United States President Donald Trump is getting into the fusion power business through a $6bn merger of his social media firm and Google-backed TAE Technologies, just days after industry representatives urged federal funding.
The all-stock deal, announced on Thursday, is an ambitious bet on the power boom spurred by artificial intelligence (AI) data centres and adds to the Trump family’s growing roster of diverse ventures from cryptocurrency to real estate holdings and mobile services.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43885237

Op-ed by Boris Bondarev, former Russian diplomat who resigned in protest of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Web archive link

The Belarusian authorities have released 123 political prisoners following negotiations with the United States. From a humanitarian standpoint, this decision can only be welcomed: every drop of freedom regained is meaningful. Yet these releases did not occur in a vacuum and were accompanied by the relaxation sanctions on the regime.

Though the deal did not lift all sanctions, the exemptions and waivers granted reopened access to critically important export revenues. What we are therefore dealing with is not a humanitarian gesture, but a transactional bargain with long-term strategic consequences.

...

From a human perspective, freeing political prisoners is an unmitigated good. But in politics, the mechanism matters as much as the outcome.

...

Make no mistake, striving to free political prisoners is a moral imperative. But it cannot be the ultimate goal of policy. Political prisoners are a symptom of the disease — the repressive dictatorial regime — and dismantling that regime must be the primary strategic task. Policymakers must aim to make the very phenomenon of political prisoners disappear from reality. Not by offering palliative care, but by curing the disease itself.

[Edit typo.]

Op-ed by Boris Bondarev, former Russian diplomat who resigned in protest of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Web archive link

The Belarusian authorities have released 123 political prisoners following negotiations with the United States. From a humanitarian standpoint, this decision can only be welcomed: every drop of freedom regained is meaningful. Yet these releases did not occur in a vacuum and were accompanied by the relaxation sanctions on the regime.

Though the deal did not lift all sanctions, the exemptions and waivers granted reopened access to critically important export revenues. What we are therefore dealing with is not a humanitarian gesture, but a transactional bargain with long-term strategic consequences.

...

From a human perspective, freeing political prisoners is an unmitigated good. But in politics, the mechanism matters as much as the outcome.

...

Make no mistake, striving to free political prisoners is a moral imperative. But it cannot be the ultimate goal of policy. Political prisoners are a symptom of the disease — the repressive dictatorial regime — and dismantling that regime must be the primary strategic task. Policymakers must aim to make the very phenomenon of political prisoners disappear from reality. Not by offering palliative care, but by curing the disease itself.

[Edit typo.]

The G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, condemn the prosecution of Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong that has led to his guilty verdict on December 15, 2025.

The group calls on the Hong Kong authorities to end such prosecutions and to release Jimmy Lai immediately.

In a written statement, the EU calls Jimmy Lai's prosecution "politically motivated and emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company that makes “AI agents” to rapidly track down targets. The company claims the “skip tracing” AI agents help agencies find people of interest and map out their family and other associates more quickly. According to the procurement records, the company’s services were specifically for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the part of ICE that identifies, arrests, and deports people.

The contract comes as ICE is spending millions of dollars, and plans to spend tens of millions more, on skip tracing services more broadly. The practice involves ICE paying bounty hunters to use digital tools and physically stalk immigrants to verify their addresses, then report that information to ICE so the agency can act.

Archive: http://archive.today/ouG5k

.

I propose that late great american soul music legend Barry White be given full control of CBS news. Yes we would have to resurrect him, but this is the space age and with Peter Theil, all things are possible.

I know many of our younger folks may not know who this is. Thats OK. No one knew who Bari Weiss was six months ago.

Hear me out, i know how popular Bari Weiss is here but this is a free speech forum.

Advantages

• better music for.laying pipe in 1977

• similar sounding names

• aerodynamic

• cooler lines

• not a Zionist shill

Disadvantages

• none

Across the US this year, farmers have seen costs soar and the price of their produce tumble as Donald Trump’s flagship tariffs sparked a trade war with China.

American farmers, who voted en masse for Trump last year, are now warning of the worst economic crisis since the 1980s, when soaring interest rates and a slump in exports saw the price of crops and the value of farmland collapse. About 300,000 farmers defaulted on their loans and thousands were driven into bankruptcy.

“We spent a hell lot of time in China building relationships, building those markets,” he said. “And then you basically piss it all away, to be blunt.”

https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fstory%2Fopenai-chief-communications-officer-hannah-wong-leaves

“Hannah has played a defining role in shaping how people understand OpenAI and the work we do,” said CEO Sam Altman and CEO of applications Fidji Simo in a joint statement. “She has an extraordinary ability to bring clarity to complex ideas, and to do it with care and grace. We’re deeply grateful for her leadership and partnership these last five years, and we wish her the very best.”

Wong joined OpenAI in 2021 when it was a relatively small research lab and has led the company’s communications team as ChatGPT has grown into one of the world’s largest consumer products. She was considered instrumental in leading the company through the PR crisis that was Altman’s brief ouster and rehiring in 2023—a period the company internally calls “the blip.” Wong assumed the chief communications officer role in August 2024 and has expanded the company’s communications team since then.

