Swiss Report Reveals New Details On CIA Spying Operation

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Washington Post: The CIA and German intelligence jeopardized Switzerland’s historic reputation for neutrality by using a Swiss company as a platform for a global espionage operation for decades, according to a report released Tuesday by members of the Swiss parliament. Investigators concluded that Swiss authorities were aware of, and at times complicit in,…

Uber and Lyft Will Push For More Laws Classifying Drivers as Independent Contractors

“Uber helped wage a $200 million war in California to keep drivers as contractors,” notes the Washington Post — successfully funding a ballot proposition that overrides a high-stakes 2019 law which insisted drivers be considered employees. “But now that the ballot measure has passed, the company says its work isn’t done…” The ride-hailing giant’s CEO said Thursday that Uber is looking…

A Biden Victory Positions America For a 180-Degree Turn On Climate Change

“Joe Biden, the projected winner of the U.S. presidency, will move to restore dozens of environmental safeguards President Donald Trump abolished,” reports the Washington Post, “and launch the boldest climate change plan of any president in history.” destinyland shares their report: While some of Biden’s most sweeping programs will encounter stiff resistance from Senate Republicans and conservative attorneys general, the United…

Internet Archive Adds Fact Checks To Explain Web Page Takedowns

AmiMoJo writes: Fact checking is increasingly a mainstay of the modern internet, and that now includes “dead” web pages. The Internet Archive has started adding fact checks and context to Wayback Machine pages to explain just why they were removed. If a page was part of a disinformation campaign or pulled due to a policy violation, a conspicuous yellow banner will…

Officials Raise Concerns About Software for the Most Powerful Rocket Ever Flown

NASA’s 322-foot rocket “Space Launch System” rocket “would be the most powerful rocket ever flown, eclipsing both the Saturn V that flew astronauts to the moon and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy,” reports the Washington Post. But “it’s not the rocket’s engines that concern officials but the software that will control everything the rocket does, from setting its trajectory to opening individual valves…

Electric! Astronomers find sprites in Jupiter’s atmosphere

Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission say they have detected sprites or elves – electrical phenomena above thunderstorms on Earth – in the clouds of Jupiter for the first time. Unlike the red-colored earthly ones however, the Jovian ones are blue. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sprites-or-elves-in-jupiters-atmosphere-lightning-juno…

Hundreds of App Developers Want to Join New Apple-Defying Coalition

The Washington Post reports: App developers are defying Apple in record numbers, according to a new coalition of companies aimed at breaking the iPhone maker’s tight grip over its mobile software and the way it governs the App Store. The Coalition for App Fairness, which launched last month and counts as members video-game giant Epic Games, dating company Match Group and…

America’s ‘Cyber Command’ Is Trying to Disrupt the World’s Largest Botnet

The Washington Post reports: In recent weeks, the U.S. military has mounted an operation to temporarily disrupt what is described as the world’s largest botnet — one used also to drop ransomware, which officials say is one of the top threats to the 2020 election. U.S. Cyber Command’s campaign against the Trickbot botnet, an army of at least 1 million hijacked…

He Called it a ‘Scamdemic’ – Then Saw His Family Getting Sick

A remarkable first-person story in today’s Washington Post: I used to call it the “scamdemic.” I thought it was an overblown media hoax. I made fun of people for wearing masks. I went all the way down the rabbit hole and fell hard on my own sword, so if you want to hate me or blame me, that’s fine. I’m doing…

New England Journal of Medicine Resoundingly Endorses Biden

BishopBerkeley writes: In another first, the editors of the The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) endorse Joe Biden by stating that the current government needs to be fired. Although they don’t mention any names, the editors of the NEJM state in shockingly forceful and accusatory language that the current administration is totally incompetent and does not deserve to keep its…