tuesday.
Biden’s administration ran out of Ukraine funding earlier this year, after using up $113 billion in congressionally approved aid packages. Disruptions in support from Washington, by far Kiev’s biggest benefactor, led to ammunition shortages that were blamed for battlefield setbacks in recent months. Other NATO members and the EU responded by boosting their aid commitments, such as a €500 million ($533 million) package given by Germany last month.
UK defense chief Grant Shapps hailed the fact that London was the first ally to give Ukraine long-range missiles and “modern” tanks. “Now, we are going even further,” he said in the statement. “We will never let the world forget the existential battle Ukraine is fighting, and with our enduring support, they will win.” He added that the latest round of aid will give Ukraine what it needs to push back Russian forces and “restore peace and stability in Europe.”
Ukrainian leaders are reportedly less sanguine about the potential impact of additional Western weaponry. The $61 billion US aid bill – nearly 100 times the scale of the UK’s latest gift – is unlikely to “dramatically alter Kiev’s situation on the frontline,” the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing unidentified Ukrainian officials and military analysts.
UK tees up £500 million in additional military aid to help Kiev’s war effort against Russia, including long-range Storm Shadow missiles Read Full Article at RT.com
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promises more long-range missiles, dozens of boats, and hundreds of armored vehicles
The UK has revealed plans to provide the largest package of British military assistance to Ukraine. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will officially unveil the new aid plan when he travels to Warsaw on Tuesday for talks with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk.
The package is valued at £500 million ($617 million) and will include more than 400 vehicles, 60 boats, and an undisclosed number of long-range Storm Shadow missiles, Sunak’s office said in a statement, calling it the “largest-ever provision of vital munitions.” The announcement comes as the US is expected to approve a $61 billion military and aid package for Kiev.
“Defending Ukraine against Russia’s brutal ambitions is vital for our security and for all of Europe,” Sunak claimed. “If Putin is allowed to succeed in this war of aggression, he will not stop at the Polish border.”
The latest round of weaponry will bring London’s military aid to Kiev to £3 billion this year alone. It will also include 1,600 strike and air defense missiles and nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition.
“Today’s package will help ensure Ukraine has what they need to take the fight to Russia,” Sunak said. “The United Kingdom will always play its part at the forefront of European security, defending our national interest and standing by our NATO allies.”
The statement comes two days after the US House of Representatives approved a long-stalled emergency spending bill that includes $61 billion in additional Ukraine aid. US President Joe Biden pledged on Monday to quickly ramp up weapons shipments to Kiev once the spending legislation is approved by the Senate, which could happen as soon as Tuesday.
The administration of US President Joe Biden ran out of Ukraine funding earlier this year, after using up $113 billion in congressionally approved aid packages. Disruptions in support from Washington, by far Kiev’s biggest benefactor, led to ammunition shortages that were blamed for battlefield setbacks in recent months. Other NATO members and the EU responded by boosting their aid commitments, such as a €500 million package given by Germany last month.
UK defense chief Grant Shapps hailed the fact that London was the first ally to give Ukraine long-range missiles and “modern” tanks. “Now, we are going even further,” he said in the statement. “We will never let the world forget the existential battle Ukraine is fighting, and with our enduring support, they will win.” He added that the latest round of aid will give Ukraine what it needs to push back Russian forces and “restore peace and stability in Europe.”
Ukrainian leaders are reportedly less sanguine about the potential impact of additional Western weaponry. The $61 billion US aid bill – nearly 100 times the scale of the UK’s latest gift – is unlikely to “dramatically alter Kiev’s situation on the frontline,” the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing unidentified Ukrainian officials and military analysts.
According to French business magazine Challenges, Apple has acquired Datakalab -- a Paris-based startup specializing in artificial intelligence compression and computer vision technology. 9to5Mac reports: Datakalab described itself as "experts in low power, runtime efficient, and deep learning algorithms" that work on device. On its LinkedIn page, Datakalab highlights "industry leading compression and adaptation to deploy embedded computer vision that is fast, cost-effective and precise." Prior to the Apple acquisition had between 10 and 20 employees.
From Datakalab's now-defunct website: "Datakalab is a French technology company that develops computer image analysis algorithms to measure flows in public space. The images are instantly transformed into anonymized statistical data processed locally in 100ms. Datakalab does not store any images or personal data and only keeps statistical data. Datakalab products are built according to the principle of 'Privacy by Design.'"
While neither Apple nor DatakaLab have acknowledged the acquisition, Challenges says that the deal was reported to the European Commission this month. The report says that Datakalab's two founders did not join Apple, but multiple other employees did make the jump. Datakalab also held multiple patents related to AI compression and vision technology. The acquisition makes perfect sense given Apple's rumored ambitions to run its upcoming AI-related features in iOS 18 "entirely on device."
