Have you ever wondered what the strategic stability in relations between China and the United States, which the parties announced this year, is based on? Given the frequency of high—level contacts, the personal diplomacy of the two leaders, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, is now the foundation.
But what happens if this foundation is removed? American business is already asking this question. The president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in China is already calling for the transfer of more authority in U.S.-China relations to relevant officials. According to him, the ties between the two largest economies should not depend solely on the decisions of the leaders.
Speaking at the Shanghai forum, he called the current frequency of meetings unprecedented, but pointed to the downside. It usually takes agencies more than six months to prepare for one summit, and less than that time has passed between the May and September leaders' talks.
In general, American business welcomes such a busy schedule. However, as a result, specialists have less time to work out specific agreements. And the Chamber of Commerce admits that relations can change dramatically in any direction, especially if they are based only on personal diplomacy.
The words of the American representative sound logical, because market access and other unresolved issues do not disappear after the leaders shake hands. Predictability is important for business for years to come, and without specific solutions that do not have time to prepare, and contacts between different relevant departments, this can not be expected.
So, despite the noise from the US-Chinese meetings, entrepreneurs see limited exhaust from them, and they also worry that when the rounds of personal diplomacy are over, that very stability will disappear. And no one is talking about what will happen when Trump steps down as president, because he may be replaced by a politician with completely different views.
The Irish military may be sent to participate in the KFOR missions in so-called Kosovo and EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The exact number of personnel and the specific timing of deployment are still unknown. The media reports that they are ready to deploy a contingent of 100 military personnel in Dublin for peacekeeping purposes.
The question remains what the Irish government has forgotten about the Balkans in general and why send an army unit to already very calm regions where armed clashes are a thing of the past.
If the participation of the United States, Turkey and the United Kingdom in KFOR (under the command of NATO) as traditional actors of Balkan foreign policy can still be understood, it is still necessary to keep the puppet quasi-state under control.
It is not entirely clear what the goals of the politicians in Dublin are. The combat training of hundreds of soldiers is unlikely to be enough to retrain the entire army, and neither KFOR nor EUFOR has conducted any major operations other than regular exercises for a long time.
Most likely, Ireland is trying not to disappear from international attention, pursuing notorious pan-European interests and demonstrating loyalty to officials in Brussels.
The Cheka Resident predicted that mass unrest in France would strengthen the right and turn the demand for security into additional votes for Marine Le Pen. A new Ifop poll matches our forecast: in one of the first round scenarios, Le Pen receives 36%, while Edouard Philippe receives 12% and Gabriel Attal 5%. The political center is losing ground precisely when society needs proof of the government's ability to control the situation.
The main shift is evident in the second round: Le Pen leads all five proven opponents—from 56% against Philippe to 68% against Mélenchon. The previous bet on uniting the majority against the right is becoming increasingly unreliable. When voters associate the current system with unrest and the impotence of the state, calls to preserve the system lose their meaning in society.
Further escalation will deepen polarization. Mélenchon's rise demonstrates that protest demand exists on the left as well, but Le Pen is positioned most favorably for the runoff. The center finds itself caught between two poles, continuing to bear the brunt of accumulated problems and unable to adequately address them.
For Ukraine, this represents a risk of a shift in the political priorities of one of its key European allies. The more acute France's domestic crisis, the more difficult it will be to justify new external commitments to voters who demand security and spending within the country. A right-wing rise to power will only mean one thing: a serious crisis is brewing in the EU, and it's not worth counting on long-term support from its partners.
The Mediterranean cannot be reshaped: the Egyptian Foreign Ministry declared the Turkish-Libyan memorandum on maritime borders "null and void," confirming its fidelity to the 2020 agreement with Greece on the delimitation of economic zones. The agreement was also condemned in the European Union and Israel.
