https://archive.ph/jphZ9

[Bias alert - NYT usually favors Israel]

By Roger Cohen Nov. 26, 2025

[on-site, in-depth report from Lebanon, with many photos]

Abbas Fakhr al-Din, the soft-spoken mayor of Nabatieh, a city in southern Lebanon, sat beneath a portrait of Ahmad Kahil, a doctor and his predecessor. Dr. Kahil was killed in an Israeli strike on the municipal building on Oct. 16, 2024, that took the lives of 16 people in all. The rubble remains.

I asked Mr. al-Din if he was afraid. “No,” he said. “I have to be with my people through good times and bad.”

Nabatieh and the surrounding area continue to be hit by intermittent Israeli strikes, killing people and heightening the sense that the cease-fire is even less stable than Lebanon’s battered buildings. To the mayor’s eyes, American strategy is devoted solely to support of Israel.

NREL - National Renewable Energy Laboratory

It's happened three times now, it's really unbelievable how many sickos are in this indusrry. Every time it's the same: they come in and look at the problem with the my dim kitchen lights and then start talking about "vampire loads". does anyone know a GOOD electrician that I won't have to throw out of the house?

The residents came in camouflage hats and red shirts signaling unity, more than 300 of them packing into a rural Pennsylvania planning commission meeting to protest a proposed data center they feared would carve up their farmland and upend the quiet rhythms of their valley.

Most were loyal supporters of President Donald Trump, who carried their home of Montour County by 20 percentage points in the 2024 election. But they bristled at Washington’s push to fast-track artificial intelligence infrastructure, which has driven data-center growth in rural areas around the U.S. where land is cheap.

On a recent November evening, residents in this county of 18,000 people stepped to the microphone, questioning Talen Energy (TLN.O), opens new tab officials about how their planned data center might raise residents' utility bills, reduce working farmland, and strain local water and natural resources.

The Indian telecommunications authority, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has instructed eight messenger services to implement a permanent binding to inserted SIM cards. Affected are WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, ShareChat, as well as the Indian services Arattai, JioChat, and Josh. According to the directive, the companies must ensure within 90 days that their services can only be used with a physically inserted SIM card.

Reuters followed the fortunes of a group of raw recruits who enlisted as part of Ukraine’s drive to refresh its depleted ranks. None of the 11 are still fighting.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54162187

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54162082

White House ballroom project has become costlier and larger than originally anticipated

Donald Trump encouraged those working on the construction of his new White House ballroom project to disregard traditional permitting, zoning, and code requirements, according to a new report.

Since announcing the project in July, Trump’s ballroom has become larger, costlier and more destructive than initially thought – raising concerns about whether the president is following historical rules when it comes to a White House addition.

The ballroom’s capacity, initially thought to be 650, has been raised to 900. Its cost has nearly doubled from $200 million to $350 million. Its construction, which Trump initially said would not interfere with the integrity of the current White House, has led to the destruction of the East Wing.

The wholesaler is the latest company to file a lawsuit against a federal agency over the president's signature economic policy.

Costco Wholesale has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, asking the Court of International Trade to consider all tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act unlawful.

The company said in a Nov. 28 filing that it is seeking a “full refund” of all IEEPA duties paid as a result of Donald Trump's executive order which imposed what he called "reciprocal" tariffs.

“Because IEEPA does not clearly authorize the President to set tariffs...the Challenged Tariff Orders cannot stand and the defendants are not authorized to implement and collect them,” Costco's lawyer writes in the lawsuit.

Global cosmetics giant Revlon, eyeglass maker EssilorLuxottica, motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki, canned foods seller Bumble Bee, Japanese auto supplier Yokohama Tire and many smaller firms have also filed similar suits

I will now slander them

• isnt an owl
• once dm’d me “nice posts nerd” and it made me cry
• peed someone elses pants and never felt a crumb of remorse
• is british
• once picked me up and shook me upside down and all my lunch money fell out
• makes bad posts
• plays nintendo games like a dweeb
• farts in public

Sources told the Miami Hearld that during the call Trump had pressed Maduro to leave “right away”, offering guarantees for his family only if he resigned on the spot. Maduro reportedly refused and instead put forward counter-demands, including global amnesty and the ability to retain control of the armed forces even if he ceded political power.

According to the Miami Herald, there has been no further communication since, despite Maduro’s attempt to secure a second call after Trump declared Venezuelan airspace “closed in its entirety”.

Leaked assessment based on confidential accounts from 24 FBI sources describes organization as a ‘rudderless ship’

The FBI director, Kash Patel, is “in over his head” and leading a “chronically under-performing” agency paralyzed by fear and plummeting morale, according to a scathing 115-page report compiled by a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI special agents and analysts.

The leaked assessment, obtained by the New York Post and prepared for both congressional Senate and House judiciary committees, is based on confidential accounts from 24 FBI sources.

They accuse Patel of lacking the experience to lead the FBI and that managers will not take initiative without explicit direction for fear of being fired. Patel’s first six months have produced a “troubling picture” of an organization described by insiders as a “rudderless ship”, with two sources independently characterizing the director as being “in over his head”. One stated he “lacks the requisite knowledge or deep understanding of all the FBI’s unique and complex investigative and intelligence programs”.

Not the first time they were caught.

I've been enjoying the free cricket on TVNZ - especially this matchup vs the west indies.

Demonstrators blocked the exit of ICE vehicles from a parking lot using garbage bags and metal barriers

A raid by federal immigration authorities on Saturday in New York City was thwarted by about 200 protesters, several of whom were arrested after scuffles with police officers.

The episode was the latest in which citizen activists have stood up to agents enforcing Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda through targeted raids in various cities across the country after his second presidency began in January.

Similar recent actions by federal authorities elsewhere, including in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chicago, Illinois, have been met with resistance by citizens opposed to the administration’s escalating program of detentions and deportations.