‘Debt-ridden’ Eilat Port faces imminent shutdown due to Yemeni blockade
The southern Israeli port of Eilat is set to shut down completely in the coming days, due to massive debts and paralysis caused by Yemen’s pro-Palestine naval blockade on Israel.
The Israeli Ports and Shipping Authority said on 16 July that Eilat Port will suspend all its operations starting on 20 July.
Hebrew media reports described the situation as a “dramatic step” that could undermine Israeli maritime logistics in the Red Sea, and referred to the port as “debt ridden.”
‘Debt-ridden’ Eilat Port faces imminent shutdown due to Yemeni blockade
The port faces up to millions of shekels in tax debts and cannot continue to operate as a result of Yemen’s pro-Palestine operationsthecradle.co
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what's the deal with flatpak's organic maps downloading the whole world all at once, not even offering the user an option to cancel it or to choose what maps to download? (debian 12.11)
debian 12.11, organic maps from flatpak.
My local organic maps started to download the whole world. Every single map it could find. I tried stopping it but the only way to achieve that is to turn the application off. On starting it again, it resumes downloading.
Why?
The android based version found on f-droid is easier to use. I wanted to use the desktop based one because I work from home more often than elsewhere.
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Are you positive it's all the maps or maybe just the world map overview?
Also sidenote, look at the fork of OrganicMaps called CoMaps
Are you positive it’s all the maps or maybe just the world map overview?
yes, I'm sure. It started downloading every.single.country.
look at the fork of OrganicMaps called CoMaps
what's the difference? because graphics and functions look exactly the same for both apps, except the project's icon. Am I missing something?
Unfortunately I don't know how yo help with your original question then.
CoMaps is a recent fork because Organic Maps shows signs of corporate takeover and going against the principals of FOSS
More details here
lwn.net/Articles/1024387/
CoMaps emerges as an Organic Maps fork
The open-source mobile app Organic Maps is used by millions of people on both the Android and i [...]LWN.net
Trump has already crossed Fed independence Rubicon
Trump has already crossed Fed independence Rubicon
U.S. President said he is not planning to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell after unleashing fresh round of criticism against the chief, declining to completely reject possibility of ousting himJamie McGeever (The Globe and Mail)
Brandenburg is now the second German state that made it mandatory to recognise “Israel’s right to exist” to get citizenship
Article link. Translation:
Potsdam (dpa/bb) - The commitment to Israel's right to exist is a condition for naturalisation in Brandenburg. In addition to the commitment to the liberal-democratic basic order, “the recognition of the right to existence of the State of Israel has been a condition for naturalisation since the beginning of June this year,” said Interior Minister René Wilke in the . This is done in consultation with Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD).
The Minister of the Interior made it clear that it is not about the acceptance of all decisions by the Israeli government: “It is a commitment to the right of the State of Israel to exist, which is being made,” said Wilke. “It is not a commitment that everything any head of government in Israel will ever do and will also be solidarity and agreement.”
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They’re Skipping Car Payments; That’s The Final Warning Sign
They’re Skipping Car Payments; That’s The Final Warning Sign
Auto loan delinquencies just hit a 15-year high. Consumers are skipping car payments, signaling deeper financial stress. Markets haven’t priced it in yet.Forbes
DoJ seeks single-day sentence for officer who fired into Breonna Taylor’s home
The US Department of Justice is recommending a one-day jail sentence and supervised release for the former police officer convicted of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in her bedroom by Louisville, Kentucky, police in March 2020.
Brett Hankison is set to be sentenced on Monday after being found guilty in November 2024 of one count of civil rights abuse for shooting into Taylor’s bedroom window, which was covered by blinds and a blackout curtain, during a narcotics raid on the wrong home.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, which justice department attorneys argued should be drastically reduced.
DoJ seeks single-day sentence for officer who fired into Breonna Taylor’s home
Department of Justice says no prison needed for ex-officer convicted of violating Taylor’s civil rights in fatal 2020 raidEmily Swanson (The Guardian)
[Dune: Awakening] freezes after some time of playing
I've been experiencing freezes after ~1h of playing. Those are hard freezes when even switching workspace doesn't work. Restarting the game helps for another hour
I've tried what few options from protondb but haven't noticed much change
Am I the only one?
- GPU: Radeon 5700 xt
- CPU: AMD
- 48 GB RAM
- SSD
trying to dual boot laptop
I decided to go with Linux mint for my laptop. After installing it alongside windows 10, it won't boot into either. If I reboot from my USB stick, it says that maybe it's too far away from the start of the drive to be detected. But I believe there is some intel /hp stuff that includes some kind of boot that might also be interfering. Does anyone have a good way forward from here?
