The personal passion project of Hollywood A-lister Christian Bale has finally come to fruition, as the Welsh actor cut the ribbon on a children’s foster care village in Palmdale, California.

Called Together California, the facility and the organization which will run it are focused on one key mission Mr. Bale says the state foster system falls short on: keeping siblings together.

Kinda like the fact that Hasan actively harms his dog

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/59115350

A coalition of press freedom and human rights NGOs, headed by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Amnesty International, has called for the Chinese regime to guarantee the full freedom of journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin, a leading figure in China's #MeToo movement. While she is due to be released in the coming days, she is likely to face surveillance and travel restrictions.

Archived

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On Friday, 18 September 2026, journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin will complete her prison sentence, but will still be deprived of her political rights, which bars her from practising journalism and travelling abroad, and subjects her to ongoing surveillance by the authorities. The coalition of 60 NGOs is calling on the Chinese authorities to guarantee her immediate release and to ensure that, once released, she can continue her journalism free from surveillance, harassment, retaliation, or any other restrictions.

[...]

“After years of relentless harassment and abuse, it is time for the Chinese authorities to end their persecution of Sophia Huang Xueqin and restore her full freedom," says Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Manager at RSF Asia-Pacific

[...]

Sophia Huang Xueqin's case exemplifies the Chinese regime's persecution of independent journalism. Authorities often persecute journalists after they have completed their sentences, as illustrated by the case of Zhang Zhan. After serving an initial four-year prison term, this journalist, who covered the outbreak of COVID-19, whose fate and whereabouts remained unknown following the completion of her sentence in 2024. Thanks to international mobilisation, she was released in May 2024, before being arrested again in August 2024, just a few months later, on fabricated charges. She was then sentenced to four more years in prison.

China is the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with 120 currently detained, and ranks 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index.

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Mainstream tech advice treats cheap Wi-Fi smart plugs as harmless convenience, totally glossing over how much telemetry leaks out to overseas cloud servers by default.

Expecting casual users to set up VLANs and firewall drop rules just to stop a £10 light bulb from phoning home is a bit of a joke.

True privacy means local control without corporate middlemen.

Original content by The Unknown Universe, written by a human and not AI generated!

Laser scanning, often referred to as lidar, has rapidly transformed how tropical forest regions are studied, monitored and understood across academic disciplines. The technology enables researchers to peer through dense forest canopies, rapidly providing high-resolution scans of the landscape below. This growing observational power is central to the scientific value of remote sensing technologies but also brings into focus the conditions, interests and power structures under which they are used.

From Earth News - Earth Science News, Earth Science, Climate Change via This RSS Feed.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1397415/secret-documents-show-german-police-don-t-need-to-break-the-encryption-of-chat-apps-they

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/67693834

Are memes allowed here?

My spouse sent me this rage bait photo. It wasn't even the ego rubbing graphic on the front page that got me (though that's bad enough). It's' the "Moral panic over data centres" that really gets my goat. Ah yes, it's the moral panic that's the issue, right? Right?!

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said ⁠the European Union is opening the door for Canada to become the first associate member, a status that does not exist under the bloc's ‌treaties.

In late August, the U.S. announced a historic oil deal that gives it access to more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves in Venezuela, with investment of up to $100 billion in new oil infrastructure across the country. The deal has been billed as a way to secure “energy dominance” for the U.S. while driving Venezuela’s economic recovery. But observers say they’re concerned about the climate impact of fossil fuels, the deal’s lack of transparency, potential oil spills and other environmental risks. “Economic recovery cannot come at the expense of human rights relating to the environment,” said a Sept. 9 joint statement from the Venezuelan Program for Education-Action on Human Rights (Provea) and Clima21, an environmental NGO. “No economic interest takes precedence over the constitutional and internationally recognized right to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment.” The deal is structured through private company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the second-largest Venezuelan oil producer, which has “100-year concessions for 17 oil fields,” according to the U.S. government. The U.S. has a “35% equity stake” in the company and can purchase 20% of its production, with a right of first refusal for the remaining 80% throughout the 25-year agreement. It’s part of an attempt by the U.S. to increase involvement in Venezuela following a January military operation to remove President Nicolás Maduro, who has been accused of narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking. Throughout 2026, U.S. officials have visited Venezuela to discuss investment in the country’s natural resources, most notably oil and gas. Venezuela has one…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Caracas, September 16, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Former Venezuelan Industry Minister and government envoy Alex Saab pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and illicit financial transactions after reaching a plea deal with US prosecutors in a federal court in Miami.

