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Is Europe’s new satellite initiative already outdated?  

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

It has taken a while, but Europe has recently recognized that for pressing defence issues a software solution is very often state of the art. Boosting defence today is often less a matter of spending ever-increasing amounts on expensive hardware: military planners now recognize that software can drastically augment the performance of new platforms as well as retrofit legacy equipment, while being cost-effective compared to large platform procurements. It can also rejuvenate the combat power of European forces limited in mass.  This shift in understanding has boosted our ability to safeguard European sovereignty in the face of technological progress by adversarial actors. In the past 12 months, the first large contracts have been awarded to pure software defence companies, and while more work remains to be done, European governments have shown they can adapt, act and achieve state-of-the-art defence.  Europe has also thankfully absorbed another insight: space has ...

US Coast Guard offloads thousands of pounds of drugs seized in eastern Pacific Ocean

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. officials made several large drug busts in the Pacific Ocean within the last two months.On Wednesday, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche offloaded approximately 18,219 pounds of cocaine, which was seized from the "drug transit zones" of the eastern Pacific Ocean. The cocaine seized is estimated to be worth more than $239 million.Thirteen people were arrested and are in U.S. custody and charges are pending, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Tara McGrath said.Officials offloaded the thousands of pounds of drugs Wednesday afternoon and transported it to a lab to be analyzed, then it will be stored as evidence through the criminal proceedings and eventually destroyed.The seizures took place between October and November from six different vessels, including a self propelled semi-submersible. Part of that seizure was caught on camera. Former FOX 5 reporter battles rare cancer "Many of these drugs came from high speed smuggl...

Democracy activist Agnes Chow says she still feels under the Hong Kong police’s watch in Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, who left Hong Kong for Canada and won’t return to meet her bail conditions, said Thursday she felt still under the watch of the Chinese territory’s police even after moving to Toronto. Chow is one of Hong Kong’s most prominent young activists and was arrested in 2020 under a Beijing-imposed national security law that was enacted following 2019 anti-government protests. While she was not charged and was released on bail, police confiscated her passport before returning her this year under certain conditions, including a visit to mainland China with authorities. Chow said in an interview with The Associated Press that Hong Kong’s national security police called her twice to ask her about her status after she left the city to pursue further studies in September.“They keep trying to make me feel like I’m under their eyes,” she said. The intimidation of Hong Kong dissidents like Chow reflected the severe erosion of the f...

Russian lawmakers set presidential vote for March 17, 2024, clearing a path for Putin’s 5th term

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Thursday set the date of the 2024 presidential election for March 17, moving Vladimir Putin closer to a fifth term in office.Putin, 71, hasn’t yet announced his intention to run again, but he is widely expected to do so in the coming days now that the date has been set.Under constitutional reforms he orchestrated, he is eligible to seek two more six-year terms after his current one expires next year.Having established tight control over Russia’s political system, Putin’s victory is all but assured. Prominent critics who could challenge him on the ballot are either in jail or living abroad, and most independent media have been banned.Neither the costly, drawn-out military campaign in Ukraine, nor a failed rebellion last summer by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appear to have affected his high approval ratings reported by independent pollsters.The March election clears the way for him to remain in power at least until 2030.The Associated Press

Twitch says it’s withdrawing from the South Korean market over expensive network fees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Twitch, a popular video service, will shut down its struggling business in South Korea, a decision its chief executive blamed on allegedly “prohibitively expensive” costs for operating in the country. In a blog post announcing the company’s plan this week, Dan Clancy said the network fees the company has been paying to South Korean internet operators were 10 times more than in most other markets. He did not provide specific numbers to back such claims.“We’ve made the difficult decision to shut down the Twitch business in Korea on Feb. 27, 2024,” Clancy said in the post. Twitch was able to lower costs by limiting video quality, he said, but “our network fees in Korea are still 10 times more expensive than in most other countries.”A platform popular with video game fans, Twich downgraded the quality of its video services in South Korea to a resolution of 720 p from 1080 p in September 2022, citing a need to reduce costs. Later that year it blocked South...