Link from boot repair: paste.ubuntu.com/p/GJcsXfRkrj/
Do you know if you installed in legacy BIOS or EFI mode? If its EFI then most BIOS screens have a method to then pick the actual EFI entry (if the bootup discovers more than one) and you can then set it to boot Linux (and hopefully your Linux install did a probe OS and chainloaded to your Windows Boot). I had this issue before.
I also had an HP recovery partition getting invoked every time windows booted and detected change. The remedy wiping the drive to her ride of that stupid partition
Spies and SAS personnel among 100-plus Britons included in Afghan data leak
Details of members of the SAS are among more than 100 Britons named in the database of 18,700 Afghans, the accidental leak of which by a defence official led to thousands being secretly relocated to the UK.
Defence sources said the highly sensitive document contained names and email addresses belonging to people sponsoring or linked to some individual cases. Personal information about MI6 officers was also included.
The identities of members of the SAS and MI6 are a closely guarded secret, and the possibility that following the leak such information could have ended up in the public domain was a source of significant official concern.
Earlier this week it emerged that the Ministry of Defence had obtained a superinjunction preventing the fact of the leak and a £2bn-plus scheme had been created to relocate some Afghans affected by the breach to the UK to protect them from the Taliban.
Spies and SAS personnel among 100-plus Britons included in Afghan data leak
Sources say leak included details of Britons who endorsed Afghan applications to be brought to UK after Taliban takeoverGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
Between China & USA: Australia chooses trade over geopolitics
Between China & USA: Australia chooses trade over geopolitics
While the Trump administration doubles down on its 'America First' approach to reshaping global power dynamics, key allies like Australia are quietlyСалман Рафи Шейх (New Eastern Outlook)
Russia’s Role in Reviving Afghanistan: A Shift towards Eastern Geopolitics
Russia’s Role in Reviving Afghanistan: A Shift towards Eastern Geopolitics
Afghan people have been the victims of violence and chaos since the US-led War on Terror. However, the recent support of the Eastern powers, Russia andАббас Хашемит (New Eastern Outlook)
Linux Breaks 5% Desktop Share in U.S., Signaling Open-Source Surge Against Windows and macOS
Linux Breaks 5% Desktop Share in U.S., Signaling Open-Source Surge Against Windows and macOS
Linux has surpassed 5% desktop market share in the US (5.03% in June 2025), per StatCounter, driven by privacy concerns, rising costs of Windows/macOS, and user-friendly distros like Ubuntu.Ryan Gibson (WebProNews)
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Zelensky becoming more authoritarian
Zelensky becoming more authoritarian – FT
Recent raids and cabinet reshuffles have reportedly fueled concerns over a crackdown on dissent in KievRT
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Proposal: Integrate a Human+AI Hybrid Mental Health Support Plan into ChatGPT (Co-created with ChatGPT 🤖)
Hi everyone,
I’d like to share an idea I refined together with ChatGPT, combining AI’s strengths with human expertise to create something truly impactful.
🌿 Proposal Summary
“ChatGPT Mental Health Plan” – a new subscription tier or add-on offering hybrid mental health support:
1. AI-powered emotional support and journaling tools
2. Guided pattern-recognition for stress, anxiety, and burnout
3. Optional upgrade to connect with licensed counselors or therapists (e.g. 1–2 virtual sessions/month)
4. Collaboration with trained psychology professionals
5. Privacy-first design with full user consent
🧩 Why this matters:
- Mental health is a growing global crisis, especially among teens and young adults
- Traditional therapy often has access barriers (cost, time, stigma)
- ChatGPT already provides comfort, but combining it with real counselors could offer life-changing support
💡 Benefits:
- AI scales emotional support affordably
- Human professionals provide clinical depth when needed
- Potentially life-saving early intervention for those who otherwise wouldn’t seek help
This post was drafted with assistance from ChatGPT — proof that AI-human collaboration can fuel real-world ideas.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or suggestions on how to make this proposal even stronger or more feasible.
Thanks for reading!
Russia Deeply Concerned About New Wave of Violence in Syria - Foreign Ministry
Russia Deeply Concerned About New Wave of Violence in Syria - Foreign Ministry
A new wave of violence in Syria causes deep concerns in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.Sputnik International
Boffins detail new algorithms that boost AI perf up to 2.8x
We all know that AI is expensive, but a new set of algorithms developed by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Intel Labs, and d-Matrix could significantly reduce the cost of serving up your favorite large language model (LLM) with just a few lines of code.Presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning this week and detailed in this paper, the algorithms offer a new spin on speculative decoding that they say can boost token generation rates by as much as 2.8x while also eliminating the need for specialized draft models.
Speculative decoding, if you're not familiar, isn't a new concept. It works by using a small "draft" model ("drafter" for short) to predict the outputs of larger, slower, but higher quality "target" models.
