President Donald Trump, speaking on April 29, 2026, during a White House meeting with the Artemis crew, commented on the physical and intellectual demands of becoming an astronaut while addressing the successful space mission involving four crew members. His remarks came as he praised the astronauts' achievement and discussed the broader future of U.S. space exploration.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said if he talks to King Charles III during his visit, he would encourage the king to give back a diamond with a long, controversial history. A jewel called the Koh-i-Noor is contained inside the Crown of Queen Elizabeth. The diamond is believed to have originated from India. It was given to Queen Victoria in 1849 as a condition of the Treaty of Lahore, which ended the first Anglo-Sikh War.
The security agency is reportedly still waiting for access to the AI model Anthropic fears could upset the cybersecurity power balance, while unauthorized users are already having fun with it. read more
The daughter of former FBI Director James Comey says she was fired as a federal prosecutor over her perceived political affiliation. Now her wrongful termination lawsuit can proceed in federal court. read more
AI's increasing ability to sift through data and track Americans' locations has some lawmakers reconsidering parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. read more
BP profits more than double, beating expectations as Iran war boosts oil prices
www.cnbc.com
... British energy major BP on Tuesday reported that first-quarter profits more than doubled from a year ago, following a surge in oil and gas prices driven by the Middle East conflict. ...
Not at all related...
James Gang - Midnight Man (1971)
www.youtube.com
James Gang is Joe Walsh before he became JOE WALSH.
Of note to me in this tune is the vocal by Ms Mary Sterpka for a verse.
Her voice is so smooth and evocative.
Kudos for the James Gang for asking her to participate in this song!
--------- Southeast Asia Looks to Sign Petroleum Security Pact
oilprice.com
... The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) looks to ratify a petroleum security agreement, Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said on Thursday as Asian nations are reeling from the shock oil supply crisis amid the Middle East war.
"APSA, or the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement, is being pursued to enable coordinated emergency fuel sharing and collective responses to supply disruption," Roque said during an online briefing, as carried by Reuters.
Southeast Asian economies such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam were the first to feel fuel shortages after the blocked Strait of Hormuz cut off most of their regular crude and fuel supply from the Middle East.
The Philippines, which sourced 98% of all its oil from the Middle East before the war, declared a national energy emergency as early as in the middle of March.
Many of the Southeast Asian countries have turned to alternative suppliers, including Russian oil, which is now allowed for unsanctioned sale by the U.S. Treasury until May 16, under a waiver the Trump Administration extended by a month earlier in April. ...
Tangentially related ...
Drone diplomacy wins Ukraine valuable allies, but now it must deliver
www.reuters.com
... President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has leveraged Ukraine's expertise in drone warfare into a series of successful diplomatic deals during visits to the Middle East and Europe, showcasing how Kyiv is using military prowess to boost its diplomatic clout.
Since Russia's invasion in 2022, Zelenskiy has sought to strengthen Kyiv's alliances, both with Western allies and with countries of the "global south", to restrict Russia's diplomatic sway.
The Iran war has confirmed how central drones are to modern warfare and handed Zelenskiy a diplomatic trump card at a time when U.S. support for Kyiv appears unreliable, analysts say.
During the war, Ukraine has invented cheap and highly effective ways to counter drone attacks instead of relying only on state-of-the-art defensive missile systems such as the costly U.S. Patriot, used by the U.S. in the Gulf. Kyiv has also developed long-range attack drone capabilities to hit Russian energy infrastructure.
This month alone, Ukraine signed defence and drone deals in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, following long-term security partnerships with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in late March.
Zelenskiy has in recent weeks also agreed security cooperation with Turkey and Syria, and signed agreements at the weekend with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on defence and energy.
"Zelenskiy is really trying hard to show that Ukraine is an asset and not a liability and that it has an answer to the changing nature of war," said Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. "Ukraine now needs to organize itself to actually deliver." ...
@#5 ... Government? Since the majorette of companies building AIs are run by liberal dems, more likely they are the ones that will be spying against us conservatives. ...
That's an interesting implicit admission that "liberal dems" drive the technology advances.
Speaking of the political aspect ...
Hundreds of Google workers urge CEO to refuse classified AI work with Pentagon
www.cbsnews.com
Google Moves Forward With Pentagon AI Deal Despite Employee Pushback
www.cnet.com
Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Has A MAGA Influencer Girlfriend -- And Has Become A Republican To Fight Proposed Billionaire Tax
uinterview.com
@#135
OK, I have to ask at this point, why is your alias trolling this evening?
While I do appreciate the ad revenue its comments bring to RCade, I still wonder why the sudden change of behavior of your alias, i.e., from thoughtful comments to apparent trolling?
What changed to bring on this apparent new behavior?