The patent filing shows Seres' plans for an onboard toilet that slides out from the bottom of a passenger's seat with a push or through voice-activated commands.

The loo will come with a fan and exhaust pipe to channel odours out of the car, according to the filing on China's intellectual property administration seen by the BBC.

Waste is collected in a tank that has to be emptied manually. The toilet also features a rotating heating element that evaporates urine and dries other waste.

When not in use, the toilet is concealed beneath the seat, making full use of the space inside a car without requiring more room.

The deportation agreement coincides with the Trump ⁠administration's efforts to implement a U.S.-brokered peace deal between Congo and Rwanda aimed at ending fighting with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

It also follows the signing of a strategic partnership granting the ⁠United States preferential access to Congo's critical minerals.

The return of the mercenary points not just to the transformation of warfare but to a shift away from the Westphalian state-based sovereignty regime. Low intensity in terms of political impact to Western powers but high intensity in terms of indirect and direct costs to human life, there are increasing numbers of forever wars that continue to rage across the world: Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Libya, and more. Recent history has been largely defined by conflicts that do not fit the traditional model of interstate warfare; clashes between conventional armies are rare. Instead, what predominates is usually referred to as unconventional warfare, those activities, as the U.S. military defines them, “conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area.”

There’s a really important New York Times article from two days ago which describes the scale of destruction inside Iran. Across every kind of civilian and military infrastructure, estimates range from $300 billion to $1 trillion in damage. A lot of that damage is to heavy industry infrastructure at the core of the nation’s economy. Already before this war the Iranian economy was teetering, with out-of-control inflation and currency collapse. This winter’s demonstrations in Iran, which triggered such a ferociously brutal crackdown, were certainly broadly against the regime and its repressions. But they were also specifically a response to the collapsing economy. Now that all seems infinitely worse.

The Times article even suggests the strong possibility the present government isn’t equipped to inventory the scale of the damage. Iran’s “mosaic” strategy, in which local military units are given autonomy to act without central control, in order to make the state’s defense more resilient, may be great in military extremity. But it’s not great for running a state or economy. The best reporting suggests that the government of Iran is now pretty much entirely in the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. That’s great as a force of domestic repression to keep the regime in place. But Iran is now facing a crisis that requires bureaucrats, civil engineers, economists.

What all of this means, I think, is that when Iran demands the return of all its frozen assets and an end to all sanctions, that may not be a bluff. It may be totally unrealistic. But it may not be a bluff. The regime’s survival may simply not be compatible with the kind of economic calamity the country now faces. So they may really need that money and that access to the global economy.

In some ways, the best angle for the Trump White House would simply be to pull back and allow Iran to simmer in this destruction. The regime may not be able to survive it. But of course Trump can’t do that because they need the Strait of Hormuz open. It may not be existential for the U.S. But it’s certainly existential for Donald Trump’s political future.

Six Palestine Action activists face a retrial after being acquitted in February following over a year in prison. If convicted, the six Palestine Action activists and 18 others will likely be sentenced as terrorists, facing long prison terms. The jury has not been notified about the ‘terrorist’ designation, and the British media cannot report this information under a court order. Activists will also be prohibited from telling jurors how their efforts sought to impede the Gaza genocide

Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent turned presidential special envoy, had learned that his Brazilian ex-girlfriend was in a Miami jail, arrested on charges of fraud at her workplace. They had been in a custody battle over their teenage son. Now he saw an opportunity.

He reached out to a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, explaining that his ex was in the country illegally, according to records obtained by The New York Times and a person familiar with the communications. Could she be put in ICE detention? That could help him get his son back.

The official, David Venturella, promptly called the agency’s Miami office to ensure that ICE agents would pick up the woman from the jail before she was released on bail, according to the records and a person with knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity to discuss it. During the call, Mr. Venturella noted that the case was important to someone close to the White House.

The woman, Amanda Ungaro, was placed in ICE custody and ultimately deported, an outcome that may well have happened regardless of Mr. Zampolli’s meddling. But the ICE official’s willingness to spring into action for a Trump ally — even one in a low-level, largely ceremonial role — reflects a recurring theme of the second Trump administration: The levers of the federal government can be pulled to settle a personal score.

Since donning the burka, the woman said she had been taunted by neighbours who called her a "smelly Arab" and that Israeli soldiers had asked to see her identification papers to prove she was not a Muslim. They backed down, she said, when she showed them that her children were clearly Jewish.

The trend has also caused tensions in family life. One man went to a rabbinical court in an attempt to get a ruling to force his wife to stop wearing the burka.

The plan backfired, however. The court ruled that that woman's behaviour was so "extreme" that it ordered the couple to undergo an immediate religious divorce.

“Oh my God, I want a hot president,” Jennifer Welch of the I’ve Had It podcast said in an interview last week. “Hot democrat alert,” posted Democratic influencer Keith Edwards in response to a video clip of Sam Forstag, a 31-year-old smokejumper running for one of Montana’s two House seats. If you search Jon Ossoff’s name on X or TikTok, you’ll be met with a number of thirsty posts calling the Georgia senator a “total hottie.”

“Jon Ossoff—there was just something about him,” said the content creator Qondi Ntini, who runs what can best be described as an Democratic thirst-trap X account, where she frequently refers to Ossoff as “Senator My Boo.” She’s raised thousands of dollars for Democratic candidates through the account and has been invited to the White House and the DNC as a part of their content-creator programs.

“The way I see thirst and the people that I choose to support, it’s more about their values and what they can do for their constituents. The hotness stems from that, and it makes them hotter. It’s also kind of a rebuke of toxic masculinity,” she added.