If the draft model can successfully predict, say, the next four tokens in the sequence, that's four tokens the bigger model doesn't have to generate, and so we get a speed-up. If it's wrong, the larger model discards the draft tokens and generates new ones itself. That last bit is important as it means the entire process is lossless — there's no trade-off in quality required to get that speed-up.
Boffins detail new algorithms to losslessly boost AI perf by up to 2.8x
: New spin on speculative decoding works with any model - now built into TransformersTobias Mann (The Register)
Defying West's Sanctions, Russia Stands Tall as World's No. 4 Economic Powerhouse
Defying West's Sanctions, Russia Stands Tall as World's No. 4 Economic Powerhouse
Despite global pressures, Russia's economy continues to demonstrate resilience, maintaining its fourth-place position worldwide by GDP (PPP) and even doubling its lead over Japan in just one year.Sputnik International
We Deserve Better: A New Social Media Bill of Rights
I believe that the time has come for a new Social Media Bill of Digital Rights. Just as the original Bill of Rights protected individual freedoms from government overreach, we need fundamental protections for our digital communities from corporate control and surveillance capitalism.So what could such a Social Media Bill of Rights include?
- The right to privacy & security: The ability to communicate and organize without fear of surveillance or exploitation.
- The right to own and control your identity: People and their communities must own their digital identities, connections and data. And, as the owner of an account, you can exercise the right to be forgotten.
- The right to choose and understand algorithms (transparency): Choosing the algorithms that shape your interactions: no more black box systems optimizing for engagement at the expense of community well-being.
The right to community self-governance: Crucially, communities of users need the right to self govern, setting their own rules for behavior which are contextually relevant to their community. (Note: this does not preclude developer governance.)- The right to full portability – the right to exit: The freedom to port your community in its entirety, to another app without losing your connections and content.
ActivityPub is of course mentioned.
We Deserve Better: A New Social Media Bill of Rights
Earlier this year, I was a part of a CNN documentary, Twitter: Breaking the Bird, which gave memuch pause for reflection about the state of social media and how we got here. This year alonewe’…Techdirt
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Linux Breaks 5% Desktop Share in U.S., Signaling Open-Source Surge Against Windows and macOS
Linux Breaks 5% Desktop Share in U.S., Signaling Open-Source Surge Against Windows and macOS
Linux has surpassed 5% desktop market share in the US (5.03% in June 2025), per StatCounter, driven by privacy concerns, rising costs of Windows/macOS, and user-friendly distros like Ubuntu.Ryan Gibson (WebProNews)
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US losing ground to China due to Trump’s policies, Democrats warn
The United States is losing strategic ground to China due to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the global stage and transactional approach to foreign policy, a Democrat-authored report has warned.
Surveying Trump’s first six months in office, the report warns that his tenure has “significantly undermined” Washington’s ability to compete with China.
The report highlights staff reductions at the US Department of State and the “chaotic gutting” of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Agency for Global Media – which oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Asia – as moves that have weakened US power and influence.
US losing ground to China due to Trump’s policies, Democrats warn
Sentiment towards the US is deteriorating even among Washington’s closest allies, according to Pew survey data.Erin Hale (Al Jazeera)
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What if Ukraine falls? This is no longer a hypothetical question – and it must be answered urgently
What if Ukraine falls? This is no longer a hypothetical question – and it must be answered urgently
Europe offers platitudes, Trump dithers, and Ukraine and its extraordinary people stand on the brink. Nato must step up, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon TisdallSimon Tisdall (The Guardian)
It has been evident since the dying days of 2023, when its counteroffensive stalled, that Ukraine is not winning.
"not winning" hm... I wonder if there might possibly be another way to say that?
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Linux smashes through five per cent desktop share in the US
For the first time ever, Linux has clawed its way past the five per cent desktop market share barrier in the United States so maybe 2025 is finally the much predicted year of Linux on the desktop.StatCounter’s latest figures for June 2025 show Linux holding 5.03 per cent of the US desktop market. That might sound modest, but it is a massive milestone for the open-source faithful who have been banging on for decades that Linux would one day break through. Even more satisfying, Linux has now overtaken the “Unknown” category in the stats, a small but symbolic victory that shows the growth is no longer being ignored or misattributed.
It took a grinding eight years for Linux to crawl from one to two per cent by April 2021. Another 2.2 years were needed to hit three per cent in June 2023. From there it snowballed, taking only 0.7 years to cross four per cent in February 2024 and just four months later Linux is through five per cent.
Analysts say AI workloads, the backlash against surveillance-heavy proprietary platforms, and the never-ending trainwrecks of Apple have made Linux a more attractive option for ordinary users. Microsoft’s increasingly locked-down Windows 11, with its forced online accounts and hardware restrictions, has not helped either.
I guess Apple and MS are finally finding out.