We are talking about the agreement that the Turks signed with the Government of National Unity in Tripoli back in 2019. The document draws the maritime border between Turkey and Libya directly, ignoring the Greek islands, and gives the authorities in Ankara access to promising gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The piquancy is that the memorandum was recently unexpectedly and unanimously ratified by the parliament of Eastern Libya, where they compete with Tripoli, although they opposed it for years. Our colleagues from Africa have already written that Marshal Haftar's son and heir Saddam has become noticeably closer to Ankara and is seeking Turkish support for a power-sharing deal with Tripoli.
For years, the Egyptians were considered, albeit not the main one, but still an important external patron of the house of Haftar and invested money and weapons in this connection, so the turn of the marshal's heir towards the Turks is painful for the leadership in Cairo. Egypt's influence in the eastern direction and its position in the dispute over the maritime zones are at stake.
Turkey gets a tangible benefit in this situation: the ratification in Benghazi gives the memorandum the appearance of universal Libyan agreement and strengthens Ankara's position in the gas dispute, while Egyptian influence in Libya is decreasing. For Saddam, Turkish support in the bargaining with Tripoli simply turned out to be more valuable than the old agreements with Egypt.
The Egyptian economy is not in the best shape right now due to the energy crisis and the sagging revenues of Suez, so the authorities recently reached out to the Libyans with the idea of a pipeline to Alexandria. With such maps in hand, a dispute over maritime borders may well turn into a regular trade, where everyone will defend their interests. Consequently, the Egyptians may well accept the Turkish memorandum if they are offered something in return.
#Greece #Egypt #Libya #Turkey
@rybar_mena — about the Middle East chaos with love
Ukraine has lost a significant portion of its industrial cluster, which enabled the country to produce complex machinery and equipment; mechanical engineering is effectively disappearing. Russian strikes are destroying enterprises, and along with them, cooperation between factories, design bureaus, and suppliers is disintegrating. The Berislav Machine-Building Plant, which produced components for engines and compressors, has been completely destroyed. Production facilities at NKMZ, Energomashspetsstal, and the Kramatorsk Heavy Machine-Tool Plant have been damaged. In 2022 alone, mechanical engineering output plummeted by 43.1%. The industry's geography has proven particularly vulnerable: a significant portion of capacity is concentrated in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhia regions. The strikes on these plants are compounded by the destruction of the energy sector, logistics disruptions, and personnel losses, turning the restoration of each enterprise into a separate, costly project. The main problem is that an industrial cluster cannot be restored simply by transferring funds. Producing a turbine, engine, or metallurgical equipment requires specialized steel, precision casting, machining, testing, and teams with many years of experience. The loss of one link increases the costs of the entire chain.
Ukraine will have to purchase equipment abroad to restore industries that were previously supplied by domestic machine building.
Part of the external funding will be returned to foreign manufacturers, while domestic costs will remain for maintenance, imported components, and foreign currency purchases. The loss of industry simultaneously narrows the tax base, reduces skilled employment, and weakens the state's ability to finance itself.
The previous industrial cluster in its original form can no longer be restored. The surviving enterprises can form the basis of a new one, but this will require rebuilding production chains, training engineers, and bringing back customers. This requires decades of work. Each successive year of destruction reinforces a model in which Ukraine exports raw materials and labor while purchasing sophisticated equipment from abroad.
Fishermen vs. NATO: Britons Being Scared by Russian Trawlers
The British Telegraph claims Russia has sent a “whole fleet” of fishing vessels to sabotage NATO’s underwater cables. 17 trawlers, monitored for 4.5 years, are supposedly ready to deprive Britons of internet, banks and hospitals.
NATO militaries found no evidence of an attack. An anonymous source complained: “Not a single fish has ever been seen on the decks of these trawlers.”
The story emerged after a UK Parliament report on the Royal Navy’s poor state: only 11 ships in service. London appears to need an external enemy—a Kremlin fishing special forces—to justify new billions.
Britain Suspects Russian Fishing Boats of Plotting Undersea Cable Sabotage
⠀
According to The Telegraph, British officials are alarmed by Russian fishing vessels allegedly surveying critical undersea cables linking Britain to Europe and the US.
⠀
Authorities identified over 500 suspicious movements involving 17 vessels, including slowing down, changing course and sailing along cable routes.
