Public documents show the Department of Homeland Security has contracted to purchase a pair of top-of-the-line Gulfstream jets for the secretary and other top officials.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/us/politics/kristi-noem-dhs-gulfstream.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uU8.CX6d.T7gqWj6eH3_X

Trump has succeeded where Biden failed in bringing some measure of peace to the region. The risk to Democrats is not so much that Trump will woo more Democratic constituents to the Republican Party — Trump’s authoritarian tendencies at home and his vile persecution of all perceived political enemies largely foreclose that possibility. The risk, rather, is that Americans who care about peacemaking abroad will find themselves increasingly alienated from both parties. Trump’s successful diplomatic efforts have put the lie to the idea that there was nothing Biden and the Democrats could have done to end the massacre in Gaza, seriously undermining any claim that Democrats might make as the party of peace.

Some Democrats seem to understand what a dire bind the party has put itself in. Representative Ro Khanna, for example, recently sounded the alarm about Democrats ceding the “anti-war” mantle to Republicans and Trump. Others, like Representative Delia Ramirez, have put this opposition to war-making into legislation, authoring the aforementioned Block the Bombs Act.

But, for the Democrats to truly turn the ship around, many more elected representatives will have to follow in the footsteps of Khanna and Ramirez. If the party cannot quickly change its tune on war and peace, it may risk ceding this policy terrain to the Republican Party well into the future.

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democrats-have-let-republicans-become-the-peace-party/

Most of the bodies of the more than 100 dead Palestinians Israel released remain unidentified.

They were sent back to Gaza with numbers instead of their names, leaving family members of missing Palestinians to pore desperately through pictures of the bodies, hoping to spot their loved ones.

One thing is clear from the marks left on these bodies, and the blindfolds and handcuffs still on some of them: They had been tortured before their deaths, possibly executed.

What we know about the torture, abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israel

Testimonies from released Palestinian prisoners, as well as the bodies handed over, highlight alleged Israeli abuse.

^{Abubakr Al-Shamahi (Al Jazeera)}

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Saturday that it had received 15 remains from the Red Cross that had been held in Israeli custody.

This brings the total number of Palestinian bodies handed over by Israel to the besieged enclave to 135.

As with previous batches, some of the bodies show signs of torture.

So far, seven have been identified by their families.

Gaza receives total of 135 Palestinian bodies held in Israeli custody

^{Middle East Eye}

Data from the government media office in the blockaded strip revealed that Israel has arrested 362 medical personnel during the two-year genocidal war on Gaza.

Meanwhile, at least 1,670 medical personnel have been killed by Israel since October 2023.

Families of medical personnel from Gaza detained by Israel demand their release

^{Middle East Eye}

The government media office in Gaza said in a press statement that Israel committed 47 breaches of the truce deal since it came into effect last week.

The violations have led to the killing of at least 38 Palestinians and the wounding of 143 others.

"These violations varied between crimes of direct fire on civilians, crimes of deliberate bombing and targeting, and the arrest of a number of civilian citizens, practices that reflect the occupation's continued aggressive approach despite the declaration of a ceasefire," the office added.

"We note that these attacks were carried out by the occupation forces using military vehicles and tanks positioned on the outskirts of residential neighborhoods, electronic cranes equipped with sensors and remote targeting devices, and drones (quadcopters) that continue to fly over residential areas, carrying out shooting operations and directly targeting civilians."

Israel commits 47 violations since Gaza truce came into effect nine days ago

^{Middle East Eye}

cross-posted from: piefed.ca/post/133958

Note: I'm not affiliated with Jolla.

Next gen Jolla Phone

Hi there, As noted in the previous community meeting, we’d like to define the next gen Jolla Phone together with the community.

^{Sailfish OS Forum}

After so many hard days living in a torn tent in the South, finally returning to Gaza City felt like a small miracle. Just getting back, seeing familiar streets, hearing familiar sounds, it brought us a happiness we didn’t think we’d feel again so soon.

For a moment, we allowed ourselves to hope that the suffering was over. That maybe, just maybe, the worst had passed. But reality hit quickly. The ceasefire stops the bombs, yes but it doesn’t magically fix homes, livelihoods, or daily life.

I see people abroad thinking that with the announcement of the ceasefire, everything is fine for us. We hope that it brings peace. We want it to. But that is not the case. Life is still incredibly hard. Our house in the North is destroyed. Our kitchen is gone. Even small things like cooking, buying food, affording basic necessities remain impossible for many families like mine.

I swear to God that we walk through markets, staring at fruits and vegetables we can’t afford. We see life moving around us, and it feels surreal like the world has moved forward, but we’re still trying to catch up.

Even with the ceasefire, the struggle continues. Every family is starting over from nothing. Every day is a fight to survive, to rebuild, to find a moment of peace amid ruins.

If you want to help, even a little goes a long way. Even a small donation is doing us a big favor. And spreading our story, sharing, or simply refusing to forget us makes a difference.

Thank you for standing with us. For refusing to turn away. For reminding us that even after the hardest days, people care.

My account will always be the voice of the unheard people in Gaza. 🫂❤️

https://www.gofundme.com/f/Two-Brothers-Fighting-to-Save-Their-Family-in-Gaza

https://search-europe.org/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/17/lawmaker-resigns-after-involvement-in-racist-chat-00614823

Top White House officials told a reporter, “Your mom,” when asked who picked the location for Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Trump announced Thursday that he will soon meet with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine. The choice has raised questions, because Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court. However, Hungary appears unlikely to cooperate with the warrant and is in the process of leaving the court, the Associated Press reports.