Beijing has dismissed the allegations as an attempted smear campaign
Berlin has arrested three German nationals on suspicion of spying for China, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Monday. Authorities claim to have evidence of the accused passing German technologies on to Beijing in violation of the Foreign Trade Act.
The Federal Court of Justice – Germany’s highest judicial body – issued warrants for the arrest of the three individuals identified only as Thomas R., Herwig F. and Ina F. last Wednesday. The defendants’ residences and workplaces were also searched as part of the ongoing probe.
According to German authorities, the accused are “strongly suspected” of having worked for a Chinese secret service, at some time before June 2022.
Thomas R. allegedly acted as the agent of an employee of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), seeking to obtain information on innovative German technologies that could have potential military use. The investigators claimed he made contact with the couple, Herwig F. and Ina F., who ran a company in Dusseldorf, serving as a point of contact with people from the German research and development industry.
The couple worked with a German university, allegedly “preparing a study for a Chinese contractual partner” on state of the art machine parts used in high-end ship engines such as combat vessels. “Behind the Chinese contractual partner was the MSS employee from whom Thomas R. received his orders,” the Prosecutor’s Office wrote on Monday, claiming they traced the funding back to the Chinese state.
The suspects were in further negotiations about research projects at the time of their arrest, according to authorities. Additionally, they allegedly purchased and transported a laser out of Germany into China, in violation of EU Regulations on dual-use technologies.
Beijing has firmly rejected claims of carrying out spy activities in Germany. “We call on the German side to stop exploiting the espionage allegation in order to politically manipulate the image of China and defame China,” the Chinese embassy in Germany told Xinhua.
Beijing has dismissed the allegations as part of a smear campaign
Three German nationals have been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Monday. The authorities claim to have evidence of the accused passing German technologies on to Beijing in violation of the Foreign Trade Act.
The Federal Court of Justice – Germany’s highest judicial body – issued warrants for the arrest of the three individuals identified only as Thomas R., Herwig F., and Ina F. last Wednesday. The defendants’ residences and workplaces were also searched as part of the ongoing probe.
According to the German authorities, the accused are “strongly suspected” of having worked for a Chinese secret service at some time before June 2022.
Thomas R. allegedly acted as the agent of an employee of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), seeking to obtain information on innovative German technologies that could have potential military use. The investigators claimed he made contact with a couple, Herwig F. and Ina F., who ran a company in Dusseldorf, serving as a point of contact with people from the German research and development industry.
The couple worked with a German university, allegedly “preparing a study for a Chinese contractual partner” on state-of-the-art machine parts used in engines for high-end ship such as combat vessels. “Behind the Chinese contractual partner was the MSS employee from whom Thomas R. received his orders,” the Prosecutor’s Office wrote on Monday, claiming they traced the funding back to the Chinese state.
The suspects were in further negotiations about research projects at the time of their arrest, according to the authorities. Additionally, they allegedly purchased and transported a laser out of Germany into China, in violation of EU regulations on dual-use technologies.
Beijing has firmly rejected claims of carrying out spy activities in Germany. “We call on the German side to stop exploiting the espionage allegation in order to politically manipulate the image of China and defame China,” the Chinese Embassy in Germany told Xinhua.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: Huawei plans to expand its native HarmonyOS smartphone platform worldwide, despite coming under US-led sanctions that have deprived it of access to key technologies. "We will work hard to build up the HarmonyOS app ecosystem in the China market first, then, from country to country, we will start gradually pushing it out to other parts of the world," Huawei's rotating chairman Erik Xu told attendees at its 21st Analyst Summit in Shenzhen last week. Part of this process will involve porting apps to HarmonyOS and encouraging other app developers to code for the platform.
"In the China market, Huawei smartphone users spend 99 percent of their time on about 5,000 apps. So we decided to spend 2024 porting these apps over to HarmonyOS first in our drive to truly unify the OS and the app ecosystem. We are also encouraging other apps to be ported over to HarmonyOS," Xu said. According to Huawei's rotating chairman, more than 4,000 of those apps are already in the process of being transferred, and the company is "communicating with developers" on the 1,000 or so apps that remain. "This is a massive undertaking, but we have broad support in the industry and from many app developers," he claimed. "Once we have these first 5,000 Android apps -- and thousands of other apps -- up and running on HarmonyOS, we will have a real HarmonyOS: a third mobile operating system for the world," Xu said. That number could reach up to 1 million apps in the future, he claimed. According to Counterpoint Research, HarmonyOS accounted for 4 percent of global market share in the fourth quarter of 2023, and exceeded 16 percent market share in China. That makes it the third largest mobile OS by handset sales, behind Android and iOS.
It remains to be seen whether there will be much of a market for HarmonyOS outside of China, given the current sanctions and sour US/EU-China relations.
US President Joe Biden has reassured Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky that more weapons and money are on the way Read Full Article at RT.com
The American president has vowed to quickly provide more weapons to Ukraine after the Senate passes an emergency spending bill
US President Joe Biden has pledged to quickly ramp up military and economic aid to Ukraine once Senate lawmakers approve the emergency spending legislation passed by the House on Saturday.