In a drafted LinkedIn post shared with WIRED, Wong said that OpenAI’s VP of communications, Lindsey Held, will lead the company’s communications team until a new chief communications officer is hired. OpenAI’s chief marketing officer, Kate Rouch, is leading the search for Wong’s replacement. Got a Tip? Are you a current or former AI worker who wants to talk about what's happening? We'd like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact the reporter securely on Signal at mzeff.88.

“These years have been intense and deeply formative,” said Wong in the LinkedIn post. “I’m grateful I got to help tell OpenAI’s story, introduce ChatGPT and other incredible products to the world, and share more about the people forging the path to AGI during an extraordinary moment of growth and momentum.”

Wong says she looks forward to spending more time with her husband and kids as she figures out the next chapter in her career.

Update: 12/15/2025, 7:30 pm EDT: WIRED has clarified Kate Rouch’s title.

On Wednesday, MEPs endorsed a European citizens’ initiative to improve access to abortion care for women in Europe through a voluntary opt-in financial solidarity mechanism.

Epic Games CEO says Fortnite won't return to Japan, though, because the new rules still require high fees.

How much of a resource hog is AI?

Study: https://www.cell.com/patterns/fulltext/S2666-3899(25)00278-8

Edit: Changed the "H20" to "H₂O" in the title.

I don’t want Copilot for Christmas.

Since returning to the White House on Jan. 20, Donald Trump has imposed one-sided tariffs on the European Union, forced the bloc to commit to buying vast quantities of American natural gas, and effectively threatened annexation of Greenland. The latest indignity for Europe includes a White House National Security Strategy that calls on far-right parties to muster patriotic resistance to European policies. Instead of standing up to this blatant foreign interference, EU leaders have repeatedly tried to appease Trump and avoid any possible escalations of tension — even at the cost of their dignity. Examples include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen weakening EU environmental and digital regulations in line with American demands, and NATO Secretary General Marc Rutte addressing Trump as "daddy" in front of the world's media. Trump may be the proximate cause of this annus horribilis for the EU. But the reasons for subservience run far deeper, says Dave Keating, a broadcaster and the author of a new book, The Owned Continent. A key factor is US command and control over the NATO military alliance, which Europe has relied on for protection from Russia for nearly eight decades. Trump and Maga are now openly exploiting that military dependency, amid Russia's assault on Ukraine, to block European regulation of tech oligarchs and fossil fuels. "Never before has there been an explicit connection from the US government between the military protectorate and EU policy," says Dave, who says the extortion is "a first" for the Trump administration. Another factor behind the European reluctance to treat the US in a more adversarial fashion, even as Maga amps up its belligerence, is the pervasiveness of American culture through cinema, news media, social media and streaming platforms. "Europeans are inundated by American culture from birth" says Dave. That also makes it "hard to accept that the US is a threat." Freeing Europe from its long vassalage is a strategic priority that starts with creation sovereign EU defense capabilities, says Dave. But that would require acknowledging that France was right to resist reliance on US military systems and hardware. It also would require Europe to make a decisive break with Atlanticism, an ideology that prioritizes NATO and that remains deeply entrenched among EU elites and in Poland and the Baltics. But Atlanticism may be an increasingly hard sell. It relies on increasingly implausible assumptions: that the US will keep large numbers of troops in Europe and uphold its mutual defense commitment under the NATO treaty despite abundant evidence otherwise. "At what point do citizens say, 'enough is enough, we've had it with these centrist European leaders lying to us, gaslighting us'?" Dave asks. "If Europeans keep electing these people, then they are signing their own death warrant as a sovereign continent." 

SOMO report on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

The Authoritarian Stack project on the threat posed by tech billionaires.

Mp3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/178148/episodes/18370429-ep-123-owned-extorted-and-gaslit.mp3

Mozilla has always believed that technology should serve people — not the other way around. As we enter a moment of rapid change in how people experience the internet and AI, we’re focused on building products that are private, transparent, and put people in control. Today, we’re excited to take an important step forward in that work by welcoming John Solomon as Mozilla’s new Chief Marketing Officer.

Courtesy of comrade @PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml

The critically acclaimed System Shock remake is AVAILABLE NOW on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 with Joy-Con 2 mouse support, gyro aiming, and community feedback-inspired features!

President Lula has indicated he will veto legislation but conservative lawmakers likely to overturn his decision

Brazil’s congress has approved a bill to reduce the prison term of Jair Bolsonaro, the former president who was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for masterminding an attempted coup to overturn the 2022 elections.

Approved last week by the lower house and late on Wednesday by the senate, the bill now goes to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has 15 working days to sign or veto it.

Brazil’s leftist president – who, investigations showed, was the target of an assassination plan as part of the coup plot – has already indicated he is likely to veto the bill, but that decision would probably be overturned afterwards by the largely conservative congress.

Apple announced it will allow alternative app stores in Japan and will permit developers to process payments for digital goods and services outside of its own in-app purchase system in iOS. The iPhone maker is not making these changes because it wants to be more open; it’s being forced — in this case, to comply with the country’s Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA), which is now going into effect.

With this update, Apple’s App Store revenues are being impacted in another major market due to anticompetition laws and regulations. The company already has to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which previously required the tech giant to allow for alternative app stores and other changes.