When HuffPost asked the White House who chose the location for the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt replied, “Your mom did.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also followed up with, “Your mom,” the outlet reports.

White House’s Karoline Leavitt and Stephen Cheung say ‘Your mom’ when asked who suggested Hungary for Putin-Trump meeting

Trump said he will meet with the Kremlin leader in Budapest to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine

^{Katie Hawkinson (The Independent)}

Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has fired two top lawyers in the office who resisted an effort to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

Elizabeth Yusi, the top criminal prosecutor for the Norfolk office, and her deputy Kristin Bird were informed of their removals Friday -- marking the latest firings in one of the most important federal prosecutorial offices in the country that oversees sensitive national security and terrorism cases.

Sources familiar with the matter said their firings were tied to their resistance to bringing charges against James.

Trump-appointed prosecutor ousts 2 more top attorneys from Virginia office: Sources

Earlier this month, two other prosecutors in the office were fired.

^{Katherine Faulders (ABC News)}

cross-posted from: swg-empire.de/post/4845931

I've had multiple reads fail on a fairly new drive.

I did a smartctl -t long /dev/sdb but after checking back a few minutes later smartctl -a /dev/sdb showed that no tests were running and that the previous test had "the read element of the test failed".

I did smartctl -t offline /dev/sdb next and after that was done smartctl -x /dev/sdb showed about 1500 errors but it also reported SMART as PASSED.

Here is the output of smartctl -x /dev/sdb: pastebin.com/09rNZZfD

How should I interpret these results? Was my assumption that the long test was done wrong? Should I replace the drive? Or might something else be wrong, like the SATA connection?

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he commuted the prison term of George Santos, the disgraced New York Republican who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for a litany of crimes after he was expelled from the House over accusations that he stole money from campaign donors.

Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social on Friday, saying he had signed a commutation to release Santos from prison immediately.

"George Santos was somewhat of a 'rogue,' but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren't forced to serve seven years in prison," Trump wrote.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he commuted the prison term of George Santos, the disgraced New York Republican who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for a litany of crimes after he was expelled from the House over accusations that he stole money from campaign donors.

Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social on Friday, saying he had signed a commutation to release Santos from prison immediately.

"George Santos was somewhat of a 'rogue,' but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren't forced to serve seven years in prison," Trump wrote.

The video has bewildered those who watched it online, given that the quote itself is real and on the record for Punchbowl News. In the original interview, Schumer explained that Democrats had prepared their healthcare-focused shutdown strategy well in advance, adding: “Their whole theory was – threaten us, bamboozle us and we would submit in a day or two.”

Yet rather than simply quote Schumer’s words, the NRSC, the campaign arm responsible for electing Republican senators and chaired by Tim Scott, a South Carolina senator, chose to manufacture synthetic video of him speaking.

“Schumer thinks playing with Americans’ livelihoods is just a game,” the narrator says over the deepfake imagery. The advertisement goes on to feature other discussion on the shutdown, accusing Democrats of “loving” the political standoff.

In a response on X, Joanna Rodriguez, the NRSC communications director, said: “AI is here and not going anywhere. Adapt & win or pearl clutch & lose.”

I suppose it's easy enough to misspell "gerrymander" as "adapt[ation]." but at least we agree that AI isn't going anywhere.

As to the voiceover, all I'm reading is what a pussy Schumer is for only going after subjects' livelihoods, when he could also be

Republicans use deepfake video of Chuck Schumer in new attack ad

It is not the party’s first foray into the dystopian territory, with Trump having posted AI videos of his own

^{Joseph Gedeon (The Guardian)}

The International Criminal Court has rejected Israel’s bid to appeal against arrest warrants for its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza genocide.

In a ruling that made headlines worldwide, the ICC in November found "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore "criminal responsibility" for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant sparked outrage in Israel and in the United States, which later imposed sanctions on senior ICC officials.

ICC rejects Israel's appeal bid over arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant

Court says Israel’s request to appeal warrants against its leaders over Gaza war is "not an appealable issue," while jurisdiction challenge remains under review.

^{TRT World}

Pro-Palestinian hackers took control of public address systems and display screens at four North American airports on Tuesday, October 15, 2025, broadcasting unauthorized political messages critical of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu¹.

The breach affected Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania and three Canadian airports - Kelowna International, Victoria International, and Windsor International¹. Messages included "Free Palestine" chants and proclamations that "Israel lost the war, Hamas won the war honorably"².

"This is absolutely unacceptable and understandably scared travelers," said US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy¹. The airports quickly shut down affected systems and searched aircraft out of caution, though no security threats were found¹.

The hack targeted cloud-based audio and display systems through a software provider³. "Nobody informed us what was going on, there was no crisis response. Everyone was just really confused," one Kelowna passenger told CNN¹.

The incidents come amid rising cybersecurity concerns in aviation. In June 2025, criminal groups breached multiple airline networks, while September saw hackers disable European airport check-in systems¹⁴.

1. CNN - Apparent hackers take over PA systems at 4 North American airports ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
2. Daily Dot - Airports across North America hacked to play pro-Palestine, anti-Trump messages ↩︎
3. NY Post - Pro-Hamas hackers hijack airport loudspeakers across North America ↩︎
4. AOL - Heathrow and major European airports suffer fourth day of disruption after cyber attack ↩︎

Pro-Hamas hackers hijack airport loudspeakers across North America, spew anti-Trump, Netanyahu slurs – causing delays

Videos showed unauthorized recordings echoing through Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania and Kelowna International Airport in Canada.

^{Ariel Zilber (New York Post)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/55759276

https://www.techspot.com/news/109906-logitech-ceo-hanneke-faber-wants-ai-agent-every.html