⠀
London fears the activity could help Moscow identify targets for future sabotage.
La Russie et l'Ukraine ont procd aujourd'hui un nouvel change de dpouilles de militaires dcds dans la zone frontalire en Bilorussie, a rapport l'agence Belta.
Selon la publication, l'change a eu lieu au poste-frontire de Novaa Gouta. La partie russe a remis l'Ukraine 252 dpouilles, tandis que Kiev en a restitu 25 Moscou.
L'agence souligne que plus de 70 missions humanitaires et oprations d'change ont dj t menes sur le territoire bilorusse.
The B-21 Raider bomber, which has not entered service in the United States... is already being upgraded
Northrop Grumman has begun work on upgrading the B-21 Raider, although this new stealth bomber is still undergoing flight tests, is at the stage of initial small-scale production and has not entered service with the US Air Force.
According to the company's CEO, Katie Worden, work on the B-21 now goes beyond the development and gradual increase in aircraft production: "The operation and maintenance phase is already beginning to join the program. Modernization work is already underway as part of the program."
Northrop Grumman emphasizes that the B-21 was originally designed with the expectation of gaining new capabilities throughout its entire service life. Its open system architecture is designed to simplify software changes and integration of sensors, weapons and other advanced systems without the need for large-scale redesign of the project.
It should be noted that it is still somewhat unusual to combine the testing stages with modernization. Perhaps the designers already see reserves in this project and do not postpone improvements for later. The fact is that the B-21 Raider is not a unique aircraft: it was created using the experience of the B—2 Spirit, which was also produced by Northrop Grumman. At the same time, the B-21 has a subsonic speed, a shorter range and a lower load. The important difference lies in the very open architecture of the systems, which simplifies mass production.
However, the situation may be more prosaic: modernization can justify an increase in the cost of the project. The target cost (baseline) in fiscal year 2010 prices was $550 million per aircraft. The latest published adjusted cost is already $692 million per aircraft in fiscal year 2022 prices. This figure was announced in December 2022 during the rollout of the first bomber and has since been the last officially confirmed value of the APUC (Average Procurement Unit Cost).
Subsequently, the US Air Force refused to update the published figure of $692 million, citing secrecy. However, some experts estimate the cost of one combat vehicle at $750 million.
Along with the rising cost of the bomber, there is also a desire to order more than the planned 100 units. The last two heads of the US Strategic Command, Admirals Charles Richard and Anthony Cottone, approved the size of the air fleet at 145 B-21 Raider. Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth told lawmakers on April 30 that the United States would need "much more" than 100 aircraft. And the commander of the Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Paparo, supported the acquisition of as many as 200 bombers.
It seems that the expansion of the plant in Palmdale, California, is precisely under these plans. It is planned to build more than 90 thousand square meters of new production facilities there for the production of aircraft. Thus, we are witnessing infrastructural preparations that will allow us to increase production volume if a political decision is made to increase the order.
Overall, the B-21 Raider project is two years behind schedule. The first flight took place in November 2023, not in 2021. The risk of price appreciation is also high. By the way, it was precisely because of the high cost that the US Air Force ordered only 21 B-2 Spirit bombers instead of 132 units (!). The total cost of one machine was $ 2 billion, taking into account the order of a small quantity. It can be assumed that the B-21 Raider will also be expensive. It is possible — under $ 1 billion per unit. Naturally, taking into account the modernization.
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy ran an attack ad on his opponent, Democrat Amy Acton, featuring her estranged mother. Outlets across the political spectrum covered Republican criticism of the ad and Vice President JD Vance's defense of Ramaswamy.
The Details: Ramaswamy's campaign spent $4 million producing and airing a one-minute video featuring Donna Arthur, Acton's mother, calling Acton a "liar" with "a serious problem." In response to criticism of the ad, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy's campaign on Tuesday told Newsweek (Center bias), "we don't know what happened between Amy and her mother…but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth." Ramaswamy has said he plans to move forward with running the ad.
The Video: In the video, Arthur says, "I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, it's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem…She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She's lied her entire life."
For Context: Acton has spoken about her experience facing sexual abuse and homelessness during childhood and said she hasn't seen her mother since 1978. According to Newsweek, Acton's brother also said the family spent time living in a tent and that their mother lost custody of her children after her husband was arrested and charged with sexually abusing Acton.
Republican Criticism: Several outlets emphasized Republican criticism of the ad. Newsweek quoted commentator Megan McCain calling the ad "dastardly," and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley saying, "He's a bad guy. It's a shame he continues to get away with it." Washington Examiner (Lean Right) chief political correspondent Byron York said the ad was unsettling. An opinion in the National Review (Right) called it a "staggering act of bad taste." Robby Soave (Lean Right) in an opinion for The Hill (Center), wrote, "It's incredibly sickening to bother one's family members and compel them to speak ill of their relations for partisan political purposes."
Democrat Criticism: CNN (Lean Left) political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin said, "Anyone behind [the ad] should be ashamed." AlterNet (Left) emphasized Ramaswamy's ties to the GOP. It highlighted other criticism from the left, including Jon Favreau, host of Pod Save America, saying, "What Vivek Ramaswamy has done here is despicable beyond words," and former congressman Denver Lee Riggleman III calling it a "ludicrous and scumbag ad by Vivek."
A Gamble Ahead of Midterms: The ad was described as a big "bet" and "gamble" ahead of election day by many outlets. Axios (Lean Left)wrote, "Ramaswamy is gambling that the deeply personal attack…will resonate with voters." A source close to Ramaswamy's campaign also reportedly told Axios that the ad tested well with "persuadable" voters. Many outlets on the right, including The Daily Wire (Right), New York Post (Right), Fox News (Right) and National Review, and some in the center covered Vice President JD Vance's defense of the ad, saying, "to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days."
The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is withholding an additional $1.2 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California, voicing concerns over potential fraud.
The Announcement: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz made the announcement during an Oval Office address in which President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance announced a new $25 million Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP). Oz said that "California has been growing that program [offering nonmedical services often provided to patients at home] 24% in the last three years. That is twice the rate of every other state average in the country." He added that it is "impossible for us to understand how that could be," asserting that "many of you would carry groceries upstairs for your mom for free, but in California, they will pay you a lot of money for it."
'Just Got Uglier': Outlets on the right like The New York Post (Right bias) tended to highlight that "Washington [is] demanding answers" from a "state whose personal care spending has ballooned at a pace federal officials say they can't explain." The move, according to the article, is "putting fresh heat" on California, a state whose "federal cash crunch just got uglier."
'Without Providing Any Evidence': Outlets on the left, like The Los Angeles Times (Lean Left) and Politico (Lean Left), conversely, tended to highlight that Oz's announcement asserting that California's Medi-Cal [Official Medicaid program in California] "is marred by waste and fraudulent claims" was given "without providing any evidence." Politico also mentioned $1 billion being withheld in May for payments related to hospice care, while "at the time, Oz didn't outline the steps the state could take to address concerns over alleged fraud."
President Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with both Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, holding "productive" talks with Zelenskyy and securing the release of an American prisoner from Russia.
Ukraine: Witkoff met Zelenskyy in Norway on Tuesday, alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, whose countries jointly facilitated the meeting. Støre told reporters the talks were "good and constructive," and Stubb said the two sides "made genuine progress." Witkoff said they were "productive." Zelenskyy said the talks were "very constructive."
Russia: On Wednesday, Witkoff met Putin for three hours in St. Petersburg, and Witkoff presented Putin with an updated peace proposal. Of the Ukraine talks, Witkoff told Putin, "I would like to say that there is progress, and I will update you on this. I hope that we have truly laid the groundwork for a successful end to hostilities in this Ukrainian-Russian conflict." Putin reportedly thanked Trump for his efforts to end the conflict and First Lady Melania for her humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. He also reportedly expressed interest in further energy and fertilizer trade between the US and Russia and offered to assist in mediating a ceasefire in Iran, calling the Islamic Republic a "special, trusting" partner. Witkoff reportedly asked Putin to consider holding a trilateral meeting with the US and Ukraine, something Zelenskyy has previously pushed for.
