av Mikael Winterkvist | feb 12, 2026 | Bluesky, Notiser, Threads
Both WhatsApp and Telegram have been blocked in Russia as the government tries to force people to use its unencrypted WeChat clone, Max. All messages sent and received in Max can be read by the government.
The government also blocked access to Facebook and Instagram, and designated parent company Meta as “an extremist organization” …
Russia has been making it increasingly difficult to use Telegram over the past few weeks, and has now effectively blocked access altogether.
The Financial Times reports that the country has now done the same to WhatsApp, along with access to Facebook and Instagram.
Källa: WhatsApp and Telegram blocked in Russia, Meta ’extremist organization’
av Mikael Winterkvist | feb 12, 2026 | Bluesky, Notiser, Threads
European efforts to poach top US scientists in the wake of the White House’s cuts to research funding are paying off.
Paris announced grant awards to 46 academics, with 41 relocating from the US, under its Choose France for Science initiative; eight are from Columbia University, which has lost hundreds of millions in government funding. The EU has a comparable plan, which has also had success.
Research funding applications from US-based researchers have more than doubled since President Donald Trump’s second term began. UK institutions have also seen a spike in US applications, and Beijing has been a beneficiary, too: CNN counted at least 85 scientists leaving the US for China last year, most of them Chinese-born.
Källa: EU looks to poach US scientists amid research funding cuts
av Mikael Winterkvist | feb 12, 2026 | Bluesky, Notiser, Threads
After reviewing unredacted Epstein files, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Axios that when he searched for Donald Trump’s name, it appeared ”more than a million times,” and at least one document appears to directly contradict Trump’s public claims about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The more folks look into the Epstein Files, the more it is found that convicted felon and fraudster Donald Trump has contradicted himself. The story of kicking Epstein out of his supper club, and his well-wishes to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, become stranger as the President becomes even less credible.
BoingBoing
av Mikael Winterkvist | feb 12, 2026 | Bluesky, Notiser, Threads
Imagine the moment you bring a new dog or cat into your life. That mix of excitement and responsibility. Vet visits, vaccines, learning what food suits them, managing check-ups, and always wondering how to keep them healthy as they grow.
Most pet insurance only steps in after a costly accident or illness. It doesn’t help you avoid the situation in the first place. Lassie’s product is built around a different insight: giving owners the tools to look after their pets every day, not just when something goes wrong.
Now, Stockholm-based insurtech Lassie has secured $75 million in a Series C round as it moves to scale its automated, preventive-first pet care platform across Europe. The financing follows a strong commercial run in which Lassie surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a notable milestone for a pet-focused underwriting business.
Källa: Swedish pet insurtech Lassie raises $75M Series C after hitting $100M ARR
av Mikael Winterkvist | feb 12, 2026 | Bluesky, Notiser, Threads
A one-time assistant to Jeffrey Epstein told the FBI effectively under penalty of perjury that the pedophile introduced Donald Trump to his wife Melania, a newly released document shows.
The unnamed woman, a former model who worked as Epstein’s assistant for a year from 2005 to 2006, made the claim in July 2019, three days after her old boss was arrested by the FBI and charged with child sex trafficking. The 11-page, heavily redacted document was published in Friday’s dump of three million Epstein files and uncovered on Monday.
Källa: Epstein Assistant Told Feds He Introduced Melania to Trump, Files Reveal
av Mikael Winterkvist | feb 12, 2026 | Bluesky, Notiser, Threads
It’s an institution steeped in tradition and resistant to any quick changes in the way it does things. But like it or not, the justices are about to see artificially created versions of themselves, essentially avatars, speaking words that they actually did speak in court but that were not heard contemporaneously by anyone except the people in the courtroom.
Northwestern University professor Jerry Goldman has been creating ways to make the Supreme Court more accessible to the public since 1996 when his nonprofit project, Oyez, went live on the internet. The site sought to provide audio of the court’s oral arguments and opinion announcements in every case decided by the Supreme Court dating back to 1955 when the court began taping its courtroom proceedings.
NPR.org
