https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-diplomats-syria-abruptly-let-go-amid-pro-damascus-policy-push-sources-say-2025-09-18/

The report estimated that it would cause Israel’s GDP to contract between 4.8 and 5.7 percent, which would trigger a recession.

A wide-scale blockade including OIC members such as Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia would sever direct flights to Israel’s east and south, creating a significant barrier to high growth markets in Asia and Africa.

It estimated that detours which added four to six hours to flights could cost between $30,000 to $60,000 per flight. Israeli airline El-Al would likely suffer a reduction of revenue of between 60 to 75 percent, according to a “conservative estimate”.

Such a move, according to the paper, would disrupt tourism to Israel, and high-value time-sensitive exports like diamonds and medical equipment.

It would likely cause contract cancellations, as well as a potential exodus of research and development initiatives based in Israel.

Such a coordinated action taking place may well be unlikely, given that it would draw the ire of the US, and would create economic costs for the blockading countries themselves.

The UAE, as well as Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, established full relations with Israel as part of the Donald Trump-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.

Israel's genocide in Gaza has brought about condemnation from these countries, but not a suspension or withdrawal of the accords.

Arab and Islamic airspace blockade would damage Israel, finds UAE think tank

An Emirati-owned think tank has published a paper assessing the economic, political and security impact of a potential coordinated airspace blockade against Israel by Arab and Muslim-majority countries. 

^{Rayhan Uddin (Middle East Eye)}

SKDKnickerbocker LLC, a top Democratic Party-aligned public relations firm, has agreed to run a “bot-based program” to amplify pro-Israel narratives on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other platforms, according to a filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act submitted on Aug. 29. The contract, signed on April 28, 2025, describes a strategy to “flood the zone” with content promoting the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ pro-Israel messages, using automated tools to increase the reach and visibility of specific posts.

The contract, worth $600,000 from April 2025 through March 2026, also tasks SKDK with coaching Israeli civil society spokespeople for on-camera appearances, testing the effectiveness of social media influencers, and arranging tailored outreach to journalists at outlets including BBC, CNN, Fox, and the Associated Press to secure favorable coverage. While it is not confirmed whether the bot program is already active, the contract date suggests it could be underway.

Democratic PR Firm to Run Bot Army for Israel

A new FARA document reveals SKDK's plan to "flood the zone" with social media bots as part of its $600,000 contract with Israel.

^{Donald Shaw (Sludge)}

Hey all,

I have a tablet that I’ve been working on and in order to setup OS I need to plugin a usb hub to the usb port, using an adapter to microUSB, ok, and then plugin either a keyboard and mouse or a combo unit (in my case, the wireless receiver device of a mini keyboard/touchpad device), and finally, the flash drive with the OS install on it.

To put it simply, it’s really a pain in the ass anytime I want to do some testing. It works, but it is a clutter and nuisance.

Is there any software that will allow me to plug in a USB cord from my laptop (Linux) and the other end into the USB port of the tablet, and use the laptop to control the tablet?

Thanks.

Sometimes I think, I have learned a lot about this issue and I'm well aware of the fact the whole world is going towards a state of surveillance that no one can escape, I have done everything I could to ensure my personal privacy, but what about others?

the majority of the world population does not even care about this matter, and they might even see it as a normality, the people might even know that they are being watched/listened to/surveilled, and they don't do anything to prevent it neither individually or collectively.

I also believe that protecting the individual privacy automatically contributes to the collective privacy and vice-versa, but seeing how the world is heading towards extreme surveillance that is practically impossible to resist (eg.. face recognition, chat control law),
I ask, what is the point of all of this? how can i live peacfully knowing that i can be suspected of anything just because i made a joke here or said something there?

and I'm not talking 100% privacy or anonymity, i'm just talking peace of mind and well-being.

The Pentagon has ramped up a political correctness crusade in the wake of the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

The military is taking disciplinary action against both enlisted troops and officers over social media posts regarding Kirk, who was shot last week at an event at Utah Valley University.

In the wake of Kirk’s death, a number of X accounts began calling for their followers to find social media posts made by troops that they saw as being critical of — or even not sufficiently deferential to — Kirk or mocking or celebrating his death. The accounts began posting screenshots, tagging Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other senior Pentagon officials and calling for the troops to be fired.v

Hegseth Leads Push to Punish Military Service Members Over Charlie Kirk Comments

The Pentagon’s political correctness campaign could affect dozens of enlisted troops and officers, according to one insider.

^{Nick Turse (The Intercept)}

The Pentagon has ramped up a political correctness crusade in the wake of the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

The military is taking disciplinary action against both enlisted troops and officers over social media posts regarding Kirk, who was shot last week at an event at Utah Valley University.

In the wake of Kirk’s death, a number of X accounts began calling for their followers to find social media posts made by troops that they saw as being critical of — or even not sufficiently deferential to — Kirk or mocking or celebrating his death. The accounts began posting screenshots, tagging Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other senior Pentagon officials and calling for the troops to be fired.

Hegseth Leads Push to Punish Military Service Members Over Charlie Kirk Comments

The Pentagon’s political correctness campaign could affect dozens of enlisted troops and officers, according to one insider.

^{Nick Turse (The Intercept)}

A court in South Korea has acquitted a woman convicted six decades ago for biting off part of a man’s tongue during an alleged sexual assault, after she challenged the ruling, inspired by the country’s #MeToo movement.

Choi Mal-ja was 19 in 1964 when she was attacked by a 21-year-old man in the southern town of Gimhae. He pinned her to the ground and repeatedly forced his tongue into her mouth, at one point blocking her nose to stop her from breathing, according to court records.

Choi managed to break free by biting off 1.5cm of his tongue.

In one of South Korea’s most contentious rulings on sexual violence, the aggressor received only six months in prison, suspended for two years, for trespassing and intimidation – but not attempted rape.

Choi, now 79, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and handed a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. That decision was overturned on Wednesday by the Busan district court which ruled her actions constituted “justifiable self-defence” under South Korean law.

South Korean woman who bit off attacker’s tongue acquitted after 61 years

Choi Mal-ja’s appeal gained momentum after #MeToo movement inspired her to seek justice

^{Guardian staff reporter (The Guardian)}

CAIRO (AP) — Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement Tuesday in Cairo to pave the way for resuming cooperation, including on ways of relaunching inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The announcement followed a meeting among Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi.

No further details were provided about the agreement, but Grossi said at a joint news conference after the signing that it was technical in nature and highlighted the “indispensable” inspection work that needs to resume in Iran under the treaty of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-nuclear-capabilities-iaea-egypt-df623c26f9ee1e5b37431f00fa1d3a70

windows is ass. i use only linux now.