The $95 billion funding package, including $61 billion for Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, is reportedly expected to advance to a Senate vote on Tuesday. Biden assured Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Monday that aid shipments will begin rapidly after the bill clears the Senate and comes to the Oval Office for his signature.
“President Biden shared that his administration will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air-defense needs,” according to a White House readout of Monday’s phone call with Zelensky. The US leader also underscored Washington’s “lasting commitment to supporting Ukraine as it defends its freedom against Russian aggression.”
While the White House offered few details on Monday’s Biden-Zelensky call, the Ukrainian leader indicated that Kiev will be receiving longer-range missiles. The US previously provided a version of its ATACMS missiles with a striking distance capped at 165 kilometers, seeking to avoid escalations that could occur if Ukrainian forces struck targets deep in Russian territory. The new shipments will include missiles with a range of 300 kilometers, he said.
Kiev and Washington also have started talks on a security cooperation agreement, Zelensky said, adding that the deal could be “truly exemplary.” Ukraine has already signed bilateral security agreements with several NATO members. Those 10-year deals stop short of mutual defense commitments, but they pledge long-term military, economic and political support for the former Soviet republic.
Biden’s administration ran out of funding for Ukraine aid after burning through $113 billion in previously approved spending bills. The president’s request for additional funding had been stalled since last October because of opposition from Republican lawmakers, who argued that Biden was merely prolonging Kiev’s conflict with Russia while offering no clear strategy for victory or a peace agreement. Most Republicans voted against the aid bill on Saturday, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) overrode his own party by enabling a vote on the bill and pushing it through with unanimous Democrat support.
The new US aid will help Ukraine “maintain financial stability, build back critical infrastructure following Russian attacks, and support reform as Ukraine moves forward on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration,” the White House said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised eyebrows earlier this month, when he emphatically told reporters at a NATO briefing that Ukraine “will become a member” of the Western military bloc.
Jess Weatherbed reports via The Verge: Swedish gaming conglomerate Embracer Group announced plans on Monday to split itself into three distinct games and entertainment companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. These will be separate, publicly listed companies, according to Embracer, which says the move will allow "each entity to better focus on their respective core strategies and offer more differentiated and distinct equity stories for existing and new shareholders." [...]
The three new companies will be broken down as follows:
- Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends: This company, which will be renamed from Embracer Group, is described as a "creative powerhouse in AAA game development and publishing" that will retain ownership of the Dead Island, Killing Floor, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Tomb Raider, and The Lord of the Rings IPs.
- Asmodee Group: a new arm dedicated to publishing and distributing tabletop games. The existing catalog includes established titles like Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders, Azul, CATAN, Dobble, and Exploding Kittens. Asmodee is also developing licensed tabletop games based on The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Game of Thrones, and Star Wars franchises. Embracer anticipates the spinoff and share listings will take place "within 12 months."
- Coffee Stain & Friends: described as a "diverse gaming entity" that will focus on indie, mid-market, and free-to-play games. Properties sitting under this new company include Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Wreckfest, Teardown, and Valheim. The share listings are projected to become available in 2025.
Former White House aide Rahamim Shy has reportedly been indicted in the UK for alleged child sex crimes Read Full Article at RT.com
An ex-adviser to US leaders has been accused of possessing indecent images and arranging commission of a sexual offense in the UK
A former White House aide who advised then-President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on counterterrorism initiatives has reportedly been accused of committing child sex crimes in the UK.
Rahamim “Rami” Shy, 46, was arraigned on Friday in Luton Crown Court, near London. He faces charges of possessing indecent images of children and arranging the commission of a child sexual offense, according to local media reports. The New Jersey resident was arrested in late February and jailed at HMP Bedford pending court proceedings.
Shy, who hasn’t yet entered a plea to the charges, is scheduled for another court hearing in June, The Daily Mail reported. His case is slated to go to trial in August.
The defendant held multiple roles in Obama’s administration, reportedly including coordination of the US government’s efforts to combat Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists. He was a senior advisor in the US Treasury Department from 2008 to 2014, working to disrupt terrorist financing and helping overseas allies impose sanctions on adversarial governments. He also advised the chiefs of staff at the Pentagon.
Shy’s Linkedin page, which has been deleted, said he advised the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. He studied at New York’s Columbia University and reportedly worked most recently at US banking giant Citigroup. A company spokesman told The Daily Mail that Shy was no longer a Citigroup employee.
Two Malaysian Navy helicopters collided during a rehearsal for next month’s anniversary celebration airshow, killing all ten crew
UK tees up £500 million in additional military aid to help Kiev’s war effort against Russia, including long-range Storm Shadow missiles
Germany has arrested three of its nationals, accusing them of spying for China
Former White House aide Rahamim Shy has reportedly been indicted in the UK for alleged child sex crimes