Commission welcomes provisional agreement for more sustainable, repairable and circular products

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

The Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached last night between the European Parliament and the Council on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. It will help make sustainable products the new norm in the EU, by making them last longer, use energy and resources more efficiently, easier to repair and recycle, contain fewer substances of concern and include more recycled content. It will also improve the level playing field for sustainable products on the EU's internal market and strengthen the global competitiveness of businesses offering sustainable products.The new law will build on the existing Ecodesign Directive that has successfully driven the improved energy efficiency of products in the EU for almost 20 years. It will allow to progressively set performance and information requirements for key products placed on the EU market.The Commission will adopt and regularly update a list of products identified on the basis of a thorough analysis and criteria no...

Shooter caused over $20,000 worth of damage at Orange County school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

Police are searching for a shooter who caused over $20,000 worth of damage to an Orange County high school.On Monday morning at around 4:21 a.m., a suspect driving from the eastbound lanes of Edinger Avenue from Bristol Street stopped directly outside of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.They fired several shots toward the school, shattering windows, according to Santa Ana police.The driver sped away from the scene after the shooting.School staff members discovered 13 windows were shattered with a BB pellet gun, causing over $20,800 worth of damage.The suspect remains at large. Their vehicle is described as a silver/light-colored four-door sedan. They were last seen driving eastbound on Edinger Avenue. Gunman at large after killing man inside his vehicle in Compton Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. (Google Earth)The suspect’s vehicle seen in a photo from a surveillance camera. The shooter is wanted for causing over $20,000 worth of damage at Mater Dei High School on...

Compton man killed while sitting inside his car; gunman at large

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

Authorities are searching for the suspect who killed a man while he was sitting inside his car in Compton.The victim, Miguel Angel Prado, 23, was found shot to death on Aug. 18, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.Deputies responded to an assault with a deadly weapon on the 100 block of E. Caldwell Street around 12:46 a.m.Arriving officers found Prado in the driver’s seat of an SUV with gunshot wounds on his upper torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene.Investigators discovered Prado had returned home from work with his girlfriend that night. Before entering their apartment, they sat in the car and chatted with each other.As they remained parked on the south side of East Caldwell Street, a light-colored sedan drove towards them from Tamarind Avenue.Miguel Angel Prado, 23, was found shot to death in Compton on Aug. 18, 2023 as the gunman remains at large. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)A sketch of the suspect and their light-colored sedan. The suspec...

Magnitude 3.8 earthquake strikes mountains south of Los Banos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

LOS BANOS – A magnitude 3.8 earthquake rattled the Diablo Range south of Los Banos late Wednesday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Modern earthquakes in US could be aftershocks from quakes in the 1800s, scientists say Crashes and Disasters | Disneyland shuts 35 rides after nearby earthquake ‘shook things up’ Crashes and Disasters | Walters: Major California freeway closed by fire center of controversy again Crashes and Disasters | Anderson Dam: Cost to rebuild major reservoir rises to $2.3 billion, tripling from two years ago Crashes and Disasters | This early-warning earthquake app has been retired, but here are others that Californians can still rely on The quake hit at 10:16 p.m. nearly 16.5 miles south-southwest of Los Banos, the USGS said.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.Shaking was reported in Morgan Hill and Hollister, and ...

Hundreds of Oakland 911 dispatcher applications were ignored

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:00 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) – KRON4 learned Wednesday that major missteps kept hundreds of dispatching jobs unfilled in Oakland. A deep dive into the city’s hiring process revealed hundreds of applications were ignored for an entire year. The Oakland City Council heard from the city’s human resource department on Tuesday. They say it was a human error.People in Oakland have said for a while that they have not been able to get a hold of anyone when they call 911. A new report has revealed that from April 2022 to April 2023, the city’s HR department didn’t process any applications for 9-1-1 dispatchers.“My office gets calls all the time, from constituents who are like ‘Who do we call in a moment of crisis?’” said Oakland city councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Alameda County supervisors ask Oakland A’s to pay for Coliseum An Alameda County Grand Jury report shows what many in Oakland already know. The city’s 911 center is slow to respond to requests for service.Ramachandran decided to lo...