Assisted Dying Bill passes Commons hurdle as MPs listen to historic result in solemn silence – gbnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
The assisted dying Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Commons today following a five hour debate in the Chamber.
MPs voted 330 to 275 in favour of the bill which was originally introduced as a Private Members’ Bill by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.
Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak voted to pass the legislation, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch voted against the Bill.
The legislation will continue to be scrutinised by lawmakers in the House of Lords.
Republicans Sue to Stop Vote-Counting in States Weeks After Election Day– slaynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is suing several states over the late counting of mail-in ballots that is still ongoing weeks after Election Day.
The lawsuit includes California, which has not certified all its races nearly four weeks after the election, Fox News reported.
The Golden State is counting its ballots at a snail’s pace in part because of the choice of many citizens to vote by mail.
The state said these ballots must be verified individually, explaining the long delay.
However, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley believes this is “absurd” as pivotal races remain uncalled.
Illegal Immigrants With Terror Ties Pouring Across Northern Border – RedState– redstate.com Source Link Excerpt:
The United States/Canada border is remarkable in many ways. Over 5,000 miles long, it’s the longest land border in the world. For over 200 years, it’s not only been the longest land international border but the most peaceful one, essentially demilitarized, with no serious territorial disputes since the War of 1812. But it’s also a difficult border to secure, with not only length but remoteness making things complicated — and factor into the situation that the bulk of American border security efforts are directed south. But that leads to a possible security risk.
Is it possible that bad actors, including possible terrorists, are trying to get into the United States before Donald Trump takes office? There is some evidence that this is the case; reports indicate a spike in illegal border crossings on our northern border.
Federal agents are arresting a record number of individuals on the terrorist watchlist at the northern U.S. border, including a Jordanian national with ties to terrorism who recently was removed from the country after illegally entering from Canada.
Border Patrol agents in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Blaine Sector apprehended Jordanian national Mohammad Hasan Abdellatif Albana, 41, near Lynden, Washington, a few miles from the Canadian border.
EU recalls envoy from Niger after junta accuses it of mismanaging aid – Reuters Source Link Excerpt:
The European Union will recall its ambassador from Niger after the country’s ruling military questioned an EU delegation’s management of humanitarian aid meant for flood victims, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said on Saturday.
Niger’s junta issued a statement on Friday accusing the EU ambassador in the West African country of dividing a 1.3 million euro fund to assist flood victims between several international NGOs in an non-transparent manner, and without collaborating with the authorities.
FCC approves SpaceX direct to cell services over Starlink – DatacenterDynamics Source Link Excerpt:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week approved SpaceX to provide satellite coverage direct to mobile devices through its Starlink service.
It will allow SpaceX to push forward with its partnership with T-Mobile to deploy mobile signal connectivity from space to cover dead spots.
The license is the first between a satellite operator and a mobile carrier to be approved by the regulator to provide cell coverage from space.
“The Commission recognized that satellite-to-device connectivity can support critical public interest benefits, including ubiquitous connectivity, access to 911 service from remote areas, technological advancement, and innovative spectrum use,” said the FCC in its filing.
Argentina seeks its first wheat shipments to China in decades – batimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Argentina wheat traders are seeking to close their first significant sales to China since the 1990s, according to the head of the country’s top crop-exporting group.
China is making overtures for wheat purchases after it authorised Argentine shipments earlier this year, said Gustavo Idigoras, president of CIARA-CEC, whose members include the major agricultural trading houses. China also recently authorised purchases of Argentine corn, though no cargoes have yet sailed.
Romania’s leftists set to top polls in parliamentary election, but far-right populists see big gains Source Link Excerpt:
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s Social Democratic Party looked set to win the most votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election, incomplete data showed, while far-right populists were on track to make significant gains in the country’s legislature. The voting suggested widespread anti-establishment sentiment in the European Union and NATO member country.
With about 85% of the votes counted, incomplete electoral data showed the leftist PSD leading the polls with about 23.9%, while the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, was in second place with about 17.8%. The center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, stood at about 14.5% and the reformist Save Romania Union party, the USR, was at 10.9%.
The legislative vote came a week after the first round of a presidential race that saw a controversial far-right populist who was polling in single digits win the most votes, which has since plunged the country into political turmoil. Calin Georgescu, 62, is due to face reformist Elena Lasconi of the USR in a Dec. 8 runoff.
AI will run out of data within a decade– cosmosmagazine.com Source Link Excerpt:
A leading UNSW computer scientist says a touted solution to a big problem for generative AI is better suited for other forms of artificial intelligence.
UNSW Computer Science Professor Claude Sammut says AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, are running out of data to “eat.”
Generative AI models have swallowed up most of the data they’re legally allowed to process that is of high-enough quality to improve their function.
Physicists’ Breakthrough In Fine-Tuning Electron Behavior In Quantum Materials Could Fast-Track Next Generation Of Tech – Eurasia Review Source Link Excerpt:
Physicists at Loughborough University have made an exciting breakthrough in understanding how to fine-tune the behaviour of electrons in quantum materials poised to drive the next generation of advanced technologies.
Quantum materials, like bilayer graphene and strontium ruthenates, exhibit remarkable properties such as superconductivity and magnetism, which could revolutionise areas like computing and energy storage.
When one thinks about the major causes of death for industrialized countries, a familiar number of ailments come to mind — cancer and heart disease, for instance. In the past few years, COVID has also ranked high in some countries’ mortality tables. But Canada has a new leading cause of death that is both shocking and surprising: death by doctor.
That’s one of the major conclusions from a recent study that examined our neighbor to the north’s medical aid in dying laws and their grisly consequences. According to the study, assisted suicide now ranks alongside cardiovascular disease as Canada’s fifth leading cause of death. The number of assisted suicides rose thirteenfold from 2016 to 2022, to over 13,000 — this in a country with a population roughly one-tenth the size of the United States. And because some provinces do not report assisted suicide as the cause of death, the data actually under-estimates the impact of assisted suicide on Canadian mortality.
These results flow from decisions taken by policymakers to promote assisted suicide. Legislative expansions of a “right” first created by courts — i.e., the right to take one’s own life — have allowed for same-day suicide, and made conditions like vision and hearing loss eligible for aid in dying.
225 Hospitals Provide Transgender Procedures to Children– www.dailysignal.com Source Link Excerpt:
More than 200 hospitals and health care facilities provide irreversible transgender procedures to children, debunking left-wing claims that the treatments aren’t being done on minors.
Do No Harm matched known gender-related transition codes with gender-related procedures and prescription codes to compile the database.
“The database provides conclusive proof that these interventions are happening on children across the country, both hormonal interventions and surgeries,” said Beth Serio, external relations manager at Do No Harm and a registered nurse. “We used bulletproof data from insurance claims databases to show that these procedures have been done on children.”
US States Sue TikTok Over Privacy Violations– www.ndtv.com Source Link Excerpt:
A group of 14 US states on Tuesday filed lawsuits accusing TikTok of ensnaring young users with addictive features, then harming their minds and violating their privacy.
The wave of local court lawsuits demanding corrective measures and financial penalties comes as the popular video-snippet sharing app faces a ban in the United States if it remains owned by China-based ByteDance.
“Our investigation has revealed that TikTok cultivates social media addiction to boost corporate profits,” California attorney general Rob Bonta said in a news release issued jointly with officials from other states.
“TikTok intentionally targets children because they know kids do not yet have the defenses or capacity to create healthy boundaries around addictive content.”
Bonta contended that features such as beauty filters, endless scrolling, autoplay videos, and “likes” exploit youthful curiosity and lack of will power to stop.
Russia’s ‘Merchant of Death,’ Released by Biden in Prisoner Exchange, Now Selling Arms to Houthi Terrorists– freebeacon.com Source Link Excerpt:
Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer released by the Biden administration nearly two years ago in exchange for U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, is now selling weapons to Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” met with Houthi representatives in Moscow in August under the guise of purchasing pesticides and vehicles to negotiate a $10 million deal for automatic weapons, the Wall Street Journalreported. The Houthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, have repeatedly launched drone and missile attacks against Israel and terrorized Israeli commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The Biden administration faced intense scrutiny in December 2022 after agreeing to swap Bout for Griner, a WNBA star who had been arrested in Russia on drug charges. Critics say that the deal favored Moscow by releasing a high-value prisoner while failing to secure the release of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine detained in Russia since 2018 on espionage charges.
Disaster Relief No Longer About Emergency Response, It’s About ‘Disaster Equity’ › American Greatness– amgreatness.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is supposed to be the government’s premier emergency relief organization in times of disaster, like the situation now faced by victims of Hurricane Helene’s aftermath in North Carolina and Tennessee.
But according to the FEMA website, the agency now places higher priority on instituting Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity guidelines than on easing the suffering of Americans displaced by disaster.
We just released our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan.
“We will remain focused on increasing equity in our programs & policies, leading resilience in a changing climate and strengthening the emergency management workforce.”– @FEMA_Deanne
Kamala Harris Announces How Much Hurricane Victims Will Get — And People Are PISSED!– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
To all the victims of Hurricane Helene in multiple different states…
Who have lost their entire houses…
Entire towns….
Entire lives….
Family members washed away and killed….
Kamala Harris just announced that help is on the way!
FEMA will be sending you…..$750!
Absolutely unreal:
Kamala Harris is in Georgia to announce that FEMA will be providing federal relief in the form of $750 to those affected by Hurricane Helene. Generous.
Israel obliterates hundreds of targets in Lebanon after Hezbollah leader vowed revenge for pager blitz that left 37 dead– www.thesun.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
ISRAEL has bombed hundreds of targets just hours after Hezbollah’s leader vowed revenge for the sabotage attack that left 37 dead.
Israel and Hezbollah trade heavy fire as cross-border strikes escalate– www.cbsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade hundreds of strikes on Sunday as the sides appear to be spiraling toward an all-out war following months of escalating tensions.
The Iran-backed militant group launched more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa. The barrage overnight set off air raid sirens across northern Israel, sending thousands of people scrambling into shelters.
Israel’s military said the rockets were fired “toward civilian areas,” pointing to a possible escalation after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.
Israel could face further weapon sanctions as war fears escalate, hints Foreign Secretary David Lammy– www.thesun.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy hinted Israel could face further weapon sanctions as war fears escalated yesterday.
Labour has blocked some British arms shipments amid concerns over the bloodbath in Gaza, said to have claimed 40,000 Palestinian lives and violence against Arabs in Israel’s West Bank.
Mr Lammy said a full arms embargo on Israel would be a “mistake” – but left the door open to further curbs.
The Labour minister did not comment on the overnight barrage of 150 rockets fired by Hezbollah, but hit out at Israeli violence in the occupied territory.
Speaking at a Labour conference fringe meeting, Mr Lammy said: “I’m deeply, deeply worried by the growing violence and settler violence that we see in the West Bank.
“I’m in discussions with G7 partners, particular European partners on that.