World, US, Culture, Market, and Sci-Tech News Aggregation from MSM and Independent News
Ireland police remove farmers, blockades protesting fuel price rises South China Morning Post
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Vessels avoiding damage from the Iran war are turning to a small island nation in Africa Business Insider Africa
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Scientists recover 90% of lithium from old batteries — here’s why it matters Yahoo Tech
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Scientists at Stanford Medicine have identified a naturally occurring molecule that appears to mimic some of the weight loss effects of semaglutide, the drug widely known as Ozempic. In animal studies, the molecule reduced appetite and body weight while avoiding several common side effects such as nausea, constipation, and muscle loss.
The molecule, called BRP, works through a different but related biological pathway and activates distinct groups of neurons in the brain. This suggests it may offer a more precise way to control appetite and metabolism.
CU Denver Creates Lab-Grown Lung Model to Test Treatments More Effectively – CU Denver News
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After a 10-day mission that sent them around the far side of the moon, NASA Commander Reid Wiseman says he and his three fellow Artemis II crew members are “bonded forever.”
Wiseman and fellow astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen were welcomed home in an emotional and rousing event in Houston, one day after they touched back down on Earth.
“We are bonded forever and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through and it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life,” said Wiseman.
The mission broke the record for the farthest humans have ever travelled from Earth, and on a personal level, Reid said it was no small feat.
Oil prices may soon be coming down after this move by U.S. Forces.
U.S. CENTCOM on Saturday announced the USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy will patrol the Strait of Hormuz to clear it from mines that were placed by the Iranian regime.
The move by U.S. CENTCOM come as JD Vance and top Iranian officials are in Pakistan discussing a peace agreement that would bring an end to U.S. military operations in Iran.
Liberals around Europe are raising their glasses in celebration after seeing the results of the election in Hungary on Sunday.
With nearly 99% of the votes counted, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party had secured only 55 of the 199 seats in the Hungarian parliament, bringing Orbán’s 16-year stint as prime minister to an end despite an endorsement last week from President Donald Trump.
If you’re following AI news, you’re probably getting whiplash. AI is a gold rush. AI is a bubble. AI is taking your job. AI can’t even read a clock. The 2026 AI Index from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, AI’s annual report card, comes out today and cuts through some of that noise.
Despite predictions that AI development may hit a wall, the report says that the top models just keep getting better. People are adopting AI faster than they picked up the personal computer or the internet. AI companies are generating revenue faster than companies in any previous technology boom, but they’re also spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers and chips. The benchmarks designed to measure AI, the policies meant to govern it, and the job market are struggling to keep up. AI is sprinting, and the rest of us are trying to find our shoes.
All that speed comes at a cost. AI data centers around the world can now draw 29.6 gigawatts of power, enough to run the entire state of New York at peak demand. Annual water use from running OpenAI’s GPT-4o alone may exceed the drinking water needs of 12 million people. At the same time, the supply chain for chips is alarmingly fragile. The US hosts most of the world’s AI data centers, and one company in Taiwan, TSMC, fabricates almost every leading AI chip.
U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump’s broadside against him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, telling reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration.
“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”
Democratic House Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign for California governor on Sunday night following sexual assault allegations that he continues to deny.
“I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” Swalwell said in a social media post.
Democrats quickly abandoned Swalwell, 44, after allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. The allegations were first published Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle, and later by CNN.
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Chinese Workers Protest Unpaid Wages in Russia’s Far East – www.themoscowtimes.com
EXCERPT:
Chinese workers building a fuel-making unit at a Rosneft refinery in Far East Russia’s Khabarovsk region took to the streets on Sunday to protest unpaid wages, regional authorities said Monday.
At least 200 employees of the Russian-Chinese contractor Petro-Hehua marched through the city of Komsomolsk-na-Amure demanding back payments and help from both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.
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Russian troops continue special military operation after Easter truce ends — top brass – Russian Politics & Diplomacy – tass.com
EXCERPT:
MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Russian troops continued their special military operation in Ukraine after the Orthodox Easter truce ended, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.
“With the end of the truce, the Russian Armed Forces continued the special military operation,” the ministry said in a statement.
All the Russian battlegroups strictly observed the ceasefire and stayed in their previously held positions, the ministry reported.
“In compliance with an order by the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces, all the battlegroups in the special military operation area strictly observed the ceasefire from 4:00 p.m. on April 11 to the end of April 12 and stayed in their previously held positions,” the ministry said.
Pope Leo has responded to President Trump’s attack on him by saying he has “no intention to debate” Mr. Trump on Iran.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump lashed out at the pontiff on social media, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” he added.
Leo had called Mr. Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable” and encouraged people to contact “political leaders … to ask them, tell them to work for peace.”
Polish PM Tusk congratulated Peter Madyar and discussed his planned Warsaw visit mezha.net
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The AI build-out is powering global goods trade Financial Times
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Just over three months ago, Australia’s world-leading regulations attempting to ban social media use by under-16s came into force. The relevant regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, has released its first compliance report on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024. The report makes interesting reading, given the number of countries apparently considering whether to emulate the Australian endeavors.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the eSafety Commissioner finds “progress” to be remarkably modest. Based on a survey of 898 parents and caregivers of children age eight to 15 taken between January 19 and February 2, 2026, the commissioner reports that while just under half reported their children having their own account on at least one of the banned platforms prior to the law coming into force on December 10, 2025, that proportion decreased to only 31.3 percent in the survey period.
Britain will not support Trump blockade of Strait of Hormuz, vows Starmer The National
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home was allegedly targeted for the second time in two days – and cops have made two arrests.
A Honda car had been near Altman’s $27 million Russian Hill mansion early Sunday morning – before pulling up outside and a shot was fired from the vehicle’s passenger window, the San Francisco Standard reported.
The Supreme Court and Trump’s Regime are Full of Christian Fascists revcom.us
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HONG KONG — China is poised to benefit from the Iran war as global energy disruptions accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean technologies and renewable power, industries that China dominates.
Most of the oil and gas from the now mostly shut Strait of Hormuz was Asia-bound. Asian nations are scrambling to conserve energy and bolster dwindling reserves. As a temporary ceasefire teeters, gasoline prices in the U.S. and Europe are spiking.
While most of Asia is hit hard, China will likely benefit from the fossil fuel disruptions despite being the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil. China leads the world in battery, solar and electric vehicle exports, and its industries are forecast to face a rise in demand for renewable products.
Before the start of the Iran war in late February, China’s lead in clean technologies was lengthening. The U.S. under President Donald Trump scaled back on renewable energy and leaned on its vast oil and gas resources, promoting energy exports to achieve what Trump described as “energy dominance.”
Hungarian leader of right-wing party Our Homeland congratulates Meta on opposition win– rmx.news
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EXCERPT:
Hungary will face major blows to its democracy and suffer greatly at the hands of globalists after the victory of the opposition Tisza party in Hungary’s national elections, said the Our Homeland party (Mi Hazánk) leader, László Toroczkai.
“Since we already have experience with a government backed by the same circles — after all, Gordon Bajnai also sat there as an invited guest at the Bilderberg Group’s meetings — we know what to expect. The deterioration of the state of democracy, the establishment of a liberal-globalist dictatorship,” said Toroczkai.
Toroczkai’s party is considered even farther to the right than Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, with his party promoting a stricter immigration line, blaming Orbán for an increase in legal immigration in recent years.
Donald Trump has said he doesn’t care if Iran comes back to negotiations with the US after the weekend talks in Pakistan ended without a deal. “I don’t care if they come back or not,” Trump told reporters in Maryland on Sunday. “If they don’t come back, I’m fine.”
Trump said earlier that the US Navy would start blockading the Hormuz strait and also prohibit every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran. US Central Command said later it would begin a blockade of all Iranian Gulf ports and coastal areas on Monday at 10am ET (5.30pm in Iran and 1400 GMT), effectively seizing control of maritime traffic in the strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that “approaching military vessels to the strait of Hormuz is considered a violation of the ceasefire”.
Oil prices rose in early market trading after Trump’s blockade announcement. The price of US crude oil rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent crude oil – the international standard – rose 7% to $102.29. Australia’s share market dropped sharply on Monday morning.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf taunted Trump on X, saying in a post: “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.” Earlier he said Trump’s new threats would have no effect on the Iranian nation: “If you fight, we will fight … We will not bow to any threats.”
Trump and his advisers are looking at resuming limited military strikes in Iran in addition to the US blockade of the Hormuz strait, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials and people familiar with the situation.
What influences how long we live, and how much of that is written in our genes? For many years, scientists believed genetics played only a modest role. Earlier estimates suggested that inherited factors explained about 20 to 25 percent of lifespan differences, and some large studies even placed the number below 10 percent.
A new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science, published in Science, challenges that long-standing view. The researchers report that genetics may account for roughly half of the variation in human lifespan, which is at least double previous estimates. The study was led by Ben Shenhar from the lab of Prof. Uri Alon in Weizmann’s Molecular Cell Biology Department.
UK police arrest over 200 at protest for banned Palestine group 1News
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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps asserted their sweeping control over the Strait of Hormuz, even as it signalled that civilian maritime traffic remains permitted under regulated conditions.In a statement, quoted by AFP, the Guards’ naval command said, “All traffic… is under the full control of the armed forces,” accompanied by footage showing vessels targeted through crosshairs. The warning escalated further with the message, “The enemy will become trapped in a deadly vortex in the Strait if it makes the wrong move.”
Oil prices have rocketed in early market trading after the US announced it would blockade Iranian ports.
The US military has confirmed it will halt all maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports, with the measure taking effect at 10am ET (2pm GMT) today.
US crude oil prices surged eight per cent to $104.24 a barrel in early trading, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed seven per cent to $102.29.
Decentralized AI models take over healthcare systems Devdiscourse
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