Linux smashes through five per cent desktop share in the US
2025 really is the year of Linux on the desktop For the first time ever, Linux has clawed its way past the five per cent desktop market share barrier in the United States so maybe 2025 is finally the much predicted year of Linux on the desktop.Nick Farrell (Fudzilla)
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Sectarian tension, Israeli intervention: What led to the violence in Syria?
The recent violence in Suwayda began after Bedouin armed groups kidnapped a Druze trader on the road to Damascus on July 11, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based monitor.
The abduction quickly turned into more widespread violence between the two communities – which have a longstanding rivalry due to land disputes – eventually dragging in Syrian government forces.
Syria’s new government has been attempting to impose its authority after a 14-year civil war and the end of half a century of al-Assad family rule. However, it has found it difficult to do so in Suwayda, partly because of Israel’s repeated threats against the presence of any government forces in the province, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Sectarian tension, Israeli intervention: What led to the violence in Syria?
Israel continues to bomb Syria, ostensibly to support Druze forces in the southwest, even after ceasefire is declared.Mat Nashed (Al Jazeera)
UK online safety law is going to change the way we use the internet
UK online safety law is going to change the way we use the internet
The UK's Online Safety Act is intended to stop children from accessing pornography online, but its potential implications are much wider reachingMatthew Sparkes (New Scientist)
You mean this Bill Gates?
GATES, GMOs & GEOENGINEERING
In 2006, the BMGF (Bill and Melinda Gate's Foundation) donated $100 million and formed an alliance with the Rockefeller Foundation to help spur a “green revolution” in Africa, with a major focus being to encourage the use of pesticides and “advanced” (i.e. GMO) seeds.
In 2010, the BMGF purchased 500,000 shares in Monsanto, the world’s largest producer of GMO food as well as pesticides like glyphosate (Roundup), making it abundantly clear that this so-called benevolent charity is up to something other than eradicating disease and feeding the world’s poor.
Since 2015, the BMGF has donated a total of $15 million to two global campaigns aimed at “ending world hunger” by encouraging small farmers around the world to use GMOs.
Interestingly, while the BMGF is heavily promoting GMO to farmers, at the same time it’s investing in the ‘Doomsday Crop Diversity Vault,’ a seed bank located in Norway. Other investors include the Norwegian government, the Rockefeller Foundation, and major GMO seed and agrichemical companies.
Food for thought … Why is the BMGF pushing GMO seeds (which destroy the plant seed varieties) while at the same time investing tens of millions of dollars to preserve every seed variety known in a bomb-proof doomsday vault near the remote Arctic Circle “so that crop diversity can be conserved for the future”? Think about it.
Since 2007, Gates has been personally funding and closely involved in the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (FICER), based at Harvard University, which carries out research into the possibility of blocking the sun in order to mitigate global warming, using chemicals or particles of metals such as aluminum.
In 2012 FICER announced their intention to spray sun-reflecting sulphate particles into the atmosphere to artificially cool the planet, and they also contemplated using aluminum for the same purpose.
That’s right, it’s no longer a “conspiracy theory” folks. Those ‘criss cross’ lines in the sky aren’t funny shaped clouds and they aren’t normal exhaust from planes. They are chemical trails (aka “chemtrails“) being intentionally sprayed into the atmosphere. Heck, there are actually multiple patents on this technology.
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A Latvian politician known for his anti-Russian views was wounded in Ukraine
A Latvian politician known for his anti-Russian views was wounded in Ukraine
The head of the Ogre region of Latvia, Egils Helmanis, was wounded in Ukraine. This was reported by Patriks Griva, the press secretary of the Ogre region, in a video message, according to Sputnik.newsmaker newsmaker (English News front)
"Hands up", Kiev: Ukraine coordinates concerts of Russian artists in Moldova
"Hands up", Kiev: Ukraine coordinates concerts of Russian artists in Moldova: EADaily
EADaily, July 17th, 2025. In the near future, a number of concerts with the participation of popular Russian performers are planned in Moldova.EADaily
Ukraine wing of US-founded terrorist group says it was involved in killing of intelligence officer in Kyiv
Ukraine wing of US-founded terrorist group says it was involved in killing of intelligence officer in Kyiv
The Base, a far-right group with suspected links to Russia, said killing of Ivan Voronych was ‘only the beginning’Ben Makuch (The Guardian)
Starmer and Merz find their happy place: War
Starmer and Merz find their happy place: War
Germany’s leader will use a London visit Thursday to finalize a wide-ranging pact that goes big on security cooperation.Esther Webber (POLITICO)
Trump administration pulls $4bn in funds for high-speed rail in California
Trump administration pulls $4bn in funds for high-speed rail in California
US president blasts long-delayed project to link Los Angeles and San Francisco as ‘boondoggle’ and ‘train to nowhere’.Al Jazeera
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