cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/comics/p/1743273/don-t-worry

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A desert heavy-haul railway constructed by a Chinese company officially opened to traffic in western Algeria on Sunday, marking the first such project by Chinese enterprises in Africa. The 950-kilometer Western Railway Mining Line was inaugurated during a ceremony in Bechar province, where Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced the start of operations. The event was attended by over 100 representatives from diplomatic missions, including Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Dong Guangli.

Built by China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) in partnership with local state-owned firms, the project connects Bechar province with the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine in Tindouf province. CRCC and its local partners were responsible for 575 kilometers of the line, making it the largest infrastructure project undertaken by Chinese companies in Algeria.

President Tebboune praised the Chinese builders for overcoming harsh natural conditions, noting the project set a record for construction speed. Over 8,000 Chinese and Algerian workers completed the railway section in just 24 months, despite temperatures exceeding 50 C in parts of the Sahara Desert.

The project introduced several technical innovations, including the first prestressed concrete sleepers designed for mixed operation of 32.5-ton axle-load freight trains and passenger trains running at speeds up to 120 km/h. Advanced Chinese equipment, such as long-rail laying machines and flash-butt welding production lines, significantly improved construction efficiency.

According to local media, the railway is expected to transport up to 50 million metric tons of iron ore annually, support passenger services along the route, and create at least 3,000 jobs during operation, boosting regional connectivity and economic development.

An example of how inauthentic social media can be. LBC is a major news outlet in the UK, and they posted a video with the title "Ex-MI6 Spy insists Epstein was a Russian spy and blackmailing Trump". The actual video, though, was an LBC presenter interviewing UK Housing Secretary Steve Reed about an urban regeneration program. Literally nothing to do with Epstein or Russia anywhere in the video, save for the presenter asking about the appointments of a UK politician exposed in the files at the end. Every single comment, though? Deflecting from Russia towards Israel.

To be clear I do not doubt Israel's involvement. I think it's silly to argue that other countries can't also be involved, but that too is besides the point. My point is more how clearly absolutely none of these comments are from a person that watched the video. The unfortunate reality is that real people do engage with these comments, despite the reputation that youtube comments deservedly have, and they will have no idea that said comments have been flooded by inauthentic activity well before any humans got there.

I'm not surprised, but I don't think I've ever stumbled across quite such a blatant example before

The original video has been taken down now and Wayback doesn’t seem to have caught it, but here is the link in case anyone knows something they can do with that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY4bBbwndQc

I see this trend all over the place. I just found out Sony has something called "MySony". My bank has "MySpending Cards". My company uses Paycom and it has something called "MyCom", and i think i remember it also having more things with the MyNoun name format.

What and why is this?

Amazon outbid Puget Sound Energy last month in an auction for a massive solar farm project in Oregon, leaving the utility concerned about a larger competition for resources with energy-hungry artificial intelligence companies.

U.S. President Donald Trump will have more power to hire and fire up to 50,000 career federal employees in an overhaul of the government's civil service system announced by his administration on Thursday.

The overhaul, released by the Office of Personnel Management, fulfills Trump's campaign pledge to strip job protections from federal workers deemed by the president's team to be "influencing" government policy.

It is the biggest change to the rules governing the civil service in more than a century and targets employees that the administration sees as undermining the president's priorities. Trump called the overhaul "Schedule F" during his first administration.

"You can't run an organization if people are refusing to actually carry out the lawful objectives and orders of the administration," said OPM Director Scott Kupor, the administration's top HR official.

Artist: Dl | pixiv | twitter | danbooru

Full quality: .png 2 MB (1165 × 2093)

Senator Bernie Sanders condemns Jeff Bezos for slashing 300 jobs at the Washington Post despite his immense wealth. Bezos spent millions on a documentary about Melania Trump, yet can't prioritize the newspaper.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42710900

Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is refusing to voluntarily comply with a Justice Department investigation into a video she organized urging U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders” — escalating a dispute that President Donald Trump has publicly pushed.

In letters first obtained by The Associated Press, Slotkin’s lawyer informed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro that the senator would not agree to a voluntary interview about the video. Slotkin’s legal team also requested that Pirro preserve all documents related to the matter for “anticipated litigation.”

Slotkin’s lawyer separately wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, declining to sit for an FBI interview about the video and urging her to immediately terminate any inquiry.

The refusal marks a potential turning point in the standoff, shifting the burden onto the Justice Department to decide whether it will escalate an investigation into sitting members of Congress or retreat from an inquiry now being openly challenged.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/41599323

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