Donald Trump's administration is planning to spend $4 million to bolster right-wing media in ‌Europe, part of a package of at least $25 million for civil society groups working on conservative causes in the region, according to four people familiar with the funding.

The grants risk deepening tensions between the Trump administration and European governments, some of which have already accused Washington of interfering in their domestic politics.

The U.S. ​State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) says the funding is meant to strengthen transatlantic ties and promote ​free speech. It comes as European countries prepare for elections over the next couple of years, and ⁠as the Trump administration openly backs Europe's populist right-wing and far-right parties.

With the end of physical PlayStation games looming, the need for clear digital ownership rights is more pressing than ever.

For its part, Sony believes your rights are very clear: you do not own your digital games, and it's unlikely you're stupid enough to believe otherwise. At least, that's roughly the argument the company's lawyers are presenting in response to a proposed class-action lawsuit.

Sony argues that its current customer-facing disclosures ensure that "reasonable consumers would not be misled" into believing they actually own their digital games. That's according to a Game File report (paid article link) citing an August 21 filing Sony's lawyers made in California's Northern District.

When we just discussed the 2 recent deaths in Pennsylvania that came as a result of measles infections, we noted that there was very little information about the deceased.

Some additional information has since been released, in particular the fact that one of those that died was a newborn child. This is the sort of fact that is heartbreaking to those of us with normal, functional brains.

Or, if you’re RFK Jr., it’s the kind of fact that causes you to drop the whole facade and go full on anti-vaxxer conspiracy clown.

he highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military says there are no plans to send troops to polling places during November's midterm congressional elections, addressing concerns among Democrats that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement in a letter to Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who recently asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm they won't send troops to the polls.

"The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections," Caine said in the letter to Slotkin, which was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. "Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material."

Fits perfectly.

At 1,600 square feet and an asking price of $2 million, it qualifies as entry level for families here and is a steal in the current market, said Paul Kitchen, a real estate agent with Compass brokerage.

In short:

A Nevada jury has found Duane "Keffe D" Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Shakur was stopped at a red light in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, when a white Cadillac pulled up beside him and shots were fired.

What's next?

Davis was convicted of a single count of murder with a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison.

The USA are famous worldwide for not giving a fuck about their own children being shot at school. Yet there are still some people who believe they would give half a fuck about other peoples children being shot at war.

In short:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told Russian President Vladimir Putin the war in Ukraine needs to end for humanity's sake.

India, along with China, has continued buying Russian oil since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, helping Moscow recover from sweeping Western sanctions.

Mr Modi said India supports all peace efforts and called for a cessation of hostilities.

@kateteaillustration

Sitting in the dark in my sunroom (cat's sunroom) waiting for Mallow to come beg at the back door. People talk about the silence of the early morning, but to me it is a cacophony of insects singing.

Paul showed up!

This post is for casual conversation if you don’t feel like making a post of your own.

Source (in Danish): https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/poelset-op-i-beton-nu-staar-europas-stoerste-3d-printede-byggeri-klar

Ein Wort, das mein Opa immer gern verwendete, um gute Qualität zu beschreiben.

Experts say ruling could undermine the ‘actual malice’ standard and make publishers more wary of critical reporting

A $300,000 jury verdict won recently by a Louisiana supreme court justice who sued the Advocate, the state’s largest newspaper, for libel over an editorial has caused concern among some US press freedom advocates.

One said the decision demonstrated a misunderstanding of a key legal principle governing such cases. And another worries the verdict could have a chilling effect on the media industry’s efforts to report on powerful people and institutions.

George Freeman, the Media Law Resource Center’s executive director, and Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, shared those thoughts after the 24 August conclusion of a complex, days-long civil trial pitting Louisiana supreme court justice Jefferson Davis Hughes III against the state’s Advocate newspaper.

Driscoll's departure follows the ouster of one of his allies from the Army as well as the rollback of a drone program he had championed. Hegseth had suddenly ousted the service's top uniformed leader, Gen. Randy George, in April, while the Army's commander in Europe and Africa, Gen. Christopher Donahue, unexpectedly stepped down in June.

Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who has made a meteoric rise under Hegseth, took George's place as the Army's acting chief of staff. Under LaNeve, the service is pulling the plug on a drone modernization program. An Army unit based in Europe was building its own drones before LaNeve directed it to end its efforts and return to being a traditional infantry battalion, officials said in August.

Driscoll was a George ally and lamented his departure, along with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. He told Congress in April that he and his family drove to George's house following his resignation "and we all gave him a hug."

In short: 

The Supreme Court has voted 5-4 in favour of allowing the White House to continue construction on a $558 million ballroom project.

The majority did not decide whether the project is legal, but found that a preservation group likely did not have the legal right to challenge it.

What's next?

The lawsuit will return to lower courts, but documents indicate that key portions of the project could be complete within months.

...

Tsering Yangzom, a member of the Tibetan community in Newcastle, NSW [New South Wales, Australia], told SBS News her uncle works in the flood-affected region of Tibet, but she's been unable to contact him since the disaster and appears to have been blocked.

She suspects he may be concerned their communications are being monitored, but she's also "really, really worried" about whether he was affected by the deadly floods.

Normally, she says they speak briefly and intermittently on the Chinese messaging app WeChat, sometimes using coded language to protect her uncle.

"If he says the weather is good, then we can talk a little bit more about the normal life," she said. "But if he says the weather is not good and rainy or something ... that means that I can't talk much."

...

Human Rights Watch's Australia director, Daniela Gavshon, told SBS News censorship and self-censorship are pervasive in Tibetan areas.

"These information controls make it even harder to get accurate information, for families to locate loved ones, or to develop a good understanding of the disaster, its scale, its impact, and the response."

...

According to various international media organisations, videos filmed and uploaded by local residents showing the disaster have been censored on Chinese social media platforms.

On Chinese social media platform RedNote, SBS Chinese was unable to find the widely viewed CCTV footage showing the flash flooding engulfing the Rasuwagadhi border crossing between Tibet and Nepal.

Chinese state media has, however, shown vision of recovery efforts.

"For China, everything is inherently political when it comes to Tibet," [said] Zoë Bedford, executive officer of the Australia Tibet Council.

...

"What they're afraid of is people hearing Tibetan voices. They're afraid of people understanding the extent of China's mega-development in Tibet and how much they have been interfering in the environment."

Feng Chongyi, associate professor in China Studies at the University of Technology Sydney, said many Tibetans and Nepalese people blame the Chinese government, which has funnelled billions into developments in the region in a bid to harness its vast hydropower potential and resources.

"The Chinese government, of course, do not want that kind of opinion or discussion to spread to the international community," he told SBS News.

...

The disaster was triggered by a glacier collapse, which Chinese authorities and international experts have linked to climate change.

Just three months before the disaster, officials from China and Nepal met to discuss strengthening cooperation to monitor floods, weather and glacier-related hazards.

But two Nepali officials told the Reuters news agency they didn't receive as much information as they wanted from China on glacier risks and water levels, heightening fears that insufficient data sharing could make it harder to anticipate and prepare for natural disasters.

...

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