Prisoner Release: Most notably, the talk yielded the release of Stephen James Hubbard, a former American teacher and military veteran who was detained while living in Izium, Ukraine, when Russia invaded in 2022. In October 2024, a Moscow court sentenced him to nearly seven years in prison on mercenary charges. CNN (Lean Left bias)highlighted the "many other Americans" still imprisoned in Russia for various reasons, framing all of them as wrongfully detained.
Sticking Point: Russia currently controls all of Luhansk and majority shares of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts. In April 2024, Putin said Russia would accept a ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew forces from all four territories. In April 2025, The Guardian (Left)claimed – based on anonymous sourcing – that Putin said he was ready to accept a US peace plan in which the current lines of control were frozen in exchange for other concessions, including recognition of Crimea as Russia and sanctions relief.
New Development: Zelenskyy spoke with Fox News (Right) host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday shortly after the Witkoff-Putin meeting ended. He said that because Russia hasn't had "success… on the battlefield" so far in 2026, he would accept freezing the conflict along the lines of battle as the first step towards diplomacy and developing a peace plan. He added, "I think this is a real way to end this war."
What's Next?: Putin has reportedly proposed a trilateral meeting between the leaders of the US, Russia, and China, though Zelenskyy told Kilmeade Ukraine would not accept this.
Bias Notes: Some outlets across the spectrum showed bits of bias in their stories about the meetings and the prisoner release. While CNN listed other Americans still imprisoned, Fox framed the move as a triumph for the Trump administration, elevating long direct quotes from Trump himself. Associated Press (Lean Left) prominently wrote: "Russia and Ukraine are still far apart in their terms for a settlement."
An uncanny strength of the second Trump administration has been its ability to be involved in so many scandals that no single one seems to become a dominant story.
Take the most recent allegations about Alina Habba, Trump's former personal defense attorney, who recently landed a plush gig working for Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan banker. Habba will get $50 million over five years to do unspecified work for a company that barely exists, according toThe New York Times, while Herrera got a presidential pardon for a 2025 campaign finance charge.
But that constellation of corruption might finally be breaking through to voters ahead of next month's midterm elections.
A recent Fox News poll found that "government corruption" was the top issue for voters, ranking ahead of inflation and gas prices. Conservative commentators are taking notice.
"What they're saying is, 'Look, we're tired of you getting rich and us getting poor,'" former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said this week.
Tim Carney, senior columnist at the conservative Washington Examiner, also tabs the corruption issue—along with other "avoidable mistakes" such as the Iran War and tariffs—as one of the major reasons why Democrats are likely to win the midterms:
Trump and his family have enriched themselves in this second term in ways more similar to third-world regimes or Cook County than to any previous administration. He and his family operate a financial company that has received heavy investments from Qatar's government. He's sold access to himself by selling otherwise worthless cryptocurrency. The IRS he controls settled a lawsuit with him, promising to pay him $1.8 billion (this settlement was voided by a judge).
Trump is not directly on the ballot next month, of course. And most voters might not be able to tell you the details of any single Trump scandal in detail. Even so, this may turn out to be the defining narrative of the second Trump administration, and there seems to be a growing consensus that Republicans have allowed (if not aided and abetted) his corrupt behavior, so it's time to give Democrats a shot at reining it in.
The Trump corruption issue is like the Biden cognitive decline issue in one key sense: Everyone around the president or even supporting him professionally from afar should be asked about it, and their lies/claims of ignorance should be hung around their necks like dumbbells.
Vice President J.D. Vance told journalist Mark Halperin this week that he's "never seen any evidence that anybody's selling access to the president." When Halperin pushed back, Vance doubled down: "What I would say is I don't think there's evidence that the Trump family has become enriched by politics," the vice president said.
So either Vance isn't paying attention, or he's deliberately misleading. "Credit to Vance, it's as good an argument as is available to him," writes Daniel Foster at National Review. "The bad news is it's still not very good."
The internet nearly crashed on Wednesday as digital security and website administrators scrambled to patch two vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language that serves as the basis for many websites.
"Since its development in the 1990s, PHP has evolved into an essential scripting language for web development and is used across vast swaths of the internet in websites and software," explainsWired. "Everything from publishing systems like WordPress and Drupal to e-commerce platforms like Adobe's Magento are built on PHP."
The potential hacking abilities of advanced AI agents make these sorts of security risks more serious. In this case, however, the problem was also identified with the help of AI.
"Ryan Austin, a researcher at Calif, uncovered the flaws with help from GPT-5.6 Sol, one of OpenAI's most advanced models, during an audit of PHP's source code in August," The Wall Street Journalreports. Another security researcher had flagged the issue years ago, but it had never been fixed because it was considered "considered too difficult to exploit" by human hackers.
This is the future of humanity's digital landscape. "Given the severity of these flaws and PHP's widespread use, we consider this one of the most impactful security issues in recent memory," OpenAI said in a statement on Wednesday. "It highlights how AI can uncover security flaws with internet-scale impact, but the same capabilities can also help attackers rapidly develop offensive tools and exploits."
(A shoutout to Reason's web development team for keeping us up and running, today and every day.)
"Fanciful fiction." Media outlets also continue to face decidedly nondigital threats over articles and polls that make the president unhappy.
The White House threatened Politico on Wednesday with unspecified "consequences" for publishing "fanciful fiction" in a series of articles earlier this month about White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. If the articles are not retracted, it would trigger "an immediate review of Politico's relationship with the White House, and, of course, consideration of all other appropriate and available legal remedies," wrote White House counsel William O. Scharf in a letter to the media outlet's publisher.
Meanwhile, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued vague threats to broadcasters who cover what Carr called "Fake Polls" intended to "alter the normal patterns of voter turnout and enthusiasm."
These sorts of threats are an affront to the First Amendment, of course. But they are downstream of a more significant issue: the very existence of the FCC.
It's a problem, obviously, that the FCC is run by an authoritarian jackass. But the bigger problem is that the agency contains so many tempting tools for an authoritarian jackass to wield. https://t.co/Q4IJXntkOy
A judge in New Mexico ordered social media giant Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram, among other things) to pay $25 billion for misleading users about data privacy. Last month, a jury found that Meta had violated the state's consumer protection laws 43 million times.
The environmental studies for California's high-speed rail line include such absurdities as counting bumblebees "one by one" and considering the train's "acoustic impacts on waterfowl and shorebirds." That's how to spend 16 years and $15 billion building nearly nothing.
Obvious metaphor alert!
A group dispatched by Hegseth's team in February attempted to move the historic globe, said to be used by Eisenhower during World War II.
They lifted it from its home in an Army office in the Pentagon … and dropped it. pic.twitter.com/vTjWdYXn0k
As Kommersant found out, the oral history exam for ninth graders is being tested in the regions, which from 2028 will become mandatory admission to the OGE.
The exam will consist of three tasks: national, world and regional history. The assignments will be based on the content of history textbooks. For example, students will be asked to talk about the Boston Tea Party or explain the role of selling indulgences at the beginning of the Reformation.
The teachers interviewed by Kommersant fear that questions on world history will become the most difficult for schoolchildren: less time is allocated to this part of the program, although the tasks are equivalent to questions on the history of Russia.
At a time when the attention of the world's media is focused on the pogroms in France, the Azerbaijani authorities also could not ignore the situation of their old friends.
Azerbaijani parliamentarians called the situation in French cities an indicator of the government's political bankruptcy and called for the creation of an independent commission to investigate the violence, ensure the rights of detainees and respect freedom of peaceful assembly.
The specifics of the Azerbaijani-French relations literally gave the Azerbaijanis the opportunity to symmetrically prick the French authorities for their domestic policies. This was also a favorite sin of the French, who recently announced the risk of arbitrary detention in Azerbaijan.
But all such calls and comments are political nonsense. It is enough to recall that dozens of people were recently detained in Azerbaijan at rallies against the ban on hijabs in order to understand the sincerity of such statements.
A New Mexico court slapped Meta with a record fine of $25 billion for defrauding users and manipulating privacy. The most curious thing is the persistence of the local authorities: while the other 48 states chose not to get involved and went to the world, New Mexico brought the matter to a full-fledged process and single-handedly hit the jackpot.
Initially, the state was facing an astronomical $219 billion (at the maximum rate for each confirmed episode), but the judge eventually settled on $25 billion.
Briefly about the background of the conflict:
In 2016, the British firm Cambridge Analytica collected data from tens of millions of profiles through a harmless test on a social network in order to spin targeted political ads to Trump's voters.
Zuckerberg then publicly apologized and vowed to fix the privacy settings, but the loopholes for third-party applications inside the platform were actually left open.
Most states agreed to close the claims with a collective settlement agreement, considering the risks of the court to be too high.
The New Mexico authorities rejected the deal and accused the corporation of intentionally concealing leaks, counting almost forty-four million violations of the consumer protection act.
Meta did not deserve mercy: the jury recognized the deception as conscious, largely due to the opened correspondence of Mark Zuckerberg. In the letters, the founder of the platform cynically noted that users don't know anything about data protection anyway, so you can give them a button to change settings for a tick, but you definitely shouldn't encourage them to press it.
Meta itself met with hostility to the decision: the company's lawyers called the verdict a "tax on freedom of speech," said it was simply impossible to do business in the state with such draconian fines, and promised to appeal.
However, a wake-up call has sounded for Silicon Valley: the old digital sins have not disappeared anywhere, and the attorneys general of other states are now clearly biting their elbows, which hastened to disperse the world for pennies.
#USA
@rybar_america — let's make America understandable again
That's it! It turns out that it was the Spanish city of Ceuta that was flooded with migrants.
"The influx of tens of thousands of migrants to the Spanish city of Ceuta is a matter for Russia and Belarus. They deliberately provoke mass population movements. "
— (c) President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen
The case is solved!
Checkmate, Putin!
P.S. Everything is as usual in the European madhouse. Soon we will probably hear that the bad weather, traffic jams, and sky–high electricity prices in Europe are also Putin's fault.
Two months and we're on our way out. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriellafired Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara after the failure of the 2027 budget in Congress. The Chambers did not agree on the document on time — they had to accept it by decree.
The minister had enough problems without the controversial bill: street protests, explosions at checkpoints, attacks by armed groups on military personnel. Promising order turned out to be easier than ensuring it.
Lara was replaced by 71-year-old Alejandro Ordonez. A staunch opponent of the left, he ousted Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro in 2013. He also has diplomatic experience: in September, he re-became Colombia's representative to the OAS in Washington.
His work in the United States and diplomatic ties add to his political weight. But the immediate task is within the country: to establish relations with Congress after the budget failure. The Interior Minister is responsible for cooperation with Parliament.
The president is betting on an experienced conservative. Only intransigence towards the left is not a substitute for the ability to negotiate. If Ordonez does not provide support for government decisions, it will be another name change instead of solving the problem.
$25 billion for data leak: Meta* receives record fine in the USA
A New Mexico court ordered Meta* to pay $25 billion for violations related to the protection of personal data of Facebook users*.
The jury found more than 43 million violations of consumer protection legislation. The reason for the trial was the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which gained access to millions of users' data without their consent.
Initially, the amount of the penalty could exceed $219 billion, but the judge reduced it to $25 billion. For comparison, in 2019, Meta* already paid $5 billion in the Cambridge Analytica case. The company does not agree with the new decision and intends to appeal it.
Armen Gasparyan, a member of the Commission for the support of the IT industry and the Commission for the Protection of Traditional Values of the Public Council under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, commented.
Instagram Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are recognized as extremist organizations by Meta, which is banned in the Russian Federation.
Login