Appearing before the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Saab changed his previous “not guilty” plea, entered on July 24, during a hearing before Judge Kathleen M. Williams. “Guilty, Your Honor,” the 54-year-old businessman stated during Tuesday’s session.

In his guilty plea, Saab admitted to participating, alongside “high-ranking officials” in the Nicolás Maduro government, in an “illegal scheme” involving bribes and illicit payments linked to the CLAP subsidized food program. The money allegedly obtained through the scheme was wired through accounts located in South Florida.

In the 12-page plea agreement, Saab named Socialist Party (PSUV) lawmaker José Gregorio Vielma Mora, who was governor of Táchira state at the time, as an alleged accomplice, alongside Colombian nationals Álvaro Pulido Vargas, Emmanuel Enrique Rubio González, and Carlos Rolando Lizcano.

However, he also referred to two other individuals as “co-defendant 1” and “co-defendant 3.” Their identities have not been publicly disclosed by US prosecutors.

Saab also agreed to “fully cooperate” with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) by providing “truthful and complete information and testimony, and producing documents, records, and other evidence” in “any trial or judicial proceeding” requested by the US government.

He likewise agreed that he would not “protect any person or entity through false information or omission,” nor falsely implicate “any person or entity.”

The Colombian-born businessman also agreed to surrender US $195 million, along with properties and assets derived from the alleged crimes, to prosecutors. The government gave him 14 days to disclose all assets related to the offenses.

Saab, who stated that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and takes antidepressants every night to sleep, could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as well as a $500,000 fine.

Nevertheless, prosecutors reportedly agreed to recommend a reduced sentence if his cooperation against the other defendants in the case proves valuable. His sentencing hearing has not been scheduled but is expected to take place in January.

The DOJ warned that it “reserves the right to evaluate the nature and extent of the defendant’s cooperation,” as well as the “quality and significance” of the information provided for the relevant investigations.

The agreement does not publicly specify which investigations Saab will be required to assist with or which other Venezuelan officials the US Justice Department is targeting. With Saab having been a key figure for Caracas to circumvent US economic sanctions, analysts have speculated that he could be a witness in the case against President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores are facing charges, including drug trafficking conspiracy, after being kidnapped by US special forces on January 3.

The current case is the second criminal prosecution Saab has faced in the United States. In 2020, when traveling as a Venezuelan government envoy, he was arrested in Cape Verde during a refueling stop and subsequently extradited to the United States. He was on trial for separate money laundering accusations.

However, in December 2023, then-President Joe Biden granted Saab a pardon as part of a prisoner exchange between the United States and Venezuela. Saab returned to Caracas and joined the government as minister of industry. Following Maduro’s kidnapping, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez removed the former envoy from the cabinet in January before authorities handed him over to US agencies in May.

Venezuelan high-ranking officials claimed that Saab had committed fraud in acquiring Venezuelan citizenship and vowed to present evidence of his alleged long-term cooperation with US agencies, but no further details have been released to date.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Lisbon, Portugal.

The post Venezuela: Former Minister Saab Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering, to Cooperate with US Authorities appeared first on Venezuelanalysis.

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BRUSSELS (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed banning children under 13 from accessing social media, online games and chatbots on Wednesday during her annual State of the European Union speech in Strasbourg.

“I am aware that many perceive the power of Big Tech as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree,” said the EU executive.

“We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualized images,” she said.

Von der Leyen said that under her proposal “mini accounts” chaperoned by guardians would be granted to kids aged 13-15.

The EU’s 27 member nations will now vote on the proposal, which could spark tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long criticized Europe’s tech regulations.

Von der Leyen used her speech to advance a plan that she foreshadowed earlier this year, when she said kids should be exposed to social media in a “phased and gradual” way.

The commission’s proposal is part of a wider ongoing debate playing out worldwide on how to protect young people online.

In the United States, social media company Meta Platforms last month agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to resolve a trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by nearly every state.

Artist: Taro | pixiv | twitter | danbooru

Full quality: .png 12 MB (2250 × 3181)

Uce, a down-on-his-luck young man, dreams of becoming the champion in the brutal and legendary War of Corpses—a sport where necromancers and their knights battle for supremacy. In a desperate bid, he revives Eleonora, an abandoned corpse who claims to have been the deadliest mercenary alive. There are two big problems, though. One, Eleonora is alive — a fact that cannot be revealed at any cost. Two, she and Uce can’t seem to coordinate their movements. Can this unlikely duo overcome all obstacles, win the War of Corpses, and prove everyone wrong?

tags : Shounen, Fantasy, Supernatural, Action, Magic, Monsters, Zombies